printer friendly pagePHIL 71H: Introduction to Aesthetics
Aesthetics encompasses a seemingly special and particularly rewarding way of perceiving the world. Appreciating the beauty of a sunset, feeling moved by a piece of music, becoming absorbed in the composition of an artwork: these are all aesthetic matters, and they are all matters that lie at the heart of this course. We will begin by exploring core debates on aesthetic experience, aesthetic properties, and aesthetic value. But we will also venture into considerations of aesthetics in our everyday lives, aesthetic taste and our personalities, aesthetics and grief, aesthetics and gender, and aesthetics and race. By the end of the quarter, you will have a strong foundation in understanding this rich aspect of life we call aesthetics.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Holliday, J. (PI)
;
Dowling, G. (TA)
PHIL 80: Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Intensive study of central topics in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and mind in preparation for advanced courses in philosophy. Emphasis on development of analytical writing skills. nPrerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy, not including
SYMSYS1/
PHIL99. Note: all courses labelled PHIL in the Bulletin (with the exception of
PHIL99) count for this requirement. For the purposes of this requirement, Thinking Matters courses (labelled THINK) taught by a Philosophy faculty person also count as a course in Philosophy.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Briggs, R. (PI)
;
Kim, R. (PI)
;
Peacocke, A. (PI)
;
Gottlieb, D. (TA)
;
Kang, S. (TA)
;
Kelley, M. (TA)
;
Lang, J. (TA)
;
McGuthry, M. (TA)
;
Panchakunathorn, P. (TA)
;
Sugarman, E. (TA)
PHIL 81: Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ILAC 181, ITALIAN 181, SLAVIC 181)
What, if anything, does reading literature do for our lives? What can literature offer that other forms of writing cannot? Can fictions teach us anything? Can they make people more moral? Why do we take pleasure in tragic stories? This course introduces students to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. It addresses key questions about the value of literature, philosophical puzzles about the nature of fiction and literary language, and ways that philosophy and literature interact. Readings span literature, film, and philosophical theories of art. Authors may include Sophocles, Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Proust, Woolf, Walton, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Students master close reading techniques and philosophical analysis, and write papers combining the two. This is the required gateway course for the Philosophy and Literature major tracks. Majors should register in their home department.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Landy, J. (PI)
;
Peacocke, A. (PI)
;
D'aguanno, D. (TA)
...
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Instructors:
Landy, J. (PI)
;
Peacocke, A. (PI)
;
D'aguanno, D. (TA)
;
Friesacher, A. (TA)
;
McDonald, T. (TA)
PHIL 100: Greek Philosophy (CLASSICS 40)
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory. No prereqs, not repeatable.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 101A: History of Philosophy from Al-Kindi to Averroes (GLOBAL 139)
The rise of Islam saw a flourishing of philosophical and scientific activity across Islamic civilizations from Central Asia to Spain. Between the 7th to 13th centuries, many of the major philosophers in the history of philosophy lived in the Muslim world and wrote in Arabic. They saw themselves, just as later philosophers in medieval Europe, as working in part in the same tradition as Plato and Aristotle. This course surveys this important chapter in the history of philosophy, examining the key philosophical problems, analyses, arguments and ideas developed by philosophers such as Al-Kindi, Al-Razi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Al-Ghazali and Averroes, as well as their views on the role and aims of philosophy itself. We will look closely at their writings (in English translation) on philosophical topics in mind, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics.
Last offered: Winter 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 102: Modern Philosophy, Descartes to Kant
Major figures in early modern philosophy in epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Writings by Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, GER:DB-Hum
PHIL 108: Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha (PHIL 208)
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Last offered: Spring 2020
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 125: Kant's First Critique (PHIL 225)
(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
De Pierris, G. (PI)
PHIL 133S: Heidegger and Mysticism (RELIGST 181)
A close reading of Heidegger's
Being and Time with reference to the topics of meaning, mortality, mysticism, and self-transformation.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
Instructors:
Sheehan, T. (PI)
PHIL 137: Wittgenstein (PHIL 237)
(Graduate students register for 237.) An exploration of Wittgenstein's changing views about meaning, mind, knowledge, and the nature of philosophical perplexity and philosophical insight, focusing on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
Last offered: Autumn 2019
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
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