Course Descriptions
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Department of Philosophy | |
| Spring
2006
Course Descriptions |
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| Course
Timetable |
PHIL 001-301 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY An introduction survey of some central philosophical issues, including:
Are free will and determinism compatible? How can the existence of God
be reconciled with the existence of evil and suffering? Can war ever be
morally justified? Readings will be taken from both contemporary and historical
sources.
An introductory survey of some central philosophical
RECITATIONS: PHIL 004-201 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Rheins PHIL 004-202 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Caswell PHIL 004-203 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Caswell PHIL 004-204 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Franco PHIL 004-205 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Franco PHIL 004-206 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Rheins An introduction to the history of modern philosophy through representative
texts and problems from the writings of Descartes, Spinoza, Locke,
Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
Emphasis on metaphysics and the theory of knowledge, including questions
about the existence and attributes of mind, matter, and God, the limits
of human knowledge, and the possibility of human freedom.
RECITATIONS: PHIL 008-402 Friday -- 9:00-10:00 Munoz-Hutchinson PHIL 008-403 Friday -- 9:00-10:00 Paletta PHIL 008-404 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Munoz-Hutchinson PHIL 008-405 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Cremaldi PHIL 008-406 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Cremaldi PHIL 008-407 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Paletta This course is a survey of the history of modern political philosophy,
beginning with Hobbes through Mill. The organizing theme of this survey
is the idea of the social contract. The social contract doctrine reflects
the intuitive idea that individuals ought to accept a social arrangement,
and the rights and obligations that come with it, if this arrangement
is one that they have (or would have) consented to. Political obligations,
on this view, are justified by reference to the (hypothetical) agreement
of individuals under the appropriate conditions. We will read the social
contract idea as it is differently developed in Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau
and Rawls, and the writings of its critics such as Hume, Bentham, Smith
and Mill.
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.
RECITATIONS: PHIL 025-413 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff PHIL 025-414 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Staff An introductory course in the history and philosophy of science focused
on the development of the modern, scientific view of the world. Starting
with ancient Greek science, the course surveys the history of biology,
chemistry, and the phsycis examining the origin of concepts such as force,
atom, evolution, species, and law of nature. The course also covers key
issues in the philosophy of science including the relationship between
theory and evidence, the nature of sicentific explanation, and scientific
realism. Readings will be drawn from the writings of Aristotle, Ptolemy,
copernicus, Descartes, Newton, Boyle, Dalton, Darwin, Mendeleev, and Einstein,
as well as secondary sources.
An introduction to 20th century continental European philosophy, focusing
on the origins and development of phenomenology and existentialism and
their influence on contemporary thought. The course will include an introdution
to the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and examine the subsequent development
of modern philosophic existentialism by critics of Husserl, with a special
focus on Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Finally, the important
influence of phenomenology and existentialism on contemporary trends in
French, German, and American philosophy will be explored, including Paul
Ricoeur's hermeneutics, Richard Rorty's neo-pragmatism and Jacques Derrida's
deconstruction, and other key figures of the tradition.
Readings and discussion of Plato's major dialogues, with special attention
to moral philosophy and metaphysics. topics will include the dialogues
form and the relation between literature and philosophy in Plato's work.
Readings include Gorgias, Laches, Euthyphro, Protagoras, Symposium, Phaedo,
Phaedrus, Timaeus and passages from the Republic
An examination of some central philosophical questions concerning the
nature of the self. In particular, we will focus on such questions as:
What is it to be a self? What is it to be the same self over time? (i.e.,
the problem of personal identity.) what is the relationship between the
self and its organic body? Could a self persist across a change of the
body, or the brain? Could a self survive the death of its body? What is
the relationship between being a self, a person, and a subject of experience?
We will examine both historical and contemporary writings on these topics.
This course will serve as an introduction to contemporary issues in and
approaches to the theory of knowledge. The theory of knowledge--or epistemology--in
the broadest sense asks the questions "What is knowledge?",
"What is evidence or justification?", "What does it take
to understand the world around us?", "What kinds of knowledge
can we have?" and "Can we have any knowledge at all?" Specific
topics we will examine include: skepticism (a position that argues that
we cannot have any knowledge at all, or very little knowledge); the structure
of knowledge (is it like a building with a firm foundation?); the nature
of evidence and justification; the relationship between psychological
studies of knowledge and epistemology; and what it means to be cognitively
virtuous.
