Course Descriptions
|
|
Department of Philosophy | |
| Spring
2007
Course Descriptions |
||
| Course
Timetable |
PHIL 001-301 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
This philosophy seminar is an introduction to issues in metaphysics (what there really is), epistemology (the study of knowledge) and morality. Topics for the course include sense perception and the external world, skepticism, freedom and determinism, and the meaning and ethics of life and death. To that end, we will examine how philosophers have dealt with questions such as : Can there be any certain knowledge? What true knowledge do we have? How do we know it - with our reason or with our senses? What is our relationship to the world 'out there'? Are we free? What is a human being and how does the human being differ from other animals (if at all)? How does the human being differ from machines (if at all)? What is the moral status of a human being? The readings for the course will come from historical and contemporary philosophical works.
RECITATIONS: PHIL 004-201 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Staff PHIL 004-202 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Staff PHIL 004-203 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Staff PHIL 004-204 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Staff PHIL 004-205 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff PHIL 004-206 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff In this course, we shall read and analyze some of the centrally important works of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy. Our readings will include writings from Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant. We shall focus on metaphysics (the fundamental nature of reality) and epistemology (theory of knowledge). Some of the metaphysical questions dealth with by these authors concern the existence and nature of mind, matter and God, and the problem of human freedom. Some of the epistemological questions dealt with by these authors concern how much and what kind of knowledge we gain by the senses and by pure reason, and the limits of the human intellect. While we shall read these authors in order to get a sense of their historical relations to each other, the aim of the course is not to provide a sweeping survey of philosophy from Descartes through Kant. Rather, the aim is to focus on a few seminal texts in the history of modern philosophy especially appropriate to the themes noted above.
RECITATIONS: PHIL 008-402 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Staff PHIL 008-403 Friday -- 10:00-11:00 Staff PHIL 008-404 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff PHIL 008-405 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Staff This course examines the role of social contract doctrines in Western thought and culture. We will focus on the political writings of the major modern proponents of social contract theory: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Rawls. We will contrast their views with the utilitarian tradition, as represented by the political and economic philosophy of David Hume, Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill. We will also study Karl Marx, regarded as a critic of liberal constitutionalism. The course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the main issues in modern political philosophy.
PHIL 009-302 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES Freshman Seminar: Tuesday, Thursday -- 10:30-12:00 Matthew Katz, makatz@sas.upenn.edu
PHIL 009-303 WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES Freshman Seminar: Tuesday, Thursday -- 12:00-1:30 Kathleen Moran, kamoran@sas.upenn.edu
This course offers an introduction to three major types of formal reasoning: Deductive, inductive (probabilistic) and practical (also know as decision-making). First, and most centrally, we will be focusing on the logical structure of deductive arguments in the context of sentential and predicate logics, and their applications in scientific reasoning. next, we turn to inductive argument forms within the frameworks of elementary probability theory and statistics, with special regards to reasoning in experimental research. In the third (shortest) module, we introduce the basic principles of decision theory and practical reasoning. This course is designed for students with minimal background in Mathematics.
Donald Fitts, dfitts[at]sas.upenn.edu CROSS LISTED WITH: COLL 002-401, CHEM 027-401, PHIL 527-401 RECITATIONS: PHIL 027-402 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff Cross listed with: CHEM 027-402, COLL 002-402 PHIL 027-403 Friday -- 1:00-2:00 Staff Cross listed with: CHEM 027-403, COLL 002-403 Quantum theory provides the fundamental underpinning of modern physical science, yet its philosophical implications are so shocking that Einstein could not accept them. By following the historical development of 20th century quantum science, the student should gain an appreciation of how a scientific theory grows and develops, and of the strong interplay between scientific observation and philosophical interpretation. Although students will not be expected to carry out mathematical derivations, they should gain an understanding of basic quantum findings. This course satisfies the GenReq VII (Science Studies) & GenEd VII (Natural Sciences and Mathematics) requirements, as well as Category II in the Pilot Curriculum.
