PHIL 1:
Introduction to Philosophy
Is there one truth or many? Does science tell us everything there is to know? Can our minds be purely physical? Do we have free will? Is faith rational? Should we always be rational? What is the meaning of life? Are there moral truths? What are truth, reality, rationality, and knowledge? How can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in philosophy from various contemporary traditions. Students must enroll in lecture AND and one of the discussion sections listed.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 2:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 5N:
The Art of Living
Whether we realize it or not, all of us are forced to make a fundamental choice: by deciding what is most valuable to us, we decide how we are going to live our life. We may opt for a life of reason and knowledge; one of faith and discipline; one of nature and freedom; one of community and altruism; or one of originality and style.We may even choose to live our lives as though they were works of art. In every case, hard work is required: our lives are not just given to us, but need to be made. To live well is, in fact, to practice an art of living. Where, however, do such ideals come from? How do we adopt and defend them? What is required to put them into practice? What do we do when they come into conflict with one another? And what role do great works of art play in all this? "The Art of Living" will explore the various ways in which it is possible to live well and beautifully, what it takes to implement them, and what happens when they come under pressure from inside and out.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 6N:
Pictures and the Imagination
Paintings, drawings, and photographs often function as pictures or images of the preexisting things they take as subjects. They represent these subjects from specific spatial vantage points in ways that may be more or less definite, more or less detailed, and more or less faithful to what the subjects are actually like. One longs to know how this works: how vision, imagination, and background knowledge come together when we experience a picture as a picture. Certain forms of imagining and remembering involve mental picturing, mental imagery. Sometimes we imagine or remember things in visual terms from a specific spatial vantage point, with the result that we feel brought face to face with the things imagined or remembered, however far away they may actually be. How is the physical picturing that goes on in paintings, drawings, and photographs both like and unlike the mental picturing that goes on when things swim before the mind's eye? What role does mental picturing play in physical picturing? What kinds of artistic value and interest attach to paintings, drawings, and photographs in virtue of what they picture and how they picture it?
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 7Q:
What is Truth
This question can be answered precisely in some important cases. We begin with the language of propositional logic where truth is defined by simple tables. This is already sufficient for description of many important problems and leads to a famous ($1 000 000) problem P=NP. We use Sudoku puzzles for illustration. Close connection between propositional truth and proof is established by the resolution method forming a basis of most automated theorem provers. The language of predicate logic covers much more and illustrates the notion of completeness. Register machines provide connection with computations and lead to a fundamental classification of problems of truth with respect to decidability. The language of arithmetic exhibits a new phenomenon of incompleteness that changed significant part of philosophy in 20-th century.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 8N:
Free Will and Responsibility
In what sense are we, or might we be free agents? Is our freedom compatible with our being fully a part of the same natural, causal order that includes other physical and biological systems? What assumptions about freedom do we make when we hold people accountable morally and/or legally? When we hold people accountable, and so responsible, can we also see them as part of the natural, causal order? Or is there a deep incompatibility between these two ways of understanding ourselves? What assumptions about our freedom do we make when we deliberate about what to do? Are these assumptions in conflict with seeing ourselves as part of the natural, causal order?nWe will explore these and related questions primarily by way of careful study of recent and contemporary philosophical research on these matters.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 9N:
Philosophical Classics of the 20th Century
Last century's best and most influential philosophical writings. Topics include ethics (what is the nature of right and wrong?), language (how do meaning, reference, and truth arise in the natural world?), science (can science claim objectively accurate descriptions of reality?), existence (are there things that don't exist?), and the mind (could robots ever be conscious?). Authors include Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Willard Quine, Thomas Kuhn, John Rawls, and Saul Kripke. The lay of the land in contemporary philosophy.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 10N:
Bounded Rationality
This course takes a philosophical approach to a cutting edge debate in psychology. Readings include texts in contemporary cognitive science as well as in philosophy of mind.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 3
PHIL 11N:
Skepticism
Preference to freshmen. Historical and contemporary philosophical perspectives on the limits of human knowledge of a mind-independent world and causal laws of nature. The nature and possibility of a priori knowledge. Skepticism regarding religious beliefs..
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 12N:
Paradoxes
In this course, we will use paradoxes like these as foci for discussions of some of the deepest issues in philosophy and mathematics. No prior knowledge of logic, philosophy or mathematics will be assumed and there will be minimal use of symbolism.nStudents will be expected to complete problem sheets, and to write a very short final paper. The seminars will be discussion-based.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 3
PHIL 13N:
"Can good people like bad music?" and other questions
Think of a musical artist you just can't stand to listen to. Chances are, this artist has thousands, if not millions, of adoring fans. That is, what's "bad music" to you is "good music" to others. This fact is not shocking: we all know that people have different tastes in music, and in art more generally. But what does this fact tell us about art, other people, and ourselves? Are some of us right and others of us wrong about what's good and bad music? Is there reason to think that some music is "objectively" better than other music? Can we say that those who like "bad music" are missing something, or mistaken in their tastes? If so, why not think it's us that are mistaken? How much are our own tastes bound up with "who we are"? And what might this mean for our capacity to appreciate tastes which are not our own?nThis seminar is an investigation into these and other questions. Through the specific lens of music, we will explore the nature of artistic taste more generally. Our main course text will be Carl Wilson's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, a popular introduction to our topic. We will also look at and discuss actual album reviews, pieces of music journalism, and news stories. Class meetings will be heavily discussion-based, and students should come to class ready to share, debate, and scrutinize their own musical tastes. Outside of class, students will develop their understanding through a variety of informal and creative writing assignments, such as exploratory journal entries and mock fan letters. Your taste in music may very well change as a result of this seminar, but this is not its aim. The goal is to understand what it means to disagree about art, through which you will learn how to respond more intelligently and empathetically to such disagreements as they come up in your everyday life.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 14N:
Belief and the Will
Preference to freshmen. Is there anything wrong with believing something without evidence? Is it possible? The nature and ethics of belief, and belief's relation to evidence and truth. How much control do believers have over their belief?
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
PHIL 15N:
Freedom, Community, and Morality
Preference to freshmen. Does the freedom of the individual conflict with the demands of human community and morality? Or, as some philosophers have maintained, does the freedom of the individual find its highest expression in a moral community of other human beings? Readings include Camus, Mill, Rousseau, and Kant.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 20S:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Moral philosophy is the area of philosophy concerned with how we ought to live our lives. This includes questions such as: what makes an action right or wrong? what makes for a virtuous versus a vicious character? and what sort of obligations, if any, do we have to other people or animals? Our aim is to understand how influential philosophers (including Plato, Aristotle, Mill, Hume, and Kant) have answered these questions and how they have justified their positions. We will also focus on developing student skills in argument and rigorous academic writing.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
PHIL 21S:
Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
This course will focus on the philosophical thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. We¿ll analyze the questions they asked and the arguments they made to answer them, which are still very much alive today. In ethics, they asked questions like: what is the good life for a human being? What is a virtuous person like? Why should we want to be virtuous? Plato and Aristotle also asked questions about the foundations of ethical and scientific inquiry: when we know ethical or scientific truths, what it is that we know and how do we know it? This course will help students read complex texts, analyze arguments, and write concisely and clearly about difficult issues.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
PHIL 22S:
Self, World, Freedom
Some of philosophy¿s deepest and most persistent questions are about our place in and our interactions with the natural world. Are we ourselves part of that world, or are we somehow outside of it? How can we know about the world, if we can at all? Do we have the freedom to choose our own actions, or are our choices settled in advance? This course provides an introduction to philosophy with a special focus on these questions, which we will discuss in both historical and current forms. We will also ask after the role and value of philosophy in addressing them. What, if anything, makes philosophy a distinctive and distinctively valuable tool for their investigation?
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
PHIL 23A:
The Cognitive Science of Mathematics
Mathematics has two features which, taken together, are quite puzzling: (i) itsnobjects (numbers, functions, derivatives, manifolds, and the like) are very unlike everyday concrete material objects, yet (ii) it seems to be the source of our most certain knowledge. In this course, we will examine the role in which findings from empirical theories of mathematical cognition can help address and possibly dissolve this puzzle. The course will be broken up into three units: Philosophical Foundations, Numerical Cognition, and Metaphor and Higher Mathematical Thought
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 2
PHIL 23B:
Truth and Paradox
Philosophical investigation of the concept of truth is often divided along two dimensions: investigation of the nature of truth and investigation of the semantics of truth claims. This tutorial will focus on the second kind of concern. One key impetus for a philosophical interest in the semantics and definability of truth is the challenge posed by semantic paradoxes such as the Liar paradox and Curry¿s paradox. Despite each having the initial appearance of a parlor trick, philosophers and logicians have come to appreciate the deep implications of these paradoxes. The main goal of this tutorial is to gain an appreciation of the philosophical issues - both with respect to formal and natural languages ¿ which arise from consideration of the paradoxes. To this end, we will study some of the classic contributions to this area including Tarski¿s famous result that, in an important sense, the semantic paradoxes render truth indefinable, and Kripke¿s much later attempt to provide a definition of truth in the face of Tarski¿s limitative result. Further topics include the debate between paracomplete and paraconsistent solutions to the semantic paradoxes (notably defended by, respectively, Field and Priest); the relationship between deflationism about truth and the paradoxes; and the notion of ¿revenge problems¿ (roughly, the claim that any solution to the paradoxes can be used to construct a further paradox).nThe tutorial will avoid excessive technical discussions, but will aim to engender appreciation for some philosophical interesting technical points and will assume a logic background of PHIL150 level.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2
PHIL 23C:
Counterfactuals
Reasoning about counterfactual conditionals plays an important role in contemporary philosophy. Not only have counterfactual analyses been proposed for central philosophical notions, including causation, laws of nature, free will, and knowledge, but also counterfactuals have become objects of interest in their own right, both in the philosophy of language and in logic. This tutorial will introduce the standard approaches to the semantics of counterfactuals, focusing on the work of David Lewis and Robert Stalnaker. Prerequisite: one logic course (e.g., 50, 150, or 151) or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 2
PHIL 23D:
Principia as Paradigm: Mechanics After Newton
Newton's Principia is widely and rightly acknowledged as a landmark achievement in physics that has had a profound impact on the subsequent development of science. This tutorial will focus on what sorts of influence the Principia had on the development of mechanics in roughly the first century following its publication. The work of Euler, Lagrange, and Laplace will serve as the primary examples of this development. Kuhn's description of paradigms in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions provides a starting point for understanding some of these forms of influence. In particular, this tutorial will try to explore two central areas of influence. The first is Newton's conceptual framework and how it was modified in the further development of mechanics during this period. The second is how projects suggested by residual problems within the Principia shaped ongoing study.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 23E:
Embodied Cognition
Where does the mind stop and the world begin? A standard assumption is that thinking is somehow local to the central nervous system; that is, cognition just amounts to brain activity. A wave of recent work in philosophy and cognitive science has questioned this assumption, insisting that the mind cannot be understood outside the context of a living body interacting dynamically with an environment. To put it more dramatically, the mind extends out into the world. We shall read some of the main proponents of this move toward embodied and embedded cognition, and try to assess the extent to which it seriously calls into question more traditional views about how mind, brain, body, and world fit together.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 2
PHIL 23F:
Forgive and Punish
Are we ever justified in forgiving those who wrong us? Do we have more reason to seek revenge and/or punishment than we do to forgive? Does it matter if wrongdoers apologize and repent for their offenses? Are there some acts and/or persons that shouldn¿t be forgiven? This tutorial will take up these questions by examining (mostly recent) philosophical writings about: forgiveness, retribution, the ¿reactive attitudes¿ (such as resentment and hatred), and, more generally, how humans should (and shouldn¿t) respond to wrongdoing.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 2
PHIL 23G:
Pessimism, Philosophy, and Human Nature
In different ways, Thucydides, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, and Schopenhauer all emphasize a just so, descriptive account of humankind that, on the surface at least, reveals a profound pessimism with respect to their views about human nature. But for these thinkers pessimism represents a sort of intellectual honesty about human nature, and these insights invariably underscore a profound optimism, in spite of their pessimism, with respect to what they view as the more pressing question concerning what humankind can make itself to be. Our guiding question will be to explore whether and how each of these thinkers reconciles their philosophical optimism with their psychological pessimism about human nature.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 2
PHIL 23H:
Perfectionism: The Idea of the Perfect in Nature, Ethics, and Politics
Perfection is the full realization of what is best or most excellent. In this tutorial course we will explore philosophical thought on perfection in three different contexts: natural teleology, individual ethical life, and utopian and anti-utopian social thought. Throughout the course, we will ask the following questions: What is a perfect being? Why is perfection per se good or desirable? Do evaluative comparisons presuppose some absolute standard of perfection? Does it make sense to aim at perfection in ethical and political life? What are the virtues of imperfection? What are the hazards of pursuing perfection in the political realm? Is perfectionism compatible with pluralism about values? Is perfectionism compatible with government based on popular will? The primary emphasis is on close reading and discussion of classic texts in ethical theory, including selections from Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Rousseau, Kant, and Tocqueville, accompanied by contemporary selections.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2
PHIL 23I:
Tutorial: The Hart-Dworkin Debate in the Philosophy of Law
The Hart-Dworkin debate is a central debate in jurisprudence and the philosophy of law, and its two main antagonists are among the most important figures in the history of the subject. Hart's articulation of his Legal Positivism in The Concept of Law (1961) had a great deal of influence on later jurisprudence - indeed Dworkin, in the introduction to his Hard Cases in Harvard Law Review (1975), compared Hart's contribution in the field to a paradigm shift in the philosophy of science. In turn, Dworkin's arguments for his Legal Interpretivism, which he first put forward in The Model of Rules (1967) and Hard Cases (1975), and eventually in Law's Empire (1986), raised some of the most potent objections to positivism, and inspired new replies from the positivists in defense of their positions, including Hart in his Postscript to the second edition of The Concept of Law (1994). This tutorial aims to give its students a good sense of what the debate is about, i.e. the key views and arguments defining each side of the debate. It will attempt to do so by carefully working through both The Concept of Law and Law's Empire, accompanied by other pieces of writing by Hart, Dworkin, and others. Almost the entirety of both books will be assigned as readings throughout the course of the term, but it is likely that quite a bit of this will be designated optional.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2
PHIL 23J:
On the Notion of Respect: Politics, Deliberation and Disagreements
The notion of respect plays a crucial role in a variety of human contexts. We respect many different things and we respect them in many different ways: from parents and elders, to public institutions and the law, and other people's dignity, feelings and rights. Many, in fact, claim that all people deserve respect¿some way or another. Public conversations lately have been plagued with calls to respect the environment, life in all of its forms, citizens¿ sexual orientation, etc. Additionally, it is also urged that public debates should take place under conditions of mutual respect: that above and beyond our differences and our interests, we should respect each other as persons. nnnIn particular, philosophers working in moral and political theory focus on what respect for persons might mean¿including oneself and possibly other entities. Such a notion is frequently issued inter alia in discussions about justice and legitimacy, equality and exploitation, multiculturalism and pluralism, toleration and recognition. The main concern here centers on the ways in which citizens should respect one another in plural democracies. Explore whether or not the assumption that in order to properly respect each other as free and equal citizens we are obligated to satisfy certain requirements of justification (viz., public reason) by seeking appropriate political justifications and sometimes exercising restraint in appealing to individual points of views (viz., comprehensive doctrines) in political discourse.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2
PHIL 23K:
Feminism Past and Present
"Feminism" is a wide category, encompassing a variety of philosophical positions, but it is also an historical social movement whose meanings and aims have been subject to both change and conflict. This course will explore feminism from a combination of historical, cultural and philosophical perspectives with the overall aim of assessing what "feminism" has meant to various people in the past and what it means today. nnRoughly the first half of the course will focus on major texts (popular and academic) from the 1st-3rd waves of western feminism as well as texts and historical discussion of some non-western feminist movements. The second half will focus on more recent assertions of feminist positions on a few topical issues. Topics will be somewhat flexible based on the interests of the participants and may include reproductive politics; intergenerational, racial, religious and class-based conflicts within feminism; feminism and work; the sex/gender distinction in science and medicine; feminism's relation to other social movements; etc. nnThis course is open to students of all majors, academic levels and viewpoints.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2
PHIL 23L:
Love and Friendship
People as different as Jesus Christ and Justin Timberlake think that love is crucial to living the good life. But what is love? What part should it play in our lives? Is it just one value among many? This course will consider questions about the nature of love, the role it plays in moral philosophy, and its effect on individual autonomy. Readings will be from both contemporary and historical sources.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 2
PHIL 23M:
Justice and Climate Change
Does the current generation have a duty of justice to bear the brunt of the burden of combating climate change for the sake of future generations? If so, who should pay the costs of adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Should the costs of combating climate change be distributed according to historical emissions, to wealth, or to an equal per capita emissions principle? We¿ll explore these questions through readings at the intersection of political philosophy and climate change. The course includes readings on the following topics: global distributive justice, human rights, historical responsibility, economic efficiency, environmental justice, sustainability, and catastrophe. Throughout the course we¿ll reflect upon what role considerations of justice should play in seeking solutions to climate change.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 23N:
Neuroscience and the Self
The Self: Fiction or reality? Bundle of perceptions? Pragmatic role-concept? Fleeting moment of consciousness? Social invention? Narrative construct? Various philosophical conceptions of the self will be explored with a particular focus on the notion of the `narrative self.¿ Literature from neuroscience, psychology and philosophy will be considered.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 2
PHIL 23O:
Tutorial: Origins of the Infinite
Aristotle claims in the Physics that, "the student of Nature must contemplate of the infinite, with a view to determining whether it exists at all, and, if so, what is its nature." This course follows Aristotle's injunction historically -- beginning with the origins of the infinite in classical antiquity and ending with the fundamentals of the contemporary mathematical development at the turn of the 19th century.nnA central difficulty in this study is that of thinking consistently about infinite number and magnitude. And, more philosophically, whether we can know a priori of an ontological distinction between the finite and the infinite. In addition to Aristotle, we discuss the writings of Philoponus, Galileo, Descartes, Leibniz, Cantor, Dedekind, and Hilbert.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
PHIL 23P:
Personal Responsibility: Moral and Civic
What do we as individuals owe to other people? Should we be spending our free time toiling in local politics and volunteering in soup kitchens? Should we be sending every extra penny (goodbye new shoes) to people who barely eek out a living on less than a dollar a day? Maybe we ought to spend tons of our time fighting to protect future generations from the predicted devastating effects of climate change. In this course we will explore how local, distant, and future circumstances affect our responsibilities as individuals. We'll discuss questions about what and how much we owe to others, and whether our responsibilities are part and parcel of being a morally good person, or whether they are things we owe others as good citizens of the community (and for that matter, which community do we owe them to--local, national, or global?).
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 2
PHIL 23Q:
Tutorial: Selves
The course focuses on the nature of the self. Is the self an object among other objects in the world, or something real but not spatial or temporal -- an extensionless point? Themes from literature on personal identity, self-consciousness, self-reference, and self-knowledge. Readings may include selections from Kant, Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein, Strawson, Williams, Evans, Nagel, Perry, McDowell.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
PHIL 23R:
What's in an essay?
This course is about two questions:The first question: what is an essay? In other words, what is it that we mean when we talk about an essay instead of a précis, a paper, a report, a chronicle, a scientific paper, an opinion piece, fiction or simply other kinds of academic writing. Call this first question, the demarcation question about the essay. Essays are particularly hard to pin down, to demarcate its boundaries is almost impossible. The essay represents a distinct challenge for both theory and criticism. Unlike other literary and academic genres, at least since their modern inception in Montaigne¿s hands, essays challenge notions and assumptions that in other genres are transparent or can be more easily set aside. n The second question is: what does essaying "the embarking upon the kind of things essayists claim to be doing" have to do with the cultivation of one's self, the examination of one's actions and deeds in ordinary contexts and the project of shaping it in self-reflective ways. Call this second question, the Socratic aspiration of the essay. To answer this question, we won¿t start from any pre-establish theory or framework, but rather work our way out directly from the readings of a sample of essays drawn from various sources. nBy the end of the course, the student will be in a better position to confront questions such as: why are the humanities part and parcel of our educational efforts, more generally, and how could they become part of my education, more particularly? What are the difficulties and advantages, the very point of, writing one's opinions in an attempt to address others? How is self-understanding connected to philosophical endeavors? What role, if any, could finding one's voice have for the purposes of reflective and critical thinking about one's self in relation to others?
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 23T:
Intellectual trust in oneself and others
Most people have many false beliefs. Yet, one routinely relies on one's own beliefs and on the views of others. Does that mean that one takes oneself to be exceptionally good at forming true beliefs, and exceptionally good at detecting false beliefs in others? When is it justified to place intellectual trust in oneself and in others?
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 2
PHIL 23U:
Death and What Comes After
Is it irrational to fear death? Is death bad for you? Does it make sense to want to be immortal? How does what happens after our deaths matter to us?nAncient and contemporary philosophers give surprising answers to these questions about death, answers that shed light on basic questions about what matters in life. Among those we'll read are Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Bernard Williams, Thomas Nagel and Samuel Scheffler.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 23V:
Plato's Republic
Who should rule? What is the best regime? What is the role of law? What makes a regime just? What is the relation between theory and practice in politics?n nThis course will focus on the political philosophy of the Republic, Plato's most well known dialogue and a foundational text in the history of political thought. We will also consider how Plato's psychology underlies his political philosophy and how the political philosophy of the Republic is related to political thinking in Plato's later works. Emphasis will be on primary texts, although the instructor will recommend relevant secondary sources as needed. Students will work closely with the instructor to tailor a final assignment that engages with the text and furthers the student's educational goals and interests.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 23W:
Cognition and Perception
In this tutorial, we will examine a cluster of questions concerning the relationship between cognitive states, such as beliefs and desires, and perception. We will examine the question of whether, and to what extent, concepts, beliefs, and desires can influence the content of perception. If these cognitive states can influence the content of perceptual states, how worried should we be about the ability of perception to justify belief, both in everyday life and in scientific inquiry?
