2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
Browse
by subject...
    Schedule
view...
 

341 - 350 of 459 results for: PHIL

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
Instructors: Wenar, L. (PI)

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

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

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
Instructors: Wang, J. (PI)

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

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

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

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
Filter Results:
term offered
updating results...
teaching presence
updating results...
number of units
updating results...
time offered
updating results...
days
updating results...
UG Requirements (GERs)
updating results...
component
updating results...
career
updating results...
© Stanford University | Terms of Use | Copyright Complaints