Current and Upcoming Courses
Fall 2012 (current)
Spring 2013
Fall 2012
Jump to: Fall 2012 Graduate Courses
101-1: Introduction to Philosophy
11:00-11:50 MWF
Paul
This course aims to introduce students to the general methodology of philosophical inquiry, through reflection on some of the classic questions in philosophy. What, if anything, can we know about the external world? Is there a single objective morality, or are moral codes simply social constructions that are true only relative to times and places? Is there any meaningful sense in which we have free will? What makes someone count as the same person over time? What is it to have a mind? We will read both classical and contemporary selections on these topics, and through our investigations, learn how to formulate rigorous philosophical arguments of our own and to critically evaluate those of others. Above all, the emphasis will be on questioning our assumptions and articulating reasons (if we can) for things we might already believe without knowing why.
101-2: Introduction to Philosophy
9:30-10:45 TR
Sidelle
Philosophy is both an area, with its own questions and history of discussion of these questions - What is knowledge? What goes into making an action right or wrong? What is it to live a happy (good/worthwhile) life? What is it to act rationally? Can we ever be responsible for our behavior? What is it for a sign to have meaning? Is having a mind the same thing as having a brain? - as well as a certain critical way of looking at things, approaching issues, clarifying concepts, and evaluating positions and arguments. The methods philosophers use in generating and conducting investigation in their own particular subject matter, as well as many of the issues philosophers concern themselves with, can be relevant to all sorts of subject matters, which are not, of themselves, particularly philosophical. Drawing distinctions, identifying underlying assumptions, generating puzzles, coming up with arguments and evaluating them, seeing what a disagreement is really about, distinguishing the letter from the spirit of positions, are among the many tools of philosophy, which can be used in other areas not only in critical evaluation, but in seeing possible issues and questions to raise. In this course, we will look at some quite general and fundamental philosophical issues, as well as some that are more particular, such as the rationality of emotions. We will be particularly concerned to bring out various sorts of philosophical tools and distinctions which are relevant not only to philosophy, but to philosophical reflection or consideration about other areas, and also to see how philosophical assumptions or claims may be present even when one is not 'doing philosophy'.
101-4: Introduction to Philosophy
1:00-2:15 TR
Bengson
Am I morally obligated to give money to the poor? Are there objective ethical truths? What is the meaning of life? Who or what am I -- am I a brain, a body, a soul? What can I know, and how can I know it? Does God exist? Is God dead? These are just a few of the questions we will discuss in this course. The overall aim will be to introduce students to some central problems of philosophy, and to their investigation.
101-5: Introduction to Philosophy
11:00-12:15 TR
Gibson
The aim of this course is to introduce the student to philosophy. We will study some different areas in philosophy and the problems and questions addressed in those areas. But we will also study how philosophers go about answering these questions – what kinds of arguments they give, what reasons led them to their views. And we will evaluate whether their arguments are good ones. These are the different areas of philosophy that we will study: Epistemology or the theory of knowledge which is concerned with questions about the nature and extent of knowledge: Philosophy of Religion, where we will understand and evaluate arguments that try to prove God exists; Ethics, where we will be concerned with whether there really is such a thing as right or wrong, and if so, what makes something right or wrong: and finally, in the last section of the course, we will examine whether it makes sense to think that human beings have Free Will if their behavior I a part of the natural, causal order.
101-6: Introduction to Philosophy
9:55-10:45 MWF
Shapiro
The goal of this class is to teach you how to think critically about fundamental issues. The issues we will discuss concern the justification for our claims to knowledge, the distinction between believing something for a reason and believing something on faith, the nature of mind and the possibility of free will and moral responsibility, and, finally, topics in political and ethical theory, including justice and euthanasia. Assignments include short papers and two exams. Class attendance is mandatory.
101-7: Introduction to Philosophy
9:30-10:45 TR
Southgate
This course is an introduction to philosophical questioning and the Western philosophical tradition. Through reading classical and contemporary texts, we will be examining central topics in this tradition: proofs for the existence of God, the meaning of life, the nature of art and beauty, and the nature of morality. By exploring these topics and works, students will develop a conception of what philosophy is, become familiar with its history, and acquire the skills needed to identify, evaluate, and construct arguments. In so doing, they will be laying the foundations for a fruitful engagement with philosophy and for critical thinking generally.
104-1: Special Topics: Good, Beauty and the Meaning of Life
9:55-10:45 MWF
Nadler
In this course, we will look at some important questions and problems about the kinds of life we can do lead, as they are addressed in classic philosophical works by Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Kierkegaard, Sartre and others. As we consider the political life, the ethical life, the religious life and, above all, the good life, we will discuss a number of core values that have traditionally been the focus of philosophical concern: beauty, goodness, right, virtue, friendship and duty. We will ultimately focus on the variety of ways in which a life can become meaningful (or, in the view of some, essentially lacks meaning).
210-1: Reason in Communication
9:30-10:45 TR
Forster
This course is about critical thinking. Some forms of reasoning are more persuasive than others, but many persuasive forms of reasoning are fallacious. We will critically examine various patterns of reasoning (arguments) commonly used in newspaper editorials, political speeches, classrooms, courtrooms, and advertisements with the aim of discerning the difference between good and bad reasoning. This skill in critical thinking may also improve your argumentative writing. This is not a course in formal, or symbolic logic like 211 although there will be some very elementary symbolic logic. We will look at simple examples of causal and statistical reasoning as well. For more information, browse through the required text: Critical thinking, 6th edition, by B.N. Moore and R. Parker, Mayfield Publishing Company.
210-2: Reason in Communication
8:50 MWF
Lecturer
No description available at this time.
210-3: Reason in Communication
8:50 MWF
Lecturer
No description available at this time.
211-1: Elementary Logic
9:30-10:45 TR
Titelbaum
Suppose I say, "The cheese was in the fridge when you left. If no one removed the cheese, it's still in the fridge. I'm the only one who could've removed the cheese, and I didn't. So the cheese is still in the fridge." This argument concerning the whereabouts of the cheese contains some premises followed by a conclusion. The argument is structured so that if the premises are true, the conclusion is true as well.
In this course we will represent arguments in symbols to reveal their structure, then study argumentative structures that guarantee a true conclusion from true premises. We will also learn how to prove that an argument with a particular structure is valid. The techniques we will learn are necessary for every area of contemporary philosophy, and are relevant to areas of economics, mathematics, computer science, rhetoric, and the law.211-2: Elementary Logic
11:00-11:50 MWF
Lecturer
No description available at this time.
211-3: Elementary Logic
11:00-12:15 TR
Mackay
This course is an introduction to formal logic, the study of valid reasoning. We will study methods for proving that an argument is either valid or invalid. Validity, as we will understand it, depends on the form of arguments rather than on their content; we will therefore work with a formal, symbolic language in which the form of sentences is made explicit. We will study both truth–functional and quantificational logic and use a deductive proof procedure for each.
241-1: Introductory Ethics (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
1:00-2:15 TR
Card
This course introduces students to ethical theory through key works by four of the most influential philosophers in the history of moral philosophy: John Stuart Mill (19thC), Immanuel Kant (18th C.), Aristotle (4th C. BCE), and Nietzsche (19th C.) with brief selections from such lesser lights as Jeremy Bentham and Bishop Joseph Butler and some contemporary reflections from feminist and African American philosophers. Questions addressed by these writers range from “What is the good life?” and “What is the difference between right and wrong?” to “Is everyone basically selfish?” and “What is the importance of ethics, anyhow?” Course objectives are to offer a solid foundation in ethical theory for students who may wish to do further work in this or a related area and to develop skills in ethical reasoning for everyone who takes the course. No prior philosophy is presupposed. There will be three bluebook essay exams (review questions distributed in advance).
241-3: Introductory Ethics (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
12:05-12:55 MWF
Gottlieb
In everyday life, we make a variety of ethical judgments, for example, that it is kind to help others or that it is right to keep promises. What justifies us in making such judgments, can such judgments be objective, and why should we live up to them? To answer these questions we shall examine in detail various representative moral theories including Utilitarianism, Kantian Theory and Virtue Ethics, and we shall also consider the views of human nature that underlie them. The main readings for the course will be recognized classics from the history of ethics. However we shall also be considering these in the light of contemporary philosophical developments and concerns, including those of African American philosophers and feminist thinkers.
241-4: Introductory Ethics (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
8:50-9:40 MWF
Lecturer
No description available at this time.
241-5: Introductory Ethics (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
1:15-3:45 W
Brighouse
This course concerns the fundamental questions of ethics. Why does it matter to be moral? Should we judge people by their motives, their characters, or the consequences of their actionis? Should we, indeed, judge them at all? We shall look at three rival approaches to moral evaluation, and shall examine them giving special focus to questions about the moral standing of intimate relationships – between lover, between parents and children, and between friends. The course will be taught in lecture/discussion format, and you will be assessed through papers and a final exam.
341-1: Contemporary Moral Issues
9:30-10:45 TR
Shafer-Landau
This course, which presupposes no prior philosophical background, seeks to provide students with the tools needed to carefully analyze issues in five areas of topical ethical interest: euthanasia, the death penalty, war and terrorism, sexuality and marriage, and animal rights. The emphasis throughout will be on respectfully and sensitively appreciating the complexity and the argumentative structure of the various positions on these issues, allowing students to decide for themselves where they stand on these important matters.
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues
11:00-12:15 TR
Hausman
This course will focus on four controversial and difficult moral issues: 1) surrogate motherhood, 2) abortion, 3) affirmative action, and 4) health care. In addition, to provide some perspective and depth in our consideration of the particular issues and to hone the skills of making and criticizing moral arguments, we will spend some time studying basic logic and the fundamentals of moral philosophy.
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues
12:05-12:55 MWF
Streiffer
This course will provide students with the opportunity for an in-depth exploration of four areas of contemporary moral controversy. (1) Just war theory: when, if ever, is it just to engage in a war? Is war simply "Politics by other means," is pacifism correct in thinking that violence is never justified, or is the truth somewhere in between? And once at war, what kind of tactics are permissible? Blockades, economic sanctions, nuclear weapons, terrorism? (2) Exploitation: What kinds of practices are exploitative, and why does it matter that they are? Are student athletes, surrogate mothers, or biomedical research subjects exploited? If they are being exploited, but they have consented, does that mean it should be allowed? (3) Abortion: what is the moral status of the fetus? Is it possible to justify abortion even assuming that the fetus has a right to life? What should the law be about abortions? (4) Biotechnology: does the use of recombinant DNA techniques to modify microorganisms, plants, animals, or even humans, violate fundamental moral constraints on how we should respect nature or persons? Are genetically engineered foods safe to eat, and for the environment? Is it permissible to use animals as disease models for the benefit of human beings? Is it permissible to clone human beings, or to do research on embryos?
341-4: Contemporary Moral Issues
8:00-9:15 TR
Brighouse
The purpose of 341 is to acquaint students with rigorous forms of reasoning concerning live contemporary moral issues, and to help them develop the skills necessary to evaluate and intervene in public debates in a way that is intellectually honest and well-informed. This section of 341 focuses mainly on issues relating to childhood, family life, and education; among the issues we discuss are the morality of abortion; the permissible regulation of parenthood; cloning human beings for reproductive purposes; the morality of school choice; the morality of educational inequality and whether parents should enroll their children in sports leagues(!). Attendance of discussion section is mandatory. Assessment of students’ work will be by papers, essay exams, and some short tests.
341-91: Contemporary Moral Issues
9:55-10:45 MTWR
No description available at this time.
341-92: Contemporary Moral Issues
11:00-11:50 MTWR
No description available at this time.
341-93: Contemporary Moral Issues
12:05-12:55 MTWR
No description available at this time.
341-94: Contemporary Moral Issues
9:55-10:45 MTWR
Lecturer
No description available at this time.
430: History of Ancient Philosophy
9:55-10:45 MWF
Fletcher
In this course, we will examine how ancient Greek philosophers approached fundamental questions about knowledge and reality. What is the nature and origin of the world? Did it come to be by chance, intelligence or some other cause? How do the senses and reason contribute to our understanding of the world? Is it possible to be certain about anything at all? What is the connection between language and reality? We will focus on Plato and Aristotle, but we will also study some of their philosophical predecessors, such as Parmenides and Heraclitus, as well as the post-Aristotelian philosopher Epicurus.
432: History of Modern Philosophy
11:00-11:50 MWF
Messina
In this course, we will read and discuss selections from the works of some influential 17th and 18th century philosophers: Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Though these thinkers are a diverse bunch, one thing that unites them is their preoccupation with a set of philosophical issues connected with the scientific revolution ushered in by Galileo, Boyle, Newton, and others. The scientific revolution, which was closely associated with the so-called mechanical philosophy, raised troubling questions about free will, the mind-body relationship, God’s place in nature, the sources and limits of knowledge, the nature of substance, and the proper analysis of some concepts that were central to the new science, for example, matter, space, time, cause, and law of nature. The philosophers we will study in this class offer wildly divergent and often quite compelling answers to these questions. Their ideas and arguments remain an essential reference point for much contemporary philosophy.
