Philosophy Courses -- Spring 2009
Course Descriptions
PHIL 2300-001 BEGINNING PHILOSOPHY 11:00-12:20 TR EngPhl 160
FRANCESCA DI POPPA
This is a general introduction to philosophy, designed to acquaint students with certain significant problems as they are considered by major philosophical figures. These are not esoteric questions but instead ones central to ordinary human experience. Students will be encouraged to formulate and defend their own answers to these questions, using the concepts and methods of inquiry introduced in the course. This process will help improve students’ abilities to think more critically and to communicate with greater clarity and precision.
PHIL 2300-002 BEGINNING PHILOSOPHY 12:30-1:50 TR EngPhl 01
ANNA RIBEIRO
This course is an introduction to some central philosophical questions: what makes a self; how we acquire and justify knowledge; what is the difference between the mind and the brain; how do we know if we have free will; what is the moral way to conduct our lives and how do we know it; and whether one is justified in believing in a deity. Readings will be both historical and contemporary. THIS COURSE FULFILLS THE CORE CURRICULUM HUMANITIES REQUIREMENT
PHIL 2300-004 BEGINNING PHILOSOPHY 9:30-10:50 TR EngPhl 164
JACOB BECK
In everyday life, we make a vast number of assumptions. We assume that God exists, and that it is wrong to commit murder. We assume that we are capable of freely choosing our actions, and that people are morally responsible for the actions they choose. We assume that human beings are conscious, but that rocks, tables and microwave ovens are not. And we assume that the sun will rise tomorrow, though the stock market might not. Philosophy is the attempt to think through assumptions such as these and to ask whether and how they are justified. Is it really true that God exists, that murder is wrong, that rocks aren’t conscious, and that the sun will rise tomorrow? If so, how do we know? The primary aim of this course is to examine questions such as these by reading, writing, and thinking about philosophy. A secondary aim is to hone your critical reasoning skills.
PHIL 2310-001 LOGIC 9:30-10:50 TR EngPhl 160
CHRISTOPHER HOM
A central aspect of cogent reasoning is the ability to form good arguments. Logic is the formal representation of arguments, so mastering logic is essential for good critical thinking. In this course, we will investigate the logical form of sentences and the deductive relations that hold between them, thus giving us deeper insight into the notion of a conclusion ‘following from’ premises. We will precisely work with such notions as schemata, interpretation, implication, validity, satisfiability, and identity. The course will present four logical systems, each increasing in expressive power: 1) sentential logic, 2) monadic quantificational logic, 3) polyadic quantificational logic, and 4) polyadic quantificational logic with identity. The investigation of each system will be divided into three sub-parts: a) Analysis, which presents the syntax, b) Logical assessment, which presents the semantics, and c) Reflection, which makes metatheoretic observations about the system. Requirements include weekly problem sets, quizzes, three midterm exams, a final exam.
PHIL 2310-002 LOGIC 10:00-10:50 MWF EngPhl 160
SUNGSU KIM
Development of formal methods for evaluating deductive reasoning. Additional topics may include uses of language, definition, nondeductive inference. Fulfills Core Curriculum mathematics requirement.
PHIL 2310-003 LOGIC 12:30-1:50 TR EngPhl 160
DANIEL NATHAN
Logic, the study of forms of reasoning, goes back at least to the time of ancient Greece. Although it is one of the oldest academic subjects, it has really only "grown up" during the last one hundred years. Modern logic has found special uses in various fields--e.g., computer science, mathematics, economics, philosophy of science--but its main task is still the illumination of reasoning. This is the aspect that will be emphasized in this course. The course will focus mainly on the iron-clad reasoning known as deductive inference, but nondeductive inference will also be examined. The fundamental goal of the course is to make you better aware of the difference between good and bad arguments so that you will be able to write better, read better, and above all think more clearly.
PHIL 2320-001 INTRO TO ETHICS 11:00-12:20 TR EngPhl 001
HOWARD CURZER
Discussion of problems and theories of morality. Includes the application of philosophical techniques to issues of contemporary moral concern.
