For course days and times, please go to Course Search and Enroll
Jump to Summer 2026 Courses
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Summer 2026 Courses
For course days and times, please go to Course Search and Enroll
210-1 Reason in Communication May 18 – June 14 ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
Online: Asynchronous.
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 Elementary Logic June 15 – July 12 ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
Online: Asynchronous
The formal characteristics of logical truth and inference.
241 Introduction to Ethics June 15 – July 12 ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
Online: Asynchronous.
Nature of moral problems and of ethical theory, varieties of moral skepticism, practical ethics and the evaluation of social institutions.
243 Ethics in Business June 15 – August 9 ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
Online: Asynchronous.
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
244 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics June 15 – August 9 ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
Online: Asynchronous.
Introduction to contemporary moral and political issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Introduces basic technical concepts such as the bias/variance tradeoff, the reference class problem, and inductive risk. Covers topics such as data and privacy, the impacts of automation on society, and the use of algorithms in medicine and criminal law.
341 Contemporary Moral Issues May 18 – June 7 ONLINE
Instructor: Peter Vranas
Online: Asynchronous.
Under what circumstances, if any, is abortion morally permissible? Should the death penalty be abolished? What causes terrorism, and is it ever morally permissible to torture terrorists? This course teaches students how to think systematically about these fascinating questions. The emphasis is not on defending particular answers but is instead on providing students with the tools they need to reach their own answers.
441 Environmental Ethics June 1 – June 21 MWR 8:00 – 10:00am ONLINE
Instructor: Frederic Neyrat
Online: Class will be partly asynchronous and partly synchronous
Adequacy of ethical theories in handling such wrongs as harm to the land, to posterity, to endangered species, and to the ecosystem itself. Exploration of the view that not all moral wrongs involve harm to humans. Inquiry into the notion of the quality of life and the ethics of the “lifeboat” situation.
Fall 2026 Undergraduate Courses
101-1: 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 44 years old the same person I was when I was 16? 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.
101-2: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Bruno Whittle
In this class we will ask, and set about answering, some classic philosophical questions. These might include: Are you a purely physical thing? Is there such a thing as free will? Does moral responsibility make sense? What if anything can we know about the world? People talk about doing the right thing but what does that mean really? What general categories of things exist? Does God exist? What is happiness and how do you get it? By the end of the class you will know the answers to these questions. So will the person sitting next to you. I can’t absolutely promise these answers will match.
101-3: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Alex 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.
101-4: 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.
101-5: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum
My 8-year-old daughter once asked me, “Why isn’t it okay to hurt someone’s feelings if you don’t like them?” I responded that it’s never okay to hurt anyone, no matter how you feel about them. She said, “I know that. I’m just trying to wonder it deeply.”
Philosophy is a business of wondering deeply. Sometimes we wonder about things that are obvious, so we can understand them better. (Do I have free will? Does success in life require luck?) Sometimes we wonder about things that are difficult, or controversial. (Is there a right way to treat others? Can AIs think?) But more than just wondering, philosophers make progress on these questions by reasoning through them carefully and rigorously. Come join the fun!
141-1: Meaning of Life
Instructor: Alex Kerr
We want lives that are not only pleasant but meaningful. Watching shows, playing video games, or scrolling through your feed are pleasant enough, but a lifetime spent scrolling would be meaningless, even if you never got sick of it. What would you be missing—what does it take to live a meaningful life? Can we live meaningful lives, or is that impossible—either because of our own shortcomings, or because of the absurdity of life itself? And, since each of us will try to find meaning in different places, is there anything general to say about “the” meaning of life? This course will look at classic and contemporary discussions of these questions about how to find meaning in our lives, with an eye to emerging threats to living meaningful lives today.
210-1: Reason in Communication
Instructor: Farid Masrour
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. Prerequisites: MATH 96 or placement into MATH 141 or consent of instructor.
211-1: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Alex Meehan
We often reach conclusions by means of arguments, in which we put forward a series of premises on a conclusion’s behalf. A crucial question is whether the purported conclusion really does follow from its premises. Logic is the study of reasoning and this relation of “following”. One way to approach following is to consider a range of arguments, both good and bad, in the hope that the difference between what logicians call “valid” arguments (in which the relation of following is present) and “invalid” ones (in which it’s absent) will eventually sink in. But we will proceed more systematically. Elementary Logic will be a course in formal or symbolic logic. We’ll begin with arguments stated in English. We’ll translate these ordinary-language arguments into a symbolism or artificial language, in which the features on which validity depends are laid bare. We’ll then apply formal techniques in order to decide whether the original English arguments are valid. Might this method lead us astray? Are there types of arguments or reasoning that our formal techniques cannot capture? We will touch on these “meta” questions, among others, as the course proceeds.
