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The Complete Listing of Philosophy Courses
PHIL 103 Self and World: Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology This course introduces basic philosophical methods and concepts by exploring a variety of approaches to some central philosophical problems. Topics covered include the existence of God, the relation between reason and faith, skepticism and certainty, theories of knowledge, the relation between mind and body, and the compatibility of free will and causal determination. Readings are drawn from historical and contemporary texts. Discussions and assignments encourage the development of the student’s own critical perspective on the problems discussed.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 104/ASTR 104 The Stars and the Sages: Philosophy and the Cosmos This First Year Seminar explores the changing views of the universe from the Ancient Greeks, through the emergence of the scientific revolution to the startling advances in cosmology during the 20th century, and includes visits to the Special Collections Library and observations from the Whitin Observatory; no particular competence in mathematics is required. We begin with readings from Plato, Aristotle and Ancient Greek astronomers and their concern to understand the inherent rationality of the universe. We next turn to the discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. Our exploration of philosophy and astronomy will then address Einstein's theories of special and general relativity, evidence for the Big Bang, and contemporary perplexity regarding the presence of dark matter and dark energy. Students may register for either PHIL 104 or ASTR 104 and credit will be granted accordingly.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 106 Introduction to Moral Philosophy A study of central issues in moral philosophy from ancient Greece to the present day. Topics include the nature of morality, conceptions of justice, views of human nature and their bearing on questions of value, and competing tests of right and wrong.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 201 Ancient Greek Philosophy
Study of writings of Plato and Aristotle that are particularly influential still today, including Plato's Symposium and Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In addition to studying the fundamental "essentialist" views that Aristotle accepted from his teacher Plato for both the study of nature and of ethics, we will consider their differences and distinctive contributions. For Plato, this will include his presentation of Socrates and the dialogue form. For Aristotle, it will include his development of the philosophical vocabulary that became standard for subsequent Western philosophy up until the Renaissance and that continues to be of great interest in a wide range of areas and topics today. These include ethics and biology and issues such as “stereotyping” in social thought, whether scientific and ethical reasoning are fundamentally the same or different, whether women and men are or are not essentially different, and what role rhetoric plays in a democracy.
Prerequisite None
PHIL 202/AFR 202 African Philosophy
Initiation into basic African philosophical concepts and principles. The first
part of the course deals with a systematic interpretation of such questions
as the Bantu African philosophical concept of Muntu and related beliefs, as
well as Bantu ontology, metaphysics, and ethics. The second part centers on
the relationship between philosophy and ideologies and its implications in
Black African social, political, religious, and economic institutions. The
approach will be comparative. Students may register for either PHIL 202 or
AFR 202 and credit will be granted accordingly.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 203 Philosophy of Art
What makes an object an art object? How does art reflect
on the human condition? Why is there art rather than not, expression rather
than
silence,
a gesture
rather than stillness? A philosophical approach to art is primarily interested
in clarifying the problem of aesthetic value, the special activities that produce
art, and the claim to truth which finds expression through artistic creation.
The aim of this course is to explore these questions, among others, by examining
the positions of major philosophers and twentieth-century artists.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 204 Philosophy and Literature NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This course considers the questions: what sort of object is the literary text and what are the ontological issues raised by acts of literary interpretation? It also examines the complex relationship between fiction and fact, and between fiction and morality. The treatment of commitment to self and others, of self-knowledge and self-identity, and of individual and social ideals will also be explored. We end the course by looking at poetry – how it has meaning despite an inbuilt element of ambiguity and how it succeeds not only in shaping, but also healing the world.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 206 Normative Ethics NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: Can philosophers help us to think about moral issues, such as what to do about poverty and hunger, or racism and sexism; what is the good life and how could we know that it is good? We shall look at the attempts of some contemporary philosophers to provide answers, or at least guides to finding answers, to these and similar questions. We shall compare and contrast several approaches to evaluating an action: placing major weight on its consequences, or on whether it conforms to a moral rule, or whether it is the sort of thing a virtuous person would do.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 207 Philosophy of Language This course will explore a variety of philosophical issues concerning language: the different ways in which spoken language functions and conveys information, the alleged difference between speech and action and how it relates to freedom of speech issues (e.g., pornography and hate speech), the general problem of how words get attached to their referents, and criticisms of traditional conceptions of meaning and reference.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy, and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 208 Theories of Knowledge NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: We usually assume that we know a lot about the world around us. But how can we be sure that our beliefs reflect what the world is really like? In this course, we will investigate the nature of knowledge and the conditions under which we can be said to have any. We will explore answers to the following questions: What distinguishes knowledge from mere opinion? What makes someone justified in holding a particular belief? What's the connection between what we do believe and what we should believe? How is self-deception possible? We will conclude by examining the contributions of feminism and cognitive science to the discussion of these questions.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy, and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 209 Scientific Reasoning NOT OFFERED 2009-10: This is a reasoning course that emphasizes the practical importance of critical thinking. Topics covered will include the basic forms of scientific inference, the basics of probability, issues of data collection, the difference between correlation and causation, and the theoretical and practical difficulties associated with establishing causal claims. Students will also gain an appreciation of the political and ethical importance of critical thinking by evaluating cases of sexist and racist science.
Prerequisite: Fulfillment of the basic skills component of the Quantitative Reasoning requirement.
PHIL 210 Philosophy of Business This course looks at philosophical foundations of U.S. corporate business and the role of the corporate executive, beginning historically and moving to the present day. It begins by looking at the development of corporate business from the time of the greatly accelerated industrialization and urbanization following the Civil War, looking at differing theories involved in thinking about the new urban wage laborer and unions, the definition of corporations as legal “persons” beginning in the 1880s, the emergence of government regulations such as the Sherman Anti-trust law, and the transformation of the U.S. into a consumerist nation, including the development of “marketing” in relationship to “democracy.” The study of the construction of the role of corporate executive includes questions of gender in relationship to individualism, competitivism and teamwork.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 211 Philosophy of Religion NOT OFFERED 2009-10: Religion is a ubiquitous phenomenon of human existence. What distinguishes religion as a set of beliefs, practices and world-view? Is there a specific religious claim to truth and meaning? What is the relationship between philosophical reflection and religious speculation? Indeed, what is religion? This course undertakes a critical and philosophical study of central topics in religion including the distinction between the sacred and the profane, the problem of evil, the relation between faith and reason, immortality and salvation, the significance of sacrifice and arguments for the existence, but also for the death, of God. Readings will draw from the rich heritage of philosophical discourse, including: Plato, Augustine, Pascal, Kant, Feuerbach, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Bataille and Levinas.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.
PHIL 213 Social and Political Philosophy Why should we obey the government? Are there limits to what the state may demand of us? Does social justice require equality? Is taxation - or wage labor - theft? This course addresses these and other questions of social and political morality, through the lens of the major theories of Western philosophy. Topics will include Plato and Aristotle on the best form of government, Locke on individual rights, Rousseau on popular sovereignty, Mill on freedom of speech, Marx on equality and Rawls and Dworkin on distributive justice. We will study each of the theories in their historical context, as well as apply them to contemporary issues such as affirmative action, censorship, and welfare policy.
Prerequisite: Open to seniors without prerequisite and to juniors and sophomores who have taken one course in philosophy, or by permission of the instructor.
PHIL 215 Philosophy of Mind What is a mind? How is it related to a person’s brain and body? These two questions have driven centuries of work in the philosophy of mind, and we will take them as our starting point. After considering a variety of answers, we will pursue several topics that challenge our best accounts of the mind: consciousness, mental representation, the emotions, free will, and the possibility of thinking machines. Our goal will be to connect central philosophical perspectives on these issues with contributions from psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, psychology, or cognitive science, or permission of instructor.