PHIL 050-401 INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Friday -- 2:00-5:00 J. Mohanty CROSS LISTED WITH: RELS 155-401, SAST 150-401 The fundaments of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, the main patterns of Western response to it, and some basic questions of "comparative philosophy". Selected readings from classical Indian texts in English translation.
PHIL 054-001 CONTEMPOARY CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY Tuesday, Thursday -- 9:00-10:30 Ammon Allred, ammona@gmail.com In this course, we will discuss major issues in Twentieth Century Continental philosophy. We will focus in particular on two dominant movements: phenomenology and deconstruction. In the course of examining these two movements, we will also discuss existentialism, structuralism and post-structuralism. We will spend the first part of the semester studying Edmund Husserl, the founder of the phenomenological movement, and Martin Heidegger, his most important student and the foremost "Continental" philosopher. W will first examine how Husserl attempted to develop a scientific, methodological approach to consciousness that was supposed to resolve the difficulties of modern epistemology. We will then read portions of *Being and Time*, Heidegger's *magnum opus*, tracing Heidegger's initial appropriation, but ultimate rejection, of the phenomenological method. We will also use this development to formulate an initial concept of deconstruction, perhaps the most widely used (and certainly most widely misunderstood) concept in Continental philosophy. Most of what is considered contemporary Continental philosophy has been elaborated by thinkers working in the French academy. Consequently, we will turn to the two major ways in which the work of Husserl and Heidegger was taken up in France. We will first examine the existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. We will end the semester by considering how Jacques Derrida developed deconstruction by using the phenomenological method itself to critique certain crucial assumptions of the more orthodox attitude that the existentialists took to phenomenology. In the course of doing this, we will also briefly examine the work of Emmanuel Levinas. DIST CRS HIST/TRAD - CL OF 09 & PRIOR
RECITATIONS: PHIL 072-201 Friday -- 12:00-1:00 Staff PHIL 072-202 Friday -- 1:00-2:00 Staff A survey of moral problems in medicine and biomedical research. Problems discussed include: gene therapy, genetic manipulation, and genetic enhancement; withdrawing treatment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia; abortion and maternal-fetal conflict; and the allocation of medical resources. The focus throughout is on reasoned argument and critical analysis. SOCIETY SECTOR (ALL CLASSES)
PHIL 073-401 ETHICS IN PRACTICE Monday -- 2:00-4:50 Sigal Ben-Porath, sigalbp@gse.upenn.edu Joan Goodman, joang@gse.upenn.edu CROSS LISTED WITH: EDUC 545-401 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SEMINAR Our topic is most ancient and most modern: What is the good life and how does it differ from the worthy life? We will investigate whether there are moral frameworks and principled criteria that can and should guide the choices we make in our personal, professional and public lives. if so, how do they become operative as we frame our larger purposes and make day by day decisions? We will pursue this inquiry by considering the basic questions: why should we live a worthy life? What are the guidelines for making a life worthy? We will continue by addressing the debate between egotism and altruism - does one have to live life according to personal utility or should one make other-regarding considerations? We will further consider the possibility that the two visions could converge. Next we will examine the implications of virtues, duties and responsibilities to conduct. We will conclude with the question of transcending morality, or - when does one have to go beyond the call of duty. The materials for the seminar include primary philosophical texts, secondary texts, and literature. Assignments will include comparative analysis of the texts as well as students' reflections on how the readings pertain to their contemporary and projected lives. DATES: 1/8/07 - 5/4/07
