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 7Q: What is Truth
This question can be answered precisely in some important cases. We begin with the language of propositional logic where truth is defined by simple tables. This is already sufficient for description of many important problems and leads to a famous ($1 000 000) problem P=NP. We use Sudoku puzzles for illustration. Close connection between propositional truth and proof is established by the resolution method forming a basis of most automated theorem provers. The language of predicate logic covers much more and illustrates the notion of completeness. Register machines provide connection with computations and lead to a fundamental classification of problems of truth with respect to decidability. The language of arithmetic exhibits a new phenomenon of incompleteness that changed significant part of philosophy in 20-th century.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Mints, G. (PI)
PHIL 10N: Bounded Rationality
This course takes a philosophical approach to a cutting edge debate in psychology. Readings include texts in contemporary cognitive science as well as in philosophy of mind.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Malmgren, A. (PI)
PHIL 11N: Skepticism
Preference to freshmen. Historical and contemporary philosophical perspectives on the limits of human knowledge of a mind-independent world and causal laws of nature. The nature and possibility of a priori knowledge. Skepticism regarding religious beliefs..
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
De Pierris, G. (PI)
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)
PHYSICS 18N: Frontiers in Theoretical Physics and Cosmology
Preference to freshmen. The course will begin with a description of the current standard models of gravitation, cosmology, and elementary particle physics. We will then focus on frontiers of current understanding including investigations of very early universe cosmology, string theory, and the physics of black holes.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Kachru, S. (PI)
;
Bao, N. (TA)
PHYSICS 43N: Understanding Electromagnetic Phenomena
Preference to freshmen. Expands on the material presented in
PHYSICS 43; applications of concepts in electricity and magnetism to everyday phenomena and to topics in current physics research. Corequisite:
PHYSICS 43 or advanced placement.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Cabrera, B. (PI)
PHYSICS 45N: Advanced Topics in Light and Heat
Preference to freshmen. Expands on the subject matter presented in
PHYSICS 45 to include optics and thermodynamics in everyday life, and applications from modern physics and astrophysics. Corequisite:
PHYSICS 45 or advanced placement.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Chu, S. (PI)
PHYSICS 80N: The Technical Aspects of Photography
Preference to freshmen and sophomores with some background in photography. How cameras record photographic images on film and electronically. Technical photographic processes to use cameras effectively. Camera types and their advantages, how lenses work and their limitations, camera shutters, light meters and the proper exposure of film, film types, depth of focus, control of the focal plane and perspective, and special strategies for macro and night photography. View cameras and range finder technical cameras. Students take photographs around campus. Prerequisite: high school physics.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Osheroff, D. (PI)
;
Lee, C. (TA)
PHYSICS 81N: Science on the Back of the Envelope
Understanding the complex world around us quantitatively, using order of magnitude estimates and dimensional analysis. Starting from a handful of fundamental constants of Nature, one can estimate complex quantities such as cosmological length and time scales, size of the atom, height of Mount Everest, speed of tsunami, energy density of fuels and climate effects. Through these examples students learn the art of deductive thinking, fundamental principles of science and the beautiful unity of nature.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Zhang, S. (PI)
Filter Results: