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Spring 2013 (current)
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Spring 2013
Jump to: Spring 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. 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.
243: Ethics in Business
1:10-3:50 MTWRF
Hunt
Profit-seeking business as we now know it came into existence after centuries of moral thinking which looked askance at any activity which is aimed solely at material gain. It is not surprising that some people think that most business activity is somewhat shady, while others think that business takes place in a peculiar world of its own where distinctions between right and wrong can have no meaning at all. In this course we will rethink our moral assumptions and apply them to business as it is actually done. We will discuss the moral legitimacy of corporate enterprise, the moral arguments for various sorts of business regulation, and some of the difficult decisions which people in business must sometimes face. Readings for the course illustrate and clarify the issues covered in the course. Course requirements will include two written essays and a final exam.
101/201: Introduction to Philosophy
8:55 - 11:35 MTWR
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.
141: The Meaning of Life
8:55 - 11:35 MTWR
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: Reason in Communication
1:10 - 03:50 MTWR
Vranas
Paraphrasing H. G. Wells, the president of the American Statistical Association said in 1951: "Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write". That day has long arrived, but most people are still unfamiliar with statistical thinking and are confused by probabilities. This course provides students with the tools that they need to evaluate and use probabilistic and statistical reasoning. The course also deals with reasoning about causes and effects, and provides a brief introduction to formal logic.
211: Elementary Logic
8:55 - 11:35 MTWR
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.
304: Topics in Philosophy (The Greatest Debate: Science and Religion)
7:00 - 09:00 TR
Shapiro
Science and religion have a long history of antagonism. As science chips away at questions once thought to demand religious answers (the origins of the universe, the creation of life), religion has responded with a list of phenomena purportedly inexplicable by scientific means (consciousness, free will, morality), or has sought to place religious dogma in a scientific framework (intelligent design theory, the historicity of the resurrection and other miracles). This course will consider a number of topics in which science and religion face off, e.g. the origin of species, morality, consciousness, miracles, immortality, and will assess the strengths of the opposing positions. We will also consider whether these debates must have winners and losers, or whether diverging scientific and religious answers might not be in competition after all. Renowned researchers from with the UW system and elsewhere will be invited to present their views on these topics.
341: Contemporary Moral Issues
8:55 - 11:35 MTWR
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.
241: Introductory Ethics
1:10 - 03:50 MTWR
Steinberg
In deciding how to act, we frequently guide ourselves by principles, which forbid or require various kinds of action. Moral philosophy is the attempt to systematically explore a number of questions which arise in connection with such principles. We may ask, for example: What is it for a principle to be a moral principle? Is morality a matter of personal or cultural preference? Is God the source of morality? Why should I be moral? Is there any way for us to know what one ought to do in a given circumstance? We also ask questions related to how we ought to conduct ourselves, like whether it’s morally permissible to eat meat or whether capital punishment is ever justified. This course will examine several of these questions and the answers suggested by various moral philosophers.
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.
101-3: 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
1:00-2:15 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
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.
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
9:55-10:45 MWF
Nadler
An introduction to the problems and methods of philosophy through the reading of classic and contemporary philosophical works and the discussion of questions about reality, knowledge, and value. The course is centered around seven topics: the examined life; the theory of knowledge; ethics; metaphysics and philosophy of mind; freedom and will; the existence of God; and life, death, and immortality. Readings include Plato, Epictetus, Descartes, Kant, Hume, Sartre and others.
104: Spec. Topics in Philos for Freshmen: Children, Marriage & Family
9:30-10:45 TR
Brighouse
This course examines the ethical questions surrounding family life. Most of us grow up in families, and the general arrangement seems familiar. One or two adults share a home with one or more children until the children reach the age of 18 or so and then leave to start a life that is more or less independent. The adults care for, and guide, the children, oversee their education, and share various aspects of their own lives – their religious practices, their enthusiasms and dislikes and, perhaps their politics. With luck and judgment the children become able to function in society more or less independently, and without harming other people too much. Here are just three of the topics we’ll discuss:
1. Should parents be licensed?
As it stands, if you want to adopt a child you have to undergo very rigorous and intrusive testing. But if you want to have a child naturally, there are no requirements at all. As a society we just abandon naturally born children to whoever happened to be reckless enough to have sex without contraception. Why don’t we require people to show that they are actually capable of raising a child? We require them to show they can drive a car before letting them loose on the roads.
