Current and Upcoming Courses
Spring 2012 (current)
Summer 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2012
Jump to: Spring 2012 Graduate Courses
101-2 Introduction to Philosophy
11:00 MWF
Lecturer
No description available.
101-3 Introduction to Philosophy
1:00-2:15 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.
101-4 Introduction to Philosophy
9:30-10:45 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
9:55 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
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
12:05 MWF
Lecturer
No description available
210-3 Reason in Communication
4:30-5:45 TR
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 the 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)
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).
241-2 Introductory Ethics (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
8-9:15 TR
Lecturer
No description available
243 Ethics in Business
12:05 MWF
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.
304-1 Topics in Philosophy: Humanities : The Meaning of Life
12:05 MWF
Anderson
This course investigates the various dimensions of a meaningful life. Being happy? What is happiness? What role does morality play in a meaningful life? Is belief in God necessary? Setting goals? Achieving goals? Or is life just not meaningful at all? These are some of the questions we will investigate through both historical and contemporary readings. By permission of the instructor only. Contact me at jcander1@wisc.edu.
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
Lecturer
No description available
341-3 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
Lec. 93 9:55 MTWR
Lec. 94 9:55 MTWR
Lec. 95 11:00 MTWR
Lec. 96 12:05 MTWR
430 History of Ancient Philosophy
9:55 MWF
Gottlieb
Metaphysics and Epistemology in Ancient Greek Philosophy
We'll be studying in depth, and with close attention to the primary texts, ancient Greek philosophers' attempts to answer 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 instructor 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
11-12:15 TR
Gibson
In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were an unusual number of very important and influential philosophers. In this course, we will focus on the Empiricist philosophers Locke, Berkeley, and Hume; the Rationalist philosophers Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz; and finally on Immanuel Kant. We will read primary texts and will study such metaphysical issues as the nature of substance, the will, knowledge, causality, perception, and truth. Because of the number of important philosophers in this period, the course will involve a lot of reading and writing. There will be take-home essay exams which require the student to present and analyze the philosopher's arguments.
433 19th Century Philosophers
2:30-3:45 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 (Aristotle's Ethics)
12:05 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 kind of thinking needed? What sort of emotional life is required? Are friends needed? If so, what makes a good friend? What kind of society is necessary for human beings to be happy?
464-2 Classical Philosophers: Spinoza
9:55 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.
464-3 Classical Philosophers: Nietzsche
2:30-3:45 TR
Soll
Since his death in 1900 the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, has exerted a considerable influence upon the intellectual and artistic the life of Europe and the Americas. An impressive array of prominent intellectuals in philosophy and a number of other disciplines, writers, and even artists have been deeply influenced by their encounter with his work.
In this course we shall consider some of Nietzsche's most central and controversial ideas, such as his theory of "the will to power," that human behavior is fundamentally motivated by considerations of power rather than of pleasure and the avoidance of pain; that we can and should evaluate things, actions, and people in a way that transcends the moral point of view; and that "God is dead." To do this, we shall study a number of his works: The Birth of Tragedy, The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, and The Genealogy of Morals. Because of their considerable length, we shall concentrate our discussions upon the more important sections and passages.
These are some of the major themes of the course:
1. Nietzsche's Unifying Project
Nietzsche's work, though infamously aphoristic and unsystematic in its presentation, actually represents the sustained and tenacious pursuit of a coherent philosophic project: to understand how human existence, which unavoidably involves considerable suffering and lacks any intrinsic meaning, can still be worth living. Nietzsche seeks this understanding in order to be able to advocate the affirmation of life as a coherent attitude rather than as a mystery that transcends rational comprehension.
2. Nietzsche's Philosophy of Attitude
In developing this thesis about Nietzsche's work, I shall have recourse to a straightforward, but neglected, distinction between (1) philosophers whose ultimate aim is the advocacy of certain judgments, propositions, or theories, and (2) those whose ultimate aim is the inculcation of certain desirable attitudes. The ultimate aim of Nietzsche's philosophy is the inculcation of certain desirable attitudes toward life. It also points to the possibility of better understanding a number of other historically important thinkers as being primarily inculcators of desirable attitudes rather than advocates of purportedly true propositions, and to the legitimacy and value of a philosophy of this sort
3. Nietzsche's Psychological Transformation of Philosophy
Nietzsche developed a novel and useful method for approaching philosophical issues, which consisted in transforming the traditional issues into corresponding psychological meta-issues. Instead of trying just to answer the traditional question, by trying to determine which of the competing answers is true or most plausible, he tends to ask what is it about each of the various views under consideration that makes it attractive or unattractive to embrace, apart from the evidence for and against it. This idea calls for a radical transformation of much of our philosophical and intellectual method.
This course could serve as an introduction to Nietzsche's work for those who are unfamiliar with it. The course could also serve to expand the limited amount of exposure to Nietzsche that one has by reading just one or two of his works in a course on ethics by placing these works in the context of his entire philosophic enterprise.
There will be two take home exercises and a final.
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481 meets with 520
482 meets with 555
503 Theory of Knowledge (fulfills the category A requirement for the major)
1:00-2:15 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.
512 Methods of Logic
11:00 MWF
Vranas
If mathematicians are necessarily rational but cyclists are not, is an individual who is both a mathematician and a cyclist necessarily rational or not? This is just one of the numerous puzzles associated with the notions of necessity and possibility, the notions that form the subject of modal logic. This course is a continuation of Philosophy 211 (Elementary Logic) and presupposes thorough familiarity with 211. The main object of the course is to enable students to (1) translate into logical notation English arguments involving the notions of necessity and possibility, and to (2) easily determine whether the translated arguments are valid or not. There is also a lot of philosophical discussion of issues related to modal logic. Detailed information about the course is available at http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/vranas/web/teaching.htm
520 Philosophy of Natural Sciences (fulfills category A requirement for the major)
4:00-5:15 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.
523 Philosophical Problems of Biological Sciences
2:30-3:45 TR
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
524 Philosophy and Economics
1:00-2:15 TR
Hausman
This course will be divided between two general topics, economic methodology (with special reference to the question of why economists did not anticipate the near collapse of the financial system and the economic dislocations that followed) and welfare economics (with special emphasis on the practical usefulness of cost-benefit analysis as a tool to guide policy). Readings will include articles collected in a course reader and Hausman's Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology and Hausman and McPherson's Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy, and Public Policy.
530 Freedom, Fate and Choice (fulfills category A requirement for the major)
9:30-10:45 TR
Stampe
We will begin with Fatalism. It is a truth of logic that You will necessarily either sign up for this course or not do so: and that was true ten thousand years ago; so whether you do sign up or not, it was true ten thousand years ago that you would, or would not. So the matter is out of your hands. What's wrong with that reasoning? Are the same things wrong with modern doubts about whether it is ever up to us what we do? These doubts are based upon Determinism -not a truth of logic, but a claim about the nature of natural law-- and a view of our place in the natural order of things. Does it not follow, logically, from the laws of nature, and the way things were ten thousand years ago, that you would sign up for this course, if you do, or not, if you don't; and that you therefore have no control over the matter? In any case, more recent physics says that the premise, Determinism, is not true. That would loosen the iron grip of the past upon our choices, but wouldn't it loosen our own grip upon them as well, so much that it is not our fault that we happen to make the choices we make?
If we can pry ourselves out of the iron grip of this dialectic --or even if we can't-- we will devote the bulk of the course to accounts of the freedom of the will that are not jeopardized by either Determinism or Indeterminism. We will consider whether any of these views vindicate our notion that we are morally responsible for some of the things we do, and what moral responsibility is in any case, and what its presuppositions actually are.
Much of the reading will be of standard texts on the topic, including bits of Aristotle, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Moore; and van Inwagen, Lewis, Albritton, Strawson, Frankfurt, all included in the Oxford readings textfor the course, Free Will. Parts or all of a long manuscript of the instructor will be read, concurently with the texts just mentioned, including the instructor's own account of the freedom of the will. This account centers on the extent to which our mental representations of our actions, which are their proximate causes, are within the power of our wills to determine. At this point the discussion involves more philosophy of mind than metaphysics.
Frequent short writing assignments will be given, and a longer one for the final. There will be no in-class exams.
541 Modern Ethical Theories (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
11:00-12:15 TR
Shafer-Landau
This course will consider seminal work in each of the three major areas of moral philosophy: value theory, normative ethics, and metaethics. In the section on value theory, we will consider what makes for a good life, and what is intrinsically valuable. In normative ethics, we will read about various efforts to unify moral thought by reference to a supreme moral principle, such as the Golden Rule, the Principle of Utility, or Kant's Principle of Universalizability. Finally, we will consider certain metaethical questions regarding the status, rather than the content, of morality. Here we will focus on issues of the objectivity of morality and its rational authority.
549 Great Moral Philosophers (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
2:30-3:45 TR
Card
This is a survey course in the history of moral philosophy that begins with ancient Stoics, Epicureans, and Aristotle, then moves to modern European classics (Hobbes, Butler, Kant, Mill) and concludes with highlights from the 20th century (John Rawls's theory of justice, Simone de Beauvoir's existentialist ethics, and Harlem Renaissance philosopher Alain Locke). For each philosopher, we will be concerned first to undertstand them and then to evaluate them, asking what remains of value today, what you think they were right about and why, what wrong and why, and what may be unclear. This is a Writing Intensive course and also a Writing Fellow course (two of your papers to be rewritten after consultation with a peer Writing Fellow, assigned to the course). There will be several short papers, a mid-term (required of everyone), and a final (required only of those who didn't get the required papers in on time and receive at least a B average on the papers and a B on the midterm).
551 Philosophy of Mind (fulfills category A requirement for the major)
2:30-3:45 MW
Paul
We see ourselves as rational agents: we have beliefs, desires, intentions, wishes, and hopes. We also have the ability to perform actions, seemingly in light of these beliefs, desires, and intentions. Is our conception of ourselves as rational agents consistent with our scientific conception of human beings as biological organisms? We think the mind bears some relation to the brain, but is it really nothing over and above physical brain processes - and if so, is it impossible for computers or Martians to have minds? How can the conscious experience of the taste of brussel sprouts be a purely physical thing? We will also investigate how mental states get their content. How can we explain how you and I can both think about the same city of Istanbul, when we've never been there, or Diogenes's Honest Man, who does not exist? What kind of knowledge do we have of our own minds, and how do we get it? How do we know whether other people even have minds? Readings primarily from contemporary sources.
555 Political Philosophy (fulfills category B requirement for the major)
2:25 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 and Values in Education)
1:15-3:15 R
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.
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581 meets with 551
582 meets with 512
835 Advanced Hist. of Philosophy (Leibniz )
1:15-3:15 M
Nadler
In this seminar we will focus on Leibniz's metaphysics and his theodicy, with some attention to his views on truth and language. Topics include the nature of substance, causation (and the preestablished harmony), necessity and contingency, and the problem of evil. We will probably look at Leibniz's philosophy on these matters in a developmental approach, starting with his writings in the late 1660s up through the Paris period (1672-76), and then turning to his more mature views in the Discourse on Metaphysics, the correspondence with Arnauld, and the New System of Nature and Grace, among other writings.
903 Seminar: Epistemology (Intuition and the A Priori)
1:15-3:15 T
Bengson
Intuition has been claimed to be the primary basis of our knowledge of logic and mathematics, and to play an indispensable role in (for example) ethics, modal reasoning, and theory construction in science. Equally, it has been dismissed and disparaged as hopeless or obscure. We'll discuss recent work on the nature and epistemic status of intuition. Topics include: thought experiments, philosophical methodology, counterexamples, naturalism, rationalism vs. empiricism, experimental philosophy, armchairs, moral epistemology, and modal arguments in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. If there's interest, we may also look at treatments of intuition in the early modern period and explore applications in various contemporary debates.
916 Seminar: Philosophy of Language (Conditionals)
1:15-3:15 F
Mackay
The seminar will cover the most important works in the literature on conditionals (both indicative and subjunctive/counterfactual). There are a number of reasons why conditionals have been among the linguistic constructions most of interest to philosophers, and we will cover a variety of these reasons. On the one hand, there are considerations internal to the philosophy of language: it is quite difficult to give a satisfactory formal analysis of the conditional. On the other hand, conditionals intersect with a number of themes in other core areas of philosophy, such as probability, objective chance, and causation.
