1 - 10 of 12 results for: PHIL

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

(Staff)