printer friendly pagePHIL 1: Introduction to Philosophy
Is there one truth or many? Does science tell us everything there is to know? Can our minds be purely physical? Do we have free will? Is faith rational? Should we always be rational? What is the meaning of life? Are there moral truths? What are truth, reality, rationality, and knowledge? How can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in philosophy from various contemporary traditions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 2: Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 5N: The Art of Living
Whether we realize it or not, all of us are forced to make a fundamental choice: by deciding what is most valuable to us, we decide how we are going to live our life. We may opt for a life of reason and knowledge; one of faith and discipline; one of nature and freedom; one of community and altruism; or one of originality and style.We may even choose to live our lives as though they were works of art. In every case, hard work is required: our lives are not just given to us, but need to be made. To live well is, in fact, to practice an art of living. Where, however, do such ideals come from? How do we adopt and defend them? What is required to put them into practice? What do we do when they come into conflict with one another? And what role do great works of art play in all this? "The Art of Living" will explore the various ways in which it is possible to live well and beautifully, what it takes to implement them, and what happens when they come under pressure from inside and out.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Taylor, K. (PI)
PHIL 6N: Pictures and the Imagination
Paintings, drawings, and photographs often function as pictures or images of the preexisting things they take as subjects. They represent these subjects from specific spatial vantage points in ways that may be more or less definite, more or less detailed, and more or less faithful to what the subjects are actually like. One longs to know how this works: how vision, imagination, and background knowledge come together when we experience a picture as a picture. Certain forms of imagining and remembering involve mental picturing, mental imagery. Sometimes we imagine or remember things in visual terms from a specific spatial vantage point, with the result that we feel brought face to face with the things imagined or remembered, however far away they may actually be. How is the physical picturing that goes on in paintings, drawings, and photographs both like and unlike the mental picturing that goes on when things swim before the mind's eye? What role does mental picturing play in physical picturing? What kinds of artistic value and interest attach to paintings, drawings, and photographs in virtue of what they picture and how they picture it?
Last offered: Spring 2013
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
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?nWe will explore these and related questions primarily by way of careful study of recent and contemporary philosophical research on these matters.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 15N: Freedom, Community, and Morality
Preference to freshmen. Does the freedom of the individual conflict with the demands of human community and morality? Or, as some philosophers have maintained, does the freedom of the individual find its highest expression in a moral community of other human beings? Readings include Camus, Mill, Rousseau, and Kant.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Friedman, M. (PI)
PHIL 60: Introduction to Philosophy of Science (HPS 60)
The nature of scientific knowledge: evidence and confirmation; scientific explanation; models and theories; objectivity; science, society, and values.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Longino, H. (PI)
;
Rozeboom, G. (TA)
PHIL 77S: Philosophy of Religion (RELIGST 62S)
Key philosophical questions concerning the nature of the divine and the religious through a close reading of some classic philosophical texts, while aiming to develop critical thinking about these issues. Topics include: the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the justification of religious belief, the nature of and relationship between faith and reason, and the function(s) of religion. Key texts will include Plato, St. Anselm, Hume, and Nietzsche.
Last offered: Summer 2012
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 80: Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Central topics in philosophy emphasizing development of analytical writing skills. Are human beings free? How do human minds and bodies interact? Prerequisite: introductory philosophy course.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Crimmins, M. (PI)
;
Lawlor, K. (PI)
;
Asarnow, S. (TA)
...
more instructors for PHIL 80 »
Instructors:
Crimmins, M. (PI)
;
Lawlor, K. (PI)
;
Asarnow, S. (TA)
;
King, D. (TA)
;
Lee, P. (TA)
;
Shanbhag, P. (TA)
;
Williams, J. (TA)
;
Yang, K. (TA)
PHIL 81: Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
;
DiBella, N. (TA)
...
more instructors for PHIL 81 »
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
;
DiBella, N. (TA)
;
Hulstyn, M. (TA)
;
King, D. (TA)
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