Spring 2025 Courses
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101-1: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Alexander Roberts
A remarkable feature of many central questions of philosophy is that they can be stated in particularly simple terms. Does God exist? Do we have free will? When is an act right or wrong? What are we able to know about the world? However, as we will see in this course, these easily statable questions are far from easy to answer. To attempt to determine their answers, we will study and critically evaluate some of the most influential arguments in the history of philosophy. Throughout the course, students will become acquainted with the distinctive methods of philosophy. In the graded assignments, which will include short papers and exams, students will be expected to apply these methods in justifying their own answers to philosophical questions.
101-002: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: James Messina
In this course, you will gain a sense of what philosophy is, what it is good for, and how it is done. We will proceed by considering answers to philosophical questions like the following: What, if anything, makes me at 41 years old the same person I was when I was 16? Do I have an immortal soul? If death is the total and permanent annihilation of my existence, what attitude should I have towards it? Do I have free will? Does God exist? What is knowledge and what can be known? What kinds of actions are morally right and morally wrong? Is there even an objective morality? Is my life meaningful? Is it better to exist or not to exist? We will be reading a mixture of historical and contemporary sources. As will soon become clear, much of philosophy consists in formulating and evaluating arguments. Assuming you do the work, you can expect to emerge from this class with improved analytical skills and with an understanding of some fundamental philosophical issues.
101-3: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Annina Loets
Many people ask themselves philosophical questions from time to time. If God exists, why is the world so messed up? What is beauty? Am I justified in believing the experts? Does anyone ever truly have a choice? Would it be wrong to get an abortion? Philosophers don’t merely ask themselves such questions, but they aim to provide general and principled answers to them and to support these answers by rational argument. The aim of this class is to introduce you to a wide range of influential philosophical arguments and get you started on crafting good arguments of your own. If you do the work, this class will teach you how to think, speak, and write more clearly, and how to employ these skills in pursuing the questions you care about, whether philosophical, or not.
101-4: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Larry Shapiro
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to philosophical questions and to the strategies that philosophers use to address these questions. Philosophical questions are peculiar: unlike scientific questions, their solution typically does not depend on the collection of empirical data; unlike mathematical questions, there are no formulae that are guaranteed to produce a correct answer to them. An adequate answer to a philosophical question requires an argument, and so it is upon arguments that we will focus in this course. We will consider philosophical questions, such as “What, if anything, can we know about the world?,” “Do you have free will?,” “Are you the same person now as the person who was born eighteen years ago?,” “Do your intentions matter to the morality of your actions?,” and “Is abortion morally permissible?”. We will then examine some classical answers to these questions and will evaluate them critically. Graded assignments include exams and possibly some short papers. Attendance and participation will also factor into your final grade.
101-5: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: TBD
Introduction to various philosophical questions and to the strategies that philosophers use to address these.
101-6: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: TBD
Introduction to various philosophical questions and to the strategies that philosophers use to address these.
210-1: Reason in Communication
Instructor: TBD
Argument in familiar contexts; emphasis upon developing critical skills in comprehending, evaluating, and engaging in contemporary forms of reasoning, with special attention to the uses of argument in mass communication media.
211-1: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Bruno Whittle
Logic is the study of arguments. An argument, in this sense, is a bit of reasoning, that starts from certain assumptions, and extracts some piece of information from these. For example: Helen is a bear; all bears gamble; therefore, Helen gambles. There are two things that we can ask about an argument. (a) Are the starting points true? And (b) does the end point really follow from these? We will focus on (b). (Your other classes should all, in one way or another, help you with (a).) We will learn some general techniques for determining whether a claim follows from some others. These will allow us to evaluate arguments regardless of their subject matter—be it chemistry, politics, or where to go for dinner. We will use a precise artificial language that allows perspicuous representations of natural language arguments, and that also allows rigorous methods for determining what follows from what.
211-2: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Peter 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
Instructor: John Mackay
This course is an introduction to formal logic, the study of valid reasoning. An argument is valid if its conclusion follows from its premises. We will study methods for proving that an argument is either valid or invalid. Much of the class will involve working 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
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
Nature of moral problems and of ethical theory, varieties of moral skepticism, practical ethics and the evaluation of social institutions. Prerequisites: Sophomore Status.