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 23Y:
Knowledge in Action: Anscombe's Intention
Anscombe's Intention is one of the foundational texts of 20th century analytic philosophy. It brings together central issues from the philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of language -- and lays the ground for contemporary philosophy of action. Anscombe raises (and answers) questions regarding the nature of intentional action, intention, reasons for action, agential self-knowledge, and practical reasoning, connecting them all in one unified account. nIn the tutorial we will discuss these issues through a close reading of Intention. A short, terse, and marvelously rich self-contained piece of philosophical investigation, it is particularly well-suited for this purpose. Our work with the text should yield a solid basis notably in the philosophy of action, which will be useful for various other courses and areas (in philosophy of action, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language, and ethics). Methodologically the tutorial will foster philosophical skills regarding the analysis, interpretation, and criticism of a dense and rich philosophical text such as Anscombe's.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 23Z:
Tutorial: Motivation, Obligation, and the Self
This tutorial will explore the relationship between one's desires, one's reasons for action, and one's self. Readings to include selections from Bernard Williams, Harry Frankfurt, Christine Korsgaard, and Julia Markovits.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
PHIL 25SI:
The Animal-Human Relationship: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
The ethical, scientific, and spiritual problems that arise from the interaction between humans and other animals. Can animals have empathy? What does it mean for an animal to feel pain? How did humans come to dominate other animals? What moral obligations do humans have towards animals? Where do animals fit in religious thought? Is animal research ethical, and is it effective? What role does meat consumption play in modern society? How can the environmental impacts of livestock production be mitigated? Guest lecturers from philosophy, literature, biology, neurology, religious studies, psychology, anthropology, and environmental science.
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 1
PHIL 27S:
Human Nature and its Discontents
In different ways, Thucydides, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, and Schopenhauer all emphasize a just so, descriptive account of human beings that, on the surface at least, reveals a profound pessimism with respect to their views about human nature. One of the themes running throughout Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, for example, is the suggestion that human nature is motivated solely by passions of fear, envy, greed, and ambition. Thucydides highlights the ways in which he sees Athens as appealing to these passions while attempting to justify its unspeakable crimes against humanity in the name of "democracy." The aim of this course will be to work through some of the more salient examples of what I will call psychological or anthropological pessimism as outlined in the works of these thinkers, asking about the role their pessimism about human nature plays in their positive philosophical project. Our guiding question will be to explore whether and how each of these thinkers reconciles their philosophical optimism with their psychological pessimism about human nature.
Last offered: Summer 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 28:
The Literature and Philosophy of Place (OSPSANTG 28)
Literature and philosophy, primarily, but not exclusively from Latin America, that raises questions about place and displacement through migration and exile, about how location shapes our understanding of ourselves and of our responsibilities to society and environment, about the multiple meanings of home. Among the questions we will consider are the difference between the experiences of people who are at "home" and those who are "away," how one person's claim on home can be another's experience of being invaded, the interdependence of self and place, the multiple meanings of "environment." Readings by Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Carmen Lyra, Jorge Gracia, Otavio Paz, Maria Lugones, among others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PHIL 30S:
Justifying justice at home and abroad
It is difficult to read the news today without getting enmeshed in discussions about justice both at home and abroad. Whether it be sequestration, Wall Street regulations, health care reform, the use of drones in war, or humanitarian aid abroad that grabs your attention, there is no doubt that we are living in tumultuous times. What do you think when you read about the new restrictions on abortion in Arkansas? Or about the deregulation of marijuana in Colorado? Or about the abolition of capital punishment in Connecticut? To figure out how to frame answers to these kinds of questions, we shall look at some of the main topics in social and political philosophy: rights, property, justice, criminal punishment, humanitarian intervention and just war theory.
Last offered: Summer 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 32S:
Socrates: The Making of a Philosopher
Socrates is a key figure in the history of western philosophy. He is credited for inventing moral philosophy and for revolutionizing the way we think about and do philosophy. Moreover, his historical influence is often compared to that of Jesus and Buddha, partly because his life's mission was to benefit others, but also because his life and cause remain mysterious.nInterest in Socrates tends to divide along these exact lines: some (like Xenophon) are more interested in the man, his life and his impact on his friends and fellow citizens; others (like Aristotle) are more interested in his contribution to philosophy, his views, arguments and methods. nIn this course, we will try to learn more about both parts of Socrates' career by examining the relation between them. We will start by focusing on what is characteristic of his life: What did he do? And why did he do the things he did? In particular, how did he become a philosopher and how did he develop his distinctive approach to philosophy, his own philosophical voice?
Last offered: Summer 2015
| Units: 3
PHIL 34S:
Good, Bad, and Rotten: The Philosophical Study of Moral Character
We ordinarily think there's a sense in which someone can be a good person, over and above doing well at her particular occupation (e.g., being a good firefighter), familial role (e.g., being a good sister), or political function (e.g., being a good citizen). But what does it take to be a good person, in this very general sense? And what about the opposite -- what does it take to be a bad person? We also tend to feel strongly about whether others, or ourselves, are good or bad people. In particular, we blame people for being bad and praise them for being good. But only sometimes -- if someone is bad only because, say, he had a traumatic childhood, then we tend to hold back from blaming him. So, what must be true if someone really is deserving of blame for being bad (or, of praise for being good)? And, finally, there seems to be an important difference between being bad and being completely depraved, or evil. But what underlies this difference? What distinguishes everyday badness from extraordinary evil? This course is dedicated to learning how to look for and evaluate answers to these questions. Readings will be pulled from historical and contemporary sources, including Aristotle, Augustine, Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Philippa Foot, Bernard Williams, Susan Wolf, Gary Watson, and Nomy Arpaly,
Last offered: Summer 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 37S:
Law and Morality
What makes a law just? How should a judge interpret the law? When, if ever, ought I to disobey a law? In this course, we will consider central questions in the philosophy of law concerning the relationship between morality and law. Students will gain an understanding of the history of these questions by reading classic works of literature and philosophy, including Homer, Sophocles, Plato, and Aquinas, alongside contemporary scholarship on the philosophy of law. We will also apply this theoretical background to practice as students assume the roles of judges and attorneys and consider how relevant law in actual court cases should be interpreted. Students will gain a grounding in the history of the natural law tradition, legal positivism, and legal interpretivism, as well as wrestle with problems of interpretation faced by judges today.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
PHIL 41Q:
Truth
Preference to sophomores. Central issues animating current work in the philosophy of truth. What is truth? What is it about a statement or judgment that makes it true rather than false? Are there any propositions that are neither true nor false? Could truth be relative to individuals or communities? Do people have different notions of truth for different enterprises such as mathematics and ethics? Might truth be a matter of degree? Sources include the instructor's book manuscript and other contemporary writers.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 42:
Philosophy through Theater: Choice and Chance
Dramatic literature as a window into philosophical work on freedom of the will and indeterminism. Students participate in the production of original one-act plays.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 43S:
Happiness: Positive Psychology and Philosophy
The connection between research in positive psychology to determine what happiness is and the conditions under which human beings are happy with issues in moral philosophy regarding whether we should aim at happiness or think of it as a good. The assumptions about happiness made by positive psychologists. The philosophical insight into the question of how people should live that is gained by looking at the empirical results provide by psychologists.
Last offered: Summer 2010
| Units: 3
PHIL 45S:
Is it always good to 'be yourself'? ' Issues in Ethics and Moral Psychology
It may seem obvious that it is good to 'be yourself, ' to be 'who you really are, ' or to do what you 'really' want to do ' but is it? Some believe that we are our true, or real, selves when we act on our values, what we love, or what we care most about. But if that is true, then is it still good to be yourself when what you value and care most about involves a commitment to acts of terrorism, torturing others, or a life of pain and boredom?nnnWe will look at contemporary philosophical attempts to make sense of the idea of 'being yourself, 'and what the nature of the value of this authenticity is."nnnAuthors include Bratman, Frankfurt, Korsgaard, Millgram and Williams.
Last offered: Summer 2011
| Units: 3
PHIL 49:
Survey of Formal Methods
Survey of important formal methods used in philosophy. The course covers the basics of propositional and elementary predicate logic, probability and decision theory, game theory, and statistics, highlighting philosophical issues and applications. Specific topics include the languages of propositional and predicate logic and their interpretations, rationality arguments for the probability axioms, Nash equilibrium and dominance reasoning, and the meaning of statistical significance tests. Assessment is through a combination of problem sets and short-answer questions designed to solidify competence with the mathematical tools and to test conceptual understanding. This course replaces PHIL 50.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 50:
Introductory Logic
Propositional and predicate logic; emphasis is on translating English sentences into logical symbols and constructing derivations of valid arguments.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 50S:
Truth, Proof and Probability: An Introduction To Philosophical and Logical Reasoning
Under what conditions does a set of true claims guarantee or make probable a particular conclusion? In this course we study rigorous tools and techniques supporting good reasoning, covering topics of particular significance to modern philosophy and logic. Contemporary philosophy continues a traditional focus on foundational problems related to value, inquiry, mind and reality, but with modern subject matter (often engaging natural, social and mathematical science) and rigorous methods, including set theory, probability theory and formal logic. This course introduces such methods, with a focus on core conceptual distinctions, motivations and debates, and basic practical skills. The presentation will be rigorous, but overly technical topics are avoided. Topics: propositional logic; valid argument forms; truth tables; Russell¿s paradox; infinite sets; kinds of truth; possibility and necessity; basic probability theory; subjective versus objective probability; Bayes¿ rule; correlation and causation. No previous philosophical or mathematical training pre-supposed. Appreciation of precise thinking an advantage. Useful preparation for relevant topics in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, economics and statistics.
Last offered: Summer 2015
| Units: 3
PHIL 53S:
Reasoning with Diagrams
The course covers formal techniques for logical reasoning with both diagrams and sentences. The sentential part covers the same material as a standard course on first-order logic, though in less depth. It includes syntax, semantics and proof theory, but does not include any meta-theory. The diagrammatic part is novel, focusing on techniques for solving reasoning problems using diagrams and sentences in concert. We take seriously the idea that diagrams convey information in the same sense that sentences do and that it is possible to provide forma criteria for logically correct reasoning with diagrams. We use the Hyperproof courseware package which includes desktop software, an online assessment service which allows student to experiment hands-on with the material, and other online resources.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
PHIL 59S:
Philosophy of Mathematics
The purpose of this course is to explore some of the themes and questions in philosophy of mathematical practice. These will include: what is the role of mathematics in natural sciences? Can we find an explanation for the applicability of mathematics or is it a completely unreasonable phenomenon? Do mathematicians invent or discover concepts? Either way, how do mathematicians develop new concepts? Is there such thing as mathematical explanation? Are there revolutions in mathematics? These questions are studied in connection to a close historical study of developments in mathematics, and the actual practice of mathematicians.
Last offered: Summer 2015
| Units: 3
PHIL 60:
Introduction to Philosophy of Science (HPS 60)
The nature of scientific knowledge: evidence and confirmation; scientific explanation; models and theories; objectivity; science, society, and values.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 61:
Philosophy and the Scientific Revolution (HPS 61)
Galileo's defense of the Copernican world-system that initiated the scientific revolution of the 17th century, led to conflict between science and religion, and influenced the development of modern philosophy. Readings focus on Galileo and Descartes.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 61S:
A Meaningful Life in a Physical World
Questions about the meaning of life have occupied a central place in philosophical thought throughout its history. However, the scientific view of human beings as essentially complex, evolutionarily-designed biological systems in a purely material world (one governed by fundamental physical laws) seemingly puts pressure on the idea that humans can live a life of genuine meaningfulness. The guiding questions of this course will be: Is there the prospect of our living truly meaningful lives even if we are just complex biological systems? If so, what kind(s) of meaning can we hope to achieve? If not, how should we live our lives? In exploring these questions, we will read works by philosophers (and psychologists) approaching these questions from many different traditions and perspectives. Possible authors will include Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Sigmund Freud, Viktor Frankl, Bertrand Russell, John Searle, Owen Flanagan, Daniel Dennett, and Ruth Millikan.
Last offered: Summer 2012
| Units: 3
PHIL 63S:
Introduction to Bioethics
In this course we will explore ethical questions that arise in health care and the biological sciences. We will consider the following issues (perhaps together with others): allocation of health-care resources, the responsibilities of doctors to patients, the distinction between killing someone and letting them die, medically-assisted suicide, abortion, and the use of technologies for genetic screening and manipulation. Throughout, our focus will be on moral questions about how decisions in these areas should be made.
Last offered: Summer 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 64S:
Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
Environmental problems define and dominate the times. Climate Change threatens to displace and impoverish millions of people, species extinctions promise to reached unprecedented numbers, and sustainability has become a buzzword in discussions of responsible business practices. In this course we will explore some of the most pivotal environmental issues facing us today using the tools of philosophy. Together we¿ll ask questions such as: Are individuals or governments responsible for solving environmental problems? What objects should we care about in the natural world (animals, living things, ecosystems?), and what do we do when environmental problems force us to make tough choices in the face of competing values? Do we have responsibilities to future generations? This course will provide a foundation for thinking about these questions and for facing our environmental problems head on.
Last offered: Summer 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 65S:
Technology and the Good Life
Can we engineer our way to happiness? Should we try to? An introduction to select issues in engineering ethics, the course examines various threats to human welfare, environmental catastrophe, social injustice, the limitations of "human nature" that could be amenable to engineering solutions. We consider whether it is ethically permissible to address these threats via engineering (referring to various conceptions of the good life for human beings: hedonism, liberalism, virtue ethics) and what the costs of such solutions are.
Last offered: Summer 2012
| Units: 3
PHIL 71H:
Philosophy and the Real World
Introduction to the humanities as an applied discipline; how literary and philosophical ideas illuminate and change how people live their lives as individuals and members of society. Focus is on short texts that illustrate how literary and philosophical ideas arise from social problems and attempt to confront those problems. Methods and approaches: how to read such texts; how to make arguments about them; how such texts shed light on contemporary situations.
Last offered: Summer 2007
| Units: 2
PHIL 71Q:
Emerging Issues in Neuroethics
What is the mind? Today, most philosophers and neuroscientists believe it is, in one way or another, just the brain. Brain research is progressing at a staggering pace. Neuroimaging technology seems to be closing in on `thought identification¿, i.e. determining an individual¿s thought content merely by scanning the brain. Do we have a right to keep our thoughts private or is it permissible to use imaging technologies, perhaps in judicial settings, to identify someone¿s thoughts? What happens to our concepts of moral responsibility when a brain scan reveals abnormalities in the brain? Do these findings have bearing on our understanding of free will? Commonplace drugs can prevent the forming of memories of painful events. Should we take these drugs to shield ourselves from traumatic memories or is it good for us to remember unpleasant events in order to learn and grow from them? Neurotechnology and pharmacology that enhances cognition is advancing rapidly. Is manipulating our brains into smarter, more efficient ones ethical? These are some of the questions we will consider in this course on the ethics of neuroscience that will allow you to critically assess complicated, cutting edge issues.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 72:
Contemporary Moral Problems (ETHICSOC 185M, POLISCI 134P)
This course addresses moral issues that play a major role in contemporary public discourse. The course aims to encourage students to consider moral problems in a reflective, systematic manner, and to equip students with skills that will enable them to do so. Questions to be addressed include: Do rich countries have an obligation to accept refugees from other parts of the world? Do such obligations conflict with the right of individuals to protect their culture? Is there anything principally wrong in the use of drones for purposes of warfare? Do we have obligations to the environment, and if so why? What is racism and what makes it wrong? And what are feminist ideals?
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 73:
The Ethics and Politics of Collective Action (ETHICSOC 180M, POLISCI 131A, PUBLPOL 304A)
Collective action problems arise when actions that are individually rational give rise to results that are collectively irrational. Scholars have used such a framework to shed light on various political phenomena such as revolutions, civil disobedience, voting, climate change, and the funding of social services. We examine their findings and probe the theoretical foundations of their approach. What does this way of thinking about politics bring into focus, and what does it leave out? What role do institutions play in resolving collective action problems? And what if the required institutions are absent? Can we, as individuals, be required to cooperate even if we expect that others may not play their part? Readings drawn from philosophy, political science, economics, and sociology.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 74:
Business Ethics (ETHICSOC 182M)
What do people mean when they say, "it's just business"? Do they mean that there are no moral norms in business or do they mean that there are special moral norms in business that differ from those of personal relationships and other spheres of social activity? In this class we will examine ethical questions that arise in the domain of business. We will ask, for example: What does the market reward and what should it reward? What are the moral responsibilities of a business owner in a competitive environment? Is it acceptable to employ "sweatshop labor"? How do the moral responsibilities of a business owner differ from that of a policy maker? What information does a seller (or buyer) have a moral duty to disclose? In real estate, is a strategic default morally wrong? How much government regulation of Wall Street is morally justified? We will use the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, J. S. Mill, Marx, Jevons and Menger, Hayek, Walzer, and Sandel, among others, to help us answer these questions. We will see, for example, what Aristotle thought about day trading.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 74A:
Ethics in a Human Life (HUMBIO 74)
Ethical questions pervade a human life from before a person is conceived until after she dies, and at every point in between. This course raises a series of ethical questions, following along the path of a person's life - questions that arise before, during, and after she lives it. We will explore distinctive questions that a life presents at each of several familiar stages: prior to birth, childhood, adulthood, death, and even beyond. We will consider how some philosophers have tried to answer these questions, and we will think about how answering them might help us form a better understanding of the ethical shape of a human life as a whole.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
PHIL 75S:
Liberty and Equality
This course concerns recent attempts by social contract theorists to reconcile liberty and equality. We would begin my looking at Rawls¿s attempt to give due respect to both liberty and equality in his two principles. We would then look at criticisms of his attempt from Nozick, G.A. Cohen, possibly Mills and Okin or Pateman. I again would structure each session around a question, such as: Is there a conflict between equality and liberty? What is liberty? Equality. Equality of opportunity? Or equality of condition? What tools do these social contract theorists offer for criticizing racial or gender inequality?
Last offered: Summer 2015
| Units: 3
PHIL 76:
Introduction to Global Justice (ETHICSOC 136R, INTNLREL 136R, POLISCI 136R, POLISCI 336)
This course provides an overview of core ethical problems in international politics, with special emphasis on the question of what demands justice imposes on institutions and agents acting in a global context. The course is divided into three sections. The first investigates the content of global justice, and comprises of readings from contemporary political theorists and philosophers who write within the liberal contractualist, utilitarian, cosmopolitan, and nationalist traditions. The second part of the course looks at the obligations which global justice generates in relation to five issues of international concern ¿ global poverty, climate change, immigration, warfare, and well-being of women. The final section of the course asks whether a democratic international order is necessary for global justice to be realized.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 77S:
Philosophy of Religion (RELIGST 36)
(Formerly RELIGST 62S) Explores fundamental questions about the existence of God, free will and determinism, faith and reason, through traditional philosophical texts. Course is divided into four sections: first asks what is religion; second surveys the western philosophical tradition from Boethius through Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard regarding the foundation for theist beliefs; third investigates questions mystical experience raises through both western and Buddhist materials; and fourth takes up the ethics of belief, what we have a right to believe, through the Clifford and James debate and the opposing stances of Camus and Pascal.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 80:
Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Intensive study of central topics in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and mind in preparation for advanced courses in philosophy. Emphasis on development of analytical writing skills. Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy or permission of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ;
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Darmalingum, M. (TA);
Kim, H. (TA);
Kim, R. (TA);
Lee, T. (TA);
Parmer, W. (TA);
Paterson, G. (GP);
Paterson, G. (TA);
Simon, A. (TA);
Turman, J. (TA)
PHIL 81:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 90A:
The Philosophy of John Perry
John Perry is among the most influential philosophers of the last several decades, making important contributions to the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. Focus on Perry¿s work on indexicality, belief reports, reference, pragmatics, identity, personal identity, modality, and consciousness. Perry¿s work in these areas will be studied in conjunction with that of some key figures in the surrounding literatures, including Kaplan, Lewis, Stalnaker, Kripke, and Chalmers.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 4
PHIL 90B:
The Ethics of War
Issues both in contemporary just war theory and political philosophy. Relevant questions include: Can conscription ever be justified? If not, is there anything wrong with targeting poor people as part of efforts to recruit a 'volunteer' military? If, during war itself, combatants act in ways prohibited by the moral requirements governing war's conduct, then does it make any moral difference whether they were acting as ordered? And how do we identify these moral requirements in the first place? For example, what distinguishes a legitimate target from an illegitimate one? What determines whether military action is disproportionate? What, if anything, is morally distinctive about terrorism? Explores the complexities behind these questions and others, with a view to evaluating the potential answers to them.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 90C:
Predicting the Future: Puzzles of Induction
Can we know that the future is likely to resemble the past? Do we have reason to believe that the Sun is even remotely likely to rise again tomorrow? Are we rationally justified in accepting the confident predictions of science and commonsense, based on well-observed regularities? Consider several paradoxes of induction (that is, extrapolation from observed to unobserved), including those raised by Hume, Hempel, and Goodman, the Doomsday and Sleeping Beauty paradoxes, as well as some attempts to solve or cope with them.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 90D:
What do Philosophers do?
| Units: 4
PHIL 90E:
Ethics in Real Life: How Philosophy Can Make Us Better People (ETHICSOC 203R)
Socrates thought that philosophy was supposed to be practical, but most of the philosophy we do today is anything but. This course will convince you that philosophy actually is useful outside of the classroom--and can have a real impact on your everyday decisions and how to live your life. We'll grapple with tough practical questions such as: 'Is it selfish if I choose to have biological children instead of adopting kids who need homes?' 'Am I behaving badly if I don't wear a helmet when I ride my bike?' 'Should I major in a subject that will help me make a lot of money so I can then donate most of it to overseas aid instead of choosing a major that will make me happy?' Throughout the course, we will discuss philosophical questions about blame, impartiality, the force of different 'shoulds,' and whether there are such things as universal moral rules that apply to everyone.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 90G:
Native American Philosophy
Examine traditional philosophical questions like "How do we know?" "What exists?" "What is a person?" and "What is the good life?" from the perspectives of classical and contemporary Native American thinkers. We will look at Native American beliefs about respect for persons and places; reactions to colonial doctrines of conversion, treaties, and removal; and the importance of the themes of circularity and performance in classical and contemporary Native philosophical thought.nnAlso of importance will be to contrast some Native American approaches to philosophical questions against Western attempts to answer these same questions. How are the approaches the same? How are they different? What assumptions about the natures of reality or humanity account for the similarities or differences?
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 90J:
Is it Always Good to "Be Yourself?" - Issues at the Intersection of Ethics and Moral Psychology
It may seem obvious that it is always good to 'be yourself,' to be who you 'really' are, or to do what you 'really' want to do - but is it? Some philosophers believe that we are our 'true,' or 'real,' selves when we act on our values, or what we care most about. But if that is true, then is it still good to be yourself when what you value and care most about involves a commitment to acts of terrorism, torturing others, or a life of pain and boredom? We will look at contemporary philosophical attempts to make sense of the idea of 'being yourself,' and potential reasons in favor of its supposed value. Authors include Bratman, Frankfurt, Korsgaard, Millgram and Williams.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 90K:
REALISM
The purpose of this course is to explore questions concerning Scientific and Mathematical Realism. We ask, do entities to which scientific theories refer REALLY exist? For instance, do electrons or genes exist? How about mathematical entities? Do numbers or vectors exist? And if so, do they exist independent of our minds?
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 90L:
Probability and the Law
What does it mean to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? Can we interpret legal standards of proof probabilistically? What is the role of probability and statistics in the courtroom? How are quantitative methods changing legal proceedings? Courtroom movies, criminal and civil cases, and academic scholarship will help us address these and related questions. No statistical or legal background is expected.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 90N:
The Nature of Morality
We make moral claims. We say things like "Kicking dogs for fun is wrong." But what is the function of such claims? To describe the world? To prescribe ways of acting? To express our feelings? Moreover, can such claims ever be true? If they cannot, would this be a problem? If they can, what makes them true? God's will? Evolution? Human conventions? Rationality? What, in the end, is the nature of this practice that we all engage in and that we call morality? We will explore some of the most influential answers to these questions. The course should serve as a good introduction to contemporary metaethics (with a slight focus on expressivist theories).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 90P:
Is logic a source of metaphysical knowledge?
The most characteristic feature of analytic metaphysics is the prominent role that it assigns to logic, and analytic philosophy owes its existence to the revolutionary logical developments that occurred in the late 19th century. But what, exactly, is the relationship between logic and metaphysics? How did developments in the study of inference bring about radical changes in philosophers¿ approach and answers to questions about the nature of existence? Can one infer metaphysical truths directly from truths of logic, or does logic merely provide philosophers with a helpful tool for analyzing metaphysical issues? This course will begin with a brief study of Kant¿s conception of the relationship between logic and metaphysics, and then explore this relationship in the work of early analytic philosophers, particularly Gottlob Frege. In the final two weeks of the course, we will read several contemporary metaphysical papers on a subject selected by the students. Our discussion of those papers will focus on the role that logic plays and how that role may have changed since the early analytic period.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 90S:
Philosophical Dimensions of Cognitive Science
What is consciousness? What is the relation between the mind and the body? How does the mind represent the world around it? Are our minds just sophisticated computers? If they are, what functions as the 1s and 0s in our brains? Or are our minds something else altogether? This course will look at the philosophical foundations of cognitive science with a particular focus on cognitive architecture. In addition we will consider the nature of mental representation and the challenges presented by subjective experience.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 90V:
Children, and what to do with them
In this course, we investigate a number of ethical questions that arise in relation to children. Is it morally appropriate to create children, knowing that, over the course of their lives, those children will inevitably be subjected to a range of serious harms? Is it permissible for parents to favor their own children, even if their children are already advantaged in comparison to many other children? Who should decide how children are educated, the government, the parents, or someone else?
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 99:
Minds and Machines (LINGUIST 144, PSYCH 35, SYMSYS 100)
An overview of the interdisciplinary study of cognition, information, communication, and language, with an emphasis on foundational issues: What are minds? What is computation? What are rationality and intelligence? Can we predict human behavior? Can computers be truly intelligent? How do people and technology interact, and how might they do so in the future? Lectures focus on how the methods of philosophy, mathematics, empirical research, and computational modeling are used to study minds and machines. Undergraduates considering a major in symbolic systems should take this course as early as possible in their program of study.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-FR
PHIL 100:
Greek Philosophy
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 101:
Introduction to Medieval Philosophy (PHIL 201)
This course is an introduction to medieval moral philosophy, broadly construed. In addition to doctrines that we would nowadays readily think of as falling within the domain of ethics, we will be looking at closely related topics that might today be thought to belong more properly to metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, or the philosophy of human nature.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 102:
Modern Philosophy, Descartes to Kant
Major figures in early modern philosophy in epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Writings by Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 102M:
Fichte (PHIL 202M)
This three-day intensive mini-course will introduce the moral and political thought of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, the founder of the German idealist movement. The topics to be discussed are: Fichte's theory of subjectivity and transcendental idealism; Fichte's defense of radical freedom of the will; Fichte's transcendental deduction of other selves; the relation of right between rational beings and the foundations of political philosophy; Fichte's deduction of the moral law from the absolute freedom of the rational being; the application of the moral law through conscience. No previous acquaintance with Fichte's philosophy will be presupposed.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 103:
19th-Century Philosophy
Focus is on ethics and the philosophy of history. Works include Mill's Utilitarianism, Hegel's The Philosophy of World History, Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death, and Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 104:
Philosophy of Religion
Key issues in the philosophy of religion. Topics include the relationship between faith and reason, the concept of God, proofs of God's existence, the meaning of religious language, arguments for and against divine command theory in ethics and the role of religious belief in a liberal society.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 106:
Ancient Skepticism (PHIL 206)
The ancient Pyrrhonian skeptics who think that for any claim there is no more reason to assert it than deny it and that a life without any beliefs is the best route to happiness. Some ancient opponents of the Pyrrhonian skeptics and some relations between ancient and modern skepticism.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 107:
Early Plato (PHIL 207)
We shall focus on Plato¿s early or Socratic dialogues (e.g. the Crito, the Gorgias, and the Protagoras). In these dialogues, Plato focuses on ethics and ethical psychology without explicitly drawing on epistemological and metaphysical claims. We¿ll try to determine whether the Socrates of these dialogues is a purely destructive critic or whether he has a positive ethical view that he advances.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
PHIL 107A:
The Greeks on Irrationality (PHIL 207A)
In this course, we shall examine the views of some central Greek philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and the Stoics) on the irrational and non-rational aspects of human life. What makes something irrational and what roles (negative and perhaps positive as well) does the irrational play in our lives? We shall examine their views on anger, fear, madness, love, pleasure and pain, sexual desire and so on. We shall also consider more briefly some depictions of these psychic items in ancient Greek literature.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 107B:
Plato's Metaphysics and Epistemology (PHIL 207B)
We will read the Theaetetus and the Parmenides, and consider various definitions of knowledge, and metaphysical problems about the objects of knowledge, and a proposed method for examining and resolving such problems. Prerequisite: Philosophy 80 or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 107C:
Plato's Timaeus (PHIL 207C)
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 108:
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha (PHIL 208)
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 108A:
Aristotelian Logic (PHIL 208A)
A careful examination of Aristotle's syllogistic, with special emphasis on the interpretation of his modal syllogistic. This course will serve both as an introduction to ancient term logic and to the difference between sentential modal operators and modal modifiers to the copula. Topics will include the analysis of syllogisms into figures and moods, the reduction of 2nd and 3rd figure syllogisms to the first, the consistency of the modal syllogistic, models for the syllogistic, and de re versus de dicto modalities. For students with at least some introductory background in logic.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 108B:
Aristotle's Physics Book One (PHIL 208B)
A chapter by chapter analysis of Aristotle's introductory discussions of physical theory. Topics to be considered include Aristotle's treatment of Eleatic monism, the role of opposites in pre-Socratic physics, the role of matter in physics, and an analysis of the elements of changing objects into form, privation and a subject.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 109:
Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle on Art and Rhetoric (PHIL 209)
Plato's and Aristotle's views on the nature of art and rhetoric and their connections with the emotions, reason and the good life. Readings include Plato's Gorgias, Ion and parts of the Republic and the Laws and Aristotle's Poetics and Rhetoric.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 109A:
Special Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle's Metaphysics Zeta (PHIL 209A)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 109B:
Greek philosophers read their ancestors: Intro to the ancient reception of Presocratic philosophy (PHIL 209B)
The first Greek philosophers are known to us only through fragments of their original works, generally few in number and transmitted by later authors, as well as through a set of testimonies covering a thousand years and more. Thus it is crucial, in order to understand archaic thought, to get a sense of how they were read by those to whom we owe their transmission. What was their aim, their method, their presuppositions or prejudices?nn The course will employ this perspective to examine authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Diogenes Laertius, Simplicius ¿ among others. We shall also reflect, on the basis of the paradigmatic case of the Presocratics, on some of the more general problems raised by literary and philosophical approaches to the notion of reception.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 109C:
Aristotle's cosmology and theology (PHIL 209C)
PHIL 109C/209C now meets in Raubitschek Room, Green Library Room 351. Undergrads please sign up for 109C; grads sign up for 209C.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 110:
Plato's Republic (PHIL 210)
The Republic is one most famous and influential texts in the history of Western philosophy. We shall read in its entirety closely (along with some other related Platonic texts) focusing on its epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of art, and political philosophy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 110C:
The Stoics on Freedom and Determinism (PHIL 210C)
We will investigate ancient Stoic conceptions of causality and freedom, their arguments for causal determinism, and ancient attaches on and defenses of compatibilism.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 111:
Aristotle's Logic (PHIL 211)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 112:
Causality in Ancient Greek Philosophy (PHIL 212)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 113:
Hellenistic Philosophy (PHIL 213)
Epicureans, skeptics, and stoics on epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and psychology.
Last offered: Winter 2008
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 115:
Problems in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic Aristotelianism and Western Scholasticism (PHIL 215)
The western world adopted Aristotle's metaphysics and natural philosophy as the foundation of its educational system and scholarly life between 1210 and 1255. Christian Europe was thereby following the example set by Islam in Spain and the Near East. Today some people believe that this development was independent, and others think that the scholastics copied even their methods from Arabic philosophers. Historical evaluation of those claims.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 116:
Aquinas (PHIL 216)
This course is an introduction to the metaphysical thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 ¿ 1274), one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. Readings will be drawn primarily from the "Summa theologiae."
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 117:
Descartes (PHIL 217)
(Formerly 121/221.) Descartes's philosophical writings on rules for the direction of the mind, method, innate ideas and ideas of the senses, mind, God, eternal truths, and the material world.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 118:
British Empiricism, 1660s-1730s
Focus is on the big three British Empiricists and their developments of thought based on the foundational role that they give to sensory perception or experience as the source of knowledge. Topics may include the theory of ideas, idealism, personal identity, human agency, moral motivation, causation, and induction. Readings predominantly from Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
Last offered: Spring 2007
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 118A:
Origins of Empiricism: Gassendi, Locke, and Berkeley (PHIL 218A)
Particular light is shed on both the strengths and weaknesses of empiricism by studying it as it first arose during the 17th century revolution in philosophy and the sciences initiated by Descartes. Three philosophers of that period helped to advance empiricism: Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655), John Locke (1632-1704), and George Berkeley (1685-1753). A brief introduction to Descartes is followed by Gassendi's reaction to Descartes and his influence on Locke; Locke's theory of ideas, mind, language, reality, and natural philosophy expounded in his An Essay concerning Human Understanding (Fourth Edition, 1689); and Berkeley's later reaction to Locke.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 119:
Rationalists (PHIL 219)
Developments in 17th-century continental philosophy. Descartes's views on mind, necessity, and knowledge. Spinoza and Leibniz emphazing their own doctrines and their criticism of their predecessors. Prerequisite: 102.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 120A:
The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence (PHIL 220A)
Correspondence on metaphysics, theology, and science.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 120W:
Richard Rufus on Aristotle's Metaphysics: Ontology, Unity, Universals, & Individuation (PHIL 220W)
Mini-Course taught by Rega Wood in association with Santiago Melo Arias & Professors Alan Code & Calvin Normore. Code, Wood, & Melo Arias have spent the last 6 months intensively studying Richard Rufus of Cornwall's commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Zeta, Eta, & Theta. This June we will present Rufus' views on ontology, unity, & universals. There will be 6 two hour sessions on June, 4,5, & 6 (Thurs - Saturday), 10-12 noon , 2-4 pm. Readings will be taken chiefly from Melo Arias' new translations of Rufus' circa 1238 commentary; other readings, from Aristotle and Averroes. We will consider the difference between the treatment of definition, essence and being in logic and in metaphysics, the sense in which accidents have definitions, the unity of genus and differentia in the ndefinitions of substances, the unity of form and proximate matter in hylomorphic compounds, and the unity of the parts of the rational soul. In this context we will discuss the formal distinction pioneered by Rufus as a description of differences in formal predication consistent with real sameness.Richard Rufus was the nfirst Western professor to lecture on Aristotle's metaphysics in Medieval Europe.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 122:
Hume (PHIL 222)
(Formerly 120/220; graduate students enroll in 222.) Hume's theoretical philosophy, in particular, skepticism and naturalism, the theory of ideas and belief, space and time, causation and necessity, induction and laws of nature, miracles, a priori reasoning, the external world, and the identity of the self.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 124:
Topics in Early Modern Philosophy
Philosophical views of the highly influential rationalist philosophers Benedict (or Baruch) Spinoza (1632-1677) and G. W. Leibniz (1646-1716). Topics to be treated include: the nature of God and the question of his providential care for human beings, the concept of substance and its extension, the ontological relation of finite beings to God, the mental and its relation to the corporeal, and the nature of human freedom.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 125:
Kant's First Critique (PHIL 225)
(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 126B:
Kant's Ethical Theory (PHIL 226B)
(Graduate students register for 226B.) Kant's moral philosophy based primarily on the Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals.
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 127:
Kant's Ethics (PHIL 227)
A study of Kant¿s ethical thought, focusing on The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals. Prerequisite: Phil. 2, Phil. 170, or equivalent (consult the instructor). Designed for undergraduate department majors and graduate students.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 127A:
Kant's Value Theory (PHIL 227A)
(Graduate students register for 227A.) The role of autonomy, principled rational self-governance, in Kant's account of the norms to which human beings are answerable as moral agents, citizens, empirical inquirers, and religious believers. Relations between moral values (goodness, rightness) and aesthetic values (beauty, sublimity).
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 127B:
Kant's Anthropology and Philosophy of History (PHIL 227B)
Kant's conception of anthropology or human nature, based on his philosophy of history, which influenced and anticipated 18th- and 19th-century philosophers of history such as Herder, Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. Texts include Idea for a Universal History, Conjectural Beginning of Human History, and Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Topics include: Kant's pragmatic approach to the study of human nature; the difficulty of human self knowledge; the role of regulative and teleological principles in studying human history; and Kant's theory of race.
| Units: 4
PHIL 127M:
Richard Rufus of Cornwall (PHIL 227M)
Metaphysics and Epistemology, readings from Rufus' newly translated Contra Averroem & Speculum animae. In these works, Rufus solves a problem for Aristotelian epistemology that was to bedevil later scolastics such as Thomas Aquinas. He also states for the first time a theory of individuation by form that was subsequently adopted by Duns Scotus. Though Scotus like Rufus preferred to speak of individual forms, the theory itself is often identified by a term very seldom used by Scotus, `haeceitas' or thisness. Taughtly jointly by Rega Wood and Calvin Normore.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 127W:
Introducing Ockham & His Razor: Mind & Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, & Ethics (PHIL 227W)
Three day mini course on topics in Medieval Philosophy. This year's topic is "Introducing Ockham & His Razor: Mind & Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, & Ethics." Course runs June 2-4, 2016. Guest lectures by Peter King (Toronto), Elizabeth Karger (CNRS, Paris).nWe begin with a general introduction to Ockham's place in the history of philosophy from Democritus to Descartes.Then we turn to Ockham's logic and his most popular work, the Summa logicae. In this connection we will discuss Ockham's distinction between absolute and connotative terms and his theory of supposition, a theory that corresponds roughly to modern reference theory. nOn day two we take up Ockham's Epistemology, the distinction he drew between intuitive & abstractive cognition, his approach to problems of certainty and judgment, and his response to skeptical worries. In this connection we will discuss the razor in its application of sensible species. nnThat afternoon our topic will be nominalist metaphysics & the razor as Ockham deploys the principle of parsimony to justify his denial of common natures and his rejection of some of the Aristotelian categories, such as motion and relation. More generally we see an approach to physics with minimal reliance on metaphysics.nnDay three begins with philosophy of mind. Here we will see Ockham refusing to posit faculties of will and intellect distinct from the intellective soul itself, while admitting a distinction between the sensitive and intellective souls. The course will close with a discussion of Ockham's ethics and politics. In ethics we will consider the ground of the good and the connection of the virtues; in politics we will focus on property rights, a major source of controversy within the church.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 10 units total)
PHIL 128:
Fichte's Ethics (PHIL 228)
(Graduate students register for 228.) The founder of the German Idealist movement who adopted but revised Kant's project of transcendental philosophy basing it on the principle of awareness of free self-activity. The awareness of other selves and of ethical relations to them as a necessary condition for self-awareness. His writings from 1793-98 emphasizing the place of intersubjectivity in his theory of experience.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 130:
Hegel (PHIL 230)
(Formerly 122/222; graduate students register for 230.) Introduction to Hegel's philosophy, emphasizing his moral and political philosophy, through study of his last major work (1821). May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: course in the history of modern philosophy.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
PHIL 131W:
Kant's Theory of Law and Justice (PHIL 231W)
This course will look at Kant's theory of right or law (Recht) and its implications for morality and politics. The topics we will discuss are: the difference between right and ethics in Kant¿s metaphysics of morals; the relation of law to property and morality; the moral obligations of politicians as holders of rightful authority; and the standards of right as they apply to international relations and war.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 132W:
Mini Course: Topics in Kant's Ethics (PHIL 232W)
This mini-course will deal with several selected topics relating to Kant's ethics: (1) Kant's formulas of the moral law, their meaning and their relation to one another; (2) Kant's concept of imperfect (wide, meritorious) duties and its role in his ethical theory; (3) the place of feeling, emotion, desire and inclination, their relation to our empirical nature and to human reason, in Kant's moral psychology; and (4) the place of duties regarding animals and other non-human beings in Kant's ethical theory. There will be six sessions, each two hours in length. Either the instructor or one of the guest lecturers will be in charge of each session, which will consist in part of a presentation by the person in charge and partly of discussion. Instructor: Allen Wood (Indiana University/Stanford University); guest lecturers: Barbara Herman (UCLA), Janelle DeWitt (Indiana University). Course meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, June 6, 7, 8, 2016. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 10 units total)
PHIL 133S:
Heidegger and Daoism: Differences and Dialogue (RELIGST 181)
The new paradigm for understanding Heidegger makes possible a fresh look at his long-standing interest in Daoism. Part One: a radical recasting of Heidegger's thought, including his readings of the Presocratics (6th century BCE). In light of that, Part Two: a reading of Laozi's Dao De Jing / Tao Te Ching (6th century BCE). Permission of instructor required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 133T:
Atheism: Hegel to Heidegger (RELIGST 183)
The radical changes in ideas of God between Hegel and Heidegger, arguing that their questions about theism and atheism are still pertinent today. Texts from Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, and Heidegger: on God, history, and the social dimensions of human nature. N.B.: Class size limited. Apply early at tsheehan@stanford.edu.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 134:
Phenomenology and Intersubjectivity (PHIL 234)
(Graduate students register for 234.) Readings from Husserl, Stein, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty on subjects related to awareness of others. Topics include solipsism, collective experience, empathy, and objectification of the other.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 135:
Existentialism (PHIL 235)
Focus is on the existentialist preoccupation with human freedom. What constitutes authentic individuality? What is one's relation to the divine? How can one live a meaningful life? What is the significance of death? A rethinking of the traditional problem of freedom and determinism in readings from Rousseau, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, and the extension of these ideas by Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus, including their social and political consequences in light of 20th-century fascism and feminism.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
PHIL 136:
History of Analytic Philosophy (PHIL 236)
(Formerly 147/247; graduate students register for 236.) Theories of knowledge in Frege, Carnap, and Quine. Emphasis is on conceptions of analyticity and treatment of logic and mathematics. Prerequisite: 50 and one course numbered 150-165 or 181-90.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 137:
Wittgenstein (PHIL 237)
(Graduate students register for 237.) An exploration of Wittgenstein's changing views about meaning, mind, knowledge, and the nature of philosophical perplexity and philosophical insight, focusing on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 138:
Recent European Philosophy: Between Nature and History (PHIL 238)
A critical introduction to the novel understandings of time, language, and cultural power developed by 20th-century continental thinkers, with close attention to work by Heidegger, Saussure, Benjamin, and Foucault.
Last offered: Autumn 2009
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 143:
Quine (PHIL 243)
(Formerly 183/283; graduate students register for 243.) The philosophy of Quine: meaning and communication; analyticity, modality, reference, and ontology; theory and evidence; naturalism; mind and the mental.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 150:
Mathematical Logic (PHIL 250)
An introduction to the concepts and techniques used in mathematical logic, focusing on propositional, modal, and predicate logic. Highlights connections with philosophy, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and neighboring fields.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 150E:
Logic in Action: A New Introduction to Logic
A new introduction to logic, covering propositional, modal, and first-order logic, with special attention to major applications in describing information and information-driven action. Highlights connections with philosophy, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and neighboring fields. Based on the open source course 'Logic in Action,' available online at http://www.logicinaction.org/.nFulfills the undergraduate philosophy logic requirement.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 150X:
Mathematical Logic
Equivalent to the second half of 150. Students attend the first meeting of 150 and rejoin the class on October 30. Prerequisite: CS 103A or X, or PHIL 50.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 2
PHIL 151:
Metalogic (PHIL 251)
(Formerly 160A.) The syntax and semantics of sentential and first-order logic. Concepts of model theory. Gödel's completeness theorem and its consequences: the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem and the compactness theorem. Prerequisite: 150 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 151A:
Recursion Theory (PHIL 251A)
Computable functions, Turing degrees, generalized computability and definability. "What does it mean for a function from the natural numbers to themselves to be computable?" and "How can noncomputable functions be classified into a hierarchy based on their level of noncomputability?". Theory of relative computability, reducibility notions and degree structures. Prerequisite is PHIL 150, or PHIL 151 or CS 103.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 152:
Computability and Logic (PHIL 252)
Approaches to effective computation: recursive functions, register machines, and Turing machines. Proof of their equivalence, discussion of Church's thesis. Elementary recursion theory. These techniques used to prove Gödel's incompleteness theorem for arithmetic, whose technical and philosophical repercussions are surveyed. Prerequisite: 151.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math
PHIL 153:
Feminist Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 103, FEMGEN 203, PHIL 253)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 253 or FEMGEN 203) Concepts and questions distinctive of feminist and LGBT scholarship and how they shape research: gender, intersectionality, disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, standpoint, "queering," postmodern critiques, postcolonial critiques.nPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a letter grade and a minimum of 3 units to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PHIL 154:
Modal Logic (PHIL 254)
(Graduate students register for 254.) Syntax and semantics of modal logic and its basic theory: including expressive power, axiomatic completeness, correspondence, and complexity. Applications to topics in philosophy, computer science, mathematics, linguistics, and game theory. Prerequisite: 150 or preferably 151.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
PHIL 155:
General Interest Topics in Mathematical Logic (PHIL 255)
Introduction to formalization using language of logic and to problems of philosophical logic and computer science that can be handled this way. Propositional calculus, Sudoku puzzles, resolution rule, problem P=NP. Possible worlds, modal logic with emphasis on individuation problems. May be repeated for credit.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 157:
Topics in Philosophy of Logic (PHIL 257)
(Graduate students register for 257.) Disputed foundational issues in logic; the question of what the subject matter and boundaries of logic are, such as whether what is called second-order logic should be counted as logic. What is the proper notion of logical consequence? May be repeated for credit. Pre- or corequisite: 151, or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2006
| Units: 3
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 158:
Topics in Logic: Ten Problems in Deontic Logic (PHIL 258)
As witnessed by the handbook of deontic logic and normative systems, the area of deontic logic is in flux. Traditional questions and logical methods of deontic logic are being supplemented by new questions and new techniques. This tutorial gives an introduction to the current discussion in deontic logic. In what sense are obligations different from norms? Jorgensen's dilemma, from preference based modal logic to the modern approach. How to reason about dilemmas, contrary-to-duty and defeasible norms? Distinguishing various kinds of defeasibility. How to relate various kinds of permissive and constitutive norms? Permissions as exceptions and prioritized norms. How do norms relate to other modalities like beliefs, desires, and intentions How do norms change? What is the role of time, action and games in deontic reasoning? For each problem, we discuss traditional as well as new research questions. We see the new questions as good questions for current research, in the sense that they point to modern theories and applications. We are especially interested in new questions that make older traditional questions obsolete in the sense that they are now addressed from a modern perspective, or in a more general setting. This mini-course wil from the week of 15 April through the week of 13 May.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 2
PHIL 159:
Non-Classical Logic (PHIL 259)
This course surveys a range of non-classical logics. Each week, we discuss the formal rules and philosophical underpinnings of a different system. Key topics include modal logic (the logic of possibility and necessity), many-valued logics (in which propositions can be both true and false, or neither), relevant logics (which aim to bring the concept of valid inference into line with everyday ideas about relevance), and logical pluralism (the view that there is more than one correct logic).
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 160A:
Newtonian Revolution (PHIL 260A)
(Graduate students register for 260A.) 17th-century efforts in science including by Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Huygens, that formed the background for and posed the problems addressed in Newton¿s Principia.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 160B:
Newtonian Revolution (PHIL 260B)
(Graduate students register for 260B.) Newton¿s Principia in its historical context, emphasizing how it produced a revolution in the conduct of empirical research and in standards of evidence in science.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 162:
Philosophy of Mathematics (MATH 162, PHIL 262)
(Graduate students register for PHIL 262.) General survey of the philosophy of mathematics, focusing on epistemological issues. Includes survey of some basic concepts (proof, axiom, definition, number, set); mind-bending theorems about the limits of our current mathematical knowledge, such as Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, and the independence of the continuum hypothesis from the current axioms of set theory; major philosophical accounts of mathematics: Logicism, Intuitionism, Hilbert's program, Quine's empiricism, Field's program, Structuralism; concluding with a discussion of Eugene Wigner's `The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences'. Students won't be expected to prove theorems or complete mathematical exercises. However, includes some material of a technical nature. Prerequisite: PHIL150 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math
PHIL 163:
Significant Figures in Philosophy of Science (PHIL 263)
(Graduate students register for 263.) Directed study of two or more thinkers, past or present, who have made a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy of science. Subjects last year were Henri Poincaré, Pierre Duhem, and Gaston Bachelard.
Last offered: Winter 2007
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 164:
Central Topics in the Philosophy of Science: Theory and Evidence (PHIL 264)
(Graduate students register for 264.) Is reductionism opposed to emergence? Are they compatible? If so, how or in what sense? We consider methodological, epistemological, logical and metaphysical dimensions of contemporary discussions of reductionism and emergence in physics, in the ¿sciences of complexity¿, and in philosophy of mind.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 164A:
Central Topics in Philosophy of Science: Causation (PHIL 264A)
(Graduate Students register for 264A.) Establishing causes in science, engineering, and medicine versus establishing them in Anglo-American law, considered in the context of Hume and Mill on causation. May be repeated for credit.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 165:
Philosophy of Physics (PHIL 265)
Graduate students register for 265.) Central topic alternates annually between space-time theories and philosophical issues in quantum mechanics; the latter in Winter 2013-14. Conceptual problems regarding the uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, quantum measurement, spin, and their treatment within the 'Copenhagen interpretation' of quantum mechanics, and the related doctrine of complementarity. The issue of quantum entanglement as raised by Einstein and Schrödinger in the 1930s and the famous EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paper of 1935. Examination of EPR-type experimental set-ups and a result due to Bell in the 1960s, according to which no "hidden variables" theory satisfying a certain locality condition (apparently assumed by EPR) can reproduce all the predictions of quantum mechanics. Survey of several live interpretive options for standard quantum mechanics: Bohmian mechanics (a.k.a. 'pilot wave theory'), 'spontaneous collapse' theories, and Everett¿s relative-state interpretation. Critical scrutiny of the ¿decoherence¿ program that seeks to explain the classical-to-quantum transition, i.e., the emergence of the world of classical physics and macroscopic objects from quantum physics. May be repeated for credit if content is different.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 166:
Probability: Ten Great Ideas About Chance (PHIL 266, STATS 167, STATS 267)
Foundational approaches to thinking about chance in matters such as gambling, the law, and everyday affairs. Topics include: chance and decisions; the mathematics of chance; frequencies, symmetry, and chance; Bayes great idea; chance and psychology; misuses of chance; and harnessing chance. Emphasis is on the philosophical underpinnings and problems. Prerequisite: exposure to probability or a first course in statistics at the level of STATS 60 or 116.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-AQR, WAY-FR
PHIL 166A:
Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (PHIL 266A)
This seminar will concentrate on a variety of probability questions that arise in quantum mechanics, including some from recent experiments. Negative probabilities and nonmonotonic upper probabilities will be emphasized
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 167A:
Philosophy of Biology (PHIL 267A)
(Graduate students register for 267A.) Evolutionary theory and in particular, on characterizing natural selection and how it operates. We examine debates about fitness, whether selection is a cause or force, the levels at which selection operates, and whether cultural evolution is a Darwinian process.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 167B:
Philosophy, Biology, and Behavior (PHIL 267B)
(Graduate Students register for 267B) Philosophical study of key theoretical ideas in biology as deployed in the study of behavior. Topics to include genetic, neurobiological, ecological approaches to behavior; the classification and measurement of behaviors: reductionism, determinism, interactionism. Prerequisites: one PHIL course and either one BIO course or Human Biology core; or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 167C:
Associative Theories of Mind and Brain (PHIL 267C)
After a historical survey of associative theories from Hume to William James, current versions will be analyzed including the important early ideas of Karl Lashley. Emphasis will be on the computational power of associative networks and their realization in the brain.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 167D:
Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 267D, SYMSYS 206)
Can problems of mind be solved by understanding the brain, or models of the brain? The views of philosophers and neuroscientists who believe so, and others who are skeptical of neurophilosophical approaches to the mind. Historical and recent literature in philosophy and neuroscience. Topics may include perception, memory, neural accounts of consciousness, neurophenomenology, neuroscience and physics, computational models, and eliminativism. (Not open to freshmen.)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 169:
Evolution of the Social Contract (PHIL 269)
Explore naturalizing the social contract. Classroom presentations and term papers.nTexts: Binmore - Natural Justicen Skyrms - Evolution of the Social Contract.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 170:
Ethical Theory (ETHICSOC 170, PHIL 270)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 170B:
Metaphor (PHIL 270B)
In metaphor we think and talk about two things at once: two different subject matters are mingled to rich and unpredictable effect. A close critical study of the main modern accounts of metaphor's nature and interest, drawing on the work of writers, linguists, philosophers, and literary critics. Attention to how understanding, appreciation, and pleasure connect with one another in the experience of metaphor. Consideration of the possibility that metaphor or something very like it occurs in nonverbal medial: gesture, dance, painting, music.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 170D:
Trust and Trustworthiness (PHIL 270D)
An exploration of the place of interpersonal trust in ethical thought. What is it to trust another person? How is trusting related to, though different from, other attitudes we sometimes bear towards others (e.g. justified beliefs we form about others and their conduct; ethically significant expectations we have of others, etc.)? What is involved in acquiring/possessing the virtue of trustworthiness? How should trust (and trustworthiness) figure in our thinking about important ethical activities, for example promising, friendship, or the practice of politics?
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 171:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 271, POLISCI 103, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 172:
History of Modern Moral Philosophy (PHIL 272)
This course traces the development of moral philosophy in Britain just prior to the nearly simultaneous emergence of Kant's moral philosophy and Bentham's utilitarianism in the 1780's. Emphasis is on the dialogue between empiricists and rationalists on the subject of the relationship between the natural and the normative. Authors include Hobbes, Clarke, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Price, and Bentham. Prerequisite: some familiarity with Kant's moral theory and utilitarianism, and demonstrated interest in philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 172B:
Recent Ethical Theory: Moral Obligation (PHIL 272B)
Some moral obligations are "relational," "directional," or "bipolar" in structure: in promising you to act in a certain way, for example, I incur an obligation to you to so act and you acquire a corresponding claim or right against me that I so act. This entails that if I violate my obligation to you, I will not merely be doing something that is morally wrong, but will be wronging you in particular. What does explain this? Do all moral obligations have this structure? We will discuss how different moral theories (consequentialist, deontological, contractualist) try to account for such obligations. Readings include Adams, Anscombe, Darwall, Feinberg, Hart, Parfit, Raz, Scanlon, Skorupski, Thompson, Thomson, Wallace, and Wolf.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 172D:
Bernard Williams (PHIL 272D)
An exploration of some central themes from the work of Bernard Williams. Particular attention will be paid to his discussion of the character and identity of the self, his sustained critique of morality and moral philosophy. We will also read several of Williams¿ interlocutors, including Nagel, Parfit, Korsgaard, and Herman.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 172N:
Prudence and Morality (PHIL 272N)
We sometimes think we should do something just because it will benefit us in the future, even though we don¿t particularly feel like doing it now (e.g. we exercise, go to the dentist for a check-up, or set aside money for retirement). And we sometimes think we should do something for the sake of another person, even when it is inconvenient, costly, or unpleasant (e.g. we stop to help a stranded motorist, donate to charity, or tell someone an embarrassing truth rather than a face-saving lie). When we do the former, we act prudently. When we do the latter, we act morally. This course explores the debate among philosophers about the source of our reasons for acting prudently and morally. Some argue that our reasons to be prudent and moral stem directly from the fact that we are rational ¿ that it is contrary to reason to ignore our own future interests, or the interests of other people. Others disagree, arguing that the source of these reasons must lie elsewhere. Course readings will include work by Thomas Nagel, Bernard Williams, Christine Korsgaard, Derek Parfit, Philippa Foot, and others.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 173A:
Aesthetics: Metaphor across the Arts
What if a metaphor is an instructively compact work of art, or if finding a metaphor apt is an instructively simple case of finding something aesthetically valuable? What does this reveal about the nature of art and language? Introduction to the philosophical study of art and aesthetic value, organized around metaphor. Contemporary accounts of metaphor as a verbal device. Arguments for the existence of nonverbal metaphor in nonliterary arts. The power and appeal of metaphors drawn from art, art criticism, theoretical inquiry, and everyday life.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 173B:
Metaethics
This is an undergraduate only class. Can moral and ethical values be justified or is it just a matter of opinion? Is there a difference between facts and values? Are there any moral truths? Does it matter if there are not? Is anything in life really valuable or meaningful? Focus is not on which things or actions are valuable or morally right, but what is value or rightness itself. Contemporary metaethics. Prerequisites: 1 and 80.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 173W:
Aesthetics (PHIL 273W)
This course will investigate a cluster of varied but related philosophical issues concerning the arts¿music, painting, literature, poetry, photography, theater, film, etc.¿issues most of which are, at the same time, problems in philosophy of mind or language, value theory, or epistemology. We will address questions like the following (though probably not all of them): What, if anything, is distinctive about art and aesthetic experience?, What is aesthetic value, and how do aesthetic values relate to and interact with moral values and values of other kinds?, What is fiction and why are people interested in it?, In what ways are works of art expressive of feelings or emotions? What similarities and differences are there in the expressive qualities of music, literature, painting, poetry? How might we learn from works of art of one or another kind, and how might they work to change people's perspectives or attitudes?, In what ways do artworks serve as vehicles of communication? Are the values of works of art fundamentally different from those of beautiful natural objects? Along the way, we will bump into more specific questions such as: Why and in what ways is photography more (or less) 'realistic' than painting and drawing, or more or less revealing of reality? Does (instrumental) music have cognitive or semantic content? Is music representational in anything like the ways literature and figurative painting are?, Do all literary works have narrators? Is there ever (or always?) anything like narrators in paintings, films, music? Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, or permission of the instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 174:
Freedom and the Practical Standpoint (PHIL 274)
(Graduate students register for 274.) Confronted with the question of how to act, people think of themselves as freely determining their own conduct. Natural science poses a challenge to this by explaining all events, including human actions, in terms of causal processes. Are people justified in thinking of themselves as free? Major philosophical approaches to this question: incompatibilism, compatibilism, and the two-standpoint view.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 174D:
Moral Luck (PHIL 274D)
We draw a fundamental distinction between what a person voluntarily does, and what is beyond her control. Such a distinction seems central to how we think about what it is to justify our actions (whether to ourselves or to one another), as well as to our practice of holding one another morally responsible for what we do. Yet under pressure, this distinction can appear to collapse ¿ we find that we cannot successfully disentangle what a person controls from what she does not when she acts. This course examines this problem in depth, and considers how we might respond in the face of it: Is it really a problem? If so, does it threaten our moral practices? How should it influence the way in which we make choices, or the way we understand those choices once we¿ve made them?
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas
PHIL 174L:
Betrayal and Loyalty, Treason and Trust (ETHICSOC 174L, ETHICSOC 274L, PHIL 274L)
The main topic of the seminar is Betrayal: its meaning as well as its moral, legal and political implications. We shall discuss various notions of betrayal: Political (military) betrayal such as treason, Religious betrayal with Judas as its emblem, but also apostasy (converting one's religion) which is regarded both as a basic human right and also as an act of betrayal, social betrayal - betraying class solidarity as well as Ideological betrayal - betraying a cause. On top of political betrayal we shall deal with personal betrayal, especially in the form of infidelity and in the form of financial betrayal of the kind performed by Madoff. The contrasting notions to betrayal, especially loyalty and trust, will get special consideration so as to shed light or cast shadow, as the case may be, on the idea of betrayal. The seminar will focus not only on the normative aspect of betrayal - moral or legal, but also on the psychological motivations for betraying others. The seminar will revolve around glaring historical examples of betrayal but also use informed fictional novels, plays and movies from Shakespeare and Pinter, to John Le Carre. SAME AS LAW 520.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 175:
Philosophy of Law
This course will explore foundational issues about the nature of law and its relation to morality, and about legal responsibility and criminal punishment, with a focus on criminal culpability for attempts. Prerequisite: PHIL 80 and one additional PHIL course.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 175A:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
PHIL 175M:
Two Ethical Theories and Being a Person (PHIL 275M)
The distinction between the ethics of being a person and the ethics of rules as opposed to the distinction between Kantian ethics and utilitarianism or consequentialism consequentialism. Comparison of these two types of ethics with respect to their relationship to agency and being a good person. Relations between Western ethics and those of other continents.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 175P:
Philosophy of Law and Conceptions of Agency (PHIL 275P)
In this course we will explore the connections between recent work in philosophy of law and philosophy of action. Current philosophy of law draws on philosophy of action. One example is the work of Scott Shapiro, who interprets legal activity as a form of social planning that enables citizens to coordinate their activities as agents. We will consider what normative requirements are necessary to make citizens self-legislating autonomous agents. Are formal requirements like consistency and coherence sufficient, or does law have to meet substantial normative and moral requirements? We will also discuss whether the deficiency of ¿evil legal systems¿ can be explained in terms of agency. Can distorted legal system provide agents a coherent form of self-understanding? We will explore these questions through readings by Scott Shapiro, Ronald Dworkin, Lon F. Fuller, David Dyzenhaus, Kristen Rundle, Michael Bratman, David Velleman, and Christine Korsgaard.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 176:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 276, POLISCI 137A, POLISCI 337A)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176B:
The Economic Individual in the Behavioral Sciences (PHIL 276B)
(Graduate students register for 276B.)
Last offered: Autumn 2005
| Units: 4
PHIL 176C:
Religion and Politics: a Latin American Perspective (ETHICSOC 276R, ETHICSOC 376R, PHIL 276C)
Religion has traditionally been banished from politics in some places in Latin America. Religious symbols may not be displayed in public buildings, political discourse is expected to be free from all religious content, and religious ministers are not allowed to run for public office, among other measures. This course examines the political motivation for this kind of policies towards religion taking a comparative perspective with American and French variants of secularism.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 177B:
EMOTIONS: MORALITY AND LAW (ETHICSOC 202, ETHICSOC 302, PHIL 277B)
If emotions are the stuff of life, some emotions are the stuff of our moral and legal life. Emotions such as: guilt, shame, revenge, indignation, resentment, disgust, envy, jealousy and humiliation, along with forgiveness, compassion, pity, mercy and patriotism, play a central role in our moral and legal life. The course is about these emotions, their meaning and role in morality and law. Issues such as the relationship between punishment and revenge, or between envy and equality, or St. Paul¿s contrast between law and love, or Nietzsche¿s idea that resentment is what feeds morality, will be discussed alongside other intriguing topics.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 177C:
Ethics of Climate Change (PHIL 277C)
Climate change is an ethical failure. When we cause greenhouse gas to be emitted for our own benefit, the gas spreads around the world and does harm everywhere. Many of those who are harmed emit very little greenhouse gas themselves. When some people harm others for their own benefit, something is morally wrong. Specifically, there is an injustice. One of the ethical problems raised by climate change is how to rectify this injustice. Climate change also raises a different range of ethical questions, which may be classified as questions of value. For example, in making decisions, how should the distant future be valued in comparison with the present and how should we take account of the great loss of human life that climate change will cause? This course investigates the issues of justice and the issues of value. It considers the moral demands that climate change puts both on private individuals and on public institutions. Because the effects of climate change are so widespread and so complex, the methods of economics can be useful in putting ethical principles into effect. The course will therefore assess some of these methods.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 177W:
Human Rights (PHIL 277W)
In this course we will think critically about human rights by evaluating complex moral situations and weighing powerful but opposed arguments. In our discussions we will explore a variety of alleged human rights and ask: Which of these is really a human right? What could the justification of human rights be? If some right is a real human right, what exactly does it require of us and others? Are there really any human rights at all, or are human rights just another means for Western societies to impose their way of life on the rest of the world? What is a human right? Case studies will include the death penalty, democratic participation, gay rights and duties of corporations to respect human rights.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 178:
Ethics in Society Honors Seminar (ETHICSOC 190)
For students planning honors in Ethics in Society. Methods of research. Students present issues of public and personal morality; topics chosen with advice of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
PHIL 178M:
Introduction to Environmental Ethics (ETHICSOC 178M, ETHICSOC 278M, PHIL 278M, POLISCI 134L)
How should human beings relate to the natural world? Do we have moral obligations toward non-human animals and other parts of nature? And what do we owe to other human beings, including future generations, with respect to the environment? The first part of this course will examine such questions in light of some of our current ethical theories: considering what those theories suggest regarding the extent and nature of our environmental obligations; and also whether reflection on such obligations can prove informative about the adequacy of our ethical theories. In the second part of the course, we will use the tools that we have acquired to tackle various ethical questions that confront us in our dealings with the natural world, looking at subjects such as: animal rights; conservation; economic approaches to the environment; access to and control over natural resources; environmental justice and pollution; climate change; technology and the environment; and environmental activism.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 179S:
Moral Psychology, Reasons for Action, and Moral Theory (PHIL 279S)
What sorts of considerations does an ethical agent take to be good reasons for action? Work in moral psychology to illuminate the theory of practical reasons, and the theory of practical reasons to test the prospects for systematic moral theory. Can any systematic moral theory be reconciled with the moral psychology of ordinary, morally respectable agents? Reading include Bernard Williams, Rosalind Hursthouse, Peter Railton, T.M. Scanlon, and Barbara Herman.
Last offered: Winter 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 180:
Metaphysics (PHIL 280)
This course is a survey of the philosophy of time and modality, as organized around the following central issue. There are two competing ways to think about time. On one conception, time is space-like. Just as space consists in a three-dimensional spatial manifold, time forms a one-dimensional temporal manifold. On another conception, time is modality-like, and should be understood on analogy with notions like possibility and necessity. Topics covered include the nature of time, time¿s passage, spacetime and relativity, modal realism, actualism, and powers-based theories of modality. Although modal logic and temporal logic will be introduced in the class, an independent background in logic is crucial. Students should have taken (i) PHIL 49/50 or a higher-level logic course and (ii) a writing-intensive philosophy course such as PHIL 80.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 180A:
Realism, Anti-Realism, Irrealism, Quasi-Realism (PHIL 280A)
Realism and its opponents as options across a variety of different domains: natural science, mathematics, ethics, and aesthetics. Clarify the various conceptions that fall under these terms and outline the reasons for and against adopting realism for the various domains. Highlight the general issues involved. Prerequisites: 80, 181
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 181:
Philosophy of Language (PHIL 281)
The study of conceptual questions about language as a focus of contemporary philosophy for its inherent interest and because philosophers see questions about language as behind perennial questions in other areas of philosophy including epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics. Key concepts and debates about the notions of meaning, truth, reference, and language use, with relations to psycholinguistics and formal semantics. Readings from philosophers such as Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Grice, and Kripke. Prerequisites: 80 and background in logic.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 182:
Truth (PHIL 282)
Philosophical debates about the place in human lives and the value to human beings of truth and its pursuit. The nature and significance of truth-involving virtues such as accuracy, sincerity, and candor. Prerequisite Phil 80 or permission of the instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 184:
Epistemology (PHIL 284)
This is an advanced introduction to core topics in epistemology -- the philosophical study of human knowledge. Questions covered will include: What is knowledge? Can we know anything outside our own minds? Must all knowledge rest on secure foundations? Does knowing something require knowing that you know it? What are the connections between knowledge and rationality? Does 'knowledge' mean the same in the philosophy classroom as it does in everyday life? Prerequisite Phil 80 or consent of the instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 184C:
Epistemology of Testimony (PHIL 284C)
Many of our beliefs come from others, and not from direct experience. Is testimony a source of fundamental reasons¿reasons that do not have to be supported or validated by other sources like perception or inference? What sort of responsibility does one have to one¿s hearers, when one gives testimony?