211-2: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Sam Roberts
Making and evaluating arguments is central to our lives, from deciding what to think about politics, physics, or philosophy, to deciding where to have lunch. For example, I have a very temperamental dog. Knowing that he’s either in the kitchen or the garden, and seeing he’s not in the garden, I conclude that he must be in the kitchen, which I then avoid. That simple argument—from the premises “the dog is either in the kitchen or the garden” and “the dog is not in the garden” to the conclusion “the dog is in the kitchen”—might well have saved my life! Good arguments show that their conclusion is likely to be true, given their premises. In the best case, an argument shows that its conclusion must be true, given its premises. These are the valid arguments. To see that the argument above is valid, just try to imagine what it would mean for its premises to be true, but its conclusion false! Formal logic is a systematic study of the valid arguments, and it will be the focus of this course. It provides formal languages in which we can frame many of the arguments we make in natural language and uses simple but powerful mathematical tools to determine which of them are valid. Formal logic allows you to practice reasoning in a clear, controlled, and precise form—a kind of sandbox for thought. Once you see how good reasoning works in the logic classroom, you’ll be better prepared to tackle the messy arguments that occur all around us in the real world.
241-1: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Emily Fletcher
In this course we will investigate the ethical dimension of human life. What makes an action right or wrong? What obligations do we have to other people or the community and what do we do when these obligations conflict? What makes someone a good or bad person? How do we make ethical judgments and can they be objective? We will examine three historically important theoretical approaches to ethics (virtue ethics, utilitarianism and Kantian ethics), as well as objections that have been raised against each of them
241-2: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
This course presupposes no prior philosophy background and will offer a lightning survey of such topics as the nature of the good life, the meaning of life, free will, whether morality is just ab human creation, the basic principles of moral duty, and a handful of contemporary moral issues such as animal rights and abortion.
241-3: Introductory Ethics Honors Only Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Henry Southgate
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.
241-4: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Sophia Dandlet
In this three-part course, we’ll explore a wide range of classic and contemporary questions about morality. Part 1 concerns varieties of moral skepticism. We’ll ask questions like: Are there really moral reasons? If there are, why should we care about them? Do moral reasons always trump other kinds of reasons? Part 2 is about interpersonal ethics. We’ll investigate foundational questions about the conditions of right action, and we’ll also examine morally complex phenomena like trust, forgiveness, and autonomy. In Part 3, we ask what it takes for our societies to be just. We will interrogate the relationship between justice and fairness, the role of the state in a just society, and the value of democracy.
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.
244-1: Introductory AI and Data Ethics
Instructor: TBD
Introduction to contemporary moral and political issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Introduces basic technical concepts such as the bias/variance tradeoff, the reference class problem, and inductive risk. Covers topics such as data and privacy, the impacts of automation on society, and the use of algorithms in medicine and criminal law.
244-2: Introductory AI and Data Ethics
Instructor: TBD
Introduction to contemporary moral and political issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Introduces basic technical concepts such as the bias/variance tradeoff, the reference class problem, and inductive risk. Covers topics such as data and privacy, the impacts of automation on society, and the use of algorithms in medicine and criminal law.
304-1: Topic in Philosophy – The Wisconsin Idea
Instructor: Harry Brighouse
The Wisconsin Idea rests on the principle that the University of Wisconsin should promote the well-being of the citizenry, and not just those at the university. The University would do so by advancing democracy –providing citizens with assets to enhance their own progress, and connecting the citizens with one another. The course examines and reflects on the Wisconsin Idea as it was developed historically, as it is enacted (and to the extent that is enacted) today, and as it might be revised or adjusted for our times. Through a series of lectures various experts will illuminate the Wisconsin Idea either by talking about its development or reflecting on how it is relevant to and guides their practice as researchers, teachers, or professionals. In class meetings we shall discuss readings, some (but not all) connected to the lectures we’ve heard, so that we can come to a better understanding of what the mission of the University of Wisconsin should be, and how that mission should incorporate the Wisconsin Idea.
304-1: Topic in Philosophy – Philosophy of Sex and Love
Instructor: Elizabeth Brake
We will examine philosophical views of the nature of sex, love, and gender, and sexual ethics. The first half of the course will focus on the history of the concept of erotic love, from Plato through the medieval era to 20th-century feminist and existentialist views. We will study changing understandings of love, marriage, and family in relation to social, economic, and political background conditions.