A critical introduction to the tradition of ethical thought first articulated in the writings of the Athenian philosopher Plato (c. 430-347 BCE) and developed over the next several centuries by subsequent Greek philosophers --especially Aristotle (384-322), Epicurus (341-270), the Stoic philosophers Zeno (333-264) and Chrysippus (280-207) -- and by their intellectual heirs in the Roman empire -- most notably Seneca (4 BCE-65CE) and Epictetus (50-130 CE). "Ethics" in this context does not mean the particular codes of conduct or systems of values by which Greeks or Romans lived, but rather a type of reflective and systematic inquiry into questions of conduct and value that Plato presents as a distinctively philosophical enterprise. Just what makes a type of inquiry philosophical will emerge over the course of our study. What makes it ethical, in the Greek and Roman tradition, is its focus on the ultimate practical question, "How should we live?", as well as on the closely related but no less practical question, "How do we become good?". At the hands of Plato, and his intellectual successors, inquiry into these very practical questions requires, in addition, investigation of theoretical issues such as the nature of the good, the route to and limits of our knowledge of it, as well as the structure and nature of the human psyche. Readings will be from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, and other ancient authors. No knowledge of Greek or Latin is required. SOCIETY SECTOR (ALL CLASSES) PHIL 231-301 EPISTEMOLOGY Tuesday, Thursday -- 10:30-12:00 Susan Schneider, sls@phil.upenn.edu This course concerns the scope and limits of human knowledge. We will begin by canvassing philosophical skepticism, in both historical and contemporary guises. We will then turn to 20th century attempts to define knowledge, including work that draws from cognitive science. We close by considering "metaepistemological" issues concerning the nature of the philosophical intuitions. DIST CRS HIST/TRAD - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR
The course will examine three hundred years of Jewish philosophy from Maimonides to the explusion of the Jews from Spain. Attention will be paid to Maimonides and the post-Maimonidean thinkers Abner of Burgos, Moses of Narbonne, Levi Gersonides, Hasdai Crescas, and Joseph Albo. Topics to be discussed will be: the existence of God, creation, providence, prophecy, free will, and Divine knowledge. Of special interest will be the increasing influence of Christian philosophy on Jewish philosophy during this period.
PHIL 267-301 KANT & THE 19TH CENTURY The course will start with a brief examination of Hegel's philosophy. It will then proceed to Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Each of these philosophers can be said to be engaged in a critical dialogue with Hegel. We will reconstruct these critical dialogues and ask whether these thinkers succeed in overcoming Hegel. DIST CRS HIST/TRAD - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR
PHIL 277-001 JUSTICE, LAW & MORALITY Monday, Wednesday --
2:00-3:00 RECITATIONS: PHIL 277-201 Friday -- 1:00-2:00 Staff Earl Warren, a former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, once said that "In a civilized society, law floats on a sea of ethics. Each is indispensable to civilization. Without law, we should be the mercy of the least scrupulous; without ethics, law could not exist." We will explore the relationships--actual and ideal--between law and ethics. After refining our understanding of the subject matter both of "law" and "ethics" we will examine the interplay between the two, with special emphasis on differing approaches to justice, equality, rights and the legal enforcement of morality as these play out in the law. No prerequisites. Evaluation will be based on regular class attendance and a series of three papers, two short and one longer, on assigned topics. DIST CRS SOCIETY - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR
PHIL 279-401 MARKETS, MORALITY & CAPITAL
PHIL 334-301 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Readings, discussions and papers: On the human condition, proofs for the existence of God, the problem of evil, relations of faith to reason and willing belief. Required, besides participation and presentations in class, are 5 short papers (1page), and one longer final paper (12-15pp). PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY
PHIL 405-301 PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE In this course we will ask how language works. How do we manage to use sounds and shapes to make claims, promises, and threats? What makes a certain sound or shape be about, or refer to, something in the world, as "the sun" refers to the sun? And how can we use those sounds or shapes to talk about other things, as when Romeo says "Juliet is the sun"? Answering these questions will require us to look closely at the complex interaction between specific language users, general linguistic conventions, and our innate biological capacities. We will focus especially on how to understand definite descriptions ("the sun"), names ("Juliet"), and demonstratives ("that woman"), each of which suggests a different model for understanding the word-world connection.
