PHIL 1: Introduction to Philosophy
An introduction to important philosophical concepts and methods centered on two questions: "what can we know?" and "what is a person?". In the first half of the course, we focus on historically important discussions of the nature of knowledge, skepticism, scientific explanation, faith and meaning. In the second half, we shift to more contemporary discussions and consider five metaphysical issues concerning personhood: consciousness, personal identity over time, the nature of the self, freedom of the will, and the nature of responsibility.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Wong-Taylor, G. (PI)
;
Amaral, J. (TA)
;
Koeksal, S. (TA)
;
Pereira, A. (TA)
...
more »
PHIL 2: Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
In this course we will examine the main theories in the Western tradition that purport to explain what sorts of behavior are right and wrong, and why, as well as certain kinds of skepticism about morality. We will consider, among other things, whether or not there are moral truths, and if so whether those truths are absolute or relative, objective or subjective, and where such truths come from -- be it divine commands, our own agency, the need to live in society with others, simple brute facts, etc.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Benossi, L. (PI)
;
Bible, M. (PI)
;
Kang, S. (PI)
;
Luo, A. (PI)
;
Madigan, T. (PI)
;
Ray, W. (PI)
;
Benossi, L. (TA)
;
Bible, M. (TA)
;
Gottlieb, D. (TA)
;
Kang, S. (TA)
;
Luo, A. (TA)
;
Ray, W. (TA)
;
Spencer, L. (TA)
;
Tricks, T. (TA)
PHIL 3N: Randomness: Computational and Philosophical Approaches (CS 57N)
Is it ever reasonable to make a decision randomly? For example, would you ever let an important choice depend on the flip of a coin? Can randomness help us answer difficult questions more accurately or more efficiently? What is randomness anyway? Can an object be random? Are there genuinely random processes in the world, and if so, how can we tell? In this seminar, we will explore these questions through the lenses of philosophy and computation. By the end of the quarter students should have an appreciation of the many roles that randomness plays in both humanities and sciences, as well as a grasp of some of the key analytical tools used to study the concept. The course will be self-contained, and no prior experience with randomness/probability is necessary.
Last offered: Winter 2022
| Units: 3
PHIL 7N: Philosophy and Science Fiction
What if things had been otherwise? What if things are someday, somewhere, very different than they are here and now? Science fiction and other genre fiction gives us the opportunity to explore worlds that stretch our conceptions of reality, of what it is to have a mind, to be human, and to communicate with one another. This course examines central questions in philosophy through the lens of speculative fiction. Can there be freedom in a deterministic world? How could language and communication evolve? What is a mind, and what is the nature of experience? How can we know what the world is like? We'll read classical and contemporary papers in philosophy alongside short stories, novels, and movies that play the role of thought experiments in illuminating philosophical issues.
Last offered: Winter 2024
| Units: 3
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?We will explore these and related questions primarily by way of careful study of recent and contemporary philosophical research on these matters.
Last offered: Spring 2023
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 11N: Skepticism
Preference to freshmen. The universe is exceedingly complex and learning about it requires great cleverness and effort. Through reasoning, we humans can arrive at impressive and deep knowledge of our universe. But reason can also lead us into paradox and skeptical puzzles. We will look at a variety of skeptical arguments - Cartesian, Humean, Pyrrhonian, among others - and consider what sorts of challenges they raise for our use of reasoning to learn about our world.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Lawlor, K. (PI)
PHIL 12N: Animal Cognition (SYMSYS 12N)
Preference to frosh. The study of non-human thought and cognition raises distinctive methodological and philosophical challenges, often putting pressure on orthodox views in cognitive science. What are animal minds like, and how do they compare to our own? What exactly can we learn about these questions from controlled experiments? Does failure at a task imply absence of an ability or trait? What other methods do we have for understanding animal cognition? How might what we learn about other animals shed light on our own mental processes? We will address these and other many issues through a combination of readings, discussions, and visits with researchers who conduct this research.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Icard, T. (PI)
PHIL 13: Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (FRENCH 13, HISTORY 239C, HUMCORE 13)
What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This course examines tcourse examines these questions in the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon. This course is part of the Humanities Core, a collaborative set of global humanities seminars that brings all of its students and faculty into conversation. On Mondays you meet in your own course, and on Wednesdays all the HumCore seminars (in session that quarter) meet together:
https://humanitiescore.stanford.edu/.
Last offered: Spring 2022
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 13N: Justice across Borders
Most people are not your fellow citizens. (Over 95% of human beings, for example, are not Americans.) What do you owe to them as a matter of justice? What do they owe to you? Should you save a foreigner's life instead of buying luxuries for yourself? Should you boycott 'fast fashion' produced by exploited workers abroad? Should universities divest from fossil fuels? How can a country like the United States justify forcefully preventing anyone from crossing its borders? Is anything absolutely prohibited to win a war? When examining such issues, we need to start with facts - facts about poverty, inequality, climate change, immigration, etc. After surveying the basic facts, we will use philosophical readings to focus and deepen our discussions of what justice requires across borders. Some of the topics we discuss will be chosen on the basis of students' interests.
Last offered: Winter 2024
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 14N: Why Games Matter: The Philosophy of Play
Preference to frosh. Are games genuinely valuable uses of our limited time on this mortal coil? Are they, as Bernard Suits suggests, the only intrinsically valuable pursuit? Or are they merely ways to temporarily escape a harsher reality? Are they training exercises for success in real life? And if they don't matter, why are we so drawn to them? According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15-24-year-olds spend an average of 90 mins/day playing video games. That's a lot of time! We want to give this important class of human activities the philosophical attention it deserves. We'll examine some central questions in the philosophy of games such as: Why play games? What even is a game? Is there anything that all games have in common? Wittgenstein famously claimed that this is a question with no good answer - we'll see if we can do better! In addition, we'll look at some broader philosophical issues that can be illuminated by thinking about games. These include: What makes something valuable? What are the origins of communication? How do our ethical frameworks translate to virtual worlds?
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Cao, R. (PI)
;
ORourke, J. (PI)