PHIL 216 Logic An introduction to formal logic. Students will learn a variety of formal methods – methods sensitive only to the form of arguments, as opposed to their content – to determine whether the conclusions of arguments follow from their premises. Discussion of the philosophical problems that arise in logic, and of the application of formal logic to problems in philosophy and other disciplines. Some consideration of issues in the philosophy of language.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 217 Philosophy of Science: Traditional and Feminist Perspectives NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This course will survey various issues in the philosophy of science surrounding the debate over scientific realism. Issues include: What constitutes adequate evidence? Exactly what does accepting a scientific theory involve? Does science discover the single objective way that the world is or does it partially construct the world around us? How do cultural attitudes (e.g. gender) affect scientific practice?
Prerequisite: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
PHIL 221 History of Modern Philosophy A study of central themes in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy, concentrating on Descartes, Hume, and Kant. More limited readings of such figures as Spinoza, Locke, Ann Conway, Leibniz, and Berkeley. Among the topics: the relationship between mind and body; the limits of reason; determinism and freedom; the bearing of science on religion.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students in their second semester and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 222 American Philosophy NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: The development of American philosophy from colonial times to the present. Among the topics: Native American world-views; European justifications of colonization and conquest; the spiritualist metaphysics of Berkeley and Jonathan Edwards; philosophical underpinnings of the revolution and the republic; slavery and abolition; transcendentalism (Emerson, Thoreau); justice and civil disobedience; feminism. We will concentrate in particular on pragmatism, America’s unique contribution to world philosophy, with readings from Peirce, James, Dewey, Quine, Richard Rorty, and Cornel West. The course is intended for students of history, literature, and American studies as well as for students of philosophy.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 224 Existentialism NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This course will study basic themes in existentialism by focusing on the theoretical and theatrical works of key existentialist writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, and Eugene Ionesco. In taking the human condition as its primary question, existentialism redefines the meaning of theory as a philosophical reflection or “seeing” of the human condition, as well as the significance of theatre as a “seeing” or “manifestation” of features of the human condition that otherwise remain hidden from view. Special emphasis will be placed on the themes of boredom, death, bad faith, anxiety, suffering, freedom, and inter-subjective relationships.
Prerequisite: One philosophy course or permission of instructor.
PHIL 225 Phenomenology and Hermeneutics NOT OFFERED 2009-10: Phenomenology attempts to reclaim the richness of human experience for philosophical analysis. An important movement of twentieth-century philosophy, phenomenology represents an original approach to traditional philosophical questions based on the investigation of how “lived experience” animates the various ways in which the world is meaningful for human beings. As an introduction to the phenomenological movement, including the hermeneutic turn of phenomenological philosophy, this course will focus on the work of Husserl, Heidegger, Lévinas, and Merleau-Ponty.
Prerequisite: One philosophy course or permission of instructor.
PHIL 230 Nineteenth-Century Philosophy This course will study selected themes in nineteenth-century philosophy. Readings from Kant, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche will address central issues such as the status of reason, the irrational and the unconscious, modernization and the meaning of history, and the significance of religion and art for human existence. Other important figures of nineteenth-century thought such as Darwin, Comte, Mill, and Schleiermacher may also be addressed.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.
PHIL 233 Environmental Philosophy NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: A study of conceptions of the natural world and our place in it, from the pre-Socratics and the Book of Genesis to the deep ecologists and ecofeminists of the present day. Readings in the history of philosophy (Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Newton, Rousseau, and Hume, among others), in Emerson and Thoreau, and in contemporary nature writers and natural scientists. Discussion of ethical issues and of Third-World critics of Western environmentalism.