Readings, discussions and papers: On the human condition, proofs for
the existence of God, the problem of evil, relations of faith to reason,
paganism/polytheism vs. monotheism and pantheism, petitionary prayer,
ecumenism and truth, awe and atheism. Required, besides participation
in class, are three short (2-3pp) papers, one longer paper (12-15pp) and
a take-home final on the readings. PHIL 244-301 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND In this course, we will survey a number of topics clustered around the
general questions of what is the relationship between the mind and the
physical world and what does a good theory (scientific or pre-scientific)
of the mind look like. The first question is particularly difficult to
answer in light of a dilemma: There appear to be reasons for thinking
that the mind must be a part of the physical world and, more specifically,
a part of the body. On the other hand, there appear to be equally compelling
reasons for thinking that the mind cannot be essentially related to the
body. This dilemma sets up 'the mind-body problem', which we will examine
in detail. Regarding the second question, we will examine issues about
how minds can cause behavior, how psychological theories can explain behavior
and what it takes for a thought to represent or be about something. Finally,
we will examine questions about the nature of emotion and the relationship
of emotions to other mental states.
PHIL 277-001 JUSTICE, LAW & MORALITY Monday, Wednesday --
1:00-2:00 RECITATIONS: PHIL 277-201 Friday -- 1:00-2:00 Staff Earl Warren, a former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court,
once opined that "In a civilized society, law floats on a sea of
ethics." this course will examine the relationships--actual and ideal--between
law and ethics. After refining our understanding of the subject matter
both of "law" and of "ethics" we will use Supreme
Court cases relating to privacy and personal autonomy to examine the interplay
of law and ethics within the American system of justice. No prerequisites.
Evaluation will be based on regular class attendance and a series of three
papers, two short and one longer, on assigned topics.
PHIL 279-401 MARKETS, MORALITY & CAPITAL
PHIL 325-301 TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE: REALISM Scientific realism stands at the intersection of metaphysics, epistemology,
and philosophy of science. The study of scientific realism involves asking
questions such as: Can scientific methods produce theories that are literally
true? Do we have good reasons to believe that unobservable entities such
as electrons, quarks, and electromagnetic fields exist? Are phenomena
neatly organized into natural kinds for which universal generalizations
can be made? In this course, we will study empiricist, neo-Kantian, deflationist,
and realist answers to these questions and others. Readings will be drawn
from van Fraassen, Putnam, Boyd, Kuhn, Kitcher, and others. The final
section of the course will involve the close study of realist issues arising
in ecology and evolutionary biology about the reality of species and ecosystems. PHIL 342-301 CONTEMPORARY METAPHYSICS An examination of several metaphysical issues concerning the nature of
consciousness: What is the relationship between consciousness and the
physical properties of the brain? Is consciousness something non-physical
that emerges from the activity of brains? Or does consciousness reduce
to properties of the brain? Or should we understand the relationship between
consciousness and the brain in terms of some notion of supervenience?
In trying to answer these questions, we will examine several recent attempts
to explain consciousness in broadly naturalistic terms. We will also ask
whether the concept of the phsyical is itself well understood. Readings
will be largely contemporary, though we will consider some historical
sources as well. PHIL 372-301 TOPICS IN ETHICS This course examines the problem of moral conflict, and the connate problem
of conflicting responsibilities, in the personal, political and global
settings. One key question is that of the morality of special relationships.
Do we really have special responsibilities towards people with whom we
share some ties? What is the basis of this special responsibility? Can
these special responsibilities come into conflict with our responsibilities
to people in general? The problem of conflicting responsibilities does
not arise just in personal life (i.e. in our dealings with one another
in society), but is a problem that is replicated also in the political
domain, where our role as responsible citizens committed to social justice
may appear to be in tension with our personal (including familial) commitments;
and also in the global context, in which our patriotic commitments sometimes
seem to contradict our duties to humanity as a whole. Authors we will
read include historical figures like Plato, Kant, and Mill, and contemporary
authors like Rawls, Scanlon, Nagel and Scheffler. PHIL 426-401 PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY An examination of major trends of thought in experimental psychology in relation to philosophy and the philosophy of science. Our questions will 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 Wundt or Titchener, and proceeding to behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, and cognitive science. We then turn to contemporary problems, including philosophical foundations of cognitive science, eliminative materialist challenges to psychology, and the relation between neuroscience and psychology, using cases from a particular area such as attention or memory. Readings to include works by Koehler, skinner, Fodor, Churchland, and others. [Return to top]PHIL 505-401 FORMAL LOGIC I This course provides an introduction to the fundamental ideas of logic.
Topics will include truth functional logic, quantificational logic, and
logical decision problems. PHIL 512-301 ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS A study of Aristotle's mot influential ethical work, the NICOMACHEAN
ETHICS, which addresses the question, typical of ancient Greek ethical
philosophy: how are we to live? As Aristotle formulates the question,
it is, "what is it to live well?", where "living well"
is a synonym for "eudaimonia" (happiness). Topics to be considered
include: the nature and pursuit of happiness; the varieties of human excellence--in
particular, the role of reason in such excellence; the relation between
excellence and happiness; practical reasoning; moral responsibility; and
friendship. We will consider Aristotle's work in relatino to his precedessors
(most notably Plato) as well as his successors in the Ancient, as well
as modern tradition. In particular, we will consider the extent to which
Aristotle's conception of ethical excellence overlaps with the modern
notion of the morality. No knowledge of Greek is required. All works will
be read in translation. PHIL 529-301 MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY: AQUINAS Aquinas or related topics to be determined to fit participants.
