printer friendly pagePHIL 2: Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
What should I do with my life? What kind of person should I be? How should we treat others? What makes actions right or wrong? What is good and what is bad? What should we value? How should we organize society? Is there any reason to be moral? Is morality relative or subjective? How, if at all, can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in contemporary moral philosophy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 4N: Knowing Nothing
Our beliefs are subject to multiple sources of error: a traveler's perception of an oasis in the desert may turn out to be a mirage; the key witness in a trial criminal may turn out to be lying; or a fluke in the data may mislead a research team into believing a false hypothesis; or a miscalculating math student may end up with the wrong answer. Philosophers often characterize knowledge as belief that is safe from error--but is knowledge possible? This course uses the philosophical arguments and thought experiments to assess the question of how much we can hope to know.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Briggs, R. (PI)
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
Instructors:
De Pierris, G. (PI)
PHIL 22C: Love in Moral Philosophy
A powerful objection concerning the partiality of love has, for a while now, rankled traditional moral theories that demand impartiality, like utilitarianism and Kantianism. When it comes down to it, all of us would put the interests of our loved ones - family members, close friends, romantic partners - above those of strangers. But love is a central, not a peripheral, part of our moral lives. In response some moral theorists have tried to develop richer views to accommodate the partiality that love demands of us. This tutorial will draw from both contemporary moral theory and from historical treatments to try to find the place of love within moral theory. Recommended background:
Phil 2 or equivalent.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Lee, R. (PI)
PHIL 22D: The Philosophy of Philosophy
What happens when philosophical inquiry turns its lens upon itself? This tutorial will be a brief survey through some of the major statements by philosophers themselves attempting to capture the nature of their own philosophizing: their methods, their purpose, and why such activity is philosophy (and not something else). We will begin with Plato to scan some of the historical statements by canonical philosophers, including Aquinas, Descartes and Hume, before pivoting into contemporary texts beginning with Wittgenstein's famous remarks on philosophy as a problem to be overcome. The tutorial will finish with contemporary metaphilosophy, possibly including reflections by Michael Dummett, Timothy Williamson, Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, and others. We will compare methods and approaches with an eye towards understanding how different philosophers restate the aims and value of philosophy in order to motivate their own projects. A prior philosophy course is recommended. Limited enrollment.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Fitzpatrick, M. (PI)
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
Instructors:
Wang, J. (PI)
;
Kim, R. (TA)
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
Instructors:
Friedman, M. (PI)
PHIL 70: Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a conception of justice that takes the value of equality to be of primary political and moral importance. There are many different ways to be an egalitarian - it all depends on what we take to be the currency of egalitarian justice. Are we trying to equalize basic rights and liberties, or resources, opportunities, welfare, capabilities? This class will introduce students to the theory of egalitarian and anti-egalitarian thought by looking both at the history of egalitarian thinking and at contemporary accounts in defense of the value of equality. It will provide an in depth introduction to the concepts that are used when inequalities are discussed by philosophers, economists, scientists and politicians.n nWe will read, for instance, on the Code Noir and the abolitionist movement; we will learn from the 19thcentury debate on racial inequalities to understand how anti-egalitarian discourses are constructed; and we will look into Rousseau¿s conception of social equality in the Second Discourse and the Social Contract. The class will also engage with contemporary egalitarian theories by studying Rawlsian and post-Rawlsian forms of egalitarianism (including discussions of the fair equality of opportunity principle, the difference principle, the luck egalitarianism vs relational egalitarianism debate, etc.) By the end of the class, students will be able to understand and critically assess contemporary inequalities, as well as economic and political discourses on inequalities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
Instructors:
Bidadanure, J. (PI)
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: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Datta, P. (PI)
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
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