PHIL529 PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY
| Course Code: | 2410529 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | Philosophy |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Masters |
| Course Coordinator: | Prof.Dr. AYHAN SOL |
| Offered Semester: | Fall Semesters. |
Course Objectives
At the end of this course, students will have learned about the basic themes in evolutionary ethics (the evolution of morality), methodological problems, the limits of evolutionary explanations of human moral behavior and arguments for and against moral realism in relation to evolutionary ethics.
Course Content
This course offers a survey and critical examination of basic issues in the philosophy of biology: a brief history of biology and the philosophy of biology; the nature of evolutionary theory, with special reference to the status of natural selection; the rise of genetics; the scientific status of evolutionary theory; biological teleology; the implications of biology for human kind; the problem of reduction; the significance of Human Genome Project; challenges to the adaptationist programme; ethical and social issues, including the status of neo-Creationism(Intelligent Design).
Course Learning Outcomes
Student, who passed the course satisfactorily will be able to understand fundamental scientific and philosophical issues in evolutionary ethics as described under "Course Objectives".
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Do independent academic research in order to be successful in academic studies. | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Have knowledge about contemporary philosophical issues, concepts and problems. | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Make original philosophical interpretations on the topic specialized. | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Have verbal and written presentation and effective communication skill. | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Do interdisciplinary readings and associate them to philosophical problems. | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Have knowledge about ethical code which is a requirement for doing academic research and publishing it. | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution