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Philosophizing, if done correctly, can be life-changing: new ideas can change the way we think about, look at, interact, engage and deal with the world around us. New ideas can bring out problems that we could not even see as problems before; they can change our conception of how and why we are to live the lives in the way we think we should; they can change our relations with other individuals who either share or do not share the ideas that we have newly come to acquire. The aim of this course is to provide a broad-ranging, general introduction to a wide range of topics including justice, race, gender, metaphysics and more through a philosophical exploration of some of the ideas that have shaped and are currently shaping our world today, and what that means for our evolving understanding of freedom, to be "purely at home with ourselves."

This course considers arguments against action for some or all people in some or all times and places. Is it always better to do something rather than nothing? Is it economically possible or desirable for our contemporary global society to do and produce less? Why should you get out of bed in the morning? Where do our normative standards and moral elevation of productivity come from? What are the best justifications for staying busy and active, and what are the gaps in these justifications? Does thinking count as action? What counts as "overthinking"? Why have sages and religious traditions embraced living as simply as possible? To answer these questions we will construe philosophy broadly, sampling arguments from across the world and across history, beginning with how inaction is framed in Ancient Greek philosophy.

This course will serve as a first introduction to the formal tools and techniques of contemporary philosophy, including probability and formal logic. Traditionally, philosophy is an attempt to systematically tackle foundational problems related to value, inquiry, mind and reality. Contemporary philosophy continuesthis tradition of critical thinking with modern subject matter (often engaging with natural, social and mathematical science) and modern rigorous methods, including the methods of set theory, probability theory and formal logic. The aim of this course is to introduce such methods, along with various core philosophical distinctions and motivations. The focus will be on basic conceptual underpinnings and skills, not technical details. The material covered is also useful preparation for certain topics in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, economics and statistics. No previous philosophical or mathematical training is presupposed, though an appreciation of precise thinking is an advantage.

(Staff)

(Undergraduate students enroll in 197C) Students engage in internship work and integrate that work into their academic program. Following internship work, students complete a research report outlining work activity. Meets the requirements for curricular practical training for students on F-1 visas. Student is responsible for arranging own internship/employment and faculty sponsorship. Register under faculty sponsor's section number. Course may be repeated for credit.