Selected Course Offerings

Below you will find some—not all!—of the Philosophy Department’s upcoming course offerings. You can find descriptions of all available courses on your schedule builder. 

The philosophy department now offers a concentration in Philosophy and Law. Philosophy majors have the highest rate of acceptance to law schools of any major, and one of the highest average LSAT scores. If you’re interested in learning more about the Philosophy major or minor, please contact the Department Chair—Michael Brownstein (mibrownstein@jjay.cuny.edu)—or the Department Program Coordinator—Amie Macdonald (amacdonald@jjay.cuny.edu).

202.01 Visions of American Pluralism

Instructor Timothy Franz, 3:05-4:20 Monday and Wednesday

The American Experiment is an exercise in pluralism that holds in creative tension differing voices and identities. This course traces this dialogue of divergent values and perspectives and finds in the writings of earlier Americans concerns about racism, sexism, and ecology, issues that we still grapple with today. We start with the poetry of the enslaved Phyllis Wheatley, move on to the Transcendentalism of Emerson and Thoreau, the feminist of Margaret Fuller and Charolette Perkins Gilman, and the psychology of William James and conclude with the challenge to American racism found in the writings of W.E.B. DuBois and James Baldwin.

214.01 Environmental Ethics 

Instructor Michael Brownstein, 3:05-4:20 Tuesday and Thursday 

What is ethical eating? Do the environmental impacts of AI mean you shouldn’t use it? What can you do to help fight climate change? This course explores these and other questions about our relationship to the natural world. Readings will be drawn from philosophy, psychology, political science, and more. This course will also involve experiential learning and field trips. 

238.01 Philosophy of Comedy 

Instructor Kaci Harrison, 4:30-5:45 pm Tuesday and Thursday 

I could tell you a pizza joke, but it would probably be cheesy. Or I could make a pun about vacuums, but it would probably suck. Did you chuckle, grimace or roll your eyes at those puns? Why? What exactly makes something funny? What is humor anyway? When is it okay (or not okay) to laugh at a joke? Or why do we laugh at all? How is comic amusement different from laughter? How do we evaluate the quality of comedy? Does the moral content impact how we evaluate a joke? This course uses a diversity of tools—historical, psychological, philosophical, and aesthetic—to dive into these questions and to more deeply consider the nature of comedy as a form of creative expression. The course will be divided into three units. First, we will cover Theories of Humor, which include superiority, incongruity, relief, and play theories of humor. We will be reading historical figures in philosophy and psychology from Plato to Kant to Freud as well as current philosophers of art. Second, we will explore the relationship between Comedy and Ethics, specifically considering racist / sexist jokes and what makes humor offensive. In the last unit, we will apply the theories and discussions to a variety of comedic works, ranging from stand-up to comedy films to comedy’s relationship to horror. 

315.01 Philosophy of the Rule of Law  

Instructor Christopher Trogan, 9:25-10:50 Monday and Wednesday 

This course investigates various philosophies of the rule of law contributing to the liberal democratic tradition, focusing on controversies and debates over what, exactly, the rule of law is and what it is supposed to do. Positivism, natural law theory, the social function of law, legal realism, rule skepticism, and the normative and aspirational aspects of the rule of law will all be considered. Once we have read through the history and philosophy of the rule of law, the course will focus on real-world problems and debates about the rule of law in domestic and international settings, to ask how we might reimagine the rule of law in the face of contemporary challenges. 

327.01 19th Century European and American Philosophy  

Instructor Timothy Franz, 4:30-5:45 Monday and Wednesday

This course looks at major trends in 19th-century European and American philosophy, a century that created the basic texts and traditions for movements such as Positivism, Pragmatism, Existentialism, Transcendentalism and Marxism, as well as carrying through on the 18th-century currents of Idealism. Historical texts may include the writings of Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Comte, Frege, Peirce, Bentham, Mill, Emerson and Thoreau. The course will look at the texts in their own right, as well as seeing how they came out of the philosophical thought of the previous century, and, most importantly, how they informed the political, social and ethical positions of the current age. 

330.01 Philosophical Modernity  

Instructor Enrique Chavez-Arvizo, 10:50-12:15 Monday and Wednesday

This course provides an overview of the problems, positions, and main lines of argument of Western European philosophy in the period, roughly, from Montaigne (1580) to Kant (1781). Philosophical issues are contextualized by reformation, scientific and political revolution, "enlightenment," colonialism, and the slave trade. The role of criticism and critique in the achievement of the emerging modern paradigm is a course theme. Topics include knowledge, skepticism, and faith; empiricism, rationalism, "mechanical philosophy" and idealism; mind body and substance; freedom and determinism; God natural law morality and justice. 

343.01 Existentialism  

Instructor Jonathan Berk, 3:05-4:20 Monday and Wednesday

What is the meaning of life? The starting point for our study of Existentialism is that we are not quite sure if there is an answer to this question. It is neither that we have determined this question to be unanswerable nor that we have a complete answer. Rather, we find this question pressed upon us with utter urgency when we are somewhere in between these extremes. What do we do in the wake of such indeterminacy? Do we embrace the abyss or flee from it? In this course we will study the philosophical tradition of Existentialism, a movement in the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. Among others, we will study: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Beauvoir, Fanon and Camus.  

354.01 Africana Philosophy 

Instructor Dwight Murph, 9:25-10:50 Tuesday and Thursday

What is African American Philosophy, and why is it a unique area of philosophy? African American Philosophy is a branch of Africana Philosophy that deals with major issues and challenges faced by Black or African Americans living in the United States and around the world. This course isn’t just about abstract ideas; it focuses on real-life issues that impact you and your community. Our course on Africana philosophy is specially designed to explore philosophy in the context of the Black experience in the United States. We directly address the key issues and struggles faced by Black/African Americans both here and abroad. Additionally, we will examine African, Hispanic, and Caribbean experiences, as they provide valuable insights into the philosophical questions emerging from the Black struggle in the United States. Philosophy generally involves questions explored through dialectical methods of argument and counterargument. By applying philosophical tools, we can analyze and understand past and current questions related to the Black fight for freedom and equality. We connect the branches of philosophy (metaphysics, aesthetics, social and political theory, law, social epistemology, and ethics) to Pan-Africanism, identity, race, class, racial humor, ethical issues, and more. This academic approach enables us to critically examine societal issues such as black-and-white culture, white supremacy, black inferiority, colorism, beauty standards, racial trauma, and politics in a comprehensive way, empowering you to participate in vital discourse. 

377.01 Reality, Truth, and Being: Metaphysics  

Instructor Matias Bulnes-Beniscelli, 12:15-1:30 Tuesday and Thursday

Metaphysics, often called first philosophy, inquires into the nature of truth and reality. We'll ask such questions as: What is a thing? Is a person a kind of thing? Does God exist? Where are non-material objects, like numbers and ideas? What are time and space? What are the metaphysical assumptions of social constructs and identities? Anyone who has ever wondered whether there is a mind-independent reality, or any reality at all, has thought about the subject matter of metaphysics. Attention will be paid to both Western and non-Western philosophical sources.