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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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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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An Introduction to Pain and Suffering
What are pain and suffering? Do they matter, and if so, why? What can we do about them? What should we do about them? The goal of this course is to answer those three central questions – what we might call the ‘what?’, ‘who cares?’, and ‘now what?’ – of pain and suffering. The course is designed to give an introduction to the philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology relevant to answering those questions, as well as to how they are addressed in Buddhism.
- Primary Instructor
- Gularte
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College Ethics
As college students, you face a number of ethical decisions. Should you use cognitive-enhancing drugs? If there is a speaker you oppose, is it okay for you to engage in disruptive protest? Should you support calls for the university to take political positions, or should a university be politically neutral? In this course we'll be looking at these and other issues relevant to your lives as college students. There are no prerequisites for the course.
- Primary Instructor
- Chalmers
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Personal Identity and Moral Responsibility
First year seminar on personal identity and moral responsibility.
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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
- Broackes
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Global Justice
Is it unjust that people in some countries have less wealth, worse health, etc., than those in other countries? Does this depend on whether the better off countries partly caused the disparity? Does it depend on whether the worse off are poor, or is it enough that they are relatively worse off? If there are global injustices, what obligations are there, and on whom do they fall, to remedy them? We will study (mostly) recent philosophical work on such questions, including attention to special contexts such as immigration, climate change, poverty, colonialism, secession, intervention, and war.
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
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The Meaning of Life
This is an introductory course in ethics, with a focus on the question of what is the nature of the human good, or of a life lived well. Readings will be from classical sources (Aristotle, Epicurus, Kant, Nietzsche, Camus) as well as from contemporary authors. In investigating this question, the course will also introduce students to some of the main problems and positions in moral philosophy. Central concepts such as obligation, responsibility, pluralism, and moral knowledge will be discussed, but in the larger context of what is the nature of the good life. No prior work in philosophy will be presupposed.
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
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Psychology and Philosophy of Happiness
The course explores four fundamental questions about happiness: What is happiness—pleasure, life satisfaction, something else? How is happiness achieved—what are the myths and realities about what conduces to happiness? Can happiness be achieved—are we naturally well suited to be happy? Why pursue happiness—is it sufficient, or even necessary, for a good life? The course examines classic contributions from philosophy and psychology, the two disciplines that have studied happiness most extensively. Team-taught by professors from both philosophy and psychology, it invites students to compare and combine both approaches.
- Primary Instructor
- Reginster
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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.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
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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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Avicenna
This course will familiarize students with the life, works, ideas and legacy of one of the most influential thinkers of classical Islamic philosophy, Avicenna (d. 1037). We begin with Avicenna’s life and works, then look into some major themes in his logic, natural philosophy, epistemology and metaphysics. Then, we will consider Avicenna’s controversial views on God’s knowledge of the particulars, the nature of his Pointers and Reminders and the commentary tradition it inspires, as well as Avicenna’s heritage in Islamic thought and beyond. Throughout the course, we will read selections from his opus magnum, The Cure, in English translation.
- Primary Instructor
- Gocheva
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Conditionals
In this course, we will look at different theories of what "if" means. Is it a truth-functional connective, like the material conditional used in logic? Do sentences of the form "If P, then Q" even have truth conditions? Some logic will be very helpful; some familiarity with philosophy of language also helpful.
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Aristotle
This is an introduction to the hugely influential philosophy of Aristotle, covering his natural philosophy, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and ethics. We will closely read some of Aristotle’s most famous works as well as a selection of contemporary secondary literature. The goal of the course is both historical and philosophical: On the one hand, students will familiarize themselves with Aristotle’s philosophical positions, on the other hand, they will further develop their philosophical skills in analyzing Aristotle’s arguments for those positions. The course will combine lecture and discussion.
- Primary Instructor
- Meister
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Late Plato
This course investigates Plato’s response to difficulties posed in his Parmenides about the theory of Forms. To flesh out the theory we will look back at the Phaedo and Republic, and to understand his revisions we will read a series of dialogues responding to the Parmenides: Theaetetus (on knowledge), Sophist (on truth and falsehood), and Statesman (on method and politics). These dialogues present themselves as philosophical exercises to train the audience in philosophy and promise a final member to complete the series, but the Philosopher is missing. A question: can we find Plato’s philosopher in the series we have?
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Philosophy of Law
Philosophical examination of the chief classical and contemporary theories of the nature and function of law. Topics include the definition of law, the nature of legal systems, the logic of legal reasoning, the analysis of basic legal conceptions (e.g., of right and duty), legal rules and principles, law and justice, and law and morality.