435: Jewish Philosophy: Antiquity-17th C.
11:00-11:50 MWF
Nadler
In this course, we will consider some classical Jewish philosophers, particularly those in the rationalist tradition, and their approach to two different sets of issues: 1. Providence, Theodicy, and the Problem of Evil, and 2. The Law: its origin, justification, and rationality. Readings include the Book of Job, Philo of Alexandria, Saadya ben Joseph, Maimonides, Gersonides, and Spinoza.
441: Environmental Ethics
12:05-12:55 MWF
Steinberg
This course deals with moral issues related to our environment. We will begin with a brief survey of various ethical theories about how we can determine what sorts of things are moral/immoral. With these theories in hand, we will consider a variety of issues, including: animal rights and whether we ought to be vegetarians; what we should do about population growth and increases in human consumption; and whether capitalism is environmentally sustainable.
454: Classical Philosophers (Plato on Pleasure & Desire)
1:20-2:10 MWF
Fletcher
What types of pleasure and desire are there? What is the relationship between pleasure and the good? What happens when desires conflict, and what does this tell us about the nature of human motivation and the unity of the individual who undergoes such conflict? How do health and disease affect what a subject desires and enjoys? What about virtue and vice? Are some pleasures and desires more valuable or beneficial than others, and if so, is there such a thing as expert knowledge concerning them? In this seminar, we will explore these and related questions in Plato's Gorgias, Symposium, Republic, Phaedrus, Timaeus and Philebus.
503: Theory of Knowledge (fulfills Category A requirement for the major)
2:30-3:45 TR
Bengson
This is a course on the sources, scope, and limits of human knowledge. We will reflect on (for example) the challenges raised by philosophical skepticism, the nature of perception and intuition, and the role of the intellect in theory and in practice.
516: Language and Meaning (fulfills Category A requirement for the major)
9:30-10:45 TR
Mackay
The course will cover some of the main themes in the philosophy of language. The human ability to communicate information about the external world through language is remarkable and raises a number of philosophical questions. Topics to be considered include: what it is for a linguistic expression to be meaningful; how it could come about that a linguistic expression – which is at some level just an arbitrary group of sounds or symbols – could have a meaning; how both the mind and the external world interact with language to determine meaning; how speakers use and manipulate language in different settings to communicate different kinds of information; and the way in which the meaning of a term depends on context.
520: Philosophy of Natural Sciences (fulfills Category A requirement for the major)
1:00-2:15 TR
Forster
The aim of this course is to address a simple question: What is the difference between good and bad science? We can point to examples of good science, like Newton’s laws of motion. And we can point to astrology as bad examples of science, to the extent that they count as science at all. However, the task of philosophy of science is more ambitious than agreeing on examples of good and bad science. The aim is to tell the difference between good and bad science in general terms, which apply across many examples of science, in a way that could help us judge examples of new science. Science has produced theories about things we cannot see (like electrons) on the basis of what we do see (like television pictures). Another example is the theory of evolution, which makes assertions about common ancestries based on the fossil record and other observational evidence. Another example is the atomic theory, which is based on observed regularities in the behavior of gases and the results of chemical reactions. Do we have good reason to believe that these theories are true, approximately true, in what they assert to exist, or are they merely accurate in their predictions? Is there an objective way in which we judge the true, approximate truth, or the predictively accuracy of scientific theories? If not, then our faith in science may in many instances depend on prejudice, bias, or even fashion. Perhaps science is like religion—relying more on faith than reason.
521: Philosophy of Social Sciences
2:30-3:45 MW
Pearce
What are the social sciences? Do they have different methods and aims than the natural sciences? In this class, starting with these questions, we will explore a series of philosophical and methodological issues in the social sciences. The course begins with a short overview of some classic work in philosophy and social theory by Mill, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Next, we tackle one of the central questions in more recent philosophy of social science: what counts as an explanation of a social phenomenon, and is there some privileged level at which such explanations should be given? The second half of the course consists of two disciplinary case studies. In the first of these we examine the concept of culture, its influence on communication, and how this influence affects one of the central methods in social science—the interview. In the second, we analyze some central notions of modern economics and their relation to policy and human welfare.
543-1: Special Topics in Ethics (Rawl’s Philosophy of Justice) (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
2:30-3:45 TR
Card
In this course we will read chunks of Rawls, A Theory of Justice, some essays from Rawls's Collected Papers, his short book The Law of Peoples, parts of his later Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and about half of his Political Liberalism. The focus is on Rawls's own writings, the development of his thought, and the relationships of his ideas to the history of moral philosophy, not on the voluminous body of contemporary commentary that has grown up around his books. For a contrasting approach to justice, we will also read selections from Part II of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick, Rawls's libertarian colleague. The course will be Writing Intensive and will make use of the Writing Fellow Program. This means there will be several short papers. There will also be a midterm exam required of everyone. Those whose attendance is good (to be defined), whose papers are on time, and who maintain a "B" average on papers and the midterm will be excused from the final exam.
543-2: Special Topics in Ethics (Animal Bioethics)
2:25-4:55 M
Streiffer
This course is for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates. It is an in-depth study of the main philosophical theories in animal ethics and a survey of the ways that empirical research is important for evaluating the truth of those theories as well as for understanding their implications. Although the exact content will vary from year to year, topics covered will include the moral status of animals, different conceptions of animal welfare, empirical and conceptual research on animals’ mental lives, the use of animals in research, and the use of animals in agriculture. Additional topics could include disobedience on behalf of animals and the legal and regulatory aspects of animal use oversight.
549: Great Moral Philosophers (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
12:05-12:55 MWF
Gottlieb
We will discuss the work of several great moral philosophers including Aristotle, Hume, Mill, Kant, Hobbes and Rawls, and some important contemporary moral philosophers who develop or criticize these different approaches to ethics. The aim of the course is to gain a critical appreciation of the insights of each of these philosophers. How much time we spend on each philosopher and on each topic will depend on the interests of the participants in the course.
