University of Pennsylvania / Philosophy Department Courses Fall 1999

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
FALL - 1999 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

PHIL. 001-001 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY SAMUELS M W 12:00-2:00
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

RECITATION 201 STAFF F 2:00-3:00
RECITATION 202 STAFF F 12:00-1:00

An introductory survey of some central philosophical issues, including: Is there a God? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Are free will and determinism incompatible? Readings will be taken from both contemporary and historical sources.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 001 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
SEMINAR 301 STAFF T TH 3:00-4:30
SEMINAR 302 STAFF T TH 9:00-10:30
SEMINAR 303 STAFF T TH 10:30-12:00
SEMINAR 304 STAFF T TH 1:30-3:00

ENROLLMENT RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN

An introduction to such topics as our knowledge of the material world, the relation of mind and body, the existence of God, the nature of morality.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 002-001 ETHICS S. MEYER T TH 11:00-12:00

REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

WATU-RECITATION 201 STAFF F 11:00-12:00
RECITATION 202 STAFF F 11:00-12:00
RECITATION 203 STAFF F 9:00-10:00
WATU-RECITATION 204 STAFF F 1:00-2:00
RECITATION 205 STAFF F 9:00-10:00
RECITATION 206 STAFF F 10:00-11:00
RECITATION 207 S. MEYER F 1:30-2:30

Ethics (as we will study it in this class) is the philosophical study of moral questions. Many of these questions concern normative issues (questions about what we should or ought to do). (1) The most general sort of normative question concerns the good life: "How should I live my life?" (a question as old as Ethics itself in the Western tradition). (2) More concrete and practical normative issues concern questions such as whether abortion is ever permissible, or what obligations we have toward less fortunate than
ourselves. (3) Theoretic normative ethics tries to develop systematic answers to the questions, What makes actions right and wrong? (4) Meta-ethics, unlike normative ethics, does not address questions of what we should do and why, but rather considers the nature of moral principles and theories (Are they absolute? Are they objective? Are they the sorts of things one can know? Could they be true in a world with no God?)
We will consider questions of all four types in this course. Our study of these questions will be philosophical (as opposed to, for example, anthropological, sociological, or religious). That means we will be concerned to identify and appreciate the reasoning or arguments offered in support (or criticism) of various answers to these questions.

WATU-FULFILLS _ OF COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT
GENERAL REQUIREMENT I: SOCIETY

PHIL. 003-001 HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY KAHN M W 11:00-12:00

REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

RECITATION 201 STAFF F 11:00-12:00
WATU-RECITATION 202 STAFF F 1:00-2:00

A survey of classical Greek approaches to questions about knowledge, the nature of the world, the soul, ethics and politics. Will focus on Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle.
WATU-FULFILLS OF COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 009-301 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES KUMAR T TH 10:30-12:00
FRESHMEN SEMINAR

-302 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES STAFF T TH 9:00-10:30
-303 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES STAFF T TH 12:00-1:30
-304 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES STAFF T TH 1:30-3:00
Discussion of several contemporary ethical topics such as limitations on freedom of expression, civil disobedience, affirmative action, privacy rights, treatment of animals, euthanasia, health care distribution, informed consent, and obligations to future generations.
Readings from philosophical and non-philosophical sources.
MAY NOT BE COUNTED TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY MAJOR.
SECTION 301 IS RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN ONLY
SECTIONS 302, 303, & 304 ARE RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN & SOPHOMORES
FULFILLS THE COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT

PHIL. 018-301 THE IDEA OF NATIONALISM STEINBERG T TH 1:30-3:00
FRESHMAN SEMINAR

Nationalism has been one of the dominant geo-political forces of the past two hundred years, and its continuing power has been amply demonstrated by recent events in Ireland, the Balkans, eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere. This course will explore such questions as : What is a nation? Do nations differ from states and peoples? Does every identifiable group have a valid claim to a nation-state of its own? How are claims to national identity to be justified? Does the recognition of claims to national or ethnic identity confer special rights, responsibilities or privileges? Is nationalism compatible with out notions of rationality, individualism, and universalism? How does nationalism relate to notions of self-determination, "chosenness", separateness, exceptionalism, and racial, cultural or ethnic superiority?
Throughout, our focus will be on the conceptual and theoretical issues raised by completing notions of nationalism, rather than on the history, sociology, or geo-politics of its concrete manifestations in particular cultures. We will explore the development of nationalism from the universalist political thought of the Enlightenment through the ethno-centrism of 19th century German Romanticism to contemporary theorists who see nationalism and group identity as central issues in current cultural and epistemological debates over modernity and post-modernism. Though our emphasis will be on the philosophical issues raised by the idea of nationalism, we will draw examples of its various theoretical formulations from American, German, Jewish, Third World, and other nationalisms that reflect its diverse and sometimes problematic manifestations. (Readings usually include Kedourie, Kant, Rousseau, Fichte, Mill, Nussbaum, Taylor, Toulmin, Renan, Acton, May, Hollinger, Walzer, Buber, Arendt, Avineri, Miller, Lenin, Fukuyama, and Derrida).
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 026-401 PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE AND TIME DOMOTOR M W F1:00-2:00
CROSS LISTED W/HSSC 026-401

This course provides an introduction to the philosophy and intellectual history of space-time and cosmological models from ancient to modern times, with special emphasis on paradigm shifts, leading to Einstein's theories of special and general relativity and cosmology. Other topics include Big Bang, black holes, stellar structure, the metaphysics of substance, particles, fields and superstrings, unification and grand unification of modern physical theories. No philosophy of physics background is presupposed.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT VII: SCIENCE STUDIES

PHIL. 050-401 INDIAN PHILOSOPHY HALBFASS M W 3:00-4:30
CROSS LISTED W/SARS 103-401 & AMES 103-401

An introductory survey of the fundamentals of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, the main patterns of Western response to it and some basic questions on "comparative philosophy."
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 072-001 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS MCGEE T TH 12:00-1:30
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

RECITATION 201 STAFF F 1:00-2:00
RECITATION 202 STAFF F 12:00-1:00

Biomedical Ethics is an introduction to philosophical foundations of the practice of health care and bioscientific research. Emphasis in the course is on the relationship between the meaning of philosophical inquiry and that of healing human beings. Attention is given to several areas of historical and current ethical concern about the practice of medicine and biomedical science, including futility of treatments, end-of-life decisions, human genetic testing and engineering, the treatment of infertility, and distribution of scarce resources.
DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY

PHIL.077-001 PHILOSOPHY OF LAW MOORE M W 11:00-12:00
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

RECITATION 201 STAFF F 2:00-3:00
RECITATION 202 STAFF F 9:00-10:00
RECITATION 203 STAFF F 10:00-11:00
RECITATION 204 STAFF F 11:00-12:00
RECITATION 205 STAFF F 11:00-12:00

The course will be a general introduction to the philosophy of law. Part one will deal with the nature of law and the relationship between law and morality; we shall discuss in particular the theories of H.L.A. Hart and Ronald Dworkin. Part two will deal with the selected problems of legal theoryabortion, the right to privacy, affirmative action, and the theory of punishment.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT I: SOCIETY

PHIL. 080-001 AESTHETICS BOWMAN M W 3:00-4:30

Why do we spend good money on apparently useless things like pictures, movies and novels--i.e. representations of things, rather than useful things themselves? Crudely put, this is the fundamental question of aesthetic theory. We will discuss a variety of answers to this question as well as some other questions--like, what is a picture, anyway?--that have been given by philosophers in the last three centuries. Readings will include works by David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant; Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche; and R.G. Collingwood, Arthur Danto, and Stanley Cavell. Written work will include three short papers and a final examination.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT III: ARTS & LETTERS

PHIL. 155-301 CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY BOWMAN T TH 1:30-3:00
Many recent continental philosophers e.g., the members of the Frankfurt School and Foucault, have devoted themselves to a critique of the way in which the Enlightment notion of rationality has been transformed from a logic of human liberation to a politically conservative instrument of domination. Other continental philosophers, e.g., Derrida and his followers, have changed our ability simply to interpret the world, to say nothing of our ability to change it. In this course we shall trace these developments through a reading of various texts in the Enlightment tradition and more recent ones critical of modern distortions of his tradition. We shall begin briefly with Kant and Marx, two exemplars of this tradition, and then we shall study in some detail the views of the Frankfurt School (especially the writings of Horkheimer and Adorno), Foucault and Derrida. Background readings form Nietzsche and Sassure shall also be assigned to place the material from Foucault and Derrida in its proper context.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY AND TRADITION

PHIL. 225-401 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE DOWNING T TH 10:30-12:00
CROSS LISTED WITH HSSC 255 & COML 224

A critical survey of philosophical conceptions of science from Aristotle through contemporary philosophers of science. Issues will include the following: Should scientific theories be understood as providing true descriptions of the world, or just as useful devices for making predictions? What is proper scientific method? Are there connections between science and metaphysics? What bearing does the history of science have on the philosophy of science? How do scientific theories change?
GENERAL REQUIREMENT VII: SCIENCE STUDIES

PHIL. 243-301 METAPHYSICS AND SCIENCE STAFF T TH 12:00-1:30

A study of the evolution of the Metaphysical Conceptions from Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic Philosophy to Modern Science and the Philosophy of Science. Topics will include ancient philosophy and science, the metaphysical implications of modern science, the positivist attack on metaphysics, and the status of science in a post-positivist era.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION
PREREQUISITES: PHIL. 001, OR PHIL. 003, OR PHIL 004, OR PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR

PHIL. 342-301 CONTEMPORARY METAPHYSICS ROSS T TH 1:30-3:00

Explorations of some issues concerning properties, qualities, holes, truth, necessity and impossibility, the human mind and animal perception, with a manuscript (by the teacher) and further reading from a recent collection and from Duns Scotus and William of Ockham (c.1300). There are three short papers (3-5 pages), one 12-15 page paper on a book or problem to be selected by the student with teacher's advice, with a take-home final exam based on the assigned readings. Seminar style discussion
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY

PHIL. 362-301 MODERN PHILOSOPHICAL FIGURES: HATFIELD T TH 3:00-4:30
DESCARTES: METAPHYSICS AND SCIENCE
We will study Descartes' metaphysical and epistemological writings in relation to his larger project of establishing a new vision of the natural world. Students will have the opportunity to engage in discussion in a seminar format.
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY

PHIL. 414-301 PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS EWALD T TH 10:30-12:00
A general introduction to the philosophy of mathematics. The class will begin with some classical texts of Dedekind and Cantor, and then consider the principal philosophers of mathematics of the twentieth-century, with a focus on Poincare, Russell, Brouwer, and Hilbert.

PHIL. 426-401 PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY HATFIELD T TH 10:30-12:00
CROSS LISTED WITH HSSC 426

An examination of major trends of thought in experimental psychology in relation to philosophy and the philosophy of science. Questions to be asked include: What is the subject matter and object of explanation of experimental psychology? What is the relation between psychology and physiology? How is scientific psychology related to traditional philosophical investigations of the mental? The course covers the classical systems and schools of psychology, starting in earnest with Helmholtz and Wundt and proceeding to behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, and cognitive science. The second half of the course focuses in detail on contemporary problems, drawn from work in perception, imagery, and (perhaps) concept formation. Readings will include works by Wundt, Koffka, Skinner, Fodor, Marr, Kosslyn, and others.

PHIL. 460-301 CONTINENTAL RATIONALISM DOWNING T TH 1:30-3:00

A study of metaphysics and epistemology in the works of Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, and Leibniz.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 465-401 KANT I GUYER T TH 12:00-1:30
CROSS LISTED WITH GRMN 551
This course is a study of Kant's theoretical philosophy, or what we now call epistemology and metaphysics. After a brief look at some of Kant's early works, the bulk of the course is given over to a close study of the Critique of Pure Reason. Topics to be discussed include Kant's views about space, time, substance, and causation; his theory of the self, self-knowledge, and knowledge of the external world; his critique of traditional metaphysical theories about the soul and God; and his theory of the regulative role of human reason. Students taking this course as German 551 will be expected to read a significant portion of the critique in German.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 475-401 PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, FREEMAN T TH 3:00-4:30
AND ECONOMICS
CROSS LISTED W/PPE 475-401
CAPSTONE SEMINAR

A discussion of important areas of common interest in philosophy, politics, and economics, including the model of rational choice, explanation in the social sciences, the role of government in a constitutional democracy, and efficiency and justice in the distribution of resources. Readings will be taken from contemporary sources.
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY

PPE. 475-401 PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, FREEMAN T TH 3:00-4:30
AND ECONOMICS
CROSS LISTED W/PHIL. 475-401
CAPSTONE SEMINAR

PPE. 475-402 PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, ALLEN T TH 10:30-12:00
AND ECONOMICS
CROSS LISTED W/PHIL.475-402

Liberalism v. Republicanism: America's Public Philosophy
This course will examine the provocative thesis that liberalism has proven to be an inadequate basis for American constitutional law and public policy. The primary texts will be Michael Sandel's book, "Democracy's Discontent" (Harvard 1996) and a volume of critical essays by leading political and constitutional theorists, "Debating Democracy's Discontent: Essays on American Politics, Law, and Public Philosophy," (Oxford, 1998). The texts will guide course participants through a lively and wide-ranging discussion spanning law, culture, and political economy. Topical issues will include, immigration, citizenship, identity, gay marriage, federalism, families, feminism, abortion, corporate speech, militias, poverty, adoption and civic virtue. Participants will be required to write short papers.
PPE MAJORS ONLY

PHIL. 475-402 PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, ALLEN T TH 10:30-12:00
AND ECONOMICS
CROSS LISTED W/PPE 475-402
Liberalism v. Republicanism: America's Public Philosophy
This course will examine the provocative thesis that liberalism has proven to be an inadequate basis for American constitutional law and public policy. The primary texts will be Michael Sandel's book, "Democracy's Discontent" (Harvard 1996) and a volume of critical essays by leading political and constitutional theorists, "Debating Democracy's Discontent: Essays on American Politics, Law, and Public Philosophy," (Oxford, 1998). The texts will guide course participants through a lively and wide-ranging discussion spanning law, culture, and political economy. Topical issues will include, immigration, citizenship, identity, gay marriage, federalism, families, feminism, abortion, corporate speech, militias, poverty, adoption and civic virtue. Participants will be required to write short papers.
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY

PHIL. 509-301 EARLY-MIDDLE PLATO KAHN W 3:00-6:00

A careful reading of major Platonic dialogues, from the Apology to the Republic, with attention to both the development of philosophical doctrine and the mode of literary exposition.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION
UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION

PHIL. 530-301 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND SAMUELS T 3:00-6:00

A discussion of some topics at the intersection between the philosophy of psychology and epistemology that concern the nature of reason and rationality. Topics include: How do we arrive at our beliefs? What kinds of cognitive structure subserve belief revision in human beings? What normative theory of reasoning ought we to adopt? Are the processes by which we arrive at our beliefs the ones by which we ought to arrive at our beliefs? What is the relationship between psychological theories of
reasoning and normative theories of rationality?
UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION

PHIL. 600-301 PROSEMINAR ROSS M 3:00-6:00

Seminar for first year doctoral students only. Material is chiefly reading. Weekly writing and discussion of some classical papers in recent philosophy and some current books and papers in metaphysics/epistemology (broadly construed).

PHIL. 633-401 COLLOQUIUM IN AMERICAN HISTORY KUKLICK W 2:00-5:00
CROSS LISTED WITH HIST 610

American intellectual history from the age of Darwin to post-World War Two. About one-half of this course focuses on the pragmatistsPeirce, James, Royce, Dewey, and Lewis. The other half attempts to contextualize pragmatic philosophy in its American milieu and to relate it to American modernism, literature, and social science. Authors to be read here include Henry James, Walter Lippmann, Ruth Bendict, and Willa Cather. There will be substantial reading each week, and a short paper each week on the reading. The constituency for the course is usually interdisciplinary.