2. Should the government promote marriage?
What is the best way of raising a child? Often we try to answer that question just by looking at the social science evidence. But determining what is “best” involves value judgments and trade offs between values, and it is only once we know what values are at stake that we know what evidence is relevant. Some children are raised by two parents of different sexes. But others are raised by just one parent. Most American children, in fact, are living with just one of their original parents by the age of 18. yet others by two of the same sex. Should society allow same-sex couples, or single parents, to raise children? Why?
3. How much should parents control their children’s values?
Normally, children attend the church their parent chooses, or, if their parent is not a church-goer, none at all. But why should parents have that sort of control over their children: the kind of control that shapes the values and choices the child will have for the rest of their lives? Some religious communities keep their children out of public schools where they would be exposed to other ideas, and some keep them out of school altogether. Should society allow that? Should it even, as happens in most of Europe, support and fund religious schools?
This is a class in moral philosophy. But it is different from most Philosophy classes, in two ways. First, we shall be looking at a series of issues concerning about a very specific area of morality; the issues concerning children, parents, and family life, asking what moral norms or values ought to guide both public policy and personal behavior, and asking also how those norms should guide. So it is very tightly focused on issues that you ought, already, to have thought about. The second way it differs from most philosophy classes is that we shall be reading a good deal of non-philosophical literature. In order to reflect critically on the norms and values relevant to the family we have actually to know something about the family: what families have actually been like and what they actually are like, as well as about their effects on the social environment. I selected the companion classes within the FIG for this purpose. So in Sociology 120 you will learn about how our society structures family life, what the effects are of different forms of family on children, and how families affect other people. In Ed Psych 320 you will learn about how children develop psychologically, and what kinds of risks they face growing up. We’ll integrate what you learn in those classes into our discussions and we will also, cover some of the same material within this class, where we shall discuss it in a different way and with different aims than in the companion classes.
The class involves reading, a little lecturing, and a lot of discussion. I am not going to tell you what you should think about the issues: I am going to raise questions and perspectives you haven’t thought about before, and help you to reflect on them carefully and critically. The new ideas you encounter will stretch your imaginations, will also help you to think better about some of the central decisions in your life, like whether to have children, how to raise them, whether to marry (and if so, who you should choose!). We’ll form a community of learners – you will get to know your classmates, you will discover that even within a small class students have had very different experiences of family life, and you will get to understand and reflect on their perspectives. No prior exposure to Philosophy is needed; and most students find, to their surprise, that they want to take at least another course on the same kinds of issues.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.
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
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
9:55-10:45 MWF
Staff
No description yet
241-1: Introductory Ethics (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
11:00-12:15 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)
9:55-10:45 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 and how should we live up to them? To answer these questions we shall examine 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)
12:05-12:55
Staff
No description yet
304: Special Topics in Humanities: Death
11:00-11:50 MWF
Nadler/Shafer-Landau
An examination of the topic of death from a variety of philosophical perspectives (supplemented by literary and artistic material). We will examine metaphysical questions about the nature of the human being (especially the relationship between mind/soul and body), epistemological questions about the end of life, and ethical and normative issues raised by our mortality, the relevance of death for the meaning of life. Readings include classic philosophical works by Plato, Seneca, Epictetus, Lucretius, Spinoza, and Sartre, and writings by contemporary philosophers.
341-1: Contemporary Moral Issues
1:00-2:15 TR
Staff
No description yet
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues
11:00-12:15 TR
Hausman
This writing intensive course focuses on four contemporary moral issues: surrogate motherhood, abortion, income and wealth inequalities, and health care. In order to address those issues, it also provides a fragmentary introduction to ethical theorizing and to informal logic. There will be two essays with opportunities for revision, a midterm and a final examination. This lecture does not count toward the Comm-B requirement.