There will be three tutorials. Class participants will be asked to write a series of 1500-word essays answering specific and challenging questions on assigned texts or particular topics. They will then come in pairs to see Professor Gottlieb for an hour or so, during which time they will read out and discuss their work. Grades will be assigned to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational. The final grade will be based on the grades for the three tutorials, attendance and good participation in class discussion.555: Political Philosophy (fulfills Category B requirement for the major)
11:00-12:15 TR
Brighouse
This course will introduce the main concepts in contemporary political philosophy, focusing in particular on theories of justice. We shall read John Rawls's book Justice as Fairness, and a number of criticisms of Rawls from different perspectives (egalitarian, feminist, Libertarian, communitarian). We shall look in detail at two particular contemporary political issues: justice in the family; and justice in education. Authors we shall read include Susan Okin, Martha Nussbaum, Robert Nozick, Milton Friedman, and Amartya Sen.
562-1:-Special Topics in Metaphysics (Agency & Action) (fulfills Category A requirement for the major)
1:20-2:10 MWF
Paul
What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arm goes up from the fact that I raise my arm? It seems there must be some remainder, for not all events of arm-risings are intentional arm-raisings. Something must make some of the physical events in the world into intentional actions. In this course, we will begin by asking what that remainder is: what is it to be an agent? Is agency a matter of some special psychological cause preceding those events that are intentional actions? Or is there some other feature of the agent's relationship to the event in virtue of which it counts as intentional: the ability to provide a justifying reason for so acting, or the possession of a special kind of knowledge of the action? We will also investigate the nature of intention: what is it to intend to do something? How are intentions related to acting for reasons? Does agency have a "constitutive aim," or built-in goal, such as achieving the Good, acquiring self-knowledge, or constructing a Self? What does it mean for you and me to act together? Readings from contemporary sources. Class attendance is mandatory, and will involve a combination of lecture and discussion.
562-2: Special Topics in Metaphysics (Consciousness) (fulfills Category A requirement for the major)
4:00-5:15 TR
Gibson
In this course, we will focus on issues regarding whether consciousness can be accounted for in a purely physical world. We will begin studying classical and contemporary arguments for dualism and physicalism. Then we will spend some time studying accounts of mental representation and content. In the last section of the course, we will look at accounts of consciousness that understand the ‘seeming’ or ‘awareness’ that is distinctive of conscious states in terms of a certain kinds of representational states. We would study both ‘first order’ theories (Dretske’s and others) and second order theories (e.g. Carruthers’), which take consciousness to require a kind of apperceptive state wherein one is aware of one’s representational states.
838: Advanced History of Philosophy: Kant
1:15-3:15 W
Messina
One of the goals of this seminar is to gain an understanding of some of the central doctrines of Kant’s mature theoretical philosophy (that is, his metaphysics and epistemology). We will do this by reading a mixture of primary sources (for example, selections from Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and Lectures on Metaphysics) and recent works of Kant interpretation. We’ll focus in particular on Kant’s views on philosophical method; a priori knowledge; space, time, and geometry; intuitions and concepts; self-knowledge; skepticism; the mind-body relationship; and the relationship between things-in-themselves and appearances. Another goal of this seminar is to critically examine some recent attempts to defend Kantian views on these topics. Towards this end, our readings will also include selections from works of (what one might call) Kant appropriation * for example, Strawson’s Individuals.
902: Proseminar
4:00-6:00 T
Titelbaum
The seminar for incoming students is required. It provides a background in core analytic philosophy across diverse specialties. There will be a close reading of texts and an emphasis on writing skills.
951 Seminar-Philosophy of Mind (Embodied Cognition)
1:15-3:15 M
Shapiro
Embodied Cognition has been hailed as a new paradigm for understanding the human mind, but what are its claims and to what extent does it diverge from more traditional theories of mind? We'll begin this course with an examination of computational and connectionist theories of mind, taking care to isolate some of the methodological and ontological commitments of these approaches. We'll then turn to theoretical and empirical work in embodied cognition. Our first task will be to identify themes that unify this work, paying special attention to the explanatory goals that those who advocate embodied cognition set for themselves. We'll be trying to equip ourselves with the resources necessary to decide whether embodied cognition genuinely competes with traditional cognitive science, and, if so, whether it does so successfully, or whether embodied cognition offers new explanatory tools that might complement the methods of traditional cognitive science.
955: Political Philosophy (Social Theory & Policy: Problems & Methodology)
6:30-9:00 W
Hausman, Wright
These seminars, which will meet together, will explore central methodological questions that arise in theorizing about human behavior and its social consequences and that arise in attempting to put social theory (both positive and normative) to work to guide policy. Roughly the first half of the seminar will be devoted to exploring methodological problems that arise in attempting to explain, predict, and guide social behavior. The seminar will then turn to the special problems that arise when one attempts to use social theories to devise policies that will promote normative goals. During the second half of the seminar, students in groups of fours will study works by social scientists on the faculty here at UW and carry out videotaped interviews with the faculty members whose work the students have studied concerning methodology. The last meetings of the seminar will be devoted to viewing and discussing the videotapes.
960: Metaphysics Seminar (Personal Identity)
3:30-5:30 R
Sidelle
This seminar will investigate metaphysical and normative issues surrounding personal identity. After a little historical background, we will focus on Derek Parfit’s work on identity and survival, and its aftermath. This will include looking at whether, and if so, in what ways, his metaphysical results about identity and survival have consequences for rationality and morality. We will then turn to more recent developments in the literature, both associated with Eric Olson – (1) the rise of animalism, also known as the biological view of personal identity, and (2) his book What Are We?, which focuses on personal ontology rather than identity per se.
Spring 2013
Jump to: Springx 2013 Graduate Courses
101-2: Introduction to Philosophy
11:00-11:50 MWF
Messina
In this course, we will ask, and critically examine some influential answers to, a number of fundamental philosophical questions: How far does our knowledge extend? Can we even know that an external physical world exists? Just what is knowledge anyway? Are we free? What is the relationship between our minds and our bodies? Does God exist? When, if at all, should our beliefs be based on faith rather than evidence? What sorts of actions are morally right and what makes them so? In exploring answers to these philosophical questions, we will also consider answers to an arguably even more fundamental question: what is philosophy and what is its purpose? We will read and discuss a wide range of texts, including works by Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, Mill, James, Moore, and Ayer.
101-3: Introduction to Philosophy
2:30-3:45 TR
Bengson
This course will introduce students to some central problems of philosophy, and to their investigation. Topics include logic, personal identity, ethics, theory of knowledge, and philosophy of religion.
