|
91914 |
PHIL 104 Introduction to Philosophy:
Multicultural Perspectives |
Daniel Berthold |
. T . Th . |
10:10 am -11:30 am |
OLIN 201 |
HUM/DIFF |
This course is an introduction to such major
themes in the history of philosophy as the nature of reality and our capacity
to know it; issues of ethics and justice; and conceptions of how one should
live.
|
91916 |
PHIL 115 Introduction to Philosophy
of Mind |
Kritika Yegnashankaran |
. T . Th . |
3:10 pm -4:30 pm |
OLIN 202 |
HUM |
Cross-listed: Mind, Brain & Behavior In this course, we will think about
immaterial spirits, futuristic robots, fake computers with little people
inside, Martians who behave like us but have an internal structure very
different from ours, brains in vats, and 'swampmen'
who are formed by random aggregation of molecules. We will ask whether these
strange characters have thoughts and feelings, and whether, if so, they are
like us in what they think and feel. The point is not to consider bizarre cases
just for the sake of it, but to see what light they can shed on the nature of
the mind. As such, they will be our entry into investigating central issues in
the philosophy of mind, such as the mind-brain-body relation, mental
representation, and conscious awareness.
Class size: 22
|
91927 |
PHIL 120 Introduction to Philosophy
of Science |
Michelle Hoffman |
. T . Th . |
1:30 pm -2:50 pm |
OLIN 101 |
HUM |
Cross-listedL Science, Technology & Society What, if anything, separates science from
pursuits such as religion, philosophy, or literature? Are scientific facts the
result of pure, objective reasoning, or do they reflect the ideologies and
biases of their creators? Is science progressing toward the truth? How do we tell
good science from bad science? In this introduction to the philosophy of
science, we will consider these and other questions
concerning the nature of science and the place of science in
society. While exploring these questions we will read classic works from philosophers
such as David Hume, Karl Popper, and Thomas Kuhn, while also considering more
recent developments in the philosophy of science such as Helen Longino's
feminist philosophy of science and alternative perspectives from outside of
philosophy such as Bruno Latour's account of the social construction of
scientific knowledge. Class size: 22
|
91917 |
PHIL 125 Thoughts for the Times |
Ruth Zisman |
. T . Th . |
11:50 am -1:10 pm |
OLIN 205 |
HUM |
In Friedrich Nietzsche’s Untimely
Meditations, he suggests that his thoughts are “untimely” precisely because
he calls into question the values and practices of his time. Likewise, in
Sigmund Freud’s Thoughts for the Times on
War and Death, Freud suggests that there are certain events in human
history - certain moments in time - that demand, indeed necessitate, our
thinking. The question is: to what extent can we and/or should we understand
the task of philosophy as a task of thinking for the times? What is the role of
time - of one’s historical situation - in thinking? Is the philosopher capable
of responding to the exigency of the times? Or is this role better served by
politicians, journalists, poets? How can the philosopher theorize ‘universal’
structures (being, truth, value) and simultaneously ground his/her thinking in
the ‘particularities’ of a given time? will explore the work of thinkers
throughout the history of philosophy who have addressed these important
questions. include: Plato, Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger,
Benjamin, Arendt, Foucault, Zizek, Butler, West, Ronell. Class size: 22
|
91919 |
PHIL 203 History of Philosophy I |
Garry Hagberg |
. T . Th . |
3:10 pm -4:30 pm |
OLIN 204 |
HUM |
A course closely examining selected texts in
the history of philosophy, emphasizing historical connections and developments
through the centuries from ancient
|
91920 |
PHIL 237 Symbolic Logic |
Robert Martin |
M . . . F . . . . F |
10:10 am -11:30 am 12:15 pm -1:15 pm |
OLIN 204 OLIN 204 |
MATC |
Cross-listed:
Mind, Brain & Behavior An
introduction to logic, requiring no prior knowledge of philosophy or
mathematics. This course aims at
imparting the ability to construct correct formal deductions and refutations.