PHIL 2320-002/003 Intro To Ethics (002)10:00-10:50 MWF EngPhl 163
WALTER SCHALLER (003)11:00-11:50 MWF EngPhl 163
Three questions provide the themes for this course: (1) When (if ever) is it morally permissible to kill? (2) What are the legitimate limits to the liberty of individuals? and (3) What do affluent people owe to the global poor (basically, the billion people living in absolute poverty)?
Most of us think that killing (human beings) is sometimes justified (e.g., self-defense, capital punishment), but those usually do not involve killing innocent people. We will ask the harder and more fundamental question: Is it ever morally permissible to kill innocent people? That raises an even harder question: Is it worse to kill one person than to allow a greater number to die? How should we be guided in thinking about this question? What moral factors are relevant? Should we take into account only the (likely) consequences of the various actions open to us?
The second question asks: when is it morally permissible for the state to use coercion in order to limit people’s freedom of action? Most people think that legal coercion is sometimes justified (or else laws could never be enforced, and where would we be without laws?). But which laws are justified? For example, is the state morally justified in using the law to enforce the majority’s moral beliefs on everyone, whether they agree or not? In particular, we will ask whether the law ought to recognize same-sex marriages. If the state insists that marriage can only be between one man and one woman, is that sex discrimination? Or is it the legitimate deference to majority opinion?
The third question addresses the problem of global poverty? Do people have a right to a minimally adequate standard of living? If other people are starving, is helping them a matter of charity or a requirement of justice? Does anyone have a moral duty to help them?
In addition to readings on these specific questions, we will study the moral theories of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. What insights can they offer as we try to answer these two questions? THIS COURSE FULFILLS THE CORE CURRICULUM HUMANITIES REQUIREMENT.
PHIL 2320-005 INTRO TO ETHICS 9:00-9:50 MWF EngPhl 164
JEREMY SCHWARTZ
Discussion of problems and theories of morality. Includes the application of philosophical techniques to issues of contemporary moral concern.
PHIL 2350-001 WORLD RELIGIONS AND PHIL 9:00-9:50 MWF EngPhl 163
MARK WEBB
This course is a study of seven major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. We will study the doctrines and practices of each of these religions: then, for each religion, we will critically examine some element of doctrine or practice to see if it can be justified. This course satisfies the multicultural requirement.
PHIL 3303-001 MOD EURO PHIL 1600-1800 2:00-3:20 TR EngPhl 163
FRANCESCA DI POPPA
This class will offer an overview of the development of philosophical and scientific ideas between early 1600 and late 1700. We will begin with Galileo and Bacon and end with Kant, looking at philosophical texts against their historical background. Philosophers covered: Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz and others.
PHIL 3304-001 EXISTENTIALISM/PHENOMENOL 9:30-10:50 TR EngPhl 163
HOWARD CURZER
What unites the existentialists is not their individual philosophies, but the nature of the problems that they set out to explore. We will discuss the following themes:
· Primacy of the Individual: Traditional philosophy, modern science, and the industrial revolution have reduced people to an abstraction. Existentialists maintain that the truths of human existence cannot be known through detached observation and contemplation, but must be inwardly appropriated thought the experience of personal involvement growing out of one’s own passionate concern.
· Critique of Reason: If reason is but part of human nature, rational fulfillment alone is not enough for a complete and authentic life. Moreover, the investigation of reality cannot be left to logic and reason alone.
· Authenticity and Inauthenticity: The inauthentic person never acquires a distinctive individual identity, but simply plays a part, acts out an assigned role, unquestioningly follows a pattern of behavior given by society. The authentic person seeks self-awareness and chooses to actualize a true self, discovered through introspection.
· Boundary Situations: Suddenly there comes a moment when a direct awakening is inescapable. Inauthenticities and illusions are exposed. Typical boundary situations include chance, choice, guilt, and especially death. Typical responses include alienation, nothingness, and dread.
Readings will consist of works by the following authors: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Heidegger, Camus, DeBeauvoir.
PHIL 3320-001 INTRO TO POLITICAL PHIL 1:00-1:50 MWF EngPhl 163
WALTER SCHALLER
This course will focus on several topics concerning global justice:
(1) nationalism and cosmopolitanism: is it morally justified to favor one’s own compatriots, or is that incompatible with the equality of all human beings? Does the fact that two people belong to different nations have any moral significance?