101-4: Introduction to Philosophy
9:30-10:45 TR
Sidelle
Philosophy is both an area, with its own questions and history of discussion of these questions – What is knowledge? What goes into making an action right or wrong? What is it to live a happy (good/worthwhile) life? What is it to act rationally? Can we ever be responsible for our behavior? What is it for a sign to have meaning? Is having a mind the same thing as having a brain? - as well as a certain critical way of looking at things, approaching issues, clarifying concepts, and evaluating positions and arguments. The methods philosophers use in generating and conducting investigation in their own particular subject matter, as well as many of the issues philosophers concern themselves with, can be relevant to all sorts of subject matters, which are not, of themselves, particularly philosophical. Drawing distinctions, identifying underlying assumptions, generating puzzles, coming up with arguments and evaluating them, seeing what a disagreement is really about, distinguishing the letter from the spirit of positions, are among the many tools of philosophy, which can be used in other areas not only in critical evaluation, but in seeing possible issues and questions to raise. In this course, we will look at some quite general and fundamental philosophical issues, as well as some that are more particular, such as the rationality of emotions. We will be particularly concerned to bring out various sorts of philosophical tools and distinctions which are relevant not only to philosophy, but to philosophical reflection or consideration about other areas, and also to see how philosophical assumptions or claims may be present even when one is not 'doing philosophy'.
101-5: Introduction to Philosophy
9:55-10:45 MWF
Shapiro
The goal of this class is to teach you how to think critically about fundamental issues. The issues we will discuss concern the justification for our claims to knowledge, the distinction between believing something for a reason and believing something on faith, the nature of mind and the possibility of free will and moral responsibility, and, finally, topics in political and ethical theory, including justice and euthanasia. Assignments include short papers and two exams. Class attendance is mandatory.
101-6: Introduction to Philosophy
11:00-12:15 TR
Gibson
The aim of this course is to introduce the student to philosophy, both the subject matter and the method. We will study some different areas in philosophy and the problems and questions addressed in those areas. But we will also study how philosophers go about answering these questions – what kinds of arguments they give, what reasons led them to their views. We will evaluate whether their arguments are good ones, and try to understand what work needs to be done to build adequate theories. The different areas of philosophy we will study include the following : Epistemology or the theory of knowledge which is concerned with questions about the nature and extent of Knowledge; Philosophy of Religion, where we will examine arguments for and against the existence of God; Ethics, where the focus will be on whether there really is such a thing as right or wrong, and if so, what makes something right or wrong; and finally, Free Will, where we will examine whether human beings can have free will if their actions are a part of the natural, causal order.
210-1: Reason in Communication
9:30-10:45 TR
Forster
This course is about critical thinking. Some forms of reasoning are more persuasive than others, but many persuasive forms of reasoning are fallacious. We will critically examine various patterns of reasoning (arguments) commonly used in newspaper editorials, political speeches, classrooms, courtrooms, and advertisements with the aim of discerning the difference between good and bad reasoning. This skill in critical thinking may also improve your argumentative writing. This is not a course in formal, or symbolic logic like 211 although there will be some very elementary symbolic logic. We will look at simple examples of causal and statistical reasoning as well moral, legal and aesthetic reasoning. For more information, browse through the required text: Critical thinking, 10th edition, by B.N. Moore and R. Parker, McGraw-Hill.
210-2: Reason in Communication
12:05 MWF
Lecturer
No description available
211-1: Elementary Logic
9:30-10:45 TR
Titelbaum
Suppose I say, "The cheese was in the fridge when you left. If no one removed the cheese, it's still in the fridge. I'm the only one who could've removed the cheese, and I didn't. So the cheese is still in the fridge." This argument concerning the whereabouts of the cheese contains some premises followed by a conclusion. The argument is structured so that if the premises are true, the conclusion is true as well. In this course we will represent arguments in symbols to reveal their structure, then study argumentative structures that guarantee a true conclusion from true premises. We will also learn how to prove that an argument with a particular structure is valid. The techniques we will learn are necessary for every area of contemporary philosophy, and are relevant to areas of economics, mathematics, computer science, rhetoric, and the law.
211-2: Elementary Logic
12:05 MWF
Vranas
A hotel manager put up a sign reading: "No one is permitted on these premises unless accompanied by a registered guest". Apparently the manager failed to realize that from he statement on the sign it follows that no unaccompanied registered guest is permitted on the premises! In general, the question of which statements follow from other statements is quite tricky. This course addresses this tricky question by (1) introducing a symbolic language into which one can translate a great many ordinary English sentences and almost all mathematical sentences, and by (2) using an automated proof procedure to show that certain sentences follow from other sentences.
211-3: Elementary Logic
11:00-12:15 TR
Mackay
This course is an introduction to formal logic, the study of valid reasoning. We will study methods for proving that an argument is either valid or invalid. Validity, as we will understand it, depends on the form of arguments rather than on their content; we will therefore work with a formal, symbolic language in which the form of sentences is made explicit. We will study both truth–functional and quantificational logic and use a deductive proof procedure for each.
241-1: Introductory Ethics
(fulfills category B requirement for the major)1:00-2:15 TR
Card
This course introduces students to ethical theory through key works by four of the most influential philosophers in the history of moral philosophy: John Stuart Mill (19thC), Immanuel Kant (18th C.), Aristotle (4th C. BCE), and Nietzsche (19th C.) with brief selections from such lesser lights as Jeremy Bentham and Bishop Joseph Butler and some contemporary reflections from feminist and African American philosophers. Questions addressed by these writers range from “What is the good life?” and “What is the difference between right and wrong?” to “Is everyone basically selfish?” and “What is the importance of ethics, anyhow?” Course objectives are to offer a solid foundation in ethical theory for students who may wish to do further work in this or a related area and to develop skills in ethical reasoning for everyone who takes the course. No prior philosophy is presupposed. There will be three bluebook essay exams (review questions distributed in advance).
241-2: Introductory Ethics
(fulfills category B requirement for the major)9:30-10:45 TR
Fletcher
In this course we will investigate the ethical dimension of human life. What makes an action right or wrong? What obligations do we have to other people or the community and what do we do when these obligations conflict? What makes someone a good or bad person? How do we make ethical judgments and can they be objective? We will examine three historically important theoretical approaches to ethics (virtue ethics, utilitarianism and Kantian ethics), as well as objections that have been raised against each of them.
341-1: Contemporary Moral Issues
(Writing Intensive)9:30-10:45 TR
Brighouse
The purpose of 341 is to acquaint students with rigorous forms of reasoning concerning live contemporary moral issues, and to help them develop the skills necessary to evaluate and intervene in public debates in a way that is intellectually honest and well-informed. This section of 341 focuses mainly on issues relating to childhood, family life, and education; among the issues we discuss are the morality of abortion; the permissible regulation of parenthood; cloning human beings for reproductive purposes; the morality of school choice; the morality of educational inequality, and whether parents should enroll their children in sports leagues(!). Attendance of discussion section is mandatory. Assessment of students’ work will be by papers, essay exams, and some short tests.