PHIL 412-401 TOPICS IN LOGIC Monday, Wednesday -- 2:00-3:30 Scott Weinstein, weinstei@cis.upenn.edu CROSS LISTED W/CIS 518-401, LGIC 320-410, MATH 670-401 The course covers fundamental results and techniques of mathematical logic. Topics will be drawn from model theory, proof theory, recursion theory, and set theory. Connections between logic and algebra, analysis, combinatorics, computer science, and the foundations of mathematics will be emphasized.
PHIL 466-401 KANT II Tuesday, Thursday -- 10:30-12:00 Paul Guyer, pguyer@nous.phil.upenn.edu CROSS LISTED WITH: GRMN 552-401 This course is a study of Kant's moral and political philosophy. The central theme of the course is Kant's conviction that freedom or "autonomy" is our most basic value, and that the fundamental law of morality as well as the more particular principles of both justice and personal virtue are the means that are necessary in order to preserve and promote the existence and exercise of human freedom. Central questions will be how Kant attempts to motivate or prove the fundamental value of freedom and the connection between this normative issue and his metaphysics of free will. Texts will include Kant's Lectures on Ethics, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, and Metaphysics of Morals. Written work for the course will include one short paper and one term paper. DIST CRS SOCIETY - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR
PHIL 479-301 MODERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Monday, Wednesday -- 2:00-3:30 Samuel Freeman, sfreeman@sas.upenn.edu A survey study of some of the main works by several major modern political philosophers, including Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan; John Locke's Second Treatise on Government and Letter Concerning Toleration; Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract and Discourse on Inequality; John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, On Liberty, On Representative Government, and The Subjection of Women; and excerpts from Capital and other works by Karl Marx. Open to graduate students and upper level undergraduates. Prior coursework in political, moral, or legal philosophy strongly advised. DIST CRS SOCIETY - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR [Return to top] PHIL 505-401 FORMAL LOGIC I Monday, Wednesday, Friday -- 11:00-12:00 This course provides an introduction to the fundamental ideas of logic and computation. Topics will include truth functional logic, quantificational logic, and logical decision problems. This course satisfies the Sector IV: Formal Reasoning and Analysis requirement for students in the Class of 2009 and earlier, and the Foundational Approaches: Formal Reasoning and Analysis requirement for students in the Class of 2010 and later.
PHIL 527-401 CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS Donald Fitts, dfitts[at]sas.upenn.edu REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION CROSS LISTED WITH: PHIL 027-401 RECITATION: PHIL 527-404 Friday -- 11:00-12:00 Staff Quantum theory provides the fundamental underpinning of modern physical science, yet its philosophical implications are so shocking that Einstein could not accept them. By following the historical development of 20th century quantum science, the student should gain an appreciation of how a scientific theory grows and develops, and of the strong interplay between scientific observation and philosophical interpretation. Although students will not be expected to carry out mathematical derivations, they should gain an understanding of basic quantum findings. Beyond the lectures, there will be a separate weekly meeting for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who register for 527-401.
PHIL 529-301 MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY: SUAREZ Critical examination of some key themes in medieval philosophy such as faith/science, causation, theory of relations and natural theology. This seminar is open to advanced undergraduates and to graduate students from other departments, such as History, Religious Studies, and so on. Topics are adjusted to the interests and accomplishments of the participants. The seminar requires active participation, class presentations and a final research paper. UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
PHIL 530-301 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: CONCEPTS In this course we will examine what concepts are, and what functions they need to perform; we will do this by reading classic texts from both philosophy and psychology. Specific topics include: (1) how the reference of concepts is determined (individualism and externalism); (2) whether and how inferential role can play a constitutive role in individuating concepts (atomism and holism); (3) compositionality (prototypes and the language of thought); and (4) normativity (indeterminacy and the possibility of error). If time permits, we may also consider what role concepts play in perceptual experience.