Our text (available on-line free of charge) covers the first order predicate
calculus with identity; we will cover as much of that as feasible in one
semester. There is software for the
course, called Logic 2010, developed by Robert Martin and David Kaplan at UCLA
in the 1990s and subsequently rewritten for the internet, that will assist
students by providing feedback on exercises. Class size: 22
|
91918 |
PHIL 239 Philosophy of Technology |
Kritika Yegnashankaran |
. T . Th . |
4:40 pm -6:00 pm |
OLIN 201 |
HUM |
Cross-listed:
Mind, Brain & Behavior, Science, Technology & Society Tool use is considered by some to be the
first appearance of technology in human life and part of a surge in cultural
evolution that quickly catapulted us ahead of our nearest primate relatives.
Painted in this light, the development and use of technology is part of what
makes us distinctively human. However, some argue that we have crossed a
threshold, where the degree to which we rely upon and incorporate technology in
our lives now threatens to obliterate our humanity. In this course, we will
examine our relationship to technology and arguments for, and against, its
increasing integration into our lives. Class size: 22
|
91925 |
PHIL 326 The Ethics of Consent |
Alan Sussman |
. T . . . |
10:10 am - 12:30 pm |
HEG 200 |
HUM |
Cross-listed: Human Rights Since the 17th century, Western philosophy
has been infused with the notion of individual autonomy and its political and
legal analogue, consent. In the political sphere this encompasses the social
contract and consent of the governed. In the legal sphere it entails the use of
state power to fulfill the terms of private agreements. In the ethical sphere
it necessitates questions of obligation. Voluntary consent normally serves to
authorize one’s participation in mutual exchange. But is one’s consent
voluntary if induced by duress or contaminated by circumstances of economic or
social inequality? Should unjust agreements be enforceable? What if a just
agreement between two parties causes an injustice to a third? Should one be
allowed to consent to self- harm? We will examine ethical criteria used to
determine when public intervention into private consensual conduct may be
justified, and when not.
|
91923 |
PHIL 328 The Lives of Animals |
Jay Elliott |
. . W . . |
1:30 pm -3:50 pm |
OLIN 308 |
HUM |
Cross-listed: Environmental & Urban Studies Over the past several generations, our
relationships with animals have undergone a radical shift: on the one hand, we
are more sensitive to animals' suffering and more opposed to animal cruelty
than ever before; on the other hand, because of the rise of industrial
agriculture and the loss of wild places, we have never felt more distant from
animals in our everyday lives. This course will take up the question of what it
would mean to become fully conscious of what we do to animals and what they do
for us. More specific questions we will discuss include: Should animals have
some of the legal rights of humans? Could "test-tube meat" provide a
viable alternative to slaughtering animals? How are animals represented
differently in philosophy and in literature? What should the future of our
lives with animals look like? Class size: 15
|
91924 |
PHIL 341 Sigmund Freud |
Ruth Zisman |
. . W . . |
10:10 am - 12:30 pm |
OLIN 101 |
HUM |
Cross-listed:
German Studies, Mind, Brain & Behavior Philosophers such
as Michel Foucault and Paul Ricoeur place Freud alongside Marx and Nietzsche as
one of the “three masters” of modern thought, arguing that Freud’s work - like
that of Marx and Nietzsche - presents a “new possibility of interpretation”
and, in turn, “clears the horizon for a more authentic word, for a new reign of
Truth.” In this course, we will approach Freud as a philosopher, as a thinker
that grappled first and foremost with the nature of the mind - with the
peculiarities of conscious experience and the enigma of the unconscious - but
also as a thinker who took up and worked through countless philosophical
questions and problems on topics ranging from dreams and wishes, love and hate,
death and mourning, trauma and survival, and violence and war, to the paradoxes
of civilized life and the intellectual promise of art, literature, and aesthetic
experience. In addition to reading a number of Freud’s major works, we will
consider philosophical objections and resistances to Freudian psychoanalysis as
well as the philosophical legacy thereof. Prerequisites: a previous course in
philosophy and permission of the instructor. This course fulfills the
single-philosopher requirement for junior philosophy majors. Class
size: 15
|
91926 |
PHIL 373 The Philosophy of Hegel |
Daniel Berthold |
M . . . . |
1:30 pm -3:50 pm |
ASP 302 |
HUM |
Cross-listed: German Studies A close reading of Hegel's first great work, The Phenomenology of Spirit. This course fulfills the single-philosopher
requirement for junior philosophy majors. Class size: 15