PHIL 291.00D Basics in Buddhist Philosophy
Fall 2025; Professor Joy Brennan
This course introduces students to key texts and themes in Buddhist philosophy. We will study foundational ideas from the mainstream (suttas and Abhidharma), early Mahāyāna, Huayan and Zen schools. Topics covered include: basic Buddhist psychology organized around the concept of the dharma; karma and causation; the nature of the person; the emptiness of persons and dharmas; wisdom; the path; various approaches to anger and non-harm; and Buddhist cosmological and social theory and the problem of karma, particularly with regard to varieties of beings and differential suffering. This counts as an upper-level traditions course in the Religious Studies Department and counts as an elective towards the philosophy major.
PHIL 391.00 Aristotle and His Critics
Spring 2026; Professor Joel Richeimer
In this course, we will examine selections from the central texts of Aristotle, namely, "Metaphysics," "Physics," "Nicomachean Ethics," "Categories" and "De Anima." Aristotle’s writings created a two-thousand year critical literature involving Hellenistic commentators, Medieval critics writing out of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish traditions, and modern and contemporary criticism. We will read Aristotle’s writings in light of selections from that critical tradition. Permission of the instructor is required.