(2) terrorism: what is terrorism, and is it permissible? Was the Allied fire-bombing of German cities in World War II morally justified? Was it terrorism?
(3) torture: is it ever morally justified? We will discuss ‘ticking time bomb’ cases and what they tell us.
(4) global economic justice: what do affluent peoples owe the global poor? Does the fact that over one billion people live in ‘absolute poverty’ impose any obligations on the one billion affluent people? Is there a universal, human right to a minimally adequate standard of living? If so, who has the correlative obligation to fulfill it, and how?
PHIL 3340-001 MINDS, BRAINS & COMPUTERS 12:30-1:50 TR EngPhl 164
JACOB BECK
Some things in the world (oceans, mountains, tables) are purely physical. Other things (you, the Masked Rider, the Masked Rider’s horse) have minds; they feel pain, think, perceive, and learn. But how, exactly, should we understand this difference? What is involved in having a mind? This course canvasses a variety of answers to this question (dualism, behaviorism, identity-theory, etc.), with a special emphasis on the proposal that the mind is a kind of computer. Readings will draw from both philosophy and the cognitive sciences.
PHIL 4320-001 ETHICS 12:00-12:50 MWF EngPhl 163
JEREMY SCHWARTZ
Prerequisite: PHIL 2320 or consent of instructor. Advanced topics in ethical theory, with special emphasis on the meaning and justification of moral judgments, the possibility of ethical knowledge and the nature of moral standards.
PHIL 4341-001 GREAT FIGURES IN PHIL 2:00-2:50 MWF EngPhl 164
JEREMY SCHWARTZ
Prerequistie: Previous coursework in philosophy or consent of instructor. In-depth study of the works of just one or two great philosophers.
PHIL 5308-001 BASIC ISSUES IN CONTEMP PHIL 2:00-4:50 T EngPhl 264
CHRISTOPHER HOM
The seminar will focus on various theories of meaning in contemporary philosophy of language with an emphasis on how they account for the expressive aspect of language. Expressive language includes insults (e.g. 'jerk'), exclamations (e.g. 'oops'), swear words (e.g. 'fuck'), racial epithets (e.g. 'chink'), honorific terms (e.g. 'sir'), and, perhaps, moral terms (e.g. 'good') and predicates of personal taste (e.g. 'beautiful'). Along the way, we will consider various issues such as the semantics-pragmatics distinction, nominalism about meaning, context-sensitivity, the social dimension of language, and how (or whether) norms are represented. Requirements include a seminar presentation, two short papers, and one longer, research paper.
PHIL 5314-001 CONTEMPORARY AESTHETICS 9:30-10:50 TR EngPhl 264
ANNA RIBEIRO
What counts as art? What function does art serve, if any? Do we experience art works differently from other things in the world? How do we interpret works of art? Can we have an aesthetic experience of nature, or only of art works? Is popular art also art? Is it right to evaluate art works on the basis of the moral views they might express? We will discuss these and other questions as we consider particular art forms and art works.
PHIL 5324-001 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 3:00-4:20 MW EngPhl 264
MARK WEBB
In this seminar we will examine the epistemological credentials of religious experience. Many mystics and others who claim to have experienced God or some other ultimate reality talk as if the experience was a kind of perception. First we will ask whether claims about religious experience should be understood as factual claims at all. Then we will ask whether it makes sense to think of religious experience as perceptual—that is, purported experience of an objective reality external to the perceiver—and what that would imply about the epistemic evaluation of religious experience claims. The overarching question concerning us will be whether religious experience provides evidence for religious belief.
PHIL 5331-001 PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 1:00-2:20 MW EngPhl 264
SUNGSU KIM
In this course, we will examine some central issues in philosophy of mind with emphasis on on-going debates over reductionism and antireductionism. Antireductionists claim that some mental states are causes, while maintaining that mental states are realized by but irreducible to physical states. Reductionists disagree. They argue that antireductionism is an incoherent position in the philosophy mind because mental causes must be excluded by physical causes that realize them. We will discuss this exclusion argument and other related issues such as multiple realizability, reduction, physicalism, supervenience, emergence, etc. We will begin by looking at different accounts of the nature of mind (behaviorism, the type identity theory, and functionalism), and then read and discuss articles on mental causation and other related issues.