241-2: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb
In everyday life, we make a variety of ethical judgments, for example, that it is kind to help others or that it is wrong to break 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.
241-3: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: TBD
An introduction to the four branches of ethical theory, touching on questions concerning the nature of moral problems and of ethical theory, varieties of moral skepticism, practical ethics, and the evaluation of social institutions.
243-1: Ethics in Business
Instructor: TBD
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
243-2: Ethics in Business
Instructor: TBD
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
243-3: Ethics in Business
Instructor: TBD
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
341-1: Contemporary Moral Issues
Instructor: TBD DOES NOT fulfill Comm B requirement
A philosophical study of some of the major moral issue in contemporary society, such as those concerning abortion, euthanasia, punishment, property, politics, sex, nuclear disarmament, and world hunger.
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues
Instructor: Aja Watkins DOES NOT fulfill Comm B requirement
This course will focus on three questions in applied ethics: (1) What is the difference between ethical and unethical sex? (2) What is the difference between ethical and unethical protest? (3) What is the difference between ethical and unethical eating?
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues
Instructor: Alex Meehan DOES NOT fulfill Comm B requirement
This course will be a philosophical study of some of the major moral issues in contemporary society, especially those issues that have arisen because of recent technological developments. Topics will include the ethics of self-driving cars, euthanasia, hospital triage, the selection of children, life extension and anti-aging, recreational and prescription drug policies, the relation between mental health and well-being, and the ethics of eating meat.
341: Contemporary Moral Issues FULLFILLS Comm B requirement
A philosophical study of some of the major moral issue in contemporary society, such as those concerning abortion, euthanasia, punishment, property, politics, sex, nuclear disarmament, and world hunger. (Fulfills Comm B requirement).
Lec. 91 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 92 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 93 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 94 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
430-1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Instructor: Emily 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? 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.
432-1: History of Modern Philosophy
Instructor: Martha Gibson
The two greatest periods in philosophy are Ancient Philosophy and History of Modern Philosophy. History of Modern Philosophy is 17-18th Century philosophy, and it covers philosophers such as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. Work in these two centuries set the questions we still ask and the kinds of theories we advance in contemporary philosophy. Topics will include the nature of perception, belief, and knowledge, the extent of knowledge that we have of ourselves and the external physical world (if there is such a world), whether the world is entirely physical or whether the mind is non-physical, what consciousness consists in, and whether human beings can be free and have free will.
454-1: Classical Philosophers
Topic: Spinoza
Instructor: Steve Nadler
Bento (Baruch) de Spinoza was the most original and radical philosopher of the early modern period. He had his admirers, but also was regarded by many contemporaries as a “heretic” and a “dangerous atheist.” He wrote his philosophical treatises soon after his excommunication from the Amsterdam Jewish community. In this class, we will study his metaphysical, epistemological, moral, political and religious ideas as these are presented in his Ethics and his “scandalous” Theological-Political Treatise, along with some of his correspondence.
503-1: Theory of Knowledge
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum Fulfills Category A
We will survey epistemology by focusing on three large epistemological problems and considering the issues that arise in attempting to resolve them. Readings will primarily 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 everything 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.
504-1: Special Topics in the Theory of Knowledge
Topic: Bayesian Epistemology
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum
Traditional epistemology considers all-or-nothing beliefs: you either believe that it’s going to rain today or you don’t. Bayesian epistemology supposes that individuals assign degrees of belief to propositions: you might be less confident that it will rain, or more confident without being entirely certain. These degrees of belief can be represented by numbers (I’m 70% confident it will rain today), and then subjected to mathematical constraints (if I’m 70% confident that it will rain today, I should be 30% confident that it won’t). We will consider what degrees of belief are, how they relate to actions, what rational constraints on degrees of belief Bayesians propose, and why we should believe those constraints are rationally 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, and a final paper. Prerequisites are Philosophy 211 or equivalent and a solid ability to work with high school-level algebra.)
