Fall 2009 Courses
PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Hartle, MWF 10:40-11:30, Max: 40
Content: What is philosophy? What does it mean to “think philosophically”? We will examine texts from ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy in order to learn what philosophy is, how it differs from other modes of thought, how it is the center of a liberal education, and how it enriches human life.
Texts:
- Anselm, Proslogion
- Aquinas, On Faith and Reason
- Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations
- Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
- Pieper, Leisure the Basis of Culture
- Plato, Phaedo
- Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates
Assessment: Two five-page papers, midterm essay exam, final essay exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Morelli, MWF 2:00-2:50, Max: 20
Content: Philosophy is a science and a way of life. It has its own questions, data and methods, its own orientation, obstacles and ideals. But what makes a question philosophical, and what distinguishes the philosopher’s life from those of the entrepreneur, politician, scientist, artist, religious believer, social activist, and socialite? The history of philosophy is a record of the inquiry into these questions as it has advanced through over two millennia by the cumulative and critical efforts of generations of philosophers. By personal reflection and readings of philosophers from each major epoch, we will undertake our own inquiry into philosophy and its significance for the sciences, our culture, and ourselves.
Texts:
- Plato, Alcibiades I (E-res)
- Plato, Five Dialogues
- Plato, Symposium
- St. Augustine, Confessions
- Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
- Husserl, Cartesian Meditations
- Lonergan, The Subject (E-res)
- Lonergan, Transcendental Method (E-res)
Assessment: Two five-page papers, a midterm essay exam, a final essay exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Scripter, TT 1:00-2:15, Max: 20
Content: This class aims to introduce students to the study of philosophy by examining philosophical approaches to the self in various historical periods and philosophical traditions. This theme will provide a way to access some of the central philosophical questions in areas of metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics. Issues addressed will include topics such as the nature of the self, the limits to self-knowledge, the role of others in the formation of a self, the possibility of self-invention, as well as the social and political factors at play in becoming a self. Emphasis will be placed on articulating what philosophy as opposed to other disciplines contributes to our understanding of the self.
Texts:
- Camus, The Stranger
- Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
- Murdoch, The Sovereignty of the Good
- Plato, Republic
- Frankfurt, The Reasons of Love
- Rorty, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity
- Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity
- Taylor, Multiculturalism
- Additional selections from authors such as Locke and MacIntyre will be placed on reserve
Assessment: 4 short papers (3-5 pages) and a final exam
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Meighoo, MWF 9:35-10:25, Max: 40
Content: This course section will take for its theme “the philosophical animal.” We will address the specific problem of animal rights in relation to a variety of contemporary philosophical currents, including utilitarianism, existentialism, postmodernism, and feminism.
Our course theme plays on the classical definition of the human being as “the rational animal.” This classical definition presumably establishes a clear distinction between the human and the animal. In this course, we will reconsider this distinction. We will consider not only how the concept of the animal has been formulated within the discipline of philosophy, but also how the discipline of philosophy itself has been founded on the conceptual containment of the animal.
Our assigned readings will include the full text of Animal Liberation by Peter Singer, as well as excerpted texts by Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Georges Bataille, Emmanuel Levinas, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Jacques Derrida, Luc Ferry, Hélène Cixous, and Luce Irigaray. Although our class discussions will focus on our assigned readings, we may also draw from literature, art, music, and film in critically reassessing the philosophical distinction between the human and the animal.
Texts:
- Atterton and Calarco, Animal Philosophy: Essential Readings in Continental Thought
- Singer, Animal Liberation, 3rd edition
Assessment: Student evaluations will be based on one diagnostic essay, two short essays, one long essay, and class participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Longtin, TT 10:00-11:15, Max: 20
Content: This section will introduce philosophy as a process of self-transformation aimed at intellectual growth. In our examination of this self-transformation, we will explore three distinct historical threads: ancient philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom and the good life, modern philosophy as the development of rational autonomy, and existentialism as it emphasizes individuality and authentic human experience. Consideration of these ideas will allow us to seek the nature of philosophic inquiry and reflect upon the meaning it has for us.
Texts:
- Sophocles, Oedipus the King
- Aristotle, Poetics
- Plato, Gorgias
- Descartes, Discourse on Method
- Kant, What is Enlightenment?
- Kierkegaard, The Present Age
- Nietzsche, On the Advantages and Disadvantages of History for Life
- Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism
Assessment: Participation in class discussion and three five-page papers.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 110: Introduction to Logic
Risjord, MWF 8:30-9:20, Max: 65
Content: Logic is the study of reasoning. It aims to distinguish good (valid, strong) arguments from bad ones. Studying logic helps make arguments clear, criticisms effective, and questions sharp. This course will emphasize the practice of reasoning. It will introduce tools and techniques that have practical value for understanding and producing arguments.