- Primary Instructor
- Estlund
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Philosophy of Language
How is language used both to express and to communicate our beliefs and other thoughts? What is the relation between the meaning of a sentence and the meanings of the words that comprise it? We will discuss philosophical work on these and related questions including, potentially: the meanings of metaphors; the way meaning depends upon context; the nature of slurs and hate speech.
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Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy
This course provides an introduction to major philosophers and movements within the analytic tradition. Our focus will be on the groundbreaking work done in the first few decades of the 20th century. We will read selected works of Gottlob Frege, G. E. Moore, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and A.J. Ayer. We will discuss central issues in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, and metaethics. One recurring theme will be the nature and correct methodology of philosophy itself.
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
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Modal Logic
Modal logic concerns the logic of necessity and possibility. In this course, we will look at formal systems that have been developed to handle these and related notions. We will cover three topics: propositional modal logic, quantified modal logic, and the logic of counterfactual conditionals. We will discuss philosophical issues, but the main focus of the course will be on the technical material. No official prerequisite. It is strongly recommended that students have taken PHIL 0540 or have a working knowledge of elementary logic.
- Primary Instructor
- Schechter
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Wittgenstein
This course will focus on the Philosophical Investigations and its treatment of various questions in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind. Some attention will also be given to his Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics. Prerequisite: Two courses in philosophy.
- Primary Instructor
- Larmore
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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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Epistemology
What’s the rational way to respond to evidence that one’s beliefs are formed unreliably? (Examples involve biases, drugs, hypoxia, or the disagreement of reliable thinkers.) Theorizing about this is complicated by one’s having to judge one’s own reliability from within one’s own (possibly unreliable) perspective. And it relates to some other topics of current interest in epistemology: Can rational requirements can come into conflict? Can it be rational to be epistemically akratic–to have one doxastic attitude toward P while thinking that some (particular) other doxastic attitude would be more rational?
- Primary Instructor
- Christensen
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Introspection
This course will examine the nature of our introspective access to our sensory experiences and to our non-experiential mental states (e.g., propositional attitudes.) Topics covered will include: the Cartesian idea that we have "special access" to (or "direct acquaintance with") our mental states; empirical and philosophical arguments questioning the reliability of introspection; the transparency model of introspection, in the case of experience (Tye, Dretske, Byrne) and in the case of propositional attitudes (Evans, Byrne); Peter Carruther's interpretive sensory access theory of our knowledge of our non-experiential mental states; and recent empirical work that involves combining introspective testimony with fMRI readings.
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Philosophy and Architecture
One of the most ancient human practices, answering to the need for shelter, architecture also counts as a fine art in modern times. Is there tension between the functionality of architecture and the disinterested contemplation seen as the hallmark of aesthetic experience? Taught by a philosopher and an architectural historian, the course is interdisciplinary and collaborative. Students work in multi-disciplinary teams to prepare seminar presentations and papers. Case studies will draw on texts and buildings from a diversity of sources, historical periods, and geographical regions.
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Speech and Pornography
Is pornography misogynistic or morally or politically objectionable in other ways? Many feminists have thought so. We will consider the arguments of such writers as Andrea Dworkin and Rae Langton and then seek a better account of what is problematic about much pornography, using queer and feminist pornography as a contrast. Along the way, we'll consider questions about what sex is and about what ethical sex might require, paying special attention to the limitations of the notion of consent for a theory of sexual ethics. Instructor's permisson required. No permission will be given during pre-registration. Interested students should attend the first meeting.
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Philosophy, Ethics, and Politics in George Orwell's Novels
This seminar will begin with 1984 and Animal Farm but will go on to discuss Orwell's other four novels as well, focusing not only on the obvious political issues but also on his varied, stimulating, and debatable ideas about self-deception, language and thought, romantic and sexual relations, betrayal, money, and many other exciting topics. In order to include students with varied backgrounds and interests, this seminar has no prerequisites.
- Primary Instructor
- Ackerman
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Kant and the Development of German Idealism
The purpose of the course is to give a survey of the development of German idealistic thought from Kant to the early Schelling. It will deal mainly with the metaphysical and the epistemological aspects of this movement and focus primarily on those aspects that are related to Kant’s theoretical philosophy.
Topics that are dealt with include: (1) Kant’s criticism of metaphysics and his epistemological program, (2) reactions to Kant’s approach by F. H. Jacobi, K. L. Reinhold and G. E. Schulze. (3) Fichte’s ‘subjective’ idealism, (4) Schelling’s search for ‘lacking premises’.
- Primary Instructor
- Horstmann
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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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Exchange Scholar Program
- Schedule Code
- E: Grad Enrollment Fee/Dist Prep
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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