PHIL 571-301 BEHAVIORAL ETHICS The course will examine the role of beliefs, emotions and cognitive scriptsin
moral judgment and behavior and explore some of the ways in which findings
in cognitive and social psychology, cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary
biology might help to resolve debates in moral theory.
PHIL 572-301 CONTEMPORARY ETHICS Moral reasoning is one kind of practical reasoning. But what is practical reason? Aristotle, Hume, and Kant, for example, have deeply conflicting accounts of practical reason and its implications for how it relates to norms and persons. We will examine approaches to these questions in the writings of such contemporary philosophers as: G.E.M. Anscombe (Intention); Thomas Nagel (The Possibility of Altruism); Christine Koorsgaard (Sources of Normativity); Robert Brandom (Articulating Reasons); T.M. Scanlon (What We Owe to Each Other); and Joseph Raz (Engaging Reason). Anscombe and Raz will be read in their entirety; various chapters will be read in the works of others. DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY PHIL 630-301 MIND AND BODY An examination of the place of the mind-body problem in the formation
of twentieth-century philosophy. we will study attitudes toward the relation
between mental and physical phenomena in the latter part of the nineteenth
century (some subset of Fechner, Helmholtz, Wundt, Brentano, Hoffding,
and James). We will then turn to the early analytic tradition and the
logical positivists/empiricists (some subset of Russell, Carnap, Hempel,
Schlick, and Feigl). We may be able to consider contemporaneous views,
such as those of the Gestalt psychologists Koffka and Koehler. We will
end with an examination of the legacy of these views (some subset of Armstrong,
Smart, Kim, and Dretske). COLLEGE OF GENERAL STUDIES PHIL 002-601 ETHICS An investigation of some of the central questions about the nature of
morality: Are moral judgments objective and justifiable? Can moral disagreements
be resolved rationally? How are we to understand the idea of a good life,
and what is the relationship between a good life and morality? Readings
will be from both contemporary and historical sources, and will concern
both practical problems (e.g. war and peace) and theoretical issues. PHIL 003-601 HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY A survey of classical Greek approaches to questions about knowledge,
the nature of the world, the soul, ethics, and politics. The course will
focus on the Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle. PHIL 026-601 PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE & TIME This course is an introduction to the Philosophy of Space and time. We
will consider space and time in Ancient Greek Philosophy: Zeno's Paradoxes,
static and dynamic concepts of time, substantial and relational concepts
of space (Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle). We will focus on
space and time in Medieval Cosmology and Copernican Revolution. We will
discuss the philosophical problems of space and time in a New Physics
and a New Cosmology (J. Kepler, G. Galilei, R. Descartes). We will make
philosophical analysis of Non-Euclidean Geometry. We will consider the
philosophical conceptions of space and time in Classical Physics, Theory
of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and Relativistic Cosmology. No previous
physics of philosophy will be presupposed, and only high school mathematics
will be used.
PHIL 028-601 FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY What is sex equality? Issues to be discussed include: What is gender? What is the nature of sexual oppression? Could a modern liberal society include sexual oppression? What would sexual liberation require? these questions will be discussed through the issues of society's gendering of paid work, family responsibilities and sexuality, among others. DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY
A survey of contemporary positions and debates within the philosophy
of mind. We will consider many of the classic philosophical questions
about mind: What is the relation between mind and body? Are there immaterial
aspects to mind? What is consciousness, and is consciousness a purely
physical phenomenon? Do animals have minds? Is artificial intelligence
possible?
PHIL 578-640 PHILOSOPHY & POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS This course examines the special problems culture and cultural membership
pose for the concept of justice. Justice is supposedly impartial and universal,
while cultural claims are thought to be partial and particular. And whereas
liberal jsutice is concerned primarily with the individual, cultural claims
are commonly thought to be group-based. How are these conflicting views
to be understood? We will examine these questions as they arise in the
domestic context (e.g., in the context of the liberal state) and in the
global context. Authors we will read include John Rawls, Will Kymlicka,
Martha Nussbaum, Susan Moller Okin, Charles Taylor, and Amy Gutmann.
LOGIC, INFORMATION AND COMPUTATION
LGIC 010-401 IDEAS IN LOGIC AND COMPUTATION This course provides an introduction to the fundamental ideas of logic. Topics will include truth functional logic, quantificational logic, and logical decision problems.
LGIC 220-401 APPLIED MATH INFO & COMP II
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Oct 26, 2004 |
  
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