516-1: Language and Meaning Fulfills Category A
Instructor: John 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.
524-1: Philosophy and Economics
Instructor: James Goodrich
Is Capitalism morally justified? Are there are any morally justifiable alternatives? In this course, we will examine the political philosophy of economic institutions with a special emphasis on moral questions about markets, private property, social safety nets, and the relationship between corporations and the state. To tackle these questions, we will read work from a wide variety of perspectives – Capitalist, Socialist, Conversative, Feminist – as well as from multiple disciplines – philosophy, political science, economics, sociology, and law.
541-1: Modern Ethical Theories Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Jesse Steinberg
Ethical theories and problems as discussed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
549-1: Great Moral Philosophers Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Henry Southgate
A rigorous, text-critical, and discussion-based study of the four branches of ethical theory, exploring questions concerning the nature of moral problems and values, metaethical skepticism, practical ethics, and the evaluation of social institutions.
551-1: Philosophy of the Mind Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Farid Masrour
This course surveys central topics in contemporary philosophy of mind. We will discuss issues such as the relationship between the mind and the physical world, whether a scientific understanding of consciousness is possible, theories of mental representation, the nature of perceptual experience, and whether minds could be modeled as computers.
556-1: Topics in Feminism and Philosophy
Topic: Feminist Philosophy of Science
Instructor: Aja Watkins
Feminist philosophy of science is about how to use science as a tool for liberation in an unjust world. This course covers several key topics in feminist philosophy of science, especially: (1) What influence has feminist philosophy had on philosophy of science? (2) How do insights from feminist philosophy help to inform the ethical collection, interpretation, and use of data? And (3) How have insights from feminist philosophy been used to criticize and recommend revisions to measurement practices? We will examine data and measurement in the biomedical sciences (e.g., fertility, cervical dilation), social sciences (e.g., reproductive autonomy, obesity), and more (e.g., biodiversity).
560-1: Metaphysics Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Alexander Roberts
In this advanced introduction to metaphysics, we will study some of the central questions of contemporary metaphysics. Many of these questions will concern the material world. For example, we will study debates about the nature of persons, how individuals persist through time, and the existence of composite objects. But in addition to this we will also look at metaphysical questions about abstract objects, such as the number zero and the directions of lines. As will emerge during the course, to answer these questions we will have to reflect on and scrutinize the linguistic resources we use to represent the world.
560-2: Metaphysics Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Annina Loets
This class is an advanced introduction to central debates in contemporary metaphysics. Taking as a starting point questions many will have asked themselves before—What am I? What is my place in the world? What is the world?—we’ll explore questions that might at first appear more removed: What are ordinary objects? Are there things that don’t exist? What are properties? What is the nature of time? What is it to change? What is it to cause a change? Is freedom possible in a world governed by laws of nature? What is possibility? Overall the aim will be to make progress on the big questions by answering the more removed questions.
562-1: Special Topics in Metaphysics
Topic: Paradoxes
Instructor: Bruno Whittle
A paradox is an argument that leads from apparently innocuous starting points to an abominable conclusion. For example, consider this sentence: ‘this very sentence is false’. This is either true or false (it seems). So suppose first that it is true. Well, then what it says must be the case: i.e. it is false! So it can’t be true; rather it must be false. But then it’s true after all! That is, the sentence would seem to be both true and false—but surely that is impossible! Such arguments are fun to think about, in and of themselves. But they are also connected to a broad range of philosophical issues. For example, versions of the (ancient) paradox just given have been used to argue that there are limits on what we can say or know; that classical logic must be changed; or even that there are different sizes of infinity. This class will consider a range of paradoxes, and the broader issues that they are connected to. Familiarity with Philosophy 211 will be assumed, but no logical knowledge beyond that.