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues
12:05 MWF
Hunt
When are we justified in forcing people to do things that they might not want to do? In the first five weeks of this course, we will critically examine several "liberty–limiting principles" ideas which, if they are true, will tell us when it is right to use force. during the remainder of the course, we will apply these principles to contemporary issues in which the use of coercion is involved, including: abortion, gun ownership, legalizing drugs, the redistribution of wealth, and censoring hate speech. The point of the course will be to help the student to do his or her own thinking on these issues.
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues
11:00-12:15 TR
Hausman
This writing-intensive course will focus on four moral issues: surrogate motherhood, abortion, inequalities in wealth, income, health and opportunity, and (relatedly) government provision of health care. In addition, to provide some perspective, we will study some moral theory, and, to provide tools for developing and criticizing arguments, we will study a small amount of informal logic. Course requirements include two formal essays, a number of informal essays, a midterm and a final examination.
341 Lec. 93: Contemporary Moral Issues
9:55-10:45 MTWR
341 Lec. 95: Contemporary Moral Issues
11:00-11:50 MTWR
341 Lec. 96: Contemporary Moral Issues
12:05-12:55 MTWR
430: History of Ancient Philosophy
9:55-10:45 MWF
Gottlieb
Metaphysics and Epistemology in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle We’ll be studying in depth, and with close attention to the primary texts, ancient Greek philosophers’ answers to the following questions: What sorts of things are there in the world? Is a world of change consistent with a world of substances? What would be a satisfactory account of unity and diversity? What sort of knowledge, if any, can we have of the world in which we live? Why are reason and logic important? Why become a philosopher, and what’s the difference between the philosopher and the sophist? There will be three tutorials. Class participants will be asked to write a series of 1500- word essays answering specific and challenging questions on assigned texts or particular topics. They will then come in pairs to see the professor or TA for an hour or so, during which time they will read out and discuss their work. Grades will be awarded to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational.
432: History of Modern Philosophy
11:00-11:50 MWF
Nadler
We will study issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical theology in philosophy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Philosophers include Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
440: French Philosophy: Existentialism
1:00-2:15 TR
Southgate
Feeling like life is absurd, that existence is meaningless? Worried that you aren’t living authentically? Then a course in Existentialism is just what you need. Study the classic texts of this intellectual movement that expressed despondency about Western civilization, its decadence, and its values. Along the way you’ll meet the likes of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, and De Beauvoir.
454: Classical Philosophers
1:20-2:10 MWF
Gottlieb
Every human being wishes to lead a happy life, according to Aristotle, but what sort of life is a happy one? In this course we’ll consider Aristotle’s answers to the following questions (among others): What is happiness? Is happiness the same as pleasure? What qualities contribute to a happy life? Are courage, justice, generosity, truthfulness, friendliness and wit all needed to lead a happy life? If so, how are these acquired? Is a special mentality needed? Does it require a certain type of thinking and emotional life? Are friends needed? If so, what makes a good friend? What kind of society is necessary for human beings to be happy? The main text for the course will be Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (translated by T. H. Irwin), but we’ll also read other texts of Aristotle where these are pertinent. There will be ample opportunity for discussion. There will also be three tutorials. Class participants will be asked to write a series of 1500-word essays answering specific and challenging questions on assigned texts or particular topics. They will then come in pairs to see the professor for an hour or so, during which time they will read out and discuss their work. Grades will be awarded to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational. N.B. Students may take more than one 454 class provided the classes are on different topics.
464-1: Classical Philosophers: Spinoza
9:55-10:45 MWF
Nadler
We will spend the semester on a close study of the seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The focus will be on his two major works: the Ethics and the Theological-Political Treatise. Spinoza was the most radical philosopher of his time, and widely condemned by contemporary theologians, political leaders, and even fellow philosophers. We will concentrate on his metaphysics of God and Nature, his view of human nature, his moral and political philosophy, and his deflationary account of the Bible, miracles, and religion.
464-2: Classical Philosophers: German Idealism & Its Development
2:25-3:15 MWF
Messina
Initially attracting little notice, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason exploded like a bombshell on the philosophical landscape. This work led Moses Mendelssohn to describe Kant as “all-destroying.” He wasn’t exaggerating. The Critique of Pure Reason, along with the two other Critiques that Kant published shortly thereafter, dealt a devastating blow to traditional “dogmatic” philosophy, whose proponents thought, among other things, that it was possible to provide proofs of the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the reality of human freedom. In place of these (now quaint-sounding) pretensions, Kant offered a revolutionary critique of traditional metaphysical, epistemological, and methodological views. As with many catastrophic events, Kant’s “Critical philosophy” did not bring the philosophical world to a standstill. Instead, it set in motion an extraordinary flowering of philosophical activity in Germany. One of its hardiest fruits was German Idealism, a philosophical movement to which Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel belong. After reviewing the central themes in Kant’s Critical philosophy, and exploring some of the key philosophical episodes on the road to German Idealism, we will grapple with the German Idealists themselves. Our goals in this course are twofold: first, to determine how close the German Idealists’ views about metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical method are to Kant’s own; and second, to determine in what respects their views are still viable today.
481 Meets with 464-2
482 Meets with 454
503: Theory of Knowledge
(fulfills the category A requirement for the major)11:00-12:15 TR
Bengson
This is a course on the sources, scope, and limits of human knowledge. We will reflect on (for example) the challenges raised by philosophical skepticism, the nature of perception, and the role of knowledge in action.
504: Special Topics: Bayesian Epistemology
(Meets with Philosophy 903)1:00-2:15 MW
Titelbaum
Bayesian epistemology supposes that individuals assign degrees of confidence to propositions, that these degrees of confidence (or "degrees of belief") can be represented by numbers, and that if the individual is rational her degrees of belief will satisfy certain mathematical constraints. We will consider what degrees of belief are, how they relate to actions, what rational constraints Bayesians propose, and why we should believe those constraints are genuinely required. We will then apply Bayesian epistemology to better understand inductive reasoning, confirmation of hypotheses by evidence, and various puzzles and paradoxes. (Assignments include regular problem sets with both mathematical and philosophical questions. Prerequisites are Philosophy 211 or equivalent and a solid ability to work with high school-level algebra.)