Prerequisite: None NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This course provides an introduction to past and present work on the normative theory of democracy, and discusses how that work bears on some important issues in current affairs. We will explore significant historical contributions to democratic thought; consider contemporary work on issues such as procedural vs. substantive accounts of democracy, democratic deliberation, democratic participation, legislative representation and constitutionalism; and address present public debates concerning campaign finance reform, democracy at the supra-state level and the "exporting" of democracy overseas.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one
course in philosophy or political science and
to
sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 236 Introduction to Global Justice An introduction to recent work in political philosophy on the ethics of international relations. The course will begin with a survey of some of the main theoretical approaches to the topic: realism, cosmopolitan egalitarianism, political liberalism, utilitarianism and nationalism. We will then consider how these different approaches might be applied to some specific moral controversies in international politics, such as those relating to global poverty, human rights and humanitarian intervention, immigration, climate change, and global governance.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one
course in philosophy or political science and
to
sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 239 The Owls of Minerva: Kant and German Idealism Perhaps no other period in the history of philosophy since its Greek origins has witnessed as much creativity and substance as the years spanning the bloom of German Idealism (1781-1832). Beginning with Kant's "Copernican Revolution" of the Critique of Pure Reason, this course critically explores the diverse veins of German Idealism and Romanticism: Fichte, Schelling, F. Schlegel, Novalis, Hölderlin, and Hegel. Themes will include: the relation between philosophy and poetry; the problem of idealism and the reality of the external world; the constitution of self-consciousness in its relation to Others; the relation between nature and aesthetics; the emergence of language as a primary philosophical concern; the relationship between faith and knowledge; and the significance of historical consciousness and the formation of culture. In addition to exploring the impact of German Idealism on 19th century English Romanticism, we will also consider engagements with the legacy of German Idealism among contemporary European and American philosophy.
Prerequisite: One
course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.
PHIL 245 Agency and Motivation NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: An examination of the capacities important to moral agency, drawing on work in philosophy as well as research in social psychology, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science. Topics to be examined include: theories of motivation; the moral significance of sympathy and empathy; guilt, shame, regret, and other traits central to moral accountability; differing conceptions of free will and the nature of autonomy; and issues involving self-control and self-knowledge.
Prerequisite: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
PHIL 249 Medical Ethics A philosophical examination of some central problems at the interface of medicine and ethics. Exploration of the social and ethical implications of current advances in biomedical research and technology. Topics discussed will include psychosurgery, gender surgery, genetic screening, amniocentesis, and euthanasia.
Prerequisite: Open to all students without prerequisite.
PHIL 300 Seminar in Modern Philosophy NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy above the 100 level.
PHIL 301 Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy: Spinoza, Mind, and Nature NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This seminar will investigate the thought of Baruch Spinoza, a 17th Century Dutch rationalist. Our focus will include Spinoza's mechanistic view of mind, its embodiment, and the relationship between the individual and society. We will explore Spinoza's striking claim that mind and body are one, his views on the possibility of action against one's better judgment, and his reflections on the nature of human virtue and well-being. Readings will include several of Spinoza's works, a few excerpts from his contemporaries, and the interpretive work of some recent commentators.
Prerequisite: PHIL 221 or permission of the instructor.
PHIL 310 Seminar Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Topic for 2009-10: Plato and Aristotle on Government and Politics. We will consider Plato and Aristotle's views on government and politics by discussing primarily the following texts: Plato's Republic, Statesman and Gorgias and Aristotle's Politics and Nicomachean Ethics. Some comparison will be made with medieval continuations of Plato's and Aristotle's "essentialist" approach as illustrated by excerpts from the twelfth century philosophers Ibn Rushd and Maimonides. We will also give some attention to the emergence of contrasting modern views as illustrated in selections from John Stuart Mill's Representative Government and On Liberty. We will be interested in what these texts can contribute to our own thinking about "democracy," considering such questions as whether highly educated citizens should have responsibilities toward citizens with little education, and what Aristotle's notion of "deliberation" might contribute to our thinking about political discourse.
Prerequisite: Previous study of Plato's Republic or permission of the instructor.
