This area targets the nature and source of our moral rights and obligations, the authority of the state and law, the basis of value and goodness. Several courses in this area target ethical issues in medicine, the environment, technological change, economic inequality, and matters concerning race, gender, class, ethnicity, and nationality. In this area, students will learn how moral and legal reasoning can reshape the political debates over abortion, the death penalty, privacy on the internet, genetic testing, religious tolerance, free speech, affirmative action, and other issues. Philosophy also seeks answers to particular problems in specific areas of science, medicine, law, ethics, and technology. For example, it explores the ways that modern physics impacts our notions of space, time, causation, and nature itself. It considers the ways that neuroscience and genetics impact the traditional ideas about free will and responsibility. It debates the limits of democratic governments in regulating individuals conduct. It wrestles with problems about the right to die and the varied responsibilities of medical professionals. It inquires into the relation between science and religion. Related issues concern privacy, the limits of private property, and who should have access to what information. Philosophy is a broad field with diverse subfields. Some students may want to pursue a general course of study for the major, sampling courses across several of these distinct subfields. This strategy develops a solid foundation for graduate work in philosophy and for any career that requires breadth of knowledge, intellectual flexibility, as well as communicative and analytic skills.