Reasoning is traditionally divided into “deductive” and “inductive” varieties. This course will study both. For the first part of the semester, we will study arguments indended to prove their conclusions (deductive arguments). These arguments have identifiable structures, and we will learn to use techniques to identify these patterns in the kind of texts we encounter every day, from newspapers to philosophical tracts. Once the structure of the argument has been identified, the kind of criticism that would be relevant or effective becomes more clear.
Inductive arguments are associated with the sciences. In empirical arguments, we may have strong evidence for a conclusion, yet the conclusion may turn out to be false. Strong arguments in this domain provide very high confidence that the conclusion is true. In the second part of the course, we will learn techniques for evaluating scientific arguments, including those that involve inferences from a sample (e.g. a survey) to a larger population.
Texts:
- Giere, Bickle, and Mauldin, Understanding Scientific Reasoning, 5th edition
Assessment: Regular quizzes, two exams (midterm and final), class participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 110: Introduction to Logic
Rump, TT 8:30-9:45, Max: 20
Content: Logic, reason, and language are the backbone of a liberal arts education, and their proper use is a prerequisite for clear writing and thinking. This course will introduce the basics of logic and critical reasoning, paying particular attention to their relationship to spoken and written discourse. What does it mean to speak or write logically? What counts as good reasoning in a particular context, and why? What is the relationship between the logic “behind” our words and what we commonly say and write? Is logic itself a language?
Topics to be covered include: basic overview of symbolic logic, deductive vs. inductive reasoning, speech acts, summary and analysis of arguments, and practice in critical and argumentative writing.
Texts:
- Copi and Cohen, Introduction to Logic
- Additional materials available on e-reserve
Assessment: Active and regular class participation, quizzes, multiple short writing assignments, and a final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 110: Introduction to Logic
Patterson, MWF 9:35-10:25, Max: 65
Content: Introduction to Logic. The course introduces students to standard modern formal systems (propositional and predicate logic), to the “traditional” syllogistic logic invented by Aristotle and standard in the West until very recently, and to the main varieties of “informal fallacies” commonly found in advertising, political rhetoric, etc.
Texts:
Assessment: Problem sets each day the class meets; two short exams; one final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 110: Introduction to Logic
Rothstein, MWF 11:45-12:35, Max: 65
Content: This course covers the fundamental canons of correct reasoning and argument analysis in both formal and informal logic, with an emphasis on examples and applications in everyday discourse. Students will gain the ability to distinguish and evaluate various types of arguments (deductive, inductive, analogical, etc.) and identify common logical fallacies, while learning the basics of classical syllogistic logic and modern propositional logic. The central aim of this course is to help students hone their critical thinking ability and capacity for rational inference—vital skills that are sure to be of later use.
Texts:
- Copi and Cohen, Introduction to Logic
Assessment: Grades will be based on homework problem sets, in-class examinations, attendance and participation, and a final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 115: Introduction to Ethics
Causey, MWF 11:45-12:35, Max: 40
Content: This course is an introduction to the philosophical study of ethics. Ethics is concerned with more than just moral right and wrong. It asks the question of what constitutes the good life itself. In this course we will pursue both questions of moral decision making and of the good life. What principles should guide us in our everyday moral decision making? What is the best way of life for me to choose? Through the readings and lectures the student will be exposed to the main historical approaches interspersed with more contemporary accounts. The student will be encouraged to enter the philosophical conversation with his or her own views.
Texts:
- Cahn and Markie, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, 4th edition
Assessment: 2 in-class exams (midterm and final), term paper (7-8 pages), and active class participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 115: Introduction to Ethics
Goldenbaum, TT 2:30-3:45, Max: 40
Content: What is good or bad? Can we ever come to agree about these values? Don’t moral values depend on individual judgment, related to culture, gender, race, or social background? We will also ask whether a moral life is compatible with a happy life and how human freedom is (or is not) a precondition for moral responsibility. We are going to discuss a variety of moral issues of our own time as human rights, abortion, environmental behavior, and euthanasia, and look for advice as provided by some philosophers of the past.
Texts:
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
- Mill, Utilitarianism
- Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals
- Plato, Politeia
- Spinoza, Ethics
Assessment: Two essays of approximately five pages, an oral presentation on a temporary ethical issue, final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 115: Introduction to Ethics
McAndrew, MWF 3:00-3:50, Max: 40
Content: The question of how one ought to live is among the most important and persistent questions faced, not only by philosophers, but by all human beings. Socrates famously turned away from the theoretical concerns of his predecessors in pursuit of ethical questions, and many subsequent philosophers have considered ethics to be the highest philosophical discipline. In this class, we will closely read four philosophical masterpieces within the field of ethics. We will examine how these thinkers have answered the questions: what is the good, what is its relation to happiness, and what constitutes the good life?
Texts:
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
- Mill, Utilitarianism
- Plato, Republic
