|
PHI 111 - Basic Problems of Philosophy
Multiple sections; for information on individual sections, click
here
PHI 162: Ethics & Public Policy
Clark Thompson
TR 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Tribble B313
A critical examination of the ethical foundations of public
policy issues. Topics might include war, punishment, censorship,
and racial preferences in higher education.
PHI 221: Symbolic Logic
Michael Griffin
TR 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Tribble A307
An introduction to the basic principles of deductive reasoning.
The principal emphases are on learning how to symbolize ordinary-language
arguments in the language of first-order logic, and learning
how to prove such arguments valid when valid and invalid when
not. Time permitting, some attention will be paid to topics
of a more theoretical character, such as the completeness of
first-order logic and the incompleteness of first-order arithmetic.
No prerequisites.
PHI 241: Modern Philosophy
Michael Griffin
MW 2:00-3:15 p.m.
Tribble A307
This course focuses on 17th and 18th century metaphysics
and epistemology as presented in the works of Descartes, Spinoza,
Leibniz, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume. This focus will include the
implications of the metaphysical and epistemological views of
these authors for ethical and political philosophy. Readings
will focus on the central metaphysical and epistemological problems
of the day, and there will be an emphasis on investigating controversial
issues and disputes among these diverse philosophers. This course
meets two times per week with one of those meetings reserved
for student discussion.
PHI 261: Ethics
Andrew Cross
TR 1:30-2:45 p.m.
Tribble A307
Much moral philosophy is devoted to answering one or both
of the following questions:
1. What is it for an action to be morally right or wrong?
2. What reason is there to do what is morally right?
This class will emphasize the interrelatedness of these questions,
but will focus primarily on the second. We will examine a range
of attempts at answering this question, either by showing that
acting morally is consistent with enlightened self-interest
or by showing that one can have reason to do that which would
not benefit, and even would harm, oneself. As examples of the
former approach we will study portions of Plato’s Gorgias
and Hobbes’s Leviathan; as examples of the latter, Hume’s
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals and Kant’s
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Finally, we will study
Nietzsche’s attempt, in On the Genealogy of Morality, at
tracing the historical and psychological grounds of our moral
ideas in such a way as to show that the reasons we have for
embracing morality are reasons that morality itself must disavow.
Throughout, we will be discussing also the specific conceptions
of morality (e.g. utilitarianism and absolutism) that naturally
arise from these various views on morality’s authority.
Two papers and a final exam.
PHI 352: Hegel, Kierkegaard & Nietzsche
Charles Lewis
TR 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.
Tribble B313
Is there a way to think about the natural world that also
makes sense of human life and history? Is anything gained, or
lost, by thinking holistically about the world as a whole? Is
a life dedicated to thinking about the world (and living accordingly)
a way of avoiding an authentic human life? What does it mean
to live authentically? Does nihilism provide the answer or is
it a form of avoidance? What motivates avoidance and is there
a remedy?
PHI 354: Wittgenstein
Dorothea Lotter
W 3:30-6:00 p.m.
Tribble A313
The aim of this course is to provide a critical and comparative
introduction to the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. In the first
part of the course we will consider his reactions to the views
of Frege and Russell in his early philosophy, and will focus
on several central aspects of the relations between logic, language
and the mind. Topics here discussed include at least some of
the following: Frege’s distinction between sense and significance/reference,
Russell’s logical atomism, logicism, the picture theory
of meaning and the notion of truth. The second part is dedicated
to the study of some important turns in the development of Wittgenstein’s
thought from the Tractatus Logico-philosophicus to the Philosophical
Investigations. Here, topics include at least some of the following:
the so-called “private language argument”, meaning
and use of words, and the notion of rule-following.
Requirements: regular attendance, active participation in class
(including occasional short oral presentations), two short papers
(5-7 pages; 1.5-spaced) and a longer final paper (10-12 pages;
1.5-spaced).
Required Textbooks:
(Some further recommended secondary literature will be available
at the bookstore.)
Michael Beaney (ed.), The Frege Reader, Blackwell 1997
Robert E. Egner/Lester E. Dennon (eds.), Basic Writings of Bertrand
Russell,
Routledge 2001
Anthony Kenny (ed.), The Wittgenstein Reader, Blackwell 1997
PHI 362: Social & Political Philosophy
Eric Brandon
MWF 1:00-1:50 p.m.
Tribble A307
This course will focus on contemporary political philosophy,
especially on liberalism and related topics. In order to develop
an understanding of liberalism before moving on to a variety
of related issues in political philosophy, we will begin with
John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice and Robert Nozick’s
Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Political philosophies such as libertarianism
and communitarianism will be studied as responses to liberalism.
Other topics such as multiculturalism, the relationship between
metaphysics and politics, the role of religion in politics,
feminism, and the place of individuals and nations in the international
setting will be studied with regard to their impact on liberalism.
PHI 374 - Philosophy of Mind
Ralph Kennedy
TR - 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Tribble Hall A307
The mind-body problem -- our principal subject -- is the
problem of understanding what the mind is and what is its relation
to the body. We will look at a number of theories about the
nature of mind, including dualism, behaviorism, the identity
theory (perception and consciousness are physical processes
that occur in the brain), eliminativism (there are no minds,
mental processes, etc.), and functionalism. Our project will
be to try to understand how intentionality, consciousness, and
other mental states and processes fit into the picture of the
physical world as revealed by the sciences. In addition, if
time permits, we will consider certain issues about the (possible)
mentality of machines as well as certain puzzles about the self.
This course counts as an elective for the neuroscience minor.
Books:
Brian Cooney (ed.), The Place of Mind
D. M. Armstrong, The Mind-Body Problem: An Opinionated Introduction
Fred Dretske, Naturalizing the Mind
|