David Emmanuel Gray


Associate Teaching Professor of Philosophy

Spring 2026 Courses


Ethics


PHI 107


Ethics is the branch of philosophy examining the nature of morality, good and evil, and right and wrong action. At bottom, ethics addresses the most practical question: “What ought I do?” As such, this is not some hypothetical concern, but something with which we all continually wrestle, as we go about our day-to-day lives. This suggests that ethics is an inherent and inescapable part of human existence. In this course, we will look at several influential approaches and attempts to answer that practical question of ethics. Throughout, we will discover how these divergent, and often conflicting, approaches frame present-day debates surrounding ghosting, religion, drone attacks, gaslighting, implicit bias, gender quotas for university admissions and job hiring, world poverty, eating factory-farmed meat, human rights, alcohol and sexual consent, course grades, and ethical leadership.



Integrating PPE


PHI 485


This is a project-based capstone course exploring advanced issues at the intersection of philosophy, political science and economics. Each discipline explores complex social problems with its own toolkit, and with its own set of questions. The goal of this course will be to integrate these different approaches into a richer lens on how we can confront complex social issues and make progress. This experiential learning course will also support your professional development, preparing you for life after graduation.



Course Archive


The links below are part of a digital archive for past courses taught by David Emmanuel Gray. Content in this section is maintained for historical, research, or reference purposes only. None of these courses, nor any of their associated materials, have been modified since the respective semester in which they were taught. As a result, courses taught prior to Spring 2026 may not fully comply with all accessibility standards. If you need an accessible version of a document, image, or video in any of those courses, please contact degray@buffalo.edu or call 716-645-2444.