The second half of the course will consider moral debates over contemporary issues such as same-sex marriage, polyamory, pornography, harassment, and consent to sex.
One aim of the course is to teach the philosophical history of concepts of love, sex, and marriage, as well as deepening your understanding of the history of philosophy. A second aim is to explore arguments for commonly held positions on contemporary issues. Just as importantly, the course will teach you how to reason, argue, and write clearly.
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: TBD
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.
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: Jimmy Goodrich
This course is about death, sex, and money. We’ll discuss the moral questions each topic raises and how philosophy can help you think about them.
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: TBD
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-SCF: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills 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
344-1: Food Ethics
Instructor: Rob Streiffer Cross Listed with Med History
There are many ethical issues related to food production, distribution, consumption, and policy, including animal welfare, animal rights, vegetarianism and veganism, environmental impact, treatment of workers, prospects for agricultural reform, ethical responsibilities of corporate and industry actors, and labeling issues surrounding the use of genetically engineered foods. Some are more theoretical, such as which individuals affected by agriculture deserve direct moral consideration. Other are more practical, such as how to feed a growing global population. We will begin with a brief survey of ethical theories and methods of ethical reasoning, and then explore, from both personal and policy perspectives, several food ethics issues. Among the aims of the course are the goals of helping you think critically about the ethically relevant impacts of your own food choices and improving your understanding of ethical issues implicated in food systems.
430-1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb
Metaphysics and Epistemology in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle
Unscrupulous politicians, democracy in peril, foreign interference, fake information and the plague. Welcome to Athens in the fifth century BCE! The philosopher Socrates, who lived in such turbulent times, said that the unexamined life is not worth living, and his most famous follower, Plato, argued that the examined life requires consideration of what we can know (epistemology) and what exists (metaphysics). In this class we’ll be studying in depth, and with close attention to the texts, Plato’s, Aristotle’s and earlier 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 enduring objects? 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 is the difference between the philosopher and the sophist?
Good participation in section is required. There will also be 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 assigned to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational and fun.
432-1: History of Modern Philosophy
Instructor: Jacob Zellmer
In this course we will read a selection of philosophical works from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This was a crucial period for the early development of modern philosophy (which, at the time, included what we now consider “science”). The philosophers we will study will include René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Thomas Hobbes, Benedict de Spinoza, Zara Yaqob, David Hume, Margaret Cavendish, and Immanuel Kant. We will cover topics in metaphysics, epistemology, politics, philosophical theology, the grounding of science, and arguments concerning slavery and reparations.
441-1: Environmental Ethics
Instructor: Anna Gade Cross Listed with Envir Studies
Adequacy of ethical theories in handling such wrongs as harm to the land, to posterity, to endangered species, and to the ecosystem itself. Exploration of the view that not all moral wrongs involve harm to humans. Inquiry into the notion of the quality of life and the ethics of the “lifeboat” situation.
442-1: Moral Philosophy and the Holocaust
Instructor: Adam Stern Cross Listed with Jewish Studies
Selected moral and philosophical issues raised by the Holocaust such as when and whom to rescue; includes issues arising after the annihilation such as forgiveness and reconciliation.
454-1: Classical Philosophers: Aristotle’s Ethics
Instructor: Paula 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? Do we need to develop our thinking and feelings in a special way? Are friends needed for happiness? If so, what makes a good friend? Why are humans “political animals”? What kind of society is necessary for human beings to be happy?
This class will be run as a seminar. The professor will provide questions which we’ll discuss in class. There will also be tutorials. Class participants will be asked to write a series of 1500-word essays answering specific and challenging questions on assigned texts or particular topics. They will then come in pairs to see the professor for an hour or so, during which time they will read out and discuss their work. Grades will be assigned to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational and fun.
454-2: Classical Philosophers: Buddhist Philosophy of Mind
Instructor: Jeremy Manheim
This course focuses on Buddhist views of the mind, while also introducing key features of Buddhist philosophy more generally. Our questions will center on the unity of consciousness, the relation between the mind and the physical world, and phenomenological accounts of experience. On the way towards answering these questions, we will spend a lot of our time in the 4th century, closely reading canonical Buddhist texts, while also carefully introspecting our first-person experiences. Alongside our explorations of how early Buddhist philosophers thought about these questions, we will critically assess the recent intersections between Buddhist thought and neurophenomenology, psychotherapy, and models of attention.
520-1: Philosophy of Natural Science Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Alexander Meehan
This course is an advanced introduction to the philosophy of science. A range of questions about the nature of scientific theory and practice will be explored. Possible topics may include: scientific confirmation and the scientific method; the role of probability in science; scientific theory change; scientific explanation; the reduction of the ‘special’ sciences to physics; the unity of science; laws of nature; what distinguishes science from pseudoscience; theories of space and time in physics; theories of natural selection in biology.