PHIL 313 Seminar Metaphysics Topic for 2009-10: Constructionism. This course will survey various ways in which we make facts about our world. That certain facts are constructed (e.g. speed limits and checkmates) is uncontroversial. Substantive philosophical issues arise, however, when delineating the precise manner in which such facts are constructed and drawing a defensible line between that which is constructed and that which is not. Constructionist speech, the social construction of gender and certain global constructionist theses will be considered. The diverse work of such contemporary analytic philosophers as Elgin, Goodman, Haslanger, Hacking, Lewis, Putnam, and Searle will be discussed.
Prerequisite: Open to students who have taken two courses in philosophy.
PHIL 323 Seminar Continental Philosophy NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10.
Prerequisites: one 200 level course in philosophy or permission of the Instructor.
PHIL 326 Philosophy of Law A systematic consideration of fundamental issues in the conception and practice of law such as the nature and function of law, the limits of law, the nature of judicial reasoning, and the relationship of law to morality. We will assess how alternative theories of law explain rights, duties, liability and responsibility. We will also focus on philosophical issues raised in court cases associated with liberty, privacy, justice, responsibility, causation and punishment. Readings include selections from legal theory and a variety of contemporary court decisions.
Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors without prerequisite and to sophomores who have taken one course in philosophy.
PHIL 340 Seminar Contemporary Ethical Theory Topic for 2009-10: Well-being and Morality. Some of the oldest and most perplexing questions in ethics concern the nature of well-being and its relationship to our moral duties. What is it that makes a life go well for a person? What role does well-being play in morality? What role should it play in social policy? What difficulties arise in measuring welfare across time and across persons? This seminar will consider a range of recent answers to these questions, including those of Sumner, Sen, Hurka, Railton, Parfit, Broome, and Scanlon. We will also consider the ancient antecedents of these views, and discuss how contemporary empirical work on the sources of happiness might shed light on them.
Prerequisite: Open to seniors without prerequisite and to juniors and sophomores who have taken one course in philosophy, or by permission of the instructor.
PHIL 342 Seminar Political Philosophy NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: Justice and International Trade. This course will consider how norms of justice or fairness might apply to the contemporary multilateral trading regime in goods, capital, services and ideas. International trade raises deep philosophical issues about the relationship of principles of justice to coercion, cooperation, shared values and fair procedures. It also raises specific moral concerns about such matters as national selfdetermination, the environment, labor standards, intellectual property, and global poverty and inequality. The course will draw on recent work by political philosophers as well as empirical research and case studies relating to the World Trade Organization.
Prerequisite: Open to students who have taken one 200-level course in philosophy, political science, international relations or economics or by permission of the instructor.
PHIL 345 Seminar. Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Psychology and Social Science Topic for 2009-10: Language and Thought. This seminar will investigate three ways in which language and thought might be related. (1) The ‘language of thought’ hypothesis, that thinking itself must take place in a language. (2) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that speaking a particular language, be it Chinese, Hungarian, or Swahili, influences how you perceive and think about the world. (3) The hypothesis that language ‘sets us apart’ from other creatures by making possible thoughts that could not be entertained unless we spoke a language. We will examine arguments and evidence for and against each of these proposals, with the goal of understanding the role(s) of language in our mental lives.
Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy, Psychology, or Cognitive and Linguistic Science, or permission of the instructor.
PHIL 349 Seminar Speech Acts NOT OFFERED IN 2009-10: This seminar will survey various philosophical issues and applications of speech act theory. Particular attention will be paid to utterances that enact facts about what is permissible for others, the role of authority in this, and indirect speech acts. Recent applications of speech act theory to free speech (e.g. hate speech and pornography) will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: 207 or permission of instructor.
Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors by permission.
Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors by permission.
Prerequisite: By permission of department. See Honors in Philosophy.
Prerequisite: 360 and permission of department. |
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Created by: Ran Tao '09 and Marlie Philiossaint '10 | Maintained by: Catherine Wearing | Created on: June 20, 2007 | Last Updated:
May 28, 2009
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