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The Place of Persons
We’ll concentrate on some fundamental moral and metaphysical issues concerning ourselves as persons: What (if anything) gives us a moral status different from that of other animals? Do we have the sort of free will required for us to be morally responsible for our actions? What makes you one individual person or self at a particular time? What makes you today the same individual person as that obnoxious 5-year old who went by your name a few years back?
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
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Critical Reasoning
This course will teach students critical reasoning skills needed to analyze a diverse range of challenging arguments, as well as the tools required to develop compelling arguments of one’s own. Together we will investigate the following broad topics: validity and soundness, argument decomposition and construction, deductive and inductive arguments, evidential assessment, and fallacious reasoning. We will also consider the various ways our critical reasoning faculties can breakdown and be impeded by bias (in explicit and implicit forms), stereotypes, and prejudice, as well as potential mitigation strategies.
- Primary Instructor
- Guindon
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The Nature of Fiction
This course is concerned with philosophical questions arising from the concept of fiction. Topics will include: What makes a story a fiction? What are fictional characters? Are fictions "created"? Are fictions physical things, like books? How do fictions make us care about things we don't even believe in? How do fictions affect our moral beliefs.
- Primary Instructor
- Bjurman Pautz
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Introduction to Aesthetics
This is an introductory course on aesthetics, giving an overview of the history of (western) aesthetics and of contemporary debates in analytic aesthetics. Among the historical figures to be read are Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, and Adorno. Some of the contemporary debates concern the right theory of art (representationalism, the expression theory, formalism), the definition of art, and the ontology of works of art. We will consider some general criticisms of western aesthetics. Students will be introduced to prominent positions in aesthetics, but they will also learn how to engage in rigorous philosophical argumentation in the face of those positions.
- Primary Instructor
- Meister
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Nothingness
Many philosophers have written a great deal about nothing: whether there can be nothing, why there isn’t only nothing, whether can talk about nothing, and what it is like to experience nothing. Can there be any meaning to this sort of talk? Is there some important metaphysical role to be played by nothing or nothingness? Is such questioning merely a confusion resulting from misuse of language? This course will survey writings on nothing, with particular attention to the problem of ineffability. We will develop necessary skills to come to terms with and rationally argue about obscure topics and challenging texts.
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Early Modern Philosophy
An introduction to central themes in Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Major topics include: reason, experience, and knowledge; substance and the nature of the world as it really is; induction, causation, and the origin of our ideas; skepticism, realism, and idealism. Connections are made with the scientific revolution of the 17th century. There will be discussion and advice on ways to approach philosophical reading, research and writing.
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
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Moral Philosophy
What is the right thing to do? What should a good person be like? More generally, what determines what is right and wrong, good and bad, virtuous and vicious? In this course, we will consider three greatly influential moral theories – utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelian virtue ethics — as well as feminist perspectives on morality.
Towards the end, we'll also consider more general questions that any moral theory faces. For instance: Does morality depend on God? Is morality relative or subjective (whatever that's supposed to mean)? And why should we care about being moral in the first place?
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Free Speech
Freedom of speech is a challenging and controversial ideal. Legal questions are central, but the issues range into moral and political philosophy as well. We will study John Stuart Mill’s influential 19th century treatment of the idea, and then concentrate mostly on discussions within the last fifty years, including much that is on the cutting edge of current thinking about freedom of speech. Topics will vary, including such things as: political speech, art and offense, pornography, hate speech, protest, copyright, internet and new media, and campaign finance laws.
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
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Introduction to Philosophy of Physics
An introductory survey of topics relevant to the study and practice of physics, with a particular focus on the structure of space and time.
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Ethical Themes in the Contemporary American Short Story
Consideration of contemporary American short stories in terms of their treatment of such philosophical themes as love, loyalty, envy, belief, despair, and charity. Focuses on themes in moral philosophy, rather than themes in social and political philosophy. This course has no prerequisites.
Overrides will not be given in this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
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Paradox and Infinity
This course will focus on several important paradoxes that arise within philosophy and mathematics. We will use these paradoxes to investigate central issues in metaphysics, the philosophy of language,
decision theory, physics, mathematics, and logic. Among the paradoxes we will discuss are Zeno's paradoxes of space, time, and motion; the paradoxes of set theory; the paradoxes of truth and reference; the sorites paradox; and paradoxes of rational action and rational belief. Enrollment limited to 20.
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
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Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
An examination of philosophical issues informed by elementary quantum mechanics; topics include the measurement problem, superposition, non-locality, and competing "interpretations" of the textbook formalism.
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The Meaning of Life
The seminar examines in detail recent philosophical work on the concept of meaningfulness. We will a range of questions including: What is it for a life to be 'meaningful'? What are the prospects of having a meaningful life? What is a 'crisis of meaning' and in what forms does it come? Philosophers to be considered include Susan Wolff, Jay Wallace, Jonathan Lear, Guy Kahane, and others.
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
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The Philosophy of Augustine
This course will focus on Augustine's most important philosophical work, the Confessions, though some of his other writings will also be discussed. Topics covered will include his views about freedom, the will, interiority, language, evil, sin, conversion, time, memory, and skepticism. Attention will also be given to his influence on medieval (Anselm, Scotus) and modern (Descartes, Wittgenstein) philosophy.
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
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Philosophy of Sex
What is sex? What are 'sexual' desires? Does sexually desiring someone necessarily objectify them? Is objectifying someone always bad? What makes some act (solo or partnered) sexual? Are all 'consensual' sexual acts morally unexceptionable? Or are some sexual acts so 'perverse' that even consent cannot excuse them? Is it all right to fantasize about cheating? or bestiality? or rape? Are literary, photographic, or cinematic presentations of such fantasies (i.e., certain sorts of pornography) always morally or politically problematic? Students should have taken at least one prior philosophy (or other related) course.