530-1: Freedom Fate and Choice Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Jesse Steinberg
An examination of the philosophical problems associated with free will.
541-1: Modern Ethical Theories Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Harry Brighouse
This course is an advanced introduction to contemporary thinking in ethical theory. It is impossible to understand the concerns of contemporary ethicists without some understanding of the two main kinds of ethical theory developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, consequentialism and deontology, so we spend some time looking at the most important developers of the variants of these kinds of theory, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. In the rest of the course we shall look at various moral problems, whether it would be good for us to be saints, the ethics around benefitting from injustice, the preservation of existing value. We shall also look at the ethics of life creation, in the course of which we shall consider various theories of wellbeing and duty; and another book considering whether, and if so how, lives can be meaningful.
541-2: Modern Ethical Theories Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Russ 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.
549-1: Great Moral Philosophers Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Emily Fletcher
What is the role of friendship in our moral lives? Are there special duties of friendship? If so, what do we do when they conflict with impartial moral duties? Friendship and impartiality have been reconciled in a wide variety of ways by great moral thinkers. For example, some think that the impartial concern for others grows out of partial feelings for family and friends, or that impartial demands of morality place a natural limit on friendship. Alternatively, one might view the tension between friendship and impartiality as irreconcilable, for example, because friendship is morally corrupting or strict impartiality threatens our humanity. In this course, we will explore the relationship between friendship and impartiality through readings from great moral philosophers, including Aristotle, Confucius, Śāntideva, Kant, Nel Noddings, and Bernard Williams. We will pair these philosophers with great literary thinkers, including Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen
551-1: Philosophy of the Mind Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Alex Kerr
When ChatGPT does your drudge work, does it mind? When lobsters nurse their wounds, are they trying to ease their pain? And do patients in a persistent vegetative state hear their loved ones—are they locked inside a body they can’t control, or is nobody home? More generally, what is it like to be ChatGPT, or a lobster, or a patient in a PVS? These are questions about consciousness: about which things are conscious and what kind of conscious experiences those things have. And these questions matter, since how we should treat these machines, creatures, and people depends on the answers. This course will explore the best classic and contemporary attempts to answer these questions as well as other related issues in the philosophy of mind.
553-1: Aesthetics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Bruno Whittle
The aim of this class is to think, talk and write about art. Questions considered may include the following. What is art? What is the point of it? Can we evaluate art objectively? Is arguing about taste pointless? Is art a form of self-expression? If so what exactly does it express? What is style, and what is beauty? There will be an emphasis not just on thinking and talking, but also on writing: form as well as content, experimenting with different ways of writing. To this end, we will read mainstream philosophical texts, but also essays in different styles (e.g. by artists or critics).
555-1: Political Philosophy Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Elizabeth Brake
This course is a discussion-heavy, highly interactive, advanced introduction to contemporary analytic political philosophy. We will cover three broad themes: competing theories of state authority, and their implications for the obligation to obey the law, for the ethics of political resistance, and for different justifications of punishment; competing theories of distributive justice, and their broader implications for topics like global justice, intergenerational justice, and environmental justice; as well as competing theories of democracy, and their implications for the value of democratic legitimacy, the accountability of public officials, and for taking collective responsibility for wrongdoing.
560-1: 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.
560-2: Metaphysics Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Sam Roberts
This course is an advanced introduction to metaphysics. We’ll explore some of the most fundamental and general aspects of reality, focusing on the nature of existence, identity, and possibility. We’ll address questions like: What is there? Do you exist in addition to the physical matter that you’re made of? Are there abstract objects like numbers? What about fictional objects, like Kang the Conqueror? Am I the same person today as I was yesterday? And if not, why should I be held responsible for my past actions? I’m not the head of a galaxy-spanning evil empire, but I could have been, given the right—though very far-fetched—circumstances. How should we understand the sense in which this, and many more mundane—though more important—scenarios, are possible?
At various points during the semester, we’ll also ask deep methodological questions about how to go about answering the questions of metaphysics. In other words: we’ll do some metametaphysics.
571-1 Mathematical Logic
Instructor: Isabella Scott Cross Listed with Math
Basics of logic and mathematical proofs; propositional logic; first order logic; undecidability.
Fall 2026 Graduate Courses
For course days and times, please go to Course Search and Enroll
701 Reading Seminars (combined with Graduate Seminars) Instructor Consent
701-001 Reading Seminars Topic: Epistemic Standards
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum/Sophie Dandlet 701-001 meets with 903-1. Please see the description of 903-1 below.