PHIL 572-301 CONTEMPORARY ETHICS A seminar on attention to the emotions in contemporary ethics. The semester will be divided into roughly three parts. First, attacks on mainstream ethics for failing to pay adequate attention to the role of emotions in moral judgment and the moral life. Second, metaethical theories focused on the role of emotions in moral judgment. third, moral theories that treat emotional response as an essential (or at least very important) part of the moral life. Readings will be articles and book chapters, and will include: Williams, Frankfurt, Velleman, Nussbaum, Blackburn, Gibbard, Prinz, Annette Baier, Stocker, and others. DIST CRS SOCIETY - CL OF 09 AND PRIOR
PHIL 642-301 CONTEMPORARY METAPHYSICS A survey of work that is at the heart of contemporary metaphysics. We will be focusing on the nature of universals, theories of modality, the nature of causation and laws of nature. Throughout our explorations, we ill try to determine what is metaphysically basic and to understand and critically discuss the "rules of thumb" that metaphysicians employ for doing so. Inter alia, we will be reading works by Quine and Carnap on ontological commitment, Armstrong on universals, and Lewis' on possibility, laws and properties. Points of contact with historical figures (e.g., Plato and Hume) will be developed and discussed.
PHIL 651-301 TELEOLOGY: ANCIENT AND MODERN Thursday -- 12:00-3:00 Susan Meyer, smeyer@nous.phil.upenn.edu Karen Detlefsen, detlefse@nous.phil.upenn.edu
We will examine the teleology in the natural philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics (the main proponents of teleology in the ancient philosophy), as well as the Epicureans' anti-teleological stance. The modern philosophers we will read include Descartes, Boyle, Spinoza, and Leibniz. All readings will be in English translation.
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 A study of the historical introduction to the philosophy of space and time from ancient Greek conceptions to modern scientific theories. We will especially focus on Zeno's paradoxes of space, time and motion, on Democritus' atomistic concept of empty space and Aristotle's topos, on the development of cosmology from Aristotle-Ptolemy to Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. then we will study the development of a new worldview in the XVI-XVIII centuries; Descartes, Galilei and Newton. Some lectures will be devoted to the crisis of the mechanical worldview and the origin of the modern science: theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and relativistic cosmology. No previous physics or philosophy will be presupposed, and only high school mathematics will be used.
PHIL 028-601 FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY Feminist Political and Social Philosophy:
PHIL 489-640 IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT & PUBLIC DISCOURSE We live in an era of intense, sometimes violent, conflict and seemingly fruitless debate over issues of the public good, private morality, the role of government, the right to national self-determination, freedom of expression in a media-intensive global culture, and the profound cultural and religous differences among human civilizations. All of these conflicts find their expression in public discourse. Designed primarily for students in the MLA Program's Public Culture track, this course aims to deepen our understanding of the ideological foundations of these political, ethnic, moral, and cultural conflicts, as they are expressed in contemporary public discourse and culture. We will examine the ideologies that drive various contemporary conflicts and the ways in which such ideological conflicts shape our public culture, polarize our public discourse, curtail productive public deliberation and dialogue, and challenge our leaders and institutions. We will end by considering efforts to reduce or resolve ideological conflicts through strategies of dialogue, toleration, and democratic deliberation, and we will ask how we as individuals and professionals can respond to and influence ideological conflict in public discourse to achieve personal, civic, and institutional goals.
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. This course satisfies the Sector IV: Formal Reasoning and Analysis requirement for students in the Class of 2009 and earlier, and the Foundational Approaches: Formal Reasoning and Analysis requirement for students in the Class of 2010 and later. GEN REQ IV: FRML REAS - CL OF 09 & PRIOR
LGIC 220-401 APPLIED MATH INFO & COMP II
LGIC 320-401 LOGIC II Monday, Wednesday -- 2:00-3:30 Scott Weinstein, weinstei@cis.upenn.edu CROSS LISTED WITH: MATH 670-401, PHIL 412-401 The course covers fundamental results and techniques of mathematical logic. topics will be drawn from model theory, proof theory, recursion theory, and set theory. Connections between logic and algebra, analysis, combinatorics, computer science, and the foundations of mathematics will be emphasized.
|
|
| Return to top |
|
Oct 26, 2004 |
  
|