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues
12:05-12:55 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
9:55-10:45 MWF
Staff
No description available
341: Contemporary Moral Issues (Lec. 91)
9:55-10:45 MTWR
Staff
No description available
341: Contemporary Moral Issues (Lec. 92)
11:00-11:50 MTWR
Staff
No description available
341: Contemporary Moral Issues (Lec. 93)
12:05-12:55 MTWR
Staff
No description available
341: Contemporary Moral Issues (Lec. 94)
9:55-10:45 MTWR
Staff
No description available
430: History of Ancient Philosophy
9:30-10:45 TR
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
9:55-10:45 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. The scientific revolution, which was closely associated with the so-called mechanical philosophy, raised troubling philosophical questions about free will, the mind-body relationship, God’s place in nature, the sources and limits of knowledge, the ultimate nature of reality, and the proper analysis of some concepts that were central to the new science. The philosophers we will study in this class struggled to clearly formulate and answer these questions.
433: 19th Century Philosophers
1:00-2:15 TR
Southgate
The purpose of this survey in nineteenth century philosophy is to explore the developments (the rise, and fall) of three ideas that were closely connected for post-Kantian philosophers: autonomy, unity, and history. Kant had put the notion of autonomy in thought and action at the forefront of his philosophy. To many of his immediate successors, however, Kant failed to secure the conditions of meaningful self-legislation because of the dualism and formalism of his system: Kant's oppositions between duty and sentiment, on the one hand, and sensibility and understanding, on the other, seemed at odds with the unity of the self presupposed by practical and theoretical agency; and Kant's universal system of human reason struck many as an empty formalism, out of touch with the historical and social conditions of agency. This course will take you through some of the great responses to (and criticisms of) the legacy of autonomy bequeathed by Kant, from his contemporaries to Nietzsche. The course begins with an overview of Kant's Critical philosophy and his essays on history. We then consider how Hegel developed and expanded upon Kant's insights to argue for a thoroughly socialized, historicized, but non-relativist account of reason's development. Key Hegelian texts will be the Phenomenology of Spirit, the Encyclopedia Logic, the Philosophy of History, and the Aesthetics. Like Kant before him, Hegel's system-building attracted a host of detractors. We begin with Marx (in The German Ideology), who opposed his dialectical materialism to Hegel's purportedly "abstract" dialectical idealism to account for humankind's historical development. Next, we turn to Kierkegaard (reading sections of Fear and Trembling and Concluding Unscientific Postscript), who voices the concern that Hegel's system excludes the individual, rendering it insignificant to the great march of history. We conclude with Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morality), who questions not only basic assumptions of Kant's Enlightenment project of autonomy, but also the very ideas of morality and the historical progress of rational agency.
454: Classical Philosophers: (Plato on Pleasure and Desire)
2:30-3:45 TR
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.
481: Meets with 501
482: Meets with 555
501: Philosophy of Religion (fulfills the Category A requirement for the major)
1:00-2:15 TR
Steinberg
Focusing on Western religious tradition, we will explore some of the major philosophical issues pertaining to religion. We'll discuss various arguments for and against God's existence, paying special attention to what properties are traditionally ascribed to God. We will also consider issues related to whether we ought to believe in miracles and whether we could survive (bodily) death. We'll end with a discussion of the relationship between science (e.g., evolutionary theory) and religion.
502: Spec. Topic: Philosophy of Religion: Kierkegaard
11:00-12:15 TR
Bengson
Kierkegaard is one of the most important, but also overlooked, philosophers of the 19th century. His ideas have influenced contemporary debates in analytic ethics and philosophy of religion as well as key Continental thinkers and theologians. This course will take a critical, analytic approach to Kierkegaard's philosophical work. A prominent theme will be his distinction between three basic existential categories -- the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious -- and various arguments concerning their relation (for example, is one superior to the others?). We will also examine Kierkegaard's theory of the self, notions of inwardness and subjectivity, varieties of despair and their ontological and ethical significance, and view of the relation between faith and reason. Readings will be drawn from Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, The Sickness Unto Death, and Concluding Unscientific Postscript, as well as from recent secondary literature.
503: Theory of Knowledge (fulfills the category A requirement for the major)
2:30-3:45 TR
Titelbaum
We will survey epistemology by focusing on three problems that are currently "hot" in the field. Readings will be from academic articles written by contemporary philosophers. Topics covered will include: knowledge (what does it take to know something?), justification (how can our beliefs be justified?), skepticism (do we know a material world exists?), closure (do I know anything that's entailed by what I know?), internalism vs. externalism (does the justification of my beliefs depend on anything besides my other beliefs?), and disagreement (should any two people with the same evidence draw the same conclusion?). Previous experience reading and writing philosophical papers is required.
522-1: Special Topics: Philosophy of Physics: The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics
4:00-5:15 TR
Forster
This course is an introduction to topics in contemporary philosophy that are challenged by the fact that our world is quantum mechanical. Quantum mechanics is a theory about the behavior of atomic sized objects, which Einstein had a part in developing in 1905, but later came to view as an incomplete theory of the world. Quantum mechanics correctly predicts many strange phenomena that challenge some of our naïve metaphysical assumptions about the world. We will examine which metaphysical views are challenged, and exactly how they are challenged. We shall also ask which view, such as global physicalism or relational holism, that should replace our naïve views. In epistemology, quantum mechanical phenomena challenge a potentially powerful method of reasoning known as the principle of common cause. The principle of common cause postulates the existence of common causes to explain correlated events. We will look at this principle in detail and examine the strength of the arguments for and against it. Styer (2000) (The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge University Press) will be used as a non-mathematical introduction to these strange quantum mechanical phenomena. No prior knowledge of quantum mechanics is required.
522-2: Special Topics
1:20-2:10 MWF
Messina
During the 17th and 18th centuries, there was no sharp divide between physics and philosophy. Those we think of today as physicists, like Galileo and Newton, didn’t simply offer scientific theories of the motion of terrestrial and celestial bodies; they also raised and attempted to answer deep philosophical questions about space, time, and motion. Conversely, those we think of today as philosophers, like Descartes, Berkeley, Leibniz, and Kant, didn’t simply confine themselves to narrowly philosophical questions; they also attempted to make contributions to physics. In this class, we will be exploring the interplay between physics and philosophy during the early modern period. We will touch on the scientific theories of motion offered by these figures, but we will focus on making sense of and evaluating their answers to tough metaphysical, conceptual, and epistemological questions about space, time, and motion: Just what are these things and how can we know them?
523: Philosophical Problems of Biological Sciences
2:30-3:45 TR
Sober
This course will examine a range of philosophical questions concerning the theory of evolution. We’ll begin with a quick review of what evolutionary theory is, and a consideration of the debate between evolutionary biology and creationism / intelligent design. Then we’ll discuss questions concerning fitness, adaptationism, the units of selection, and systematics. We’ll also consider whether there are laws in evolutionary biology and whether biology is “reducible” to physics. Finally, we’ll consider the bearing of evolutionary theory on the question of whether there is such a thing as “human nature,” the relevance of evolutionary theory to explaining features of human mind, behavior, and culture, and the relevance of evolutionary theory to ethical questions.
541: Modern Ethical Theories (fulfills the Category B requirement for the major)
12:05 MW
Streiffer
This course is for upper-level undergraduates. It is an in-depth study of modern ethical theories, focusing on the following specific topics: (1) the status of morality; (2) the reasons for being moral; (3) value theory; (4) moral responsibility; (5) moral standing; (6) consequentialism; (7) and deontology.
543: Aesthetics (fulfills the Category B requirement for the major)
2:25 MWF
Hunt
In this course we will discuss a broad range of philosophical issues raised by film, mainly working out of an anthology of readings, Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures, ed. By Noel Carroll and Jinhee Choi (Blackwell’s, 2005). We will focus on fundamental issues about the definition of film, whether it is actually possible for films to be art, and the nature of film as an art form (supposing that is what it is), as well as the contribution (if any) that fiction film might make toward the improvement of human character and understanding. We will also view several classic films in the class, mainly as illustrations of the philosophical essays we will be reading. We will be asking students to keep the time slot of Monday, 7:00–10:00 pm open for this purpose. Required work for the course will include three short papers (which will focus either on discussing philosophical issues or on interpreting films) and a final exam (on the assigned readings for the course).
554: Philosophy of the Artificial Sciences
1:20-2:10 MWF
Shapiro
The advent of computers in the mid-Twentieth Century suggested to some researchers the possibility of building machines that could think. In fact, Alan Turing, a foundational figure within computer science, predicted in 1950 that by the year 2000 intelligent machines would exist. He was wrong. Much of this class will be dedicated to figuring out why he was wrong. Are present-day computers simply not powerful enough to produce artificial intelligence? Are the programs they run flawed? Or, as some philosophers argue, are symbolic processes just not the stuff of which intelligence is made? If symbolic processes are inadequate, what is necessary for intelligence? Following our discussions of artificial intelligence, we will examine the claim that cognitive processes are not purely biological, but instead extend beyond the brain and out into the world. Finally, we’ll turn to related topics in the philosophy of artificial life. By what criteria should something be judged to be alive, and can life be manufactured on a computer? Assignments include 3 papers and a final exam.
555: Political Philosophy (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
4:00-5:15 TR
Brighouse
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a range of contemporary thinking about topics in political philosophy. We shall focus on contemporary theories of justice, and, in the first part of the course, shall read John Rawls’s restatement of his influential theory of justice as fairness. Then we shall look at a series of alternative views including libertarianism, communitarianism, a liberal group rights approach and look at a form of conservatism. We'll then look at a series of more policy-oriented issues mainly concerning equality of opportunity, including how higher education should be funded, the role of markets in education, and the distribution of the costs of rearing children. The class is run through a combination of lecture and discussion, and you will be expected to write three papers, participate in online discussions, and in the second half of the semester groups will make in class presentations.
556: Topics-Feminism & Philosophy
2:30-3:45 TR
Card
I understand "feminism" very broadly as a movement (historically, several movements) to mitigate and ideally end the oppression of women and girls. This course will select topics mainly in ethics and social-political philosophy, to include issues selected from such topics as rape, stalking, domestic violence, same-sex relationship issues, feminist and lesbian separatism, war and military service, as well as more abstract concerns regarding justice and care in feminist ethics. I expect readings to be from selected classics (pre-1950, a few), from the Second Wave (1970s) of feminism, and from more recent materials (emphasis here), with a heavy dose of my own work. My approach is an eclectic combination of radical and liberal feminisms. But I have not yet decided on texts (will do that this summer, so check Student Center from time to time). The course will not be a survey of feminist philosophy and will emphasize issues rather than writers. Written assignments will be mostly short papers (Writing Intensive and with the assistance of Writing Fellows), with a possible mid-term essay exam and the threat of a final exam for those who do not do the required number of papers on time or have a grade average below "BC".
560: Metaphysics (fulfills category A requirement for the major)
11:00-12:15 TR
Sidelle
Persons and Essence
In this course, we will look at some traditional metaphysical issues in contemporary garb. In the first part of the class (‘Persons’), we will look at the problem of personal identity through time - Each of you was once in the first grade: What makes it true that that first grader has persisted, is not dead? Under what conditions does a person continue, or cease, to exist? Various things of importance seem to hinge on facts about personal identity: desert or punishment for some earlier deed seems to require that you – not someone else – performed that deed. We seem to have special concern for our own future selves, but not necessarily for others. It seems to be irrational for me to do things that will make things worse for myself later on, like gambling away my retirement money, but if I do this with your money, it seems not irrational, but instead immoral. We will focus on theories of personal identity, and then move to Derek Parfit’s challenge to the ties between personal identity and these other matters that seem to depend upon it. We will look at Eric Olsen’s recent work, which argues, against prevalent psychological views, that persons are essentially animals. In the second part of the class, ('Essence'), we will study the 'new essentialism' as presented in Saul Kripke's Naming and Necessity. While Philosophy has often been identified with the study of the essences - the necessary properties of things - for most of the 20th century, all claims about essences were viewed as either misleading ways of talking about the definitions of words, or as simply mistaken. But Kripke’s work completely reoriented this thought with his seeming discovery of necessary a posteriori truths. Are there truths about the essences of things, and other necessary truths, which are not simply true by definition? We will look at some candidates, and think about the nature of necessity and essence.581: Meets with 560
582: Meets with 522-2
830: Advanced Hist. of Philosophy (Aristotle’s Ethics)
1:15-3:15 F
Gottlieb
J. S. Mill praised Aristotle for his “judicious utilitarianism”, recent commentators on Aristotle have tried to find a rapprochement between Aristotle and Kant, and modern virtue ethicists have called their approach to ethics “Aristotelian”. Are any of these philosophers right? The aim of this course is to see what is distinctive about Aristotle’s approach to ethics and to consider the advantages of such an approach. In particular, we will consider the way in which the good Aristotelian person has both virtues of character which involve the emotions, and virtues of thought which involve a certain type of reasoning. What are these virtues, what is their justification, how are they acquired, and how are they linked together? Is it right to divide them up in the way I have described? Is Aristotle describing an impossible ideal or a real person? What is the motivation of the good person and can it correctly be described as moral or aesthetic if good people aim at their own happy and pleasant life? Does the good person aim at the common good? Why is friendship important, and how do the Aristotelian virtues relate to society in general?
The main text for the course will be Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, but we’ll also read passage from his other works in ethics, politics, psychology and biology, where these are pertinent. Secondary reading will include some classic articles and very recent work in the field. The primary texts are most important. These are short, but require careful reading.
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. 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.902: Proseminar
4:00-6:00 T
Gibson
No description yet.
951-1: Philosophy of Mind (Agency and Practical Rationality)
2:00-4:00 M
Paul
This seminar will begin by covering the recent history of philosophical work on the nature of action, tailored to the familiarity the participants bring in. The philosophy of action takes up questions like the following: (1) what makes an event (e.g. a bodily movement, or a causal consequence thereof) an intentional action, as opposed to a mere happening? (2) What is an agent? What capacities must one have to be autonomous or self-determining? (3) Does action have a "constitutive aim" -- a goal that is internal to the nature of action? Readings would include seminal work on the answers to these questions by Donald Davidson, G.E.M. Anscombe, Harry Frankfurt, Michael Bratman, J. David Velleman, Michael Thompson, Kieran Setiya, and Christine Korsgaard. The second part of the course would focus on contemporary discussions on the nature of practical reason and rationality. Is there such a thing as "practical inference?" What is the conclusion of practical reasoning -- an action, as Aristotle seems to have thought, or a mental state such as an intention? What are the requirements of practical rationality, and why should we care about them? Joseph Raz and Niko Kolodny have argued that the putative requirements of practical rationality are a myth, and that we have no special reason to have intrinsic concern for the coherence and consistency of one's own attitudes. Can anything more be said in favor of practical rationality than this? And if there are such requirements, do any of them apply diachronically rather than synchronically, enjoining patterns of attitudes over time rather than merely at a time?
955-1: Seminar: Health, Well-Being and Cost Effectiveness
4:00-6:00 M
Hausman
This proposed seminar will be concerned with (a) the concept of health, (b) the nature of well-being, (c) the value of health and its contribution to well-being, (d) measuring health (or its value), and (e) employing measurements of health to judge the cost-effectiveness of alternative health policies. Much of the seminar will focus on a new book manuscript by Hausman tentatively titled Health, Well-Being, and Cost Effectiveness. Other readings will include works on the concept of health, including especially Christopher Boorse’s views, works on well-being including especially works by Griffin, Sumner, Kraut, Scanlon, Sen, and Nussbaum, and works on health and its determinants philosophers such as Brock, Broome, and Daniels and by health economists and demographers such as Marmot, Dolan, and Nord.