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PHIL 113A: Porphyry's Introduction to Logic (PHIL 213A)

The main text will be Porphyry's Isagoge. For more than a thousand years this book was every student's first text in philosophy. We will focus on five main topics: genera, species, differences, properties, accidents.

Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 4

PHIL 113E: Hellenistic Ethics (PHIL 213E)

We shall read the major ethical works of the three main Hellenistic (post-Plato and Aristotle, conventionally 323-31 BCE): the Epicureans, the Skeptics, and the Stoics.

Last offered: Spring 2025 | Units: 4

PHIL 114: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (PHIL 214)

Aristotle's ethical theory is a primary source of later philosophical reflection on ethics, and on philosophy of mind and metaphysics in so far as they are related to ethics. For this reason it allows us to understand some of the motives and starting points of our own thought about ethics. Our main text will be the Nicomachean Ethics, supplemented by selections from other works of Aristotle. We will discuss some of the extensive philosophical literature on Aristotle's ethics, and on related topics in ethics.

Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 4

PHIL 115A: Ancient Democratic Theory and Contemporary Problems of Latin American Democracy (PHIL 215A)

Undergraduate students enroll in 115A. Graduate students enroll in 215A. Is it possible that the way in which the ancients resolved the serious problem of political representation in Athenian democracy gives us fundamental keys to understand and give a satisfactory answer to the problem of political representation in contemporary democracy, particularly in Latin America? Despite the great differences in time, economy, population and social organization, we believe the answer is yes. In this course we will consider the principles, concepts and practices that Athenian democracy brought into play to solve the problem of political representation, that is, the problem of the distribution of power and the relationship between citizens and the elite, as it appears in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides and some of the sophists. With the results achieved, we will move on to examine the main problems facing contemporary democracy, focusing on the crisis of representation that affects it g more »

Undergraduate students enroll in 115A. Graduate students enroll in 215A. Is it possible that the way in which the ancients resolved the serious problem of political representation in Athenian democracy gives us fundamental keys to understand and give a satisfactory answer to the problem of political representation in contemporary democracy, particularly in Latin America? Despite the great differences in time, economy, population and social organization, we believe the answer is yes. In this course we will consider the principles, concepts and practices that Athenian democracy brought into play to solve the problem of political representation, that is, the problem of the distribution of power and the relationship between citizens and the elite, as it appears in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides and some of the sophists. With the results achieved, we will move on to examine the main problems facing contemporary democracy, focusing on the crisis of representation that affects it globally, but with special force in Latin America. For this part we will consider the ideas of different modern and contemporary thinkers and scholars. This course will ask questions including: What is democracy? What are the most notable characteristics of ancient Greek democracy and the modern conception? Is it the best form of government? What is a representative democracies? What are the main characteristics of the representation crisis in Latin America? What are the main risks and weaknesses of current democracy? How can we evaluate the quality of a democracy?

Last offered: Spring 2025 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-ER

PHIL 116C: Happiness and Tragedy in Ancient and Modern Philosophy (PHIL 216C)

Grads enroll in 216C. In this course, we'll examine questions about happiness or the good life and its relation to tragedy in several central ancient and modern authors. These include Plato, Aristotle, Aeschylus, the Stoics, Kant, and Nietzsche. The questions we'll discuss include: What's relation between virtue and happiness? Is virtue, for example, necessary or sufficient for happiness? What role do things other than virtue have on our well-being? Can bad luck prevent you from being happy? How do the views of the Greek tragedians differ from those of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics on these questions? How do the views of moderns such as Kant and Nietzsche differ from those of our ancient authors? Taught by David Charles.

Terms: Win | Units: 4

Instructors: Charles, D. (PI) ; Sparling, R. (TA)

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.

Last offered: Winter 2024 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum

PHIL 118: Origins of Empiricism (PHIL 218)

Undergraduate students enroll in 118 and graduate students enroll in 218.

| Units: 4

PHIL 119: Spinoza's Metaphysics (PHIL 219)

A comprehensive overview of Spinoza's metaphysical system as it is presented in the Ethics. While our main focus will be to understand central themes in Spinoza's metaphysics, we will touch on a range of topics, including in epistemology, psychology, and ethics. Particular issues include substance monism, the relationship between finite things and God or Nature, the nature of causation, the relationship between mind and body, necessity and freedom, and human blessedness.

Last offered: Spring 2025 | Units: 4

PHIL 124P: What Makes You Tick? An Introduction to Affective Science (PSYCH 124)

Why do we do what we do? In this course, we'll systematically examine the forces that energize and direct behavior. Our focus will be on topics such as motivation, emotion, and emotion regulation, and we will consider the role of affective processes in personality, psychopathology, behavior stability and change, non-human animals, and artificial agents. The course will adopt an interdisciplinary perspective. Prerequisite: Psychology 1.

| Units: 3

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