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 184F:
Feminist Theories of Knowledge (FEMST 166, PHIL 284F)
Feminist critique of traditional approaches in epistemology and alternative feminist approaches to such topics as reason and rationality, objectivity, experience, truth, the knowing subject, knowledge and values, knowledge and power.
Last offered: Spring 2007
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender
PHIL 184P:
Probability and Epistemology
Confirmation theory and various ways of trying to understand the concept of evidence. Discuss a series of issues in epistemology including probabilism (the view that you should assign degrees of belief to various propositions), conditionalization, confirmational holism, reliabilism and justification, and disagreement.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 184V:
The Epistemology of Disagreement
What should you do when you learn that equally informed and equally competent reasoners disagree with you? Should you give up your beliefs, or should you stick to your views? In this course, we'll look at the recent debate in epistemology about disagreement. We will investigate the effects of disagreement on the justification of our beliefs, and explore the implications for the justification of our religious, moral, and philosophical views.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 185:
Memory
Structure, content, functional role, and epistemic authority of human memories. Sources include philosophical and psychological literature from different schools and historical periods.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 185B:
Philosophy of Perception (PHIL 285B)
The nature of perceptual experience and the role it plays in securing empirical knowledge. Focus will be on what is sometimes called "the problem of perception": the question of how perception could provide us with direct awareness of the surrounding environment given the possibility of illusions or hallucinations. Topics, include the relationship between perception and belief, the nature of perceptual phenomenology, whether or not perceptual experiences are representational states, and the philosophical relevance of empirical research on perception.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 186:
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 286)
(Graduate students register for 286.) This is an advanced introduction to core topics in the philosophy of mind. Prerequisite: PHIL 80
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 186B:
Inner Sense
Often the label "inner" is used to describe aspects of ourselves we believe are not immediately observable to another. Thoughts, feelings, sensations; these all happen on the "inside," whereas speech, mannerisms, and actions are "outward" expressions. But how useful is this way of thinking? And what does it assume about what is "inner" versus what is "outer"? How reliable are the various internal mechanisms that allow us to know ourselves? Do we have a special kind of direct access to our own inner lives? And what can we know about the inner lives of others? Readings from philosophy of mind and cognitive science.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 187:
Philosophy of Action (PHIL 287)
(Graduate students register for 287.) Contemporary research in the philosophy of action. Topics include: What is it to be an agent? Is there a philosophically defensible contrast between being an agent and being a locus of causal forces to which one is subject? What is it to act purposively? What is intention? What is the relation between intention and belief? What is it to act intentionally? What is it to act for a reason? What is the relation between explaining why someone acted by citing the reasons for which she acted and causal explanation of her action? What is the relation between theoretical and practical rationality? What is the nature of our knowledge of our own intentional activity? What is it to act autonomously? What is shared cooperative activity? Prerequisite: 80.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 188:
Personal Identity (PHIL 288)
Do you persist through time the way that a skyscraper persists through space, by having different parts at different locations? Or are you ¿wholly present¿ at every moment of your life, in something more like the way that an elevator is present in each place as it travels up to the top floor? What criteria determine whether you now are the very same person as some unique person located at some time in the past? Is the continuity of your memories or other mental states sufficient for your survival? Can you survive the loss or destruction of your body? Do you really exist for more than just the present moment? How do different answers to these questions bear on your moral, personal, and professional obligations? What kinds of considerations could possibly help us to answer these questions? This course explores these and related issues. Readings include a mix of introductory survey, historical, and contemporary material.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 189:
Examples of Free Will (PHIL 289)
Examples drawn from three domains: choice, computation, and conflict of norms. Conceptually, a distinction is made between examples that are predictable and those that are not, but skepticism about making a sharp distinction between determinism and indeterminism is defended.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 193C:
Film & Philosophy (COMPLIT 154A, FRENCH 154, ITALIAN 154, PHIL 293C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 193D:
Dante and Aristotle (ENGLISH 106E)
Students will read all of Dante¿s Commedia alongside works by Aristotle and various ancient and medieval philosophers. Our aim will be to understand the way an Aristotelian worldview informs the Commedia. For instance, what is the role of pleasure in the ethical life? What is the highest good of the human being? All readings will be in translation.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 193H:
The Art of the Movies: Story, Drama, and Image
A philosophical study of how movies coordinate and transform elements they borrow from older arts of literary narrative, live theater, and graphic illustration. Examples from the career of Alfred Hitchcock.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 193W:
Nietzsche, Doestoevsky, and Sartre
Literary works in which philosophical ideas and issues are put forward, such as prose poems, novels, and plays. Ideas and issues and the dramatic or narrative structures through which they are presented. Texts include: Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra; Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov; and Sartre, Nausea and No Exit.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 194A:
Rationality Over Time
Our beliefs and intentions seem to be subject to norms of rationality that enjoin consistency and coherence at a given time. Are there also norms of rationality that concern the relations among and changes in our beliefs and intentions over time? What might such norms of rationality over time be, how might we defend them (or argue that they are not defensible), how are they related to norms of rationality at a time, and how does our approach to these rationality norms affect our overall understanding of the kind of thinkers and actors we are? Our focus will be primarily on potential norms of practical rationality concerning intention, but we will also consider potential norms of theoretical rationality concerning belief. We will proceed by studying contemporary work on these issues, including Richard Holton's Willing, Wanting, Waiting.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 194B:
Reason and Passion
An influential strand of the Western philosophical tradition maintains that human beings are composites of two motivational sources: reason and passion (sometimes called 'feeling,' or 'emotion'). What are the philosophical reasons for positing this division? If there is such a division, how are we to conceive of passion? In what ways is it like and/or unlike reason? In what ways does it interact and/or fail to interact with reason? And how are both sources related to the self as a whole? We will explore these questions by drawing on both classical and contemporary readings.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 194C:
Time and Free Will
Classic and contemporary reading on free will, with special attention to the consequence argument for incompatibilism, and issues involving causation and time.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 194D:
Capstone Seminar: Analyticity
Survey of philosophical work on analyticity. We will start with some of the classic works on the topic, including papers by Frege, Russell and Quine. Next, we'll look at the cutting edge of research on analyticity, including work by Amie Thomasson, Agustín Rayo, and Paul Boghossian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 194E:
Ethical Antitheory
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 194F:
Capstone seminar: Beauty
Capstone seminar for undergrad majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 194G:
Philosophical Issues in Language
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 194H:
Explanation and Justification
We will discuss the nature of epistemic justification¿in particular, whether it's "internal" or "external" and how, if at all, justification can explain belief. Assignments include a term paper + an oral presentation
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 194J:
Capstone Seminar: The Possibility of Philosophy
We will read two recent books: Raymond Guess, World without Why; and Timothy Williamson, The Philosophy of Philosophy. This will be a seminar that will allow for extensive discussion and focussed work on a single long seminar paper. Prerequisites PHIL 80, one course from PHIL 170-176, one course from PHIL 180-189, and PHIL 102.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 194L:
Montaigne
Preference to Philosophy seniors. Philosophical and literary aspects of Montaigne's Essays including the nature of the self and self-fashioning, skepticism, fideism, and the nature of Montaigne's philosophical project. Montaigne's development of the essay as a literary genre.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194N:
Philosophical Issues in Cognitive Science
Philosophers generally do not perform systematic empirical observations or construct computational models. But philosophy remains important to cognitive science because it deals with fundamental issues that underlie the experimental and computational approach to mind. Abstract questions such as the nature of representation and computation. Relation of mind and body and methodological questions such as the nature of explanations found in cognitive science. Normative questions about how people should think as well as with descriptive ones about how they do. In addition to the theoretical goal of understanding human thinking, cognitive science can have the practical goal of improving it, which requires normative reflection on what we want thinking to be. Philosophy of mind does not have a distinct method, but should share with the best theoretical work in other fields a concern with empirical results.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 194P:
Naming and Necessity
Saul Kripke's lectures on reference, modal metaphysics, and the mind/body problem.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194R:
Epistemic Paradoxes
Paradoxes that arise from concepts of knowledge and rational belief, such as the skeptical paradox, the preface paradox, and Moore¿s paradox. Can one lose knowledge without forgetting anything? Can one change one's mind in a reasonable way without gaining new evidence?
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 194S:
Skepticism
Modern arguments for skepticism are hard to combat, but also curiously inert in ordinary life. We will look at a variety of contemporary attempts to come to terms with skepticism about the external world, each of which seeks to exploit the curious inertness of skeptical hypotheses.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 194T:
Practical Reason
Contemporary research on practical reason, practical rationality, and reasons for action. Enrollment limited to 12. Priority given to undergraduate Philosophy majors.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 195A:
Unity of Science
Primarily for seniors.
| Units: 4-5
PHIL 195B:
Donor Seminar: Practical Reasoning
Primarily for seniors. Relationships among action, deliberation, reasons, and rationality. On what basis do people decide what to do? What norms or rules structure reasoning? What constitutes rationality?
Last offered: Autumn 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 196:
Tutorial, Senior Year
(Staff)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Code, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
Dannenberg, J. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Follesdal, D. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
PHIL 197:
Individual Work, Undergraduate
May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-15
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Code, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
Dannenberg, J. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Duarte, S. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Ferreira, F. (PI);
Follesdal, D. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Pacuit, E. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
PHIL 197I:
Homeless Services in Silicon Valley
This service learning Student Initiated Course places participants at local organizations to do a quarter-long mentored project, supplemented with training and group reflection sessions. Through these meaningful, hands-on experiences, we hope to engage the Stanford student body in the issue of homelessness, specifically as faced by service providers.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
PHIL 198:
The Dualist
Weekly meeting of the editorial board of The Dualist, a national journal of undergraduate work in philosophy. Open to all undergraduates. May be taken 1-3 quarters. (AU) (Potochnik, Yap)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 199:
Seminar for Prospective Honors Students
Open to juniors intending to do honors in philosophy. Methods of research in philosophy. Topics and strategies for completing honors project. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 6 units total)
PHIL 201:
Introduction to Medieval Philosophy (PHIL 101)
This course is an introduction to medieval moral philosophy, broadly construed. In addition to doctrines that we would nowadays readily think of as falling within the domain of ethics, we will be looking at closely related topics that might today be thought to belong more properly to metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, or the philosophy of human nature.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 201B:
John Duns Scotus: Politics, Metaphysics & Philosophy of Mind
Life and an introduction to the difficulties of medieval biography. Franciscanism and Scotus' view on property and ownership. Proofs for the existence of God. Philosophy of mind. Metaphysics in general. Universals, Common natures, Formal Distinction, and Individuation. Formal distinction, individual forms and the precedents for Scotus' view in Richard Rufus.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 202M:
Fichte (PHIL 102M)
This three-day intensive mini-course will introduce the moral and political thought of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, the founder of the German idealist movement. The topics to be discussed are: Fichte's theory of subjectivity and transcendental idealism; Fichte's defense of radical freedom of the will; Fichte's transcendental deduction of other selves; the relation of right between rational beings and the foundations of political philosophy; Fichte's deduction of the moral law from the absolute freedom of the rational being; the application of the moral law through conscience. No previous acquaintance with Fichte's philosophy will be presupposed.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 205R:
JUST AND UNJUST WARS (ETHICSOC 205R, ETHICSOC 305R, PHIL 305R)
War is violent, but also a means by which political communities pursue collective interests. When, in light of these features, is the recourse to armed force justified? Pacifists argue that because war is so violent it is never justified, and that there is no such thing as a just war. Realists, in contrast, argue that war is simply a fact of life and not a proper subject for moral judgment, any more than we would judge an attack by a pack of wolves in moral terms. In between is just war theory, which claims that some wars, but not all, are morally justified. We will explore these theories, and will consider how just war theory comports with international law rules governing recourse to force. We will also explore justice in war, that is, the moral and legal rules governing the conduct of war, such as the requirement to avoid targeting non-combatants. Finally, we will consider how war should be terminated; what should be the nature of justified peace? We will critically evaluate the application of just war theory in the context of contemporary security problems, including: (1) transnational conflicts between states and nonstate groups and the so-called "war on terrorism"; (2) civil wars; (3) demands for military intervention to halt humanitarian atrocities taking place in another state. Same as LAW 751.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 206:
Ancient Skepticism (PHIL 106)
The ancient Pyrrhonian skeptics who think that for any claim there is no more reason to assert it than deny it and that a life without any beliefs is the best route to happiness. Some ancient opponents of the Pyrrhonian skeptics and some relations between ancient and modern skepticism.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
PHIL 207:
Early Plato (PHIL 107)
We shall focus on Plato¿s early or Socratic dialogues (e.g. the Crito, the Gorgias, and the Protagoras). In these dialogues, Plato focuses on ethics and ethical psychology without explicitly drawing on epistemological and metaphysical claims. We¿ll try to determine whether the Socrates of these dialogues is a purely destructive critic or whether he has a positive ethical view that he advances.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
PHIL 207A:
The Greeks on Irrationality (PHIL 107A)
In this course, we shall examine the views of some central Greek philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and the Stoics) on the irrational and non-rational aspects of human life. What makes something irrational and what roles (negative and perhaps positive as well) does the irrational play in our lives? We shall examine their views on anger, fear, madness, love, pleasure and pain, sexual desire and so on. We shall also consider more briefly some depictions of these psychic items in ancient Greek literature.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 207B:
Plato's Metaphysics and Epistemology (PHIL 107B)
We will read the Theaetetus and the Parmenides, and consider various definitions of knowledge, and metaphysical problems about the objects of knowledge, and a proposed method for examining and resolving such problems. Prerequisite: Philosophy 80 or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 207C:
Plato's Timaeus (PHIL 107C)
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 208:
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha (PHIL 108)
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 208A:
Aristotelian Logic (PHIL 108A)
A careful examination of Aristotle's syllogistic, with special emphasis on the interpretation of his modal syllogistic. This course will serve both as an introduction to ancient term logic and to the difference between sentential modal operators and modal modifiers to the copula. Topics will include the analysis of syllogisms into figures and moods, the reduction of 2nd and 3rd figure syllogisms to the first, the consistency of the modal syllogistic, models for the syllogistic, and de re versus de dicto modalities. For students with at least some introductory background in logic.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 208B:
Aristotle's Physics Book One (PHIL 108B)
A chapter by chapter analysis of Aristotle's introductory discussions of physical theory. Topics to be considered include Aristotle's treatment of Eleatic monism, the role of opposites in pre-Socratic physics, the role of matter in physics, and an analysis of the elements of changing objects into form, privation and a subject.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 209:
Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle on Art and Rhetoric (PHIL 109)
Plato's and Aristotle's views on the nature of art and rhetoric and their connections with the emotions, reason and the good life. Readings include Plato's Gorgias, Ion and parts of the Republic and the Laws and Aristotle's Poetics and Rhetoric.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 209A:
Special Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle's Metaphysics Zeta (PHIL 109A)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 209B:
Greek philosophers read their ancestors: Intro to the ancient reception of Presocratic philosophy (PHIL 109B)
The first Greek philosophers are known to us only through fragments of their original works, generally few in number and transmitted by later authors, as well as through a set of testimonies covering a thousand years and more. Thus it is crucial, in order to understand archaic thought, to get a sense of how they were read by those to whom we owe their transmission. What was their aim, their method, their presuppositions or prejudices?nn The course will employ this perspective to examine authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Diogenes Laertius, Simplicius ¿ among others. We shall also reflect, on the basis of the paradigmatic case of the Presocratics, on some of the more general problems raised by literary and philosophical approaches to the notion of reception.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 209C:
Aristotle's cosmology and theology (PHIL 109C)
PHIL 109C/209C now meets in Raubitschek Room, Green Library Room 351. Undergrads please sign up for 109C; grads sign up for 209C.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 210:
Plato's Republic (PHIL 110)
The Republic is one most famous and influential texts in the history of Western philosophy. We shall read in its entirety closely (along with some other related Platonic texts) focusing on its epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of art, and political philosophy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 210C:
The Stoics on Freedom and Determinism (PHIL 110C)
We will investigate ancient Stoic conceptions of causality and freedom, their arguments for causal determinism, and ancient attaches on and defenses of compatibilism.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 211:
Aristotle's Logic (PHIL 111)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 212:
Causality in Ancient Greek Philosophy (PHIL 112)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 213:
Hellenistic Philosophy (PHIL 113)
Epicureans, skeptics, and stoics on epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and psychology.
Last offered: Winter 2008
| Units: 4
PHIL 215:
Problems in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic Aristotelianism and Western Scholasticism (PHIL 115)
The western world adopted Aristotle's metaphysics and natural philosophy as the foundation of its educational system and scholarly life between 1210 and 1255. Christian Europe was thereby following the example set by Islam in Spain and the Near East. Today some people believe that this development was independent, and others think that the scholastics copied even their methods from Arabic philosophers. Historical evaluation of those claims.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 3-5
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 216:
Aquinas (PHIL 116)
This course is an introduction to the metaphysical thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 ¿ 1274), one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. Readings will be drawn primarily from the "Summa theologiae."
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 217:
Descartes (PHIL 117)
(Formerly 121/221.) Descartes's philosophical writings on rules for the direction of the mind, method, innate ideas and ideas of the senses, mind, God, eternal truths, and the material world.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 218A:
Origins of Empiricism: Gassendi, Locke, and Berkeley (PHIL 118A)
Particular light is shed on both the strengths and weaknesses of empiricism by studying it as it first arose during the 17th century revolution in philosophy and the sciences initiated by Descartes. Three philosophers of that period helped to advance empiricism: Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655), John Locke (1632-1704), and George Berkeley (1685-1753). A brief introduction to Descartes is followed by Gassendi's reaction to Descartes and his influence on Locke; Locke's theory of ideas, mind, language, reality, and natural philosophy expounded in his An Essay concerning Human Understanding (Fourth Edition, 1689); and Berkeley's later reaction to Locke.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 219:
Rationalists (PHIL 119)
Developments in 17th-century continental philosophy. Descartes's views on mind, necessity, and knowledge. Spinoza and Leibniz emphazing their own doctrines and their criticism of their predecessors. Prerequisite: 102.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 220A:
The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence (PHIL 120A)
Correspondence on metaphysics, theology, and science.
| Units: 4
PHIL 220W:
Richard Rufus on Aristotle's Metaphysics: Ontology, Unity, Universals, & Individuation (PHIL 120W)
Mini-Course taught by Rega Wood in association with Santiago Melo Arias & Professors Alan Code & Calvin Normore. Code, Wood, & Melo Arias have spent the last 6 months intensively studying Richard Rufus of Cornwall's commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Zeta, Eta, & Theta. This June we will present Rufus' views on ontology, unity, & universals. There will be 6 two hour sessions on June, 4,5, & 6 (Thurs - Saturday), 10-12 noon , 2-4 pm. Readings will be taken chiefly from Melo Arias' new translations of Rufus' circa 1238 commentary; other readings, from Aristotle and Averroes. We will consider the difference between the treatment of definition, essence and being in logic and in metaphysics, the sense in which accidents have definitions, the unity of genus and differentia in the ndefinitions of substances, the unity of form and proximate matter in hylomorphic compounds, and the unity of the parts of the rational soul. In this context we will discuss the formal distinction pioneered by Rufus as a description of differences in formal predication consistent with real sameness.Richard Rufus was the nfirst Western professor to lecture on Aristotle's metaphysics in Medieval Europe.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 222:
Hume (PHIL 122)
(Formerly 120/220; graduate students enroll in 222.) Hume's theoretical philosophy, in particular, skepticism and naturalism, the theory of ideas and belief, space and time, causation and necessity, induction and laws of nature, miracles, a priori reasoning, the external world, and the identity of the self.
| Units: 4
PHIL 224:
Kant's Philosophy of Physical Science
Kant's Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786), published between the first (1781) and second (1787) editions of the Critique of Pure Reason, in the scientific and philosophical context provided by Newtonian natural philosophy and the Leibnizean tradition. The place of this work in the development of Kant's thought. Prerequisite: acquaintance with either Kant's theoretical philosophy or the contemporaneous scientific context, principally Newton, Leibniz, and Euler.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 224A:
Mathematics in Kant's Philosophy
Recent work in Kant's philosophy of mathematics, examined with a view to the role of mathematics, both pure and applied, within Kant's theory of experience. Particular attention to the Transcendental Deduction and the Categories of Quantity. Prerequisite: prior acquaintance with Kant's theoretical philosophy and the Critique of Pure Reason.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 225:
Kant's First Critique (PHIL 125)
(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 226B:
Kant's Ethical Theory (PHIL 126B)
(Graduate students register for 226B.) Kant's moral philosophy based primarily on the Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals.
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 227:
Kant's Ethics (PHIL 127)
A study of Kant¿s ethical thought, focusing on The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals. Prerequisite: Phil. 2, Phil. 170, or equivalent (consult the instructor). Designed for undergraduate department majors and graduate students.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 227A:
Kant's Value Theory (PHIL 127A)
(Graduate students register for 227A.) The role of autonomy, principled rational self-governance, in Kant's account of the norms to which human beings are answerable as moral agents, citizens, empirical inquirers, and religious believers. Relations between moral values (goodness, rightness) and aesthetic values (beauty, sublimity).