511: Symbolic Logic
11:00-11:50 MWF
Vranas
This is a course about (not in) first-order logic: although the course starts with a review of first-order logic, the review is at an abstract level and presupposes knowledge of the mechanics of first-order logic (in gods”). The bulk of the course covers the main metalogical results, both positive (namely the soundness, completeness, compactness, and Lowenheim-Skolem theorems) and negative (namely Godel’s two incompleteness theorems). The emphasis is on understanding the results and becoming able to apply them, not in proving them. The course concludes with an examination of some philosophical implications of Godel’s incompleteness theorems.
516: Language and Meaning
(fulfills category A requirement for the major)4:00-5:15 TR
Mackay
The course will cover some of the main themes in the philosophy of language. The human ability to communicate information about the external world through language is remarkable and raises a number of philosophical questions. Topics to be considered include: what it is for a linguistic expression to be meaningful; how it could come about that a linguistic expression – which is at some level just an arbitrary group of sounds or symbols – could have a meaning; how both the mind and the external world interact with language to determine meaning; how speakers use and manipulate language in different settings to communicate different kinds of information; and the way in which the meaning of a term depends on context.
523: Philosophical Problems of Biological Sciences
2:30-3:45 MW
Pearce
Why does evolution happen? How do genes and environments shape organisms? What is the relationship between evolution and culture? This class—an introduction to the philosophy of biology—will examine these questions and more. We will begin with a historical introduction to evolution, reading several chapters of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Next, we will examine a set of philosophical questions about the process of evolution: e.g., the level (or levels) at which selection occurs, the role of chance and contingency, the contribution of internal and external factors, etc. We will then investigate some conceptual questions in biology more generally, from the reality of species to genetic reductionism. Finally, in the last part of the course, we will explore the connections between biology, psychology, culture, and ethics.
524: Philosophy and Economics
1:00-2:15 TR
Hausman
Is economics really a science, or are economists hired help that economic interests and political parties employ to produce rationales for policies designed to enrich one group or another? How is it possible for practitioners of what is purportedly an empirical science to be so clueless about what is actually going on in the economy as they were during the housing bubble? Why are there such violent disagreements, and why aren't they settled like other scientific disputes by experiments or observations? There are lots of things to be said in answer to these queries. Many have little to do with philosophy. But to understand how all this bears on the scientific credentials of economics and what we can expect of it, one needs to ask hard philoso¬phical questions concerning the nature of science and knowledge acquisition in general. That is our task this semester. Requirements include a midterm exam, a final examination, and two papers.
530: Freedom, Fate and Choice
(fulfills category A requirement for the major)2:30-3:45 TR
Gibson
This is a course on the freedom of the will. We will study the following: classic arguments from fatalism and determinism to the effect that human beings do not have free will; ‘compatibilist’ accounts of the freedom of the will which maintain that we can have free will even if past events and the laws of nature determine what we do; accounts of the freedom of the will which tie it to the agent’s ability to make rational decisions; whether is it possible to give an account of the freedom of the will that can account for all of the cases in which a person intuitively does not do what he does of his own free will— e.g., cases in which the impediment seems internal and psychological, (addiction or phobia) and cases in which the impediment seems external (coercion); do cases of coercion really count as cases in which a person does not do what she does of her own free will. We will study some classical philosophers —Descartes, Locke, Moore— but most of the material will be from more contemporary sources—Van Inwagen, David Lewis, P.F. Strawson, Rogers Albrittion, Gary Watson, Harry Frankfurt and others.
541: Modern Ethical Theories
(fulfills category B requirement for the major)9:30-10:45 TR
Steinberg
This course will cover several fundamental questions in ethics. Why should one be moral? What is the nature of value? Is morality objective (and, if so, in what sense)? What is the relationship between free will and moral responsibility?
543: Special Topics in Ethics
(fulfills category B requirement for the major)1:00-2:15 TR
Streiffer
Human Well-being and Environmental Ethics
This is a course for upper-level undergraduates. Much of the environmental ethics literature focuses on the related questions of whether nature has intrinsic value and whether humans have direct moral obligations to non-human entities, including plants, animals, species, ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole. Indeed, some have argued that for an ethic to truly be an environmental ethic just is for it to answer those questions in the affirmative. However, a growing number of philosophers are arguing that an anthropocentric (human-centered) ethic can justify environmental protections substantially equivalent to those justified by non-anthropocentric theories. This course focuses on anthropocentric environmental ethics approaches, with an emphasis on the connections between human well-being and the natural environment. We will study representative examples and defenses of these perspectives, consider the extent to which they overlap and converge with nonanthropocentric views on a practical agenda, and explore several related areas of applied ethics, including: environmental justice, sustainability and intergenerational justice, and global climate change.551: Philosophy of Mind
(fulfills category A requirement for the major)11:00-11:50 MWF
Shapiro
This course is a survey of classical and contemporary issues in philosophy of mind. Among these issues are: physicalism (is the mind composed of physical stuff? If not, what is it?); conscious experience (why is an analysis of consciousness so hard?); extended minds (can parts of a mind exist outside the head?) personal identity (are you the same individual who existed yesterday?); non–human animal minds (do they have them and how could we know?) and artificial intelligence (will computers ever be capable of thought?). Assignments will include a few papers (roughly 5pp. in length) and a final exam.
555: Political Philosophy
(fulfills category B requirement for the major)2:25-3:15 MWF
Hunt
This course will be an examination of the sort of liberalism that traces its lineage back to John Locke. This is a tradition that generally assumes that the basic question for political philosophy is whether the state is an institution that can be justified at all, and generally concludes that the only states that can be justified are ones that recognize limits on their just powers. Thus a just state must guarantee its subjects some measure of freedom. We will begin by spending two or three weeks reading Locke’s Second Treatise and possibly his essay on reforming the “poor laws.” We will then read Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia. We will end by reading various critics of Nozick or Locke, including Michael Otsuka and G.A. Cohen. Requirements of the course will include two papers (one about five pages long and the other about ten) and a final exam.