920 Philosophy of Science (Proseminar: Philosophy of Biology)
3:30-5:30 T
Sober
This course will survey several philosophical questions about evolutionary theory. Examples may include the following: Are there laws of evolution? How are drift and selection each defined, and how can observations discriminate between them? Are issues about units of selection empirical, or are judgments about units of selection to be made by choosing convenient conventions? How is evolutionary theory related to materialism, reductionism, and moral anti-realism? Several short papers will be required during the semester, and a longer essay at the end.
941 Seminar: Ethics (Normativity)
3:30-5:30 R
Streiffer
This class is a graduate level survey course of normative ethical theory. We will explore the four main traditions within ethical theory: consequentialism, contractualism, deontology, and virtue ethics. . We will be trying to determine what distinguishes the traditions from each other, and what comparative theoretical and practical advantages they have.
955 Social & Political Philosophy (Justice and Values in Education)
1:15-3:15 F
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. Most of the what we shall do will be non ideal theorizing; that is, theorizing about what values should guide us in improving a society which, we know, will not become perfectly just.
Summer 2012
101/201: Introduction to Philosophy
8:55-11:35 MTWRF
Staff
No description available.
241: Introductory Ethics
1:10-3:50 MTWRF
Card
This course introduces students to ethical theory through selected classics from some of the most historically influential philosophers, including John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, Aristotle, and Friedrich Nietzsche. These classics will be supplemented with contemporary reflections by African American thinkers, a feminist philosopher, and a Holocaust survivor. Questions to be addressed range from "What is a good life?" and "What ought I to do?" to "Is everyone basically selfish?", "Are there universal standards of right and wrong?" and "How are moral values related to other values?" Course objectives are to offer a foundation in ethical theory for further work in ethics, political philosophy, or law and to develop skills in ethical reasoning and sensitivity to the nuances of ethical argument and distinctions. There will be cumulative essay examinations at midterm (end of second week) and at the end of the course (end of 4th week), with the possibility of additional exams at the end of the first and third weeks if needed (review questions distributed in advance of each exam).
243: Ethics in Business
1:10-3:50 MTWRF
Hunt (with TA)
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.
341: Contemporary Moral Issues
1:10-3:50 MTWRF
Vranas (with TA)
How should we respond to terrorism? According to Noam Chomsky (who has been called by the New York Times "arguably the most important intellectual alive"), the United States is one of the worst terrorist states in the world, and there is an easy way to greatly reduce the amount of terrorism in the world: stop participating in it. This course critically examines Chomsky's and others' ideas on terrorism, and also addresses the death penalty and abortion. A main objective of the course is to provide students with analytical tools that they can use to make up their own minds on controversial moral issues like the above.
210: Reason in Communication
8:55-11:35 MTWR
Staff
No description available.
211: Elementary Logic
8:55-11:35 MTWR
Titelbaum (with TA)
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.
241: Introductory Ethics
8:55-11:35 MTWR
Nadler
An introduction to classic ethical theories and their approaches to questions of right vs. wrong, good vs. bad, virtue, happiness, and moral judgment. We will focus primarily on virtue theory, Kantian moral philosophy, consequentialism (especially utilitarianism), and varieties of non-cognitivism. Readings include Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Ayer, as well as some contemporary articles.
341: Contemporary Moral Issues
8:55-11:35 MTWR
Shafer-Landau (with TA)
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.
3-Week Session (May 29-June 17)
First 4-Week Session (June 18-July 15)
Second 4-Week Session (July 16-August 10)
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
Human being live in societies, and their aspirations, characters, and possible ways of thriving depend on societies. At the same time, through their choices human beings constitute, reproduce, and change societies. Yet societies seem not to be material things, like houses, which also influence human beings and are constructed and changed by human beings. What are societies? Can they be studied in the same way that the physical world is studied? Do they have an objective existence and their own laws, or are they more like plays created and played by people? Are there alternative defensible ways of studying societies, some of which resemble the natural sciences, while others are radically different? Do the different domains of social inquiry (psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology) call for fundamentally different methods? To what extent should the natural sciences be a model for all of social inquiry?
543-1: Special Topics in Ethics (Rawl’s Philosophy of Justice)
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.