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 227B:
Kant's Anthropology and Philosophy of History (PHIL 127B)
Kant's conception of anthropology or human nature, based on his philosophy of history, which influenced and anticipated 18th- and 19th-century philosophers of history such as Herder, Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. Texts include Idea for a Universal History, Conjectural Beginning of Human History, and Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Topics include: Kant's pragmatic approach to the study of human nature; the difficulty of human self knowledge; the role of regulative and teleological principles in studying human history; and Kant's theory of race.
| Units: 4
PHIL 227C:
Rousseau and Kant
Kant considered Rousseau ¿the Newton of the moral world.¿ A portrait of Rousseau was reportedly the only decoration in Kant¿s study, and it was Kant¿s reading of Émile, or On Education and On the Social Contract in the early 1760s which, more than anything else, first awakened Kant¿s interest in moral philosophy. In a three-day intensive mini-course, we will explore the relation between Rousseau¿s philosophy and Kant¿s on such topics as the standards of right and virtue, human equality, the relation of reason and feeling in human nature, and the philosophy of history.
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 227M:
Richard Rufus of Cornwall (PHIL 127M)
Metaphysics and Epistemology, readings from Rufus' newly translated Contra Averroem & Speculum animae. In these works, Rufus solves a problem for Aristotelian epistemology that was to bedevil later scolastics such as Thomas Aquinas. He also states for the first time a theory of individuation by form that was subsequently adopted by Duns Scotus. Though Scotus like Rufus preferred to speak of individual forms, the theory itself is often identified by a term very seldom used by Scotus, `haeceitas' or thisness. Taughtly jointly by Rega Wood and Calvin Normore.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 227W:
Introducing Ockham & His Razor: Mind & Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, & Ethics (PHIL 127W)
Three day mini course on topics in Medieval Philosophy. This year's topic is "Introducing Ockham & His Razor: Mind & Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, & Ethics." Course runs June 2-4, 2016. Guest lectures by Peter King (Toronto), Elizabeth Karger (CNRS, Paris).nWe begin with a general introduction to Ockham's place in the history of philosophy from Democritus to Descartes.Then we turn to Ockham's logic and his most popular work, the Summa logicae. In this connection we will discuss Ockham's distinction between absolute and connotative terms and his theory of supposition, a theory that corresponds roughly to modern reference theory. nOn day two we take up Ockham's Epistemology, the distinction he drew between intuitive & abstractive cognition, his approach to problems of certainty and judgment, and his response to skeptical worries. In this connection we will discuss the razor in its application of sensible species. nnThat afternoon our topic will be nominalist metaphysics & the razor as Ockham deploys the principle of parsimony to justify his denial of common natures and his rejection of some of the Aristotelian categories, such as motion and relation. More generally we see an approach to physics with minimal reliance on metaphysics.nnDay three begins with philosophy of mind. Here we will see Ockham refusing to posit faculties of will and intellect distinct from the intellective soul itself, while admitting a distinction between the sensitive and intellective souls. The course will close with a discussion of Ockham's ethics and politics. In ethics we will consider the ground of the good and the connection of the virtues; in politics we will focus on property rights, a major source of controversy within the church.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 10 units total)
PHIL 228:
Fichte's Ethics (PHIL 128)
(Graduate students register for 228.) The founder of the German Idealist movement who adopted but revised Kant's project of transcendental philosophy basing it on the principle of awareness of free self-activity. The awareness of other selves and of ethical relations to them as a necessary condition for self-awareness. His writings from 1793-98 emphasizing the place of intersubjectivity in his theory of experience.
| Units: 4
PHIL 230:
Hegel (PHIL 130)
(Formerly 122/222; graduate students register for 230.) Introduction to Hegel's philosophy, emphasizing his moral and political philosophy, through study of his last major work (1821). May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: course in the history of modern philosophy.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
PHIL 231:
Introduction to Philosophy of Education (EDUC 204)
How to think philosophically about educational problems. Recent influential scholarship in philosophy of education. No previous study in philosophy required.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3
PHIL 231W:
Kant's Theory of Law and Justice (PHIL 131W)
This course will look at Kant's theory of right or law (Recht) and its implications for morality and politics. The topics we will discuss are: the difference between right and ethics in Kant¿s metaphysics of morals; the relation of law to property and morality; the moral obligations of politicians as holders of rightful authority; and the standards of right as they apply to international relations and war.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 232W:
Mini Course: Topics in Kant's Ethics (PHIL 132W)
This mini-course will deal with several selected topics relating to Kant's ethics: (1) Kant's formulas of the moral law, their meaning and their relation to one another; (2) Kant's concept of imperfect (wide, meritorious) duties and its role in his ethical theory; (3) the place of feeling, emotion, desire and inclination, their relation to our empirical nature and to human reason, in Kant's moral psychology; and (4) the place of duties regarding animals and other non-human beings in Kant's ethical theory. There will be six sessions, each two hours in length. Either the instructor or one of the guest lecturers will be in charge of each session, which will consist in part of a presentation by the person in charge and partly of discussion. Instructor: Allen Wood (Indiana University/Stanford University); guest lecturers: Barbara Herman (UCLA), Janelle DeWitt (Indiana University). Course meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, June 6, 7, 8, 2016. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 10 units total)
PHIL 233:
Husserl
Husserl's phenomenology. Main themes in his philosophy and their interconnections, including consciousness, perception, intersubjectivity, lifeworld, ethics, mathematics and the sciences, and time and space. Works in English translation.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
PHIL 234:
Phenomenology and Intersubjectivity (PHIL 134)
(Graduate students register for 234.) Readings from Husserl, Stein, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty on subjects related to awareness of others. Topics include solipsism, collective experience, empathy, and objectification of the other.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
PHIL 234B:
The Later Heidegger: Art, Poetry, Language (RELIGST 277, RELIGST 377)
Lectures and seminar discussions of the problematic of the later Heidegger (1930 - 1976) in the light of his entire project. Readings from "On the Origin of the Work of Art" and Elucidations of Holderlin's Poetry.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 235:
Existentialism (PHIL 135)
Focus is on the existentialist preoccupation with human freedom. What constitutes authentic individuality? What is one's relation to the divine? How can one live a meaningful life? What is the significance of death? A rethinking of the traditional problem of freedom and determinism in readings from Rousseau, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, and the extension of these ideas by Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus, including their social and political consequences in light of 20th-century fascism and feminism.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 236:
History of Analytic Philosophy (PHIL 136)
(Formerly 147/247; graduate students register for 236.) Theories of knowledge in Frege, Carnap, and Quine. Emphasis is on conceptions of analyticity and treatment of logic and mathematics. Prerequisite: 50 and one course numbered 150-165 or 181-90.
| Units: 4
PHIL 237:
Wittgenstein (PHIL 137)
(Graduate students register for 237.) An exploration of Wittgenstein's changing views about meaning, mind, knowledge, and the nature of philosophical perplexity and philosophical insight, focusing on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 238:
Recent European Philosophy: Between Nature and History (PHIL 138)
A critical introduction to the novel understandings of time, language, and cultural power developed by 20th-century continental thinkers, with close attention to work by Heidegger, Saussure, Benjamin, and Foucault.
Last offered: Autumn 2009
| Units: 4
PHIL 239:
Teaching Methods in Philosophy
For Ph.D. students in their first or second year who are or are about to be teaching assistants for the department. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 1-4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 240:
Individual Work for Graduate Students
May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-15
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Code, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Duarte, S. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Follesdal, D. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Pacuit, E. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Velasco, J. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
PHIL 241:
Dissertation Development Seminar
Required of second-year Philosophy Ph.D. students; restricted to Stanford Philosophy Ph.D. students. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 1-4
PHIL 243:
Quine (PHIL 143)
(Formerly 183/283; graduate students register for 243.) The philosophy of Quine: meaning and communication; analyticity, modality, reference, and ontology; theory and evidence; naturalism; mind and the mental.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
PHIL 248:
Medieval Latin Paleography
The history of medieval scripts and medieval abbreviation. Dating and placing Latin European medieval manuscripts. Editing medieval texts in philosophy, psychology, physics, and theology. Class project: an early 13th century encyclopedia (with entries citing both Plato and Aristotle). Intellectually exciting, easy to read (textualis script).
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 249:
Evidence and Evolution (PHIL 349)
The logic behind the science. The concept of evidence and how it is used in science with regards to testing claims in evolutionary biology and using tools from probability theory, Bayesian, likelihoodist, and frequentist ideas. Questions about evidence that arise in connection with evolutionary theory. Creationism and intelligent design. Questions that arise in connection with testing hypotheses about adaptation and natural selection and hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships.
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 250:
Mathematical Logic (PHIL 150)
An introduction to the concepts and techniques used in mathematical logic, focusing on propositional, modal, and predicate logic. Highlights connections with philosophy, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and neighboring fields.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 251:
Metalogic (PHIL 151)
(Formerly 160A.) The syntax and semantics of sentential and first-order logic. Concepts of model theory. Gödel's completeness theorem and its consequences: the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem and the compactness theorem. Prerequisite: 150 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 251A:
Recursion Theory (PHIL 151A)
Computable functions, Turing degrees, generalized computability and definability. "What does it mean for a function from the natural numbers to themselves to be computable?" and "How can noncomputable functions be classified into a hierarchy based on their level of noncomputability?". Theory of relative computability, reducibility notions and degree structures. Prerequisite is PHIL 150, or PHIL 151 or CS 103.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 252:
Computability and Logic (PHIL 152)
Approaches to effective computation: recursive functions, register machines, and Turing machines. Proof of their equivalence, discussion of Church's thesis. Elementary recursion theory. These techniques used to prove Gödel's incompleteness theorem for arithmetic, whose technical and philosophical repercussions are surveyed. Prerequisite: 151.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 253:
Feminist Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 103, FEMGEN 203, PHIL 153)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 253 or FEMGEN 203) Concepts and questions distinctive of feminist and LGBT scholarship and how they shape research: gender, intersectionality, disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, standpoint, "queering," postmodern critiques, postcolonial critiques.nPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a letter grade and a minimum of 3 units to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-5
PHIL 254:
Modal Logic (PHIL 154)
(Graduate students register for 254.) Syntax and semantics of modal logic and its basic theory: including expressive power, axiomatic completeness, correspondence, and complexity. Applications to topics in philosophy, computer science, mathematics, linguistics, and game theory. Prerequisite: 150 or preferably 151.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 255:
General Interest Topics in Mathematical Logic (PHIL 155)
Introduction to formalization using language of logic and to problems of philosophical logic and computer science that can be handled this way. Propositional calculus, Sudoku puzzles, resolution rule, problem P=NP. Possible worlds, modal logic with emphasis on individuation problems. May be repeated for credit.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 257:
Topics in Philosophy of Logic (PHIL 157)
(Graduate students register for 257.) Disputed foundational issues in logic; the question of what the subject matter and boundaries of logic are, such as whether what is called second-order logic should be counted as logic. What is the proper notion of logical consequence? May be repeated for credit. Pre- or corequisite: 151, or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2006
| Units: 3
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 258:
Topics in Logic: Ten Problems in Deontic Logic (PHIL 158)
As witnessed by the handbook of deontic logic and normative systems, the area of deontic logic is in flux. Traditional questions and logical methods of deontic logic are being supplemented by new questions and new techniques. This tutorial gives an introduction to the current discussion in deontic logic. In what sense are obligations different from norms? Jorgensen's dilemma, from preference based modal logic to the modern approach. How to reason about dilemmas, contrary-to-duty and defeasible norms? Distinguishing various kinds of defeasibility. How to relate various kinds of permissive and constitutive norms? Permissions as exceptions and prioritized norms. How do norms relate to other modalities like beliefs, desires, and intentions How do norms change? What is the role of time, action and games in deontic reasoning? For each problem, we discuss traditional as well as new research questions. We see the new questions as good questions for current research, in the sense that they point to modern theories and applications. We are especially interested in new questions that make older traditional questions obsolete in the sense that they are now addressed from a modern perspective, or in a more general setting. This mini-course wil from the week of 15 April through the week of 13 May.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 2
PHIL 259:
Non-Classical Logic (PHIL 159)
This course surveys a range of non-classical logics. Each week, we discuss the formal rules and philosophical underpinnings of a different system. Key topics include modal logic (the logic of possibility and necessity), many-valued logics (in which propositions can be both true and false, or neither), relevant logics (which aim to bring the concept of valid inference into line with everyday ideas about relevance), and logical pluralism (the view that there is more than one correct logic).
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 260A:
Newtonian Revolution (PHIL 160A)
(Graduate students register for 260A.) 17th-century efforts in science including by Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Huygens, that formed the background for and posed the problems addressed in Newton¿s Principia.
| Units: 4
PHIL 260B:
Newtonian Revolution (PHIL 160B)
(Graduate students register for 260B.) Newton¿s Principia in its historical context, emphasizing how it produced a revolution in the conduct of empirical research and in standards of evidence in science.
| Units: 4
PHIL 262:
Philosophy of Mathematics (MATH 162, PHIL 162)
(Graduate students register for PHIL 262.) General survey of the philosophy of mathematics, focusing on epistemological issues. Includes survey of some basic concepts (proof, axiom, definition, number, set); mind-bending theorems about the limits of our current mathematical knowledge, such as Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, and the independence of the continuum hypothesis from the current axioms of set theory; major philosophical accounts of mathematics: Logicism, Intuitionism, Hilbert's program, Quine's empiricism, Field's program, Structuralism; concluding with a discussion of Eugene Wigner's `The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences'. Students won't be expected to prove theorems or complete mathematical exercises. However, includes some material of a technical nature. Prerequisite: PHIL150 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 263:
Significant Figures in Philosophy of Science (PHIL 163)
(Graduate students register for 263.) Directed study of two or more thinkers, past or present, who have made a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy of science. Subjects last year were Henri Poincaré, Pierre Duhem, and Gaston Bachelard.
Last offered: Winter 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 264:
Central Topics in the Philosophy of Science: Theory and Evidence (PHIL 164)
(Graduate students register for 264.) Is reductionism opposed to emergence? Are they compatible? If so, how or in what sense? We consider methodological, epistemological, logical and metaphysical dimensions of contemporary discussions of reductionism and emergence in physics, in the ¿sciences of complexity¿, and in philosophy of mind.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 264A:
Central Topics in Philosophy of Science: Causation (PHIL 164A)
(Graduate Students register for 264A.) Establishing causes in science, engineering, and medicine versus establishing them in Anglo-American law, considered in the context of Hume and Mill on causation. May be repeated for credit.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 265:
Philosophy of Physics (PHIL 165)
Graduate students register for 265.) Central topic alternates annually between space-time theories and philosophical issues in quantum mechanics; the latter in Winter 2013-14. Conceptual problems regarding the uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, quantum measurement, spin, and their treatment within the 'Copenhagen interpretation' of quantum mechanics, and the related doctrine of complementarity. The issue of quantum entanglement as raised by Einstein and Schrödinger in the 1930s and the famous EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paper of 1935. Examination of EPR-type experimental set-ups and a result due to Bell in the 1960s, according to which no "hidden variables" theory satisfying a certain locality condition (apparently assumed by EPR) can reproduce all the predictions of quantum mechanics. Survey of several live interpretive options for standard quantum mechanics: Bohmian mechanics (a.k.a. 'pilot wave theory'), 'spontaneous collapse' theories, and Everett¿s relative-state interpretation. Critical scrutiny of the ¿decoherence¿ program that seeks to explain the classical-to-quantum transition, i.e., the emergence of the world of classical physics and macroscopic objects from quantum physics. May be repeated for credit if content is different.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 265C:
Philosophy of Physics: Probability and Relativity
Conceptual puzzles in formulating probability concepts to be invariant in the sense of the Lorentz transformation of special relativity. Problems arise in both classical and quantum physics.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 266:
Probability: Ten Great Ideas About Chance (PHIL 166, STATS 167, STATS 267)
Foundational approaches to thinking about chance in matters such as gambling, the law, and everyday affairs. Topics include: chance and decisions; the mathematics of chance; frequencies, symmetry, and chance; Bayes great idea; chance and psychology; misuses of chance; and harnessing chance. Emphasis is on the philosophical underpinnings and problems. Prerequisite: exposure to probability or a first course in statistics at the level of STATS 60 or 116.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 266A:
Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (PHIL 166A)
This seminar will concentrate on a variety of probability questions that arise in quantum mechanics, including some from recent experiments. Negative probabilities and nonmonotonic upper probabilities will be emphasized
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 267A:
Philosophy of Biology (PHIL 167A)
(Graduate students register for 267A.) Evolutionary theory and in particular, on characterizing natural selection and how it operates. We examine debates about fitness, whether selection is a cause or force, the levels at which selection operates, and whether cultural evolution is a Darwinian process.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 267B:
Philosophy, Biology, and Behavior (PHIL 167B)
(Graduate Students register for 267B) Philosophical study of key theoretical ideas in biology as deployed in the study of behavior. Topics to include genetic, neurobiological, ecological approaches to behavior; the classification and measurement of behaviors: reductionism, determinism, interactionism. Prerequisites: one PHIL course and either one BIO course or Human Biology core; or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 267C:
Associative Theories of Mind and Brain (PHIL 167C)
After a historical survey of associative theories from Hume to William James, current versions will be analyzed including the important early ideas of Karl Lashley. Emphasis will be on the computational power of associative networks and their realization in the brain.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 267D:
Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 167D, SYMSYS 206)
Can problems of mind be solved by understanding the brain, or models of the brain? The views of philosophers and neuroscientists who believe so, and others who are skeptical of neurophilosophical approaches to the mind. Historical and recent literature in philosophy and neuroscience. Topics may include perception, memory, neural accounts of consciousness, neurophenomenology, neuroscience and physics, computational models, and eliminativism. (Not open to freshmen.)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 269:
Evolution of the Social Contract (PHIL 169)
Explore naturalizing the social contract. Classroom presentations and term papers.nTexts: Binmore - Natural Justicen Skyrms - Evolution of the Social Contract.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 270:
Ethical Theory (ETHICSOC 170, PHIL 170)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 270B:
Metaphor (PHIL 170B)
In metaphor we think and talk about two things at once: two different subject matters are mingled to rich and unpredictable effect. A close critical study of the main modern accounts of metaphor's nature and interest, drawing on the work of writers, linguists, philosophers, and literary critics. Attention to how understanding, appreciation, and pleasure connect with one another in the experience of metaphor. Consideration of the possibility that metaphor or something very like it occurs in nonverbal medial: gesture, dance, painting, music.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 270D:
Trust and Trustworthiness (PHIL 170D)
An exploration of the place of interpersonal trust in ethical thought. What is it to trust another person? How is trusting related to, though different from, other attitudes we sometimes bear towards others (e.g. justified beliefs we form about others and their conduct; ethically significant expectations we have of others, etc.)? What is involved in acquiring/possessing the virtue of trustworthiness? How should trust (and trustworthiness) figure in our thinking about important ethical activities, for example promising, friendship, or the practice of politics?
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 270E:
Sexual Ethics
What is sex? What are the implications of different conceptions of sex for sexual ethics? Are there any distinctively sexual ethical principles or virtues or are principles and virtues that govern the sexual domain specific instances of principles and virtues that govern human activity more generally? Readings will range from historical to contemporary sources.
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 271:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 171, POLISCI 103, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
PHIL 272:
History of Modern Moral Philosophy (PHIL 172)
This course traces the development of moral philosophy in Britain just prior to the nearly simultaneous emergence of Kant's moral philosophy and Bentham's utilitarianism in the 1780's. Emphasis is on the dialogue between empiricists and rationalists on the subject of the relationship between the natural and the normative. Authors include Hobbes, Clarke, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Price, and Bentham. Prerequisite: some familiarity with Kant's moral theory and utilitarianism, and demonstrated interest in philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 272B:
Recent Ethical Theory: Moral Obligation (PHIL 172B)
Some moral obligations are "relational," "directional," or "bipolar" in structure: in promising you to act in a certain way, for example, I incur an obligation to you to so act and you acquire a corresponding claim or right against me that I so act. This entails that if I violate my obligation to you, I will not merely be doing something that is morally wrong, but will be wronging you in particular. What does explain this? Do all moral obligations have this structure? We will discuss how different moral theories (consequentialist, deontological, contractualist) try to account for such obligations. Readings include Adams, Anscombe, Darwall, Feinberg, Hart, Parfit, Raz, Scanlon, Skorupski, Thompson, Thomson, Wallace, and Wolf.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 272D:
Bernard Williams (PHIL 172D)
An exploration of some central themes from the work of Bernard Williams. Particular attention will be paid to his discussion of the character and identity of the self, his sustained critique of morality and moral philosophy. We will also read several of Williams¿ interlocutors, including Nagel, Parfit, Korsgaard, and Herman.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 272N:
Prudence and Morality (PHIL 172N)
We sometimes think we should do something just because it will benefit us in the future, even though we don¿t particularly feel like doing it now (e.g. we exercise, go to the dentist for a check-up, or set aside money for retirement). And we sometimes think we should do something for the sake of another person, even when it is inconvenient, costly, or unpleasant (e.g. we stop to help a stranded motorist, donate to charity, or tell someone an embarrassing truth rather than a face-saving lie). When we do the former, we act prudently. When we do the latter, we act morally. This course explores the debate among philosophers about the source of our reasons for acting prudently and morally. Some argue that our reasons to be prudent and moral stem directly from the fact that we are rational ¿ that it is contrary to reason to ignore our own future interests, or the interests of other people. Others disagree, arguing that the source of these reasons must lie elsewhere. Course readings will include work by Thomas Nagel, Bernard Williams, Christine Korsgaard, Derek Parfit, Philippa Foot, and others.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 273B:
Graduate Introduction to Metaethics
This a graduate student only introduction to contemporary metaethics. Can moral and ethical values be justified or is it just a matter of opinion? Is there a difference between facts and values? Are there any moral truths? Does it matter if there are not? Focus is not on which things or actions are valuable or morally right, but what is value or rightness itself. Prerequisites: 280, 281, and an ethics course.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 273W:
Aesthetics (PHIL 173W)
This course will investigate a cluster of varied but related philosophical issues concerning the arts¿music, painting, literature, poetry, photography, theater, film, etc.¿issues most of which are, at the same time, problems in philosophy of mind or language, value theory, or epistemology. We will address questions like the following (though probably not all of them): What, if anything, is distinctive about art and aesthetic experience?, What is aesthetic value, and how do aesthetic values relate to and interact with moral values and values of other kinds?, What is fiction and why are people interested in it?, In what ways are works of art expressive of feelings or emotions? What similarities and differences are there in the expressive qualities of music, literature, painting, poetry? How might we learn from works of art of one or another kind, and how might they work to change people's perspectives or attitudes?, In what ways do artworks serve as vehicles of communication? Are the values of works of art fundamentally different from those of beautiful natural objects? Along the way, we will bump into more specific questions such as: Why and in what ways is photography more (or less) 'realistic' than painting and drawing, or more or less revealing of reality? Does (instrumental) music have cognitive or semantic content? Is music representational in anything like the ways literature and figurative painting are?, Do all literary works have narrators? Is there ever (or always?) anything like narrators in paintings, films, music? Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, or permission of the instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 274:
Freedom and the Practical Standpoint (PHIL 174)
(Graduate students register for 274.) Confronted with the question of how to act, people think of themselves as freely determining their own conduct. Natural science poses a challenge to this by explaining all events, including human actions, in terms of causal processes. Are people justified in thinking of themselves as free? Major philosophical approaches to this question: incompatibilism, compatibilism, and the two-standpoint view.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
PHIL 274A:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 174A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 274D:
Moral Luck (PHIL 174D)
We draw a fundamental distinction between what a person voluntarily does, and what is beyond her control. Such a distinction seems central to how we think about what it is to justify our actions (whether to ourselves or to one another), as well as to our practice of holding one another morally responsible for what we do. Yet under pressure, this distinction can appear to collapse ¿ we find that we cannot successfully disentangle what a person controls from what she does not when she acts. This course examines this problem in depth, and considers how we might respond in the face of it: Is it really a problem? If so, does it threaten our moral practices? How should it influence the way in which we make choices, or the way we understand those choices once we¿ve made them?