701-002 Reading Seminars Topic: The Unity of the Proposition
Instructor: Martha Gibson 701-002 meets with 916-1. Please see the description of 916-1 below.
701-003 Reading Seminars Topic: Perception and Cognition
Instructor: Farid Masrour 701-003 meets with 951-1. Please see the description of 951-1 below.
902-1: Proseminar
Instructor: James Goodrich/Alex Roberts
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
903-1: Seminar-Epistemology
Topic: Epistemic Standards
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum/Sophia Dandelet
How much and what kind of evidence must you have to justifiably believe or be in a position to know? Individuals’ answers to this question vary dramatically with their personalities, values, community memberships, and practical situations. What should we make of all this variation? Is there one true epistemic standard that describes unvarying, universal conditions for knowledge and justification, or are there multiple epistemic standards that are all in some sense equally legitimate? If the latter, what separates legitimate standards from illegitimate ones? And why should one particular standard be used to evaluate the epistemic status of a particular belief?
These questions are entwined with other foundational epistemological questions—including ones about the authority of epistemic norms, the value of testimony, and the point of our belief and knowledge concepts—that cross over into ethics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of language.
904-1: Teaching Philosophy
Instructor: Harry Brighouse
Becoming a better teacher requires that you have good content knowledge, but it also involves the development and practice of complex skills. What we’ll do in this class is very preliminary: we’ll introduce you to some specific strategies that will help you induce your students to learn; we’ll develop a common language for discussing teaching and (by actually discussing specific instances of teaching and learning); and we’ll introduce you to some intellectual resources for considering and reflecting on the kinds of issues that will arise regularly throughout your career as a teacher. Because we want to introduce strategies, because strategies can’t work without content, and because there is some literature we want you to think about, we’ll structure most classes by using the strategies we want you to learn to facilitate discussion of the literature we want you to think about.
916: Seminar – Philosophy of Language
Topic: The Unity of the Proposition
Instructor: Martha Gibson
The generative and creative nature of human representation is thought to be owing to our combinatoral powers. From a finite number of words and rules, we can produce an infinite number of sentences. And so, unlike representations in nature (like paw-prints or stratified deposits), our representations don’t merely mirror the way the world is or was, for we have misrepresentation, fiction, poetry, ideal gas laws. We can combine words or mental constituents that represent something as being the case that is not the case. How do we do that? Plato pointed out that the words ‘lion, stag, horse’ do not fit together to represent something as being the case, and neither do the words ‘runs, walks, and sleeps’. So, first, you have to have the right sort of words, representing the right sorts of things. But even then, this list of words ‘Theaetetus, sits’ does not represent something as being the case but the sentence ‘Theaetetus sits’ does. Plato asked what makes a sentence different from a list of the words of the sentence? That is the question of the ‘unity’ of the sentence or proposition. That question was central in early analytic philosophy. Frege thought the parts of the sentence ‘would not hold together’ to express a thought unless the parts referred to things of appropriately different kinds, objects and concepts. We will study his ‘Sense and Reference’, ‘On Concept and Object’ and ‘Function and Concept’. Russell had three successive views, the first in ‘The Principles of Mathematics‘. He disavowed that view in his papers on the nature of truth and falsehood, replacing it with the ‘multiple relation’ view which postulated no ‘propositions’. And he gave a third theory in his ‘Lectures on Logical Atomism’. Ultimately, Russell thought that view fell to a criticism that Wittgenstein gave. We’ll study Wittgenstein’s picture theory in the Tractatus, a view which is highly constrained by what Wittgenstein thought were Russell’s mistakes. Russell set the parameters that governed the development of the picture theory. We will look at a pragmatic account in John Cook Wilson, at Austin work on the topic, and Strawson’s metaphysical view. Much of the seminar will focus on those historical works. But, as time permits, we look at more contemporary work too, focusing on how the problem arises in causal/information theorectic accounts, what so called ‘act’ based accounts say, etc. Because of the heavy focus on early analytic philosophy, the seminar can count as one of the required history of philosophy seminars– so 835.
951-1: Seminar – Philosophy of Mind
Topic: Perception and Cognition
Instructor: Farid Masrour
The primary question for this seminar is whether there is any interesting relationship between cognition and perception. We will juxtapose two different approaches to this topic: an empirical approach that draws on contemporary cognitive science and an armchair approach that draws on the epistemic role of perception in grounding knowledge and intentionality. Although the seminar focuses on perception and cognition, it engages with some fundamental themes in philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science and epistemology.