557: Issues in Social Philosophy (Justice Aims in Education)
1:20-3:20 M
Brighouse
This course concerns what values should guide educational institutions. It will involve a mix of ethics, political philosophy and careful consideration of how educational institutions do and can work. About a third of the course will be a crash course in the political philosophy and ethics that you need; some work on distributive justice, some work on democratic values, and some on personal flourishing. The rest of the course will ask questions first about compulsory (K through 12) education, and second about higher education (universities, colleges). Among the questions we shall address concerning compulsory education will be: should parents be permitted to send their children to religious schools?; should all schools be funded equally on a per pupil basis and, if not, how should the inequalities be designed?; should schools be expected to produce good democratic citizens (and if so, what does that mean?). Concerning higher education we shall ask why (if at all) governments should subsidize universities?; what would constitute a fair admissions system for selective undergraduate institutions; and, given the background unfairness that some children have more invested in their development than others, what could justify investing yet more in them through providing them with elite higher education? We shall read work by John Rawls, Richard Arneson, Elizabeth Anderson, Debra Satz, Eamonn Callan, and Amy Gutmann, among others, and, in the higher education segment, a brand new set of unpublished papers by leading contemporary philosophers. No special background in ethics, or political philosophy, or education policy, is required for this course, just a willingness to think about both philosophical and institutional questions. This class meets with a graduate class; it will be small, and in seminar format.
560: Metaphysics
(fulfills category A requirement for the major)1:00-2:15 TR
Sidelle
This class is an advanced introduction to various topics in metaphysics. We will look at classic readings on topics including the nature of physical objects, possible worlds, time, properties, causation, free will and personal identity. Among the questions we will consider are: When does some matter constitute a material object? How does material objects persist through time? Can more than one material object occupy a given place at the same time? Is there something special about the present? Or is time best objectively viewed from an ‘eternal’ position, standing outside of time? What is it for an object to have a property? How can multiple objects have the very same property at the same time? Are properties somehow ‘in’ objects? Or do they have an independent existence? What is it for one event to cause another? Can two possible worlds be exactly alike in their pattern of events, but differ in what causes what? Can free will co-exist with deterministic laws of nature? With any laws of nature at all? Under what conditions will we still be alive tomorrow? That is, what needs to be the case for one of the people living in the world tomorrow to be me? If I am a dualist, does it have to reside in sameness of the soul? If I am a materialist, does it have to reside in sameness of body, or brain?
581 Meets with 524
582 Meets with 560
830: Advanced Hist. of Philosophy (Plato’s Moral Psychology)
4:00-6:00 R
Fletcher
In this course we will study the nature and development of Plato’s moral psychology. Topics will include the structure of the soul, pleasure, pain, desire, the possibility of psychic conflict, moral character, and the immortality of the soul. What is the motivation for the division of the soul in the Republic? What is the relationship between the soul and the body? How do human souls differ from those of gods and other animals? What does the nature of the soul imply about the possibility of virtue and happiness? Primary readings will be drawn from Plato’s Phaedo, Gorgias, Republic, Phaedrus, Timaeus, Philebus and Laws.
903: Epistemology (Bayesian Epistemology)
(Meets with Philosophy 504)1:00-2:15 MW
Titelbaum
Bayesian epistemology supposes that individuals assign degrees of confidence to propositions, that these degrees of confidence (or "degrees of belief") can be represented by numbers, and that if the individual is rational her degrees of belief will satisfy certain mathematical constraints. We will consider what degrees of belief are, how they relate to actions, what rational constraints Bayesians propose, and why we should believe those constraints are genuinely required. We will then apply Bayesian epistemology to better understand inductive reasoning, confirmation of hypotheses by evidence, and various puzzles and paradoxes. (Assignments include regular problem sets with both mathematical and philosophical questions. Prerequisites are Philosophy 211 or equivalent and a solid ability to work with high school-level algebra.)
920: Philosophy of Science
3:30-5:30 M
Forster
In 2011, there were some dramatic new developments in the philosophy and foundations of quantum mechanics. The old debate between physicists Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein was about whether the world is deterministic. Developed after 1900, the new quantum theory gave only the probability of the occurrence of some events; Einstein favored a deterministic view of the world, and therefore thought that quantum mechanics is an incomplete description of the world. Bohr took the opposite view. The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) argument (1935) was a powerful argument for Einstein’s position. Thanks to Bell’s famous argument of 1964, we now know that the weakness of the EPR argument is that it assumes locality (no-action-at-a-distance) as a premise, whereas if quantum mechanics is correct, the world is non-local. Therefore the EPR argument is unsound. The new results of 2011 (see references below) continue to turn the table against Einstein by arguing that quantum mechanics provides a complete description of reality. These arguments have assumptions, but they do not assume anything about locality, and their assumptions seem be surprising weak and reasonable. The seminar will be naturally divided into two halves. The first half will present background material about the Bohr-Einstein debate, the EPR argument, and Bell’s famous argument, as well as simplified versions of Bell’s argument. Bell’s argument is a reduction ad absurdum argument against a common sense metaphysical view of the world (called local realism), so you don’t need to know anything about quantum physics or even physics to understand the arguments. The second half of the seminar will be devoted to understanding the new 2011 results. This is harder because these results do presuppose some understanding of quantum mechanics. An introduction for beginners will be presented in class. Those students who already find the first half material new and sufficiently challenging may write all their assignments on that material.
Recent Literature:
Colbeck, Roger and Renato Renner (2012): “Is a System’s Wave Function in One-to-One Correspondence with Its Elements of Reality?” Physical Review Letters 108, 150402.
Pusey, Matthew F., Barrett, Jonathan, and Terry Rudolph (2012): “On the reality of the quantum state,” Nature Physics 8, 476 – 478.941-1: Ethics (New Work in Metaethics)
4:00-6:00 T
Shafer-Landau
In this seminar we will consider recent work in moral epistemology, moral metaphysics, and moral reasons in an effort to assess new trends in metaethics.
941-2: Ethics (Kant & Kantian Ethics)
1:15-3:15 W
Card
This seminar will focus on selected major texts mainly in the normative ethics of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), most of which are contained in the Cambridge edition: Kant, Practical Ethics, ed. Mary J. Gregor, but also including Bk I (on evil) of his Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone and selected lectures from his Lectures on Ethics (e.g. on lying). We will also read at least one contemporary interpreter of Kant (perhaps Allen Wood, Kantian Ethics) and at least one contemporary philosopher whose own work has been profoundly influenced by Kant's ethics (perhaps Barbara Herman, Moral Literacy). I may also put together a Reader of articles on various aspects of Kant's ethics. Students can expect to present about 2 short papers in class for discussion (how many may depend somewhat on the enrollment) and turn in a longer paper (about 15 pages) on or near the last class. In this seminar, we will work to identify both insights and weaknesses in Kant's ethics, both of which we can learn from. I ask that students put away all electronic devices (including computers) during class time. Please obtain hardcopies (as opposed to e-books) of the texts that we will focus on. I encourage lots of discussion, both with me and among yourselves, during seminar meetings.