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 274L:
Betrayal and Loyalty, Treason and Trust (ETHICSOC 174L, ETHICSOC 274L, PHIL 174L)
The main topic of the seminar is Betrayal: its meaning as well as its moral, legal and political implications. We shall discuss various notions of betrayal: Political (military) betrayal such as treason, Religious betrayal with Judas as its emblem, but also apostasy (converting one's religion) which is regarded both as a basic human right and also as an act of betrayal, social betrayal - betraying class solidarity as well as Ideological betrayal - betraying a cause. On top of political betrayal we shall deal with personal betrayal, especially in the form of infidelity and in the form of financial betrayal of the kind performed by Madoff. The contrasting notions to betrayal, especially loyalty and trust, will get special consideration so as to shed light or cast shadow, as the case may be, on the idea of betrayal. The seminar will focus not only on the normative aspect of betrayal - moral or legal, but also on the psychological motivations for betraying others. The seminar will revolve around glaring historical examples of betrayal but also use informed fictional novels, plays and movies from Shakespeare and Pinter, to John Le Carre. SAME AS LAW 520.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 2
PHIL 275A:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
PHIL 275M:
Two Ethical Theories and Being a Person (PHIL 175M)
The distinction between the ethics of being a person and the ethics of rules as opposed to the distinction between Kantian ethics and utilitarianism or consequentialism consequentialism. Comparison of these two types of ethics with respect to their relationship to agency and being a good person. Relations between Western ethics and those of other continents.
| Units: 4
PHIL 275P:
Philosophy of Law and Conceptions of Agency (PHIL 175P)
In this course we will explore the connections between recent work in philosophy of law and philosophy of action. Current philosophy of law draws on philosophy of action. One example is the work of Scott Shapiro, who interprets legal activity as a form of social planning that enables citizens to coordinate their activities as agents. We will consider what normative requirements are necessary to make citizens self-legislating autonomous agents. Are formal requirements like consistency and coherence sufficient, or does law have to meet substantial normative and moral requirements? We will also discuss whether the deficiency of ¿evil legal systems¿ can be explained in terms of agency. Can distorted legal system provide agents a coherent form of self-understanding? We will explore these questions through readings by Scott Shapiro, Ronald Dworkin, Lon F. Fuller, David Dyzenhaus, Kristen Rundle, Michael Bratman, David Velleman, and Christine Korsgaard.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 275R:
Roads Not Taken, 1880-1960 (AMSTUD 275R, ETHICSOC 275R, POLISCI 335L)
This course is intended to illuminate ideas about justice, freedom, equality, democracy, peace, and social conflict, and to raise persisting questions about such topics as the role of violence in politics through looking at the ideas of America writers such as Edward Bellamy, W.E.B. DuBois, Eugene Debs, Jane Addams, Emma Goldman, John Dewey and Reinhold Niebuhr.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 276:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 176, POLISCI 137A, POLISCI 337A)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 276B:
The Economic Individual in the Behavioral Sciences (PHIL 176B)
(Graduate students register for 276B.)
Last offered: Autumn 2005
| Units: 4
PHIL 276C:
Religion and Politics: a Latin American Perspective (ETHICSOC 276R, ETHICSOC 376R, PHIL 176C)
Religion has traditionally been banished from politics in some places in Latin America. Religious symbols may not be displayed in public buildings, political discourse is expected to be free from all religious content, and religious ministers are not allowed to run for public office, among other measures. This course examines the political motivation for this kind of policies towards religion taking a comparative perspective with American and French variants of secularism.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 277B:
EMOTIONS: MORALITY AND LAW (ETHICSOC 202, ETHICSOC 302, PHIL 177B)
If emotions are the stuff of life, some emotions are the stuff of our moral and legal life. Emotions such as: guilt, shame, revenge, indignation, resentment, disgust, envy, jealousy and humiliation, along with forgiveness, compassion, pity, mercy and patriotism, play a central role in our moral and legal life. The course is about these emotions, their meaning and role in morality and law. Issues such as the relationship between punishment and revenge, or between envy and equality, or St. Paul¿s contrast between law and love, or Nietzsche¿s idea that resentment is what feeds morality, will be discussed alongside other intriguing topics.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 277C:
Ethics of Climate Change (PHIL 177C)
Climate change is an ethical failure. When we cause greenhouse gas to be emitted for our own benefit, the gas spreads around the world and does harm everywhere. Many of those who are harmed emit very little greenhouse gas themselves. When some people harm others for their own benefit, something is morally wrong. Specifically, there is an injustice. One of the ethical problems raised by climate change is how to rectify this injustice. Climate change also raises a different range of ethical questions, which may be classified as questions of value. For example, in making decisions, how should the distant future be valued in comparison with the present and how should we take account of the great loss of human life that climate change will cause? This course investigates the issues of justice and the issues of value. It considers the moral demands that climate change puts both on private individuals and on public institutions. Because the effects of climate change are so widespread and so complex, the methods of economics can be useful in putting ethical principles into effect. The course will therefore assess some of these methods.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 277W:
Human Rights (PHIL 177W)
In this course we will think critically about human rights by evaluating complex moral situations and weighing powerful but opposed arguments. In our discussions we will explore a variety of alleged human rights and ask: Which of these is really a human right? What could the justification of human rights be? If some right is a real human right, what exactly does it require of us and others? Are there really any human rights at all, or are human rights just another means for Western societies to impose their way of life on the rest of the world? What is a human right? Case studies will include the death penalty, democratic participation, gay rights and duties of corporations to respect human rights.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 278M:
Introduction to Environmental Ethics (ETHICSOC 178M, ETHICSOC 278M, PHIL 178M, POLISCI 134L)
How should human beings relate to the natural world? Do we have moral obligations toward non-human animals and other parts of nature? And what do we owe to other human beings, including future generations, with respect to the environment? The first part of this course will examine such questions in light of some of our current ethical theories: considering what those theories suggest regarding the extent and nature of our environmental obligations; and also whether reflection on such obligations can prove informative about the adequacy of our ethical theories. In the second part of the course, we will use the tools that we have acquired to tackle various ethical questions that confront us in our dealings with the natural world, looking at subjects such as: animal rights; conservation; economic approaches to the environment; access to and control over natural resources; environmental justice and pollution; climate change; technology and the environment; and environmental activism.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4-5
PHIL 279S:
Moral Psychology, Reasons for Action, and Moral Theory (PHIL 179S)
What sorts of considerations does an ethical agent take to be good reasons for action? Work in moral psychology to illuminate the theory of practical reasons, and the theory of practical reasons to test the prospects for systematic moral theory. Can any systematic moral theory be reconciled with the moral psychology of ordinary, morally respectable agents? Reading include Bernard Williams, Rosalind Hursthouse, Peter Railton, T.M. Scanlon, and Barbara Herman.
Last offered: Winter 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 280:
Metaphysics (PHIL 180)
This course is a survey of the philosophy of time and modality, as organized around the following central issue. There are two competing ways to think about time. On one conception, time is space-like. Just as space consists in a three-dimensional spatial manifold, time forms a one-dimensional temporal manifold. On another conception, time is modality-like, and should be understood on analogy with notions like possibility and necessity. Topics covered include the nature of time, time¿s passage, spacetime and relativity, modal realism, actualism, and powers-based theories of modality. Although modal logic and temporal logic will be introduced in the class, an independent background in logic is crucial. Students should have taken (i) PHIL 49/50 or a higher-level logic course and (ii) a writing-intensive philosophy course such as PHIL 80.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 280A:
Realism, Anti-Realism, Irrealism, Quasi-Realism (PHIL 180A)
Realism and its opponents as options across a variety of different domains: natural science, mathematics, ethics, and aesthetics. Clarify the various conceptions that fall under these terms and outline the reasons for and against adopting realism for the various domains. Highlight the general issues involved. Prerequisites: 80, 181
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 281:
Philosophy of Language (PHIL 181)
The study of conceptual questions about language as a focus of contemporary philosophy for its inherent interest and because philosophers see questions about language as behind perennial questions in other areas of philosophy including epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics. Key concepts and debates about the notions of meaning, truth, reference, and language use, with relations to psycholinguistics and formal semantics. Readings from philosophers such as Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Grice, and Kripke. Prerequisites: 80 and background in logic.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 281B:
Philosophy of Language: Contemporary Debates
This course builds on the material of 181/281, focusing on debates and developments in the pragmatics of conversation, the semantics/pragmatics distinction, the contextuality of meaning, the nature of truth and its connection to meaning, and the workings of particular linguistic constructions of special philosophical relevance. Students who have not taken 181/281 should seek the instructor's advice as to whether they have sufficient background.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 282:
Truth (PHIL 182)
Philosophical debates about the place in human lives and the value to human beings of truth and its pursuit. The nature and significance of truth-involving virtues such as accuracy, sincerity, and candor. Prerequisite Phil 80 or permission of the instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 284:
Epistemology (PHIL 184)
This is an advanced introduction to core topics in epistemology -- the philosophical study of human knowledge. Questions covered will include: What is knowledge? Can we know anything outside our own minds? Must all knowledge rest on secure foundations? Does knowing something require knowing that you know it? What are the connections between knowledge and rationality? Does 'knowledge' mean the same in the philosophy classroom as it does in everyday life? Prerequisite Phil 80 or consent of the instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 284C:
Epistemology of Testimony (PHIL 184C)
Many of our beliefs come from others, and not from direct experience. Is testimony a source of fundamental reasons¿reasons that do not have to be supported or validated by other sources like perception or inference? What sort of responsibility does one have to one¿s hearers, when one gives testimony?
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 284F:
Feminist Theories of Knowledge (FEMST 166, PHIL 184F)
Feminist critique of traditional approaches in epistemology and alternative feminist approaches to such topics as reason and rationality, objectivity, experience, truth, the knowing subject, knowledge and values, knowledge and power.
Last offered: Spring 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 285B:
Philosophy of Perception (PHIL 185B)
The nature of perceptual experience and the role it plays in securing empirical knowledge. Focus will be on what is sometimes called "the problem of perception": the question of how perception could provide us with direct awareness of the surrounding environment given the possibility of illusions or hallucinations. Topics, include the relationship between perception and belief, the nature of perceptual phenomenology, whether or not perceptual experiences are representational states, and the philosophical relevance of empirical research on perception.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 286:
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 186)
(Graduate students register for 286.) This is an advanced introduction to core topics in the philosophy of mind. Prerequisite: PHIL 80
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 287:
Philosophy of Action (PHIL 187)
(Graduate students register for 287.) Contemporary research in the philosophy of action. Topics include: What is it to be an agent? Is there a philosophically defensible contrast between being an agent and being a locus of causal forces to which one is subject? What is it to act purposively? What is intention? What is the relation between intention and belief? What is it to act intentionally? What is it to act for a reason? What is the relation between explaining why someone acted by citing the reasons for which she acted and causal explanation of her action? What is the relation between theoretical and practical rationality? What is the nature of our knowledge of our own intentional activity? What is it to act autonomously? What is shared cooperative activity? Prerequisite: 80.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 288:
Personal Identity (PHIL 188)
Do you persist through time the way that a skyscraper persists through space, by having different parts at different locations? Or are you ¿wholly present¿ at every moment of your life, in something more like the way that an elevator is present in each place as it travels up to the top floor? What criteria determine whether you now are the very same person as some unique person located at some time in the past? Is the continuity of your memories or other mental states sufficient for your survival? Can you survive the loss or destruction of your body? Do you really exist for more than just the present moment? How do different answers to these questions bear on your moral, personal, and professional obligations? What kinds of considerations could possibly help us to answer these questions? This course explores these and related issues. Readings include a mix of introductory survey, historical, and contemporary material.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
PHIL 289:
Examples of Free Will (PHIL 189)
Examples drawn from three domains: choice, computation, and conflict of norms. Conceptually, a distinction is made between examples that are predictable and those that are not, but skepticism about making a sharp distinction between determinism and indeterminism is defended.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 4
PHIL 293C:
Film & Philosophy (COMPLIT 154A, FRENCH 154, ITALIAN 154, PHIL 193C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 300:
Proseminar
Topically focused seminar. Required of all first year Philosophy PhD students
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 301:
Dissertation Development Proseminar
A required seminar for third year philosophy PhD students, designed to extend and consolidate work done in the dissertation development seminar the previous summer.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 8 units total)
PHIL 305R:
JUST AND UNJUST WARS (ETHICSOC 205R, ETHICSOC 305R, PHIL 205R)
War is violent, but also a means by which political communities pursue collective interests. When, in light of these features, is the recourse to armed force justified? Pacifists argue that because war is so violent it is never justified, and that there is no such thing as a just war. Realists, in contrast, argue that war is simply a fact of life and not a proper subject for moral judgment, any more than we would judge an attack by a pack of wolves in moral terms. In between is just war theory, which claims that some wars, but not all, are morally justified. We will explore these theories, and will consider how just war theory comports with international law rules governing recourse to force. We will also explore justice in war, that is, the moral and legal rules governing the conduct of war, such as the requirement to avoid targeting non-combatants. Finally, we will consider how war should be terminated; what should be the nature of justified peace? We will critically evaluate the application of just war theory in the context of contemporary security problems, including: (1) transnational conflicts between states and nonstate groups and the so-called "war on terrorism"; (2) civil wars; (3) demands for military intervention to halt humanitarian atrocities taking place in another state. Same as LAW 751.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 2
PHIL 306C:
Plato on Eros and Beauty (CLASSICS 336)
We read Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus; topics: love, beauty, language (oral and written). Graduate seminar, but open to seniors.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 308:
Aristotle's Politics
The seminar will be a critical examination of Aristotle¿s political philosophy and we shall focus on his Politics as our primary text. We¿ll supplement this with some other texts by Aristotle that are relevant and explore the most important connections between Aristotle¿s political philosophy and his ethics.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
4 times
(up to 16 units total)
PHIL 308B:
Aristotle on his Predecessors
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 309:
Hume's Psychology and Political Theory
This seminar will concentrate on Humes' political ideas, which to a large extent have been neglected, both by philosophers and political scientists. We will read passages from three important works of Hume, as listed above, together with the lively support of a strong view concerning the importance of Hume's ideas about politics. The requirement for the course will be a paper on a subject relevant to the main topic, and mutually agreed to. The first six sessions of the seminar will be held jointly by live video with Professor Russell Hardin of NYU and his students. By the end of the sixth session, NYU¿s Spring Term will have ended. We will decide at that point how many more joint sessions to have, and how much time should be devoted to individual consultation about the paper to be written.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 309C:
Aristotle's Metaphysics Zeta and its Medieval Reception: Definition
Grad seminar on the medieval reception of Book Zeta of Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 310:
Plato's Phaedo
A close reading of Plato's Phaedo, with a special emphasis on its metaphysical aspects, such as its discussions of Forms, causation, and coming-to-be. Also to be investigated: the nature and immortality of the soul, the correct attitude to have toward one's death, the theory of recollection, the method of hypothesis, and the respective roles of argument and myth.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 311:
Plato's Philebus and Timaeus
We shall carefully examine two Platonic dialogues, the Philebus and the Timaeus. We shall focus on the dialogues' ethics, metaphysics, and psychology.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 312:
Aristotle's Psychology
De Anima and parts of Parva Naturalia.
Last offered: Winter 2008
| Units: 4
PHIL 314:
Practical Reasoning in Plato and Aristotle
It is often said that the greatest difference between Plato's ethics and those of Aristotle is that the latter thinks that practical and theoretical reason are distinct, but the former does not. We shall read some of both Plato and Aristotle and ask whether the above claim is true and then consider what the implications the differences between their views of practical reason have for the rest of their ethics.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 317:
Topics in Plato: Middle and Late Ethics & Politics
Examine the fundamentals of Plato's political philosophy by reading the Politics as well relevant parts of some of his other ethical and political works.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 318:
Aristotle and the Object of Mathematical Reasoning (CLASSICS 315)
The concept of definition plays a central role in Aristotle's treatment of both philosophical and scientific inquiry, as well as explanation. A definition is an account of what something is, and some definitions are used to guide causal inquiry whereas others function as explanatory starting points. In this course we will examine texts from his logic, natural science and metaphysics in order to see what the different kinds of definition are, how they obtained, and how they are capture the nature or essence of a definable object. Particular attention will be given to the role of matter in the definition of the form of a natural substance, state, process or activity. For instance, what role does a specification of physiological processes play in the definitions of emotions such as anger? No knowledge of Greek is required. May be repeat for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 319:
Topics in Greek Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle on Knowledge and Action
Aristotle's views about substance and the nature and possibility of metaphysics. Focus is on Categories and Metaphysics Book Zeta.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 321:
Leibniz's Metaphysics
Leibniz's metaphysical views during his so-called "mature period" (early 1680s to 1716). Topics will include Leibniz's conception of substance, his alleged idealism, his doctrine of possible worlds and his doctrine of pre-established harmony. Reading of the Discourse on Metaphysics (1686) and the correspondence with Arnauld (1686-1690).
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 322:
Hume
Hume's theoretical philosophy emphasizing skepticism and naturalism, the theory of ideas and belief, space and time, causation and necessity, induction and laws of nature, miracles, a priori reasoning, the external world, and the identity of the self.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 323:
Kant's Criticism of Metaphysics
Motivations and strategies of Kant's criticisms of traditional metaphysics in the Critique of Pure Reason. Leibnizian and Wolffian versions of the concept containment theory of truth and the Wolffian ideal of a conceptual system of metaphysical knowledge. Kant's analytic/synthetic distinction, focusing on its place in the rejection of metaphysics and in arguments about the ideas of reason in the transcendental dialectic. Prerequisite: course on the first Critique, or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
PHIL 324:
Kant's System of Nature and Freedom
The aim is to acquire a sense of how the two main parts of Kant's philosophy, theoretical and practical, fit together. These two parts, according to the Critique of the Power of Judgment, concern the realm of nature and the realm of freedom respectively. We shall study parts of all three Critiques, along with appropriate supplementary materials. Prior acquaintance with both Kant's theoretical and his practical philosophy is presupposed.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 326:
Kant's Transcendental Deduction
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 330:
Social and Political Philosophy of Hegel and Marx (ETHICSOC 330R, POLISCI 330)
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 332:
Nietzsche
Preference to doctoral students. Nietzsche's later works emphasizing The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morals. The shape of Nietzsche's philosophical and literary projects, and his core doctrines such as eternal recurrence, will to power, and perspectivism. Problems such as the proper regulation of belief, and the roles of science, morality, art, and illusion in life.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 333:
Philosophy, Literature, and the Arts Core Seminar (DLCL 333)
May be repeat for credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 20 units total)
PHIL 334:
Habermas
Does Habermas have a distinctive account of normativity and normative judgements?
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 335:
Topics in Aesthetics
May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Autumn 2005
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 339:
Marx (POLISCI 333S)
This course examines the works of a thinker who radically transformed the ways that we think about modern society. Marx saw fundamental problems with capitalist societies, including: un-freedom, alienation, inequality, and bureaucratization. He developed a theory to account for these problems. Our task will be to read his works critically and to evaluate their contributions to our understanding the relationship between politics, social structure, knowledge and human agency. We will also be especially interested in comparing his view with alternative diagnoses of the problems of modern capitalist societies, especially those of Max Weber and John Rawls.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 340:
Time and Free Will
Free will and the consequence argument of Peter van Inwagen and others. Focus is on the principle that one cannot change the past and the problem of backtracking conditionals, and less on the problem raised by determinismon. Hypotheses less drastic than determinism support backtrackers; given the backtracker, would someone¿s not having done something require that he change the past? Issues related to time, change, the phenomenology of agency, and McTaggart's argument about the reality of time.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 344:
Narrative Knowing (HISTORY 344)
Philosophers and historians have been debating the status of narrative explanation for well over 50 years. Until quite recently, a supposed dichotomy between natural science and history has shaped the discussion. Beginning from the origins, history, and limitations of the dichotomy, this seminar will explore how claims for narrative understanding and explanation have come to occupy an increasingly important role in the natural sciences as well as the social sciences. Some classic contributors are Hempel, Danto, Mink, Kuhn, White, Ricouer, Geertz, and Ginzburg. Current authors include Roth, Rheinberger, Kitcher, Beatty, Morgan, and (yes) Wise.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 1-2
PHIL 348:
Evolution of Signalling
Explores evolutionary (and learning) dynamics applied to nsimple models of signaling, emergence of information and inference. Classroom presentations and term papers.nText: Skyrms - SIGNALS: EVOLUTION,LEARNING and INFORMATIONnand selected articles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 349:
Evidence and Evolution (PHIL 249)
The logic behind the science. The concept of evidence and how it is used in science with regards to testing claims in evolutionary biology and using tools from probability theory, Bayesian, likelihoodist, and frequentist ideas. Questions about evidence that arise in connection with evolutionary theory. Creationism and intelligent design. Questions that arise in connection with testing hypotheses about adaptation and natural selection and hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships.