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Decision Theory: Foundations and Applications
Decision theory is a formal apparatus for analyzing preferences and choices. Students learn the formal theory and then examine its foundations and philosophical implications. Specific topics: the role of causation in decision problems, the status of the axioms of the theory, problems of infinite utility, rudimentary game theory, social choice functions, utilitarianism as a theorem.
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Kant: The Critique of Pure Reason
We will cover the main topics of Kant's masterpiece, including his third way between rationalism and empiricism, his approach to skepticism and idealism, his foundational approach to science and everyday experience, and his limitation of knowledge to leave room for practical faith.
Prerequisites: PHIL 0360, 1700, 1710 or instructor permission.
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Epistemology
We’ll concentrate on several issues involving knowledge and rational belief: What is knowledge, and how does it relate to rational or justified belief? Does a person’s knowing something depend on non-evidential factors such as the practical importance of the person’s being correct? Does the justification of a person’s belief depend just on facts internal to the person—or might it depend on her environment? And what can we learn from thinking about the skeptical position which claims that we’re not justified in believing even the most ordinary things about the world around us? Pre-req: Must have taken one course in Philosophy.
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Philosophy of Mind
Questions concerning the nature of mentality and its relation to the body. Selections from the following topics: mind and behavior, mind as the brain, mind as a computing machine, thought and language, action and mental causation, intentionality and consciousness. Prerequisite: at least one course in philosophy (2 or more preferred).
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Philosophy and Psychoanalysis
The course proposes a philosophical examination of a variety of psychoanalytical theories beginning with classical Freudian theory and including ego psychology, various relational theories (object relations, intersubjectivity, and attachment theories), and self psychology. The course might also consider some of the philosophical sources of psychoanalytic theory, its interaction with recent developmental research, and its applications in literary and cultural studies.
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
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Advanced Deductive Logic
This course provides an introduction to the metatheory of first-order logic. We will prove the completeness of first-order logic. We then move on to the major "limitative" results, including the undecidability of first-order logic, the Gödel incompleteness theorems, and the undefinability in arithmetic of arithmetical truth. Prerequisite: PHIL 0540 or instructor's permission.
- Primary Instructor
- Guindon
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Independent Studies
An elective for students with at least six previous courses in philosophy. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Hill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Gill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Heck
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Broackes
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dreier
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Pautz
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Arpaly
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Guyer
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
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Senior Thesis
An elective for students writing a thesis. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Arpaly
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Broackes
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dreier
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Gill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Guyer
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Heck
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Hill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Pautz
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
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Mental Representation
Discussion of contemporary philosophical and scientific work on intentionality and mental representation. Topics will include: types of mental representation (language of thought, spoken language, perceptual states, images, cognitive maps, trees, object files, etc.), relations between mental representations and the world (reference, informational semantics, teleological semantics), the nature of perceptual content, the differences between perceptual representation and conceptually grounded representation, philosophical theories of concepts, psychological theories of concepts, theories of belief, ethological work on animal beliefs and concepts, and the nature of conscious thought (particularly, evidence pro and con the theory that thought consists of auditory imagery and articulatory imagery).
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Idealism in the Twentieth Century
After attacks on Bradley and Royce at the beginning of the twentieth century, "idealism" largely became a dirty word. But while both Berkeleian and Hegelian versions of metaphysical idealism indeed passed out of fashion, versions of Kantian epistemological idealism, the view that what we know of reality is inescapably formed by our own perceptual and conceptual frameworks, continued to underlie both analytic and continental philosophy. This course will pursue this thesis through works by Carnap, Cassirer, Collingwood, Blanshard, Sellars, Davidson, McDowell, and Brandom.
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Protest and Dissent
Description to follow.
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
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Skepticism about the A Priori and A Posteriori
Skepticism about the A Priori and A Posteriori TBD
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
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Ethical and Political Issues in George Orwell's Essays and Novels
Many discussions of Nineteen Eighty-Four suffer from an almost exclusive focus on political issues. This seminar will consider the book in terms of its devastating non-political insights about love, self-deception, guilt, betrayal, and moral transformation. We will also discuss the political aspects of the book as well as the moral and political issues in three of Orwell's lesser-known novels and a selection of his essays. In order include students with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, this seminar has no prerequisites.
Overrides will not be given in this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
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Graduate Proseminar
Will cover classics of philosophy from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th; including ethics as well as metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of language.
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Aristotle's Psychology
An investigation into Aristotle’s account of psychological phenomena in his De Anima (On the Soul) and Parva Naturalia (especially On Dreams, On Memory, and Sense and Sensibilia). Topics include perception (both the “special” perceptibles—like colour, sound, and smell—and also more complex perceptual experiences), thought, desire, emotion, memory, imagination, and dreaming. Additional questions include how these phenomena fit into Aristotle’s metaphysical theory and challenges they might be thought to offer to contemporary approaches in the philosophy of mind.
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Third Year Workshop
Students will receive training and practice in writing papers for publication in philosophy journals. Each student will complete a paper that has significantly greater scope and depth than a normal seminar paper. The paper will normally have some relevance to an envisioned dissertation, but there will be more emphasis on the quality of work than on relevance to future projects.
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Dissertation Workshop
No description available. Course for graduate students during their 4th year or above.
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Preliminary Examination Preparation
For graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing for a preliminary examination.
- Schedule Code
- E: Grad Enrollment Fee/Dist Prep
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Research in Philosophy
Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Hill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Gill
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Heck
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Broackes
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dreier
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Pautz
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Arpaly
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Guyer
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
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Thesis Preparation
For graduate students who have met the residency requirement and are continuing research on a full time basis.
- Schedule Code
- E: Grad Enrollment Fee/Dist Prep