PHIL. 672-301 VIRTUE ETHICS KUMAR/S. MEYER T 3:00-6:00

An increasing number of moral theorists in the last 50 years, loosely identified as proponents of "virtue ethics", have claimed that much of twentieth century moral theory has suffered from a failure to be appropriately attentive to the lessons to be learned from studying the tradition of ethical theorizing most famously articulated in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Central to this tradition are concerns about the nature of virtue and character, as part of a general pre-occupation with the study of moral psychology, understood by the Greeks as a prerequisite to any kind of more substantive ethical inquiry. Our aim will be to explore both the historical roots and certain contemporary aspects of the virtue ethics tradition. We will begin with Aristotle as an exemplar of the ancient tradition. In what way is his ethical theory "eudaimonist" (a common feature of virtually all ancient moral philosophy)? Are the virtues of character he describes properly "moral" virtues? In what way does he think these virtues are distinctly rational? What is the nature of moral deliberation and perception? Does this theory provide resources for solving difficult normative questionse.g. what is the right thing to do in particular circumstances? The twentieth century revival of interest in virtue ethics begins with the writings of G.E.M. Anscombe, Philippa Foot and Iris Murdoch. We will consider their views in context, as standing in opposition to the neo-Humean value theories of Stevenson and Hare, and in partial defense of Moore's advocacy of some form of value realism. This will set the stage for a detailed exploration of what is arguably the most important and influential project in contemporary Aristotelian ethics, as developed in several recent papers by John McDowell.

COLLEGE OF GENERAL STUDIES

PHIL. 001-601 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY STAFF T 6:30-9:10

An introduction of such topics as our knowledge of the material world, the relation of mind and body, the existence of God, the nature of morality. Readings from historical and contemporary sources.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 004-601 HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY STAFF M 6:30-9:10

An introductory course covering the development of philosophical thought from Descartes through Kant. Topics may include the appearance-reality distinction, the nature of ideas, sensations and perceptual knowledge, the Cartesian method and the relation of mind to body. In addition, contemporary sources will be used to refine our understanding of these issues. Readings may include Descartes' Meditations, Locke's Essay, Hume's Inquiry, and Kant's Prolegomena.

GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 009-601 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES STAFF W 6:30-9:10

Discussion of several contemporary ethical topics such as limitations on freedom of expression, civil disobedience, affirmative action, privacy rights, treatment of animals, euthanasia, health care distribution, informed consent, and obligations to future generations. Readings from philosophical and non-philosophical sources. (MAY NOT BE COUNTED TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY MAJOR)
FULFILLS THE COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT

PHIL. 055-601 EXISTENTIALISM MEYER T. T TH 5:30-7:10
A critical examination of existentialist views of the nature of the moral life. Readings from both classical (Kierkegaard and Nietzsche) and modern existentialism (Sartre).
FULFILLS DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION

PHIL. 072-601 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS STAFF TH 6:30-9:10

A survey of moral problems in medicine and biomedical research. Problems discussed include genetic manipulation, informed consent, infanticide, abortion, euthanasia, and the allocation of medical resources. Moral theory is presented with the aim of enabling students to think critically and analytically about moral issues. The need for setting biomedical issues in broader humanistic perspective is stressed.
DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY

PHIL. 243-601 TOPICS IN METAPHYSICS AKHUNDOV M W 5:30-7:10

A study of the evolution of the metaphysical conceptions from ancient Greek philosophy to modern science. We will especially focus on Aristotle's Metaphysics: Matter and Form, Potentiality and Actuality, Causation and Teleology. We will discuss the metaphysical problems of the new astronomy: the Copernican revolution. Particular attention will be devoted to the formation of the new metaphysics of the mechanical world view: G. Galilei, R. Descartes, I. Newton, G. Leibniz, I. Kant. We will study some of the discussions between these philosophers and we will read some of the primary sources. Some lectures will be devoted to the Crisis of the Mechanical Worldview (XIX century) and Positivistic Attacks on Metaphysics. Then we will discuss the role of metaphysics in scientific revolutions of the XX century: Einstein's Theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. We will discuss the contemporary status and perspective of metaphysics.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT VII: SCIENCE STUDIES

PHIL. 574-601 TOPICS IN BIOETHICS MAGNUS M 4:00-6:40

This course will focus on several conceptual issues in bioethics. It is intended to be a graduate level seminar for students in bioethics, philosophy, medicine or related fields. Issues to be covered include: the role of underdetermination and incommensurability in medical science; the meaning and significance of the concepts of health and disease; the distinction between genetic and non-genetic diseases; and problems in genetic technology associated with reductionism and causality. This course will explore the intersection between philosophy of science and bioethics. Some of the most important ethical and social issues and even policy decisions hinge on often unexamined conceptual grounds. We will critically examine some of the crucial assumptions which underlie contemporary biomedical practice.

3/11/99