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 350A:
Model Theory
Back-and-forth arguments with applications to completeness, quantifier-elimination and omega-categoricity. Elementary extensions and the monster model. Preservation theorems. Interpolation and definability theorems. Imaginaries. Prerequisite: Phil151A or consent of the instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3
PHIL 351:
Representation Theorems
Representation theorems show that beliefs which obey certain qualitative constraints have the structure of probabilities, while preferences which obey certain qualitative constraints have the structure of expected-utility maximization. In this course, we prove several representation theorems in detail, and discuss the philosophic controversies surrounding them: how to justify the qualitative constraints, the difference between normative and descriptive interpretations, and what the formal relation of representability amounts to in real terms.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
PHIL 351A:
Recursion Theory
Theory of recursive functions and recursively enumerable sets. Register machines, Turing machines, and alternative approaches. Gödel's incompleteness theorems. Recursively unsolvable problems in mathematics and logic. Introduction to higher recursion theory. The theory of combinators and the lambda calculus. Prerequisites: 151, 152, and 161, or equivalents.
Last offered: Winter 2006
| Units: 3
PHIL 351B:
Proof Mining
Uses of proof theory in analysis and number theory. Proof mining: extraction of bounds from non-effective proofs. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 151,152 or equivalents, and a calculus course.
| Units: 1-3
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 353B:
Proof Theory B
Consistency ordinal as a measure of the strength of a mathematical theory. The open problem of describing the ordinal of mathematical analysis (second order arithmetic). Present state of the problem and approaches to a solution. Prerequisites: Phil 151,152 or equivalents
| Units: 2-3
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 6 units total)
PHIL 353C:
Functional Interpretations
Finite-type arithmetic. Gödel's functional interpretation and Kreisel's modified realizability. Systems based on classical logic. Spector's extension by bar-recursive functionals. Kohlenbach's monotone interpretation and the bounded functional interpretation. The elimination of weak Kônig's lemma. Uniform boundedness. A look at Tao's hard/soft analysis distinction.
| Units: 4
PHIL 354:
Topics in Logic
Complexity of propositional calculi. P=NP problem. Exponential lower bounds for resolution and for intuitionistic derivations. Problem of saving proofs. Complexity of derivations in arithmetic. Inventor's paradox. Synthesis of inductive invariants. Prerequisites: Phil 151,152 or equivalents.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 1-3
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 355:
Logic and Social Choice
Topics in the intersection of social choice theory and formal logic. Voting paradoxes, impossibility theorems and strategic manipulation, logical modeling of voting procedures, preference versus judgment aggregation, role of language in social choice, and metatheory of social choice. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 151 or consent of instructor.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 356:
Applications of Modal Logic
Applications of modal logic to knowledge and belief, and actions and norms. Models of belief revision to develop a dynamic doxastic logic. A workable modeling of events and actions to build a dynamic deontic logic on that foundation. (Staff)
Last offered: Winter 2005
| Units: 3
PHIL 357:
Information, Computation, and Intelligence
graduate seminar.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 359:
Topics in Logic, Information and Agency
Logical analysis of information, interaction and games, with topics connecting philosophy, computer science, game theory, and other fields. The focus is on current research at these interfaces. Prerequisite: 151, 154/254, or equivalent background.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 360:
Core Seminar in Philosophy of Science
Limited to first- and second-year Philosophy Ph.D. students.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 4
PHIL 361:
Social Dimensions of Scientific Knowledge
Study of philosophical issues raised by the social character of scientific research and the relation of scientific inquiry to its broader social, economic, and cultural context: values in/of science, science and policy, distribution of cognitive labor, trust in science, models of knowledge.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 362:
Grad Seminar on Philosophy of Science
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 365:
Seminar in Philosophy of Physics
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 366:
Evolution and Communication
Topics include information bottlenecks, signaling networks, information processing, invention of new signals, teamwork, evolution of complex signals, teamwork. Sources include signaling games invented by David Lewis and generalizations thereof, using evolutionary and learning dynamics.
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 4
PHIL 369:
Philosophy of Linguistics (LINGUIST 204, SYMSYS 204)
Philosophical issues raised by contemporary work in linguistics. Topics include: the subject matter of linguistics (especially internalism vs. externalism), methodology and data (especially the role of quantitative methods and the reliance on intuitions), the relationship between language and thought (varieties of Whorfianism and anti-Whorfianism), nativist arguments about language acquisition, and language evolution.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 370:
Core Seminar in Ethics
Limited to first- and second-year students in the Philosophy Ph.D. program.
Last offered: Autumn 2009
| Units: 4
PHIL 370A:
Grad Seminar in Ethics
Conceptions of the self in practical philosophy. Graduate seminar exploring topics at the intersection of personal identity, agency, and morality. Specific topics and authors to be determined.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 371D:
INEQUALITY: Economic and Philosophical Perspectives (ECON 380, ETHICSOC 371R, POLISCI 431L)
The nature of and problem of inequality is central to both economics and philosophy. Economists study the causes of inequality, design tools to measure it and track it over time, and examine its consequences. Philosophers are centrally concerned with the justification of inequality and the reasons why various types of inequality are or are not objectionable.nIn this class we bring both of these approaches together. Our class explores the different meanings of and measurements for understanding inequality, our best understandings of how much inequality there is, its causes, its consequences, and whether we ought to reduce it, and if so, how. nThis is an interdisciplinary graduate seminar. We propose some familiarity with basic ideas in economics and basic ideas in contemporary political philosophy; we will explain and learn about more complex ideas as we proceed. The class will be capped at 20 students.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
PHIL 372:
Topics in Kantian Ethics
Selected topics in ethics, considering both Kant's texts and recent writings by Kant interpreters and moral philosophers in the Kantian tradition. Among the topics covered will be: Practical reason, personal relationships, duties to oneself, evil, right and politics, lying, constructivism in ethics.
| Units: 4
PHIL 372D:
Topics in Political Philosophy (POLISCI 332)
Leading ideas in A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism, and The Law of Peoples.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 5
PHIL 372E:
Graduate Seminar on Moral Psychology
Recent philosophical works on desire, intention, the motivation of action, valuing, and reasons for action. Readings: Williams, Korsgaard, Smith, Blackburn, Velleman, Stampe, Frankfurt.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 372M:
Ending Wars: A Just Peace or Just a Peace (ETHICSOC 372R)
Much of just war theory focuses on the justifications for resorting to armed force and the conduct of hostilities. But what are the ethical and legal principles that govern ending wars and making peace? This course will explore the theory of "just peace," including such problems as when a party to war may demand the unconditional surrender of its adversary and what kinds of compromises are ethically permissible in order to end ¿ or to avoid ¿ armed conflict. We will also consider the terms and practices the winning party in war may impose on the loser, such as reparations and occupation (particularly transformative occupation). In addition, we will examine the topic of transitional justice, including issues related to amnesty, forgiveness, criminal and other forms of accountability, and reconciliation. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Written Assignments, Final Exam.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
PHIL 372P:
Korsgaard and her Critics
Christine Korsgaard has developed an unusually complex and comprehensive theory of morality, according to which moral authority has it's source in our authority over ourselves simply as human agents. Her view purports to be humanist without falling into relativism, subjectivism, or voluntarism. Our aim is to understand an evaluate Korsgaard's theory, which Derek Parfit has characterized as combining "Kantian, Humean, and existentialist ideas in unexpected, platitude-denying ways." Readings include Korsgaard's own works as well as selected critiques. Graduate level seminar aimed primarily at philosophy students.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 372R:
Political Realism (POLISCI 435R)
This seminar will explore various articulations of political realism in their historical contexts. Realism is generally taken to be a pragmatic approach to a political world marked by the competition for material interests and the struggle for power. Yet beyond a shared critique of idealism and an insistence on the priority and autonomy of the political, realists tend to have very different normative visions and political projects. We will consider the works of several political realists from the history of political and international relations thought, including: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Carr, Niebuhr, and Morgenthau.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 3-5
PHIL 373:
GRAD SEMINAR
Grad seminar on ethical topic. May be repeat for credit
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 374:
Caring and Practical Reasoning
What is it to care about something; how is caring related to desiring, emotions, and having policies; what is the relationship between caring and the will; why do people care about things; can attention to caring help explain the phenomenon of silencing reasons? Readings from contemporary literature, including Frankfurt, Watson, Bratman, Scanlon, Williams, Helm, and Kolodny. May be repeated for credit.
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
1 times
(up to 4 units total)
PHIL 374C:
Democracy and the Constitution (POLISCI 438)
(Same as LAW 268) Connections between democratic theory and constitutional theory. Sources include literature from political philosophy, constitutional law, and jurisprudence, and arguments about freedom of expression, campaign finance, legislative apportionment, federalism, and separation of powers. Readings from Scalia, Breyer, Ely, Ackerman, Dahl, Rawls, Habermas, Dworkin, Riker, and Schumpeter, as well as constitutional cases.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 5
PHIL 374F:
Science, Religion, and Democracy (ETHICSOC 374R)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 375:
Ethics, Economics and the Market (ETHICSOC 303R, POLISCI 434A)
Economic analysis inevitably raises moral questions. Getting clear on those moral questions, and the competing answers to them, can help improve both economic analysis and our understanding of the values involved in alternative social policies. This course focuses on a central economic institution: the market. How have the benefits and costs of using markets been understood? For example, it is often claimed that markets are good for welfare, but how is welfare to be understood? What is the connection between markets and different values such as equality and autonomy? What, if anything is wrong with markets in everything? Are there moral considerations that allow us to, distinguish different markets? This course examines competing answers to these questions, drawing on historical and contemporary literature. Readings include Adam Smith, JS Mill, Karl Marx, Michael Walzer, Dan Hausman and Michael McPherson and Debra Satz among others. For graduate students only.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 376:
Agency and Personal Identity
How philosophical theories of agency interact with philosophical accounts of personal identity. Readings include David Velleman and Harry Frankfurt.
Last offered: Spring 2006
| Units: 4
PHIL 376C:
Tragic Form and Political Theory (COMPLIT 376C)
Tragic form and political theory have in common a profound interest in the conflictual foundation of human society. This course explores how the two intellectual approaches define the actors of conflict, its causes, and its possible (or impossible) resolution.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 5
PHIL 377:
Rational and Social Agency (POLISCI 333)
Contemporary discussions of practical reason, individual rational agency, planning agency, diachronic agency, intention, belief, intentional action, shared agency, identification and self-governance. Tentative list of authors whose work will be studied includes: Michael Bratman, Margaret Gilbert, Richard Holton, Christine Korsgaard, Alfred Mele, Kieran Setiya, Scott Shapiro, Michael Smith, David Velleman, Jay Wallace, and Gary Watson.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2-5
PHIL 377B:
Normativity, Rationality, and Reasoning
This course will explore the nature and interconnections of normativity, rationality and reasoning. It particularly concentrates on practical rationality and practical reasoning. Broome's book "Rationality Through Reasoning" will be a guide to the course.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 378:
Amartya Sen's capability theory (POLISCI 436R)
Amartya Sen's pioneering work attempts to open up economics to missing informational and evaluative dimensions. This seminar will explore Sen's "capability approach" and its implications for the study of economics, gender, and justice. It will look at different ways that the capability approach has been developed, in particular, by Martha Nussbaum, but also by other political philosophers.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 378A:
Special Topics in Political Philosophy
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
PHIL 378W:
Owning the Earth
(Why) do Americans have the right to control the land and resources of the United States? Or should we think that all humans have an equal right to the earth? Should we allocate responsibilities to act on climate change based on equal ownership of the atmosphere? Does a national people living on an island that will disappear because of climate change have a right to a new state elsewhere? Can an individual rightfully own a distant planet? Why are resource-rich states at higher risk for authoritarianism, civil conflict and corruption¿and can this `resource curse¿ be lifted? This course will draw on philosophy, political science and law to ask who has¿and should have¿control over the earth and its resources.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
PHIL 379:
Graduate Seminar in Metaethics
Theories about the meaning of ethical terms and the content of ethical judgements. Do these theories fit with best accounts of human agency and practical deliberation? Readings from recent literature. Prerequisites: 173B/273B, 181, 187/287 or equivalent.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 380:
Core Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology
Limited to first- and second-year students in the Philosophy Ph.D. program.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 4
PHIL 381:
Graduate Seminar in Metaphysics: Recent Work on Ground
Metaphysicians have done an enormous amount of work on grounding over the past ten years or so. In this seminar, we will survey this new literature, focusing on the 'pure logic of ground' and the 'impure logic of ground'. Kit Fine's "A Guide to Ground" (which is easy to find through Google) is a useful introduction to the topic.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 382:
Seminar on Reference
Philosophical issues concerning the relationship between linguistic expressions and the objects to which they refer. Is it possible to get one unified theory of reference for different kinds of referring expressions such as proper names, pronouns, demonstratives, and other kinds of indexicals? Unsolved problems and desiderata for a theory of reference?
Last offered: Winter 2008
| Units: 4
PHIL 382A:
Pragmatics and Reference
Grice's theory of conversational implicatures, Relevance Theory and other contemporary pragmatic theories, focusing on issues involving singular reference, "pragmatic intrusion," and the semantics - pragmatics "interface." Throughout the seminar will be developing the approach Kepa Korta and Perry call "critical pragmatics."
Last offered: Autumn 2009
| Units: 4
PHIL 383:
Advanced Topics in Epistemology
May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 383B:
What's an Inference?
Fundamental issues in epistemology, philosophy of mind and language: issues relating to the notion (or rather, notions) of an inference. What's inferential justification? What's an inferential reasoning process? What are inference rules, and what distinguishes a good rule of inference from a bad rule? Subtopics to be discussed include: the problem of mental causation, the distinction between personal and sub-personal levels of explanation, preservation of content and warrant, the epistemic support relation, and time permitting the nature of perceptual justification.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 384:
Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology
2015-16 topic: Logical Consequence.nMay be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 385:
Pragmatics and Reference
Problems about reference have played a large role in the philosophy of language since the days of Frege and Russell. An approach to reference from the point of view of pragmatics, that Kepa Korta and John Perry have developed in their book CRITICAL PRAGMATICS. Rely on ideas from John Perry's book REFERENCE AND REFLEXIVITY. Also look at other approaches to reference, and to pragmatics.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 20 units total)
PHIL 385B:
Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology: Vaguenes
Contemporary proposals for how and whether to explain and accommodate vagueness in reality and in representation.Theories of mental and linguistic representation that struggle to explain imprecise representation, and metaphysical theories of the ultimate structure of reality that are threatened with incoherence if worldly boundaries are vague. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 385C:
Topics in Philosophy of Language: The Frege-Russell Problems
Explore various approaches to the difficulties for semantic theories raised by the behavior of propositional attitude sentences. How, if Superman and Clark are the same person, can Lois have different beliefs about them? "Classic" treatments of the issues including Frege, Russell, Quine, Davidson, and Kripke. Contemporary debates about the most promising approaches, including "naive Russellianism" and "unarticulated constituent" accounts.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 385D:
Topics in Philosophy of Language
Course may be repeat for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 385M:
The Metaphysics of Meaning
One central project in the philosophy of language is to explain the relationships between paradigmatically semantic phenomena like meaning, truth, and reference (as well as entailment, satisfaction, application, and others). Often the pursuit of this project generates orders of explanation in which some notions are privileged as more "fundamental" than others, in what is arguably a metaphysical sense of the expression. The dominant order of explanation in both philosophical and linguistic semantics seems to be Referentialism, according to which word/world relationships like reference and application are taken to be more fundamental than sentential truth or meaning. (Think: correspondence theory + model-theoretic semantics.) Alternatives to the orthodoxy include certain versions of conceptual-role semantics, Brandom's inferentialism, and Horwich's use theory of meaning. The aims of this seminar will be to acquaint ourselves with these and other going concerns in the theory of meaning, to organize logical space so that gaps might more easily be spotted, and to help the instructor develop his own, as yet nascent form of opposition to Referentialism. Of special interest will be the alleged normativity of meaning and the Field/Wright dispute over reference to abstracta. Besides the authors already mentioned, readings will be drawn from Katz, King, Kripke, and perhaps (time permitting) Millikan, Peacocke, and/or Taylor as well. But we should probably begin by rehashing Davidson v. Dummett.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 385R:
Metaphysics of Reference
This seminar is an investigation of the nature of reference in both private thought and public talk. Just what is it for some bits of either our shared public language or our inner thoughts to refer to or stand for bits of the world? In virtue of what does the relation of reference obtain between some bit of the world and some bit of either outer language or inner thought? What about apparent reference to putatively non-existent objects, like Santa Claus or Sherlock Holmes? We appear to think and talk about objects that do not exist. But there are no such objects. So just how do we manage to think and talk about them? Or consider abstract objects, like numbers, that are thought by some to exist outside the spatial-temporal order. We appear to think and talk about such objects as well. But it is a mystery how, if at all, the reach of our thought could possibly extend beyond even the bounds of space and time. Though we will canvass a a number of different answers to this questions, proposed by a variety of philosophers, my main goal will be to develop and defend a view that I call two-factor referentialism. Readings will be drawn from a number of sources, including several chapters of my book in progress Referring to the World.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 386:
Topics in Philosophy of Mind: Rule Following
This is a graduate seminar in phil of mind, epistemology, language -- and whatever else we need to get to the heart of the rule-following considerations.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 386B:
Husserl and Adam Smith
Readings from Husserl and others in the phenomenological tradition, and recent work on intentionality and consciousness by philosophers and cognitive scientists.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 4
PHIL 386C:
Subjectivity
Continuation of 386B.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
PHIL 386D:
Personal Identity
Focus on personal identity as a case study in metaphysical indeterminacy. The classic puzzles of PI can be construed as arguments that it can be indeterminate whether person A is identical to person B, and indeed, whether person A exists. Can such cases of indeterminacy be plausibly interpreted as semantic (or epistemic), or do they support the possibility of worldly or "ontic" indeterminacy? Is ontic indeterminacy even coherent? How might it be modeled? Parallel questions arise in the metaphysics of ordinary material objects, of course; but it's not obvious that their answers should also run parallel. And even if they do, focusing on PI lends the questions some real urgency. How should I feel about the interests of a past or future person who's only indeterminately me? Should I fear a future in which I merely indeterminately exist? Maybe outright death is preferable to being literally liminal. Seminar. Graduate work in core philosophy a prerequisite.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
PHIL 386E:
About Being
A pop-up course on Burgess' eponymous book project, which deals with the metaphysics of linguistic representation in the service of developing a methodology for adjudicating ontological disputes. Keywords: linguistic turn, Plato's beard, problem of intentionality, grounding, deflationism, metaontology, etc. Readings will be a mix of chapter drafts and recent, relevant work by other people, including Rayo, Sider, Manley & Hawthorne; with a couple classics by Quine and Stalnaker thrown in for good measure.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
PHIL 387:
Intention and Normative Judgment
Prominent views in both metaethics and the philosophy of action hold that there are distinctively practical states of mind that nonetheless play many of the roles traditionally associated with belief. Some action theorists hold that intention is a kind of practical attitude subject to rational requirements such as requirements of consistency and coherence. Metaethical noncognitivists hold that normative judgments are distinctively practical¿perhaps even a species of intention¿and face the well-known Frege-Geach problem because of that commitment. We will consider what metaethicists can learn from debates about intention in the philosophy of action, and what philosophers of action can learn from debates about metaethical non-cognitivism.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 387B:
Plan Rationality
This seminar will explore foundational issues about practical rationality as they arise in the context of agency in which planning plays a basic role. We will consider issues both about rationality at a time and about rationality over time.nOpen to graduate students in Philosophy and to others by permission.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
PHIL 387C:
Consistency and Coherence
Some philosophers think that attitudes like belief and intention are subject to consistency and coherence requirements. Are there such general purpose cogency requirements on attitudes? If so, what is their nature and strength? What grounds these requirements; for instance, does the point or purpose of a belief or an intention ground consistency and coherence requirements on that attitude? How are such requirements on belief related to requirements on intention? How does the answer to such questions bear on understanding of the interrelations between theoretical and practical rationality?
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 387D:
Rationality over Time
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 2-4
PHIL 387S:
Practical Reasons and Practical Reasoning
Attempts to develop alternatives to Humean, instrumentalist conceptions of practical reasoning, and alternatives to Humean, non-cognitivist views of practical reasons. Readings include Aurel Kolnai, Bernard Williams, David Wiggins, Joseph Raz, Michael Bratman, Elijah Millgram, and T.M. Scanlon.
Last offered: Spring 2007
| Units: 4
PHIL 388:
Normative Consciousness
Topics in Normativity. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 2-4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 389:
Advanced Topics in Epistemology
Advanced topics in epistemology. Pre-requisite Phil 284. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 2-5
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 391:
Research Seminar in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics (MATH 391)
Contemporary work. May be repeated a total of three times for credit. Math 391 students attend the logic colloquium in 380-381T.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
PHIL 392:
Workshop in Philosophical logic
may be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1-3
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-15
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Burgess, A. (PI);
Code, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Duarte, S. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Follesdal, D. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Mints, G. (PI);
Pacuit, E. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Suppes, P. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
PHIL 470:
Proseminar in Moral Psychology
Restricted to Philosophy doctoral students. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Autumn 2006
| Units: 4
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 500:
Advanced Dissertation Seminar
Presentation of dissertation work in progress by seminar participants. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1
| Repeatable
for credit
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 0
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Burgess, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Mumma, J. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Reich, R. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
PHIL 802:
TGR Dissertation
(Staff)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 0
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors: ;
Anderson, R. (PI);
Barker-Plummer, D. (PI);
Bobonich, C. (PI);
Bratman, M. (PI);
Briggs, R. (PI);
Burgess, A. (PI);
Code, A. (PI);
Cohen, J. (PI);
Crimmins, M. (PI);
De Pierris, G. (PI);
Donaldson, T. (PI);
Etchemendy, J. (PI);
Feferman, S. (PI);
Follesdal, D. (PI);
Friedman, M. (PI);
Hills, D. (PI);
Hussain, N. (PI);
Icard, T. (PI);
Lawlor, K. (PI);
Longino, H. (PI);
Perry, J. (PI);
Ryckman, T. (PI);
Satz, D. (PI);
Schapiro, T. (PI);
Skyrms, B. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Wasow, T. (PI);
Wood, A. (PI);
Wood, R. (PI);
van Benthem, J. (PI)