562-2: Special Topics in Metaphysics
Topic: Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
Instructor: Alex Meehan
Physics is one of our best sources of knowledge about the nature of the world. The theory of quantum mechanics is an incredibly successful physical theory that allows us to predict the behavior of microscopic systems like particles. But this theory is also infamously difficult to interpret. If you have heard about quantum mechanics, you may have heard that it tells us some surprising and novel things, such as: systems change their behavior depending on whether we are observing them; consciousness plays a role in fundamental physics; cats can be both dead and alive simultaneously; the universe is fundamentally indeterministic. Does quantum mechanics actually have these implications? If not, what does it tell us about the world? This class will explore these questions. We will look at the formalism underlying the theory of quantum mechanics, and then we will investigate the various interpretations of that formalism that physicists and philosophers have proposed, and assess the philosophical issues at stake. No background in physics is required, however students will be expected to learn some mathematical formalism, such as how to add and subtract vectors and take inner products, as we go along. If you are not sure if you have enough math background, please contact the instructor. (More details on the math background: If you learned about vectors in high school or a university math class that is probably enough; if you don’t have that specific background but are otherwise comfortable with formal areas, such as symbolic logic, that may also be enough, but you should email the instructor to check.)
Spring 2025 Graduate Courses
701 Reading Seminars (combined with Graduate Seminars) Instructor Consent
- 701-001 Reading Seminars
Topic: Aristotle’s Ethics
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb
701-001 meets with 830-1. Please see the description of 830-1 below. - 701-002 Reading Seminars
Topic: Kant & contemporary Philos of mind
Instructor: James Messina and Farid Masrour
701-002 meets with 835-21. Please see the description of 835-1 below. - 701-003 Reading Seminars
Topic: Deontic Logic
Instructor: Peter Vranas
701-005 meets with 911-1. Please see the description of 911-1 below. - 701-004 Reading Seminars
Topic: Moral Psychology and Moral Epistemology
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
701-004 meets with 941-1. Please see the description of 941-1 below. - 701-005 Reading Seminars
Topic: AI Ethics
Instructor: Annette Zimmermann
701-005 meets with 941-2. Please see the description of 941-2 below. - 701-006 Reading Seminars
Topic: Larry’s Favorite Papers
Instructor: Larry Shapiro
701-006 meets with 951-1. Please see the description of 951-1 below. - 701-007 Reading Seminars
Topic: Bayesian Epistemology
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum
701-007 meets with 903-1. Please see the description of 903-1 below.
830-001 Advanced History Philosophy
Topic: Aristotle’s Ethics
Instructor: Paula 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”. The aim of this course is to see what is distinctive about Aristotle’s approach as a virtue ethicist, and to consider the advantages of such an approach. We’ll consider the Aristotelian virtues of character and of thought, their relationship to the happy life, and how the good person’s thinking and feeling are in sync. Further topics will include voluntary action, the role of luck, the importance of friendship, the aesthetic and musical side to being good, and the political context necessary for a good person to thrive.
The main texts for the course will be Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (translated by T.H. Irwin, Hackett, 3rd edition, 2019, also available online via the UW libraries) and Eudemian Ethics (translated by A Kenny, Oxford University Press, 2011), but we’ll also read other texts of Aristotle where these are pertinent. Secondary reading will include some classic articles and very recent work in the field, including material from my latest books.
There will be ample opportunity for discussion. There will also be 3 tutorials online. 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 and fun.
835-001 Advanced History of Philosophy
Topic: Kant & contemporary Philos of mind
Instructor: James Messina and Farid Masrour
This course will explore some Kantian themes in recent philosophy of mind and epistemology, including Kant-inspired accounts of the nature and content of perception, and the relation betwen rationality and other cognitive capacities. Should we adopt a relationalist view of perceptual experience, as some contemporary authors have argued Kant did? Should we think that perceptual experience requires the exercise of conceptual capacities, as Kant is commonly interpreted to have held? Does the capacity of rationality radically change the way a person’s other cognitive capacities function, as Kant-inspired proponents of “transformative” theories of rationality maintain and proponents of “additive” theories deny? Although we will pay some attention to exegetical issues, our primary goal is to explore and evaluate the merits of the positions that these views attribute to Kant as serious options in the contemporary landescape of positions. Authors we will read (aside from Kant) may include: John McDowell, Lucy Allais, Tyler Burge, Karl Schafer, Matthew Boyle, Hannah Ginsborg, and Samantha Matherne. Some degree of familiarity with the general themes in the First Critique, specially Kant’s key ideas in the Aesthetic and the Transcendental Analytic would be very helpful.
903-1 Seminar: Epistemology
Topic: Bayesian Epistemology
Instructors: Michael Titelbaum
Traditional epistemology considers all-or-nothing beliefs: you either believe that it’s going to rain today or you don’t. Bayesian epistemology supposes that individuals assign degrees of belief to propositions: you might be less confident that it will rain, or more confident without being entirely certain. These degrees of belief can be represented by numbers (I’m 70% confident it will rain today), and then subjected to mathematical constraints (if I’m 70% confident that it will rain today, I should be 30% confident that it won’t). We will consider what degrees of belief are, how they relate to actions, what rational constraints on degrees of belief Bayesians propose, and why we should believe those constraints are rationally 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, and a final paper. Prerequisites are Philosophy 211 or equivalent and a solid ability to work with high school-level algebra.)
911-1 Seminar-Logic
Topic: Deontic Logic
Instructor: Peter Vranas
Suppose a terrorist (1) has an obligation to avoid bombing a building. Suppose further the terrorist (2) is nevertheless going to bomb the building, (3) has an obligation to call and issue a warning if he is going to bomb the building (so that the building can be evacuated), and (4) has an obligation to avoid calling to issue a warning if he is not going to bomb the building (to avoid causing unnecessary panic). From (2) and (3) it seems to follow that the terrorist has an obligation to call and issue a warning, but from (1) and (4) it seems to follow that the terrorist has an obligation to avoid calling to issue a warning! This is just one of the numerous paradoxes that plague deontic logic, namely the logic of obligation, permission, and prohibition. Deontic logic has applications in ethics, law, and computer science, so resolving the paradoxes is important. In this seminar, I plan to examine a variety of published attempts to develop a paradox-free deontic logic, but I also plan to devote considerable time to my own attempt, based on unpublished work that I have been developing for the last 20 years or so.
This is a seminar in philosophical, not in mathematical, logic: the emphasis is on the concepts, not on proofs or technicalities. The seminar requirements consist of a substantial term paper (which will be the sole determinant of your grade) and of weekly discussion emails on the readings.
941-1 Seminar – Ethics
Topic: Moral Psychology and Moral Epistemology
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
We’ll work through manuscripts in progress on moral psychology and moral epistemology by Zoe Johnson King, Paulina Sliwa, and Alison Hills. We’ll devote 3-4 sessions on each manuscript and then have a Q-and-A zoom session with each author. We may have time for one more author, TBD.
941-2 Seminar – Ethics
Topic: AI Ethics
Instructor: Annette Zimmermann
This course provides an advanced introduction to topics in feminist philosophy of science, especially: (1) What influence has feminist philosophy had on philosophy of science? (2) How do insights from feminist philosophy help to inform the ethical collection, interpretation, and use of data? And (3) How have insights from feminist philosophy been used to criticize and recommend revisions to measurement practices across a range of different sciences?
951-1 Seminar – Philosophy of the Mind
Topic Larry’s Favorite Papers
Instructor: Larry Shapiro
In this, my final graduate seminar, I will focus on some of my favorite papers. Some of my favorite papers will be my papers, but most will be others’. Among these others’ will be articles from some of our Department’s greatest philosophers of mind and science: Berent Enç, Fred Dretske, Dennis Stampe, and Elliott Sober. The papers’ topics will loosely follow my own research interests over the years, starting with theories of content (what relation do beliefs and other mental states have toward their objects in virtue of which they are about these objects?) and the issue of individualism in psychology (roughly, the idea that physically identical human beings must be psychologically identical as well). Here we’ll be especially interested in debates concerning the proper interpretation of computational theories of vision. We’ll then turn to discussions of the possibility of reducing psychology to physics. This, in turn, will point us toward disputes regarding the multiple realization thesis, according to which minds can be multiply realized (roughly, “built from” a variety of physically distinct kinds of materials). It is on this thesis that the well-received functionalist theory of mind draws support. We’ll close with papers that explore the merits and weaknesses of embodied cognition, which is often presented as an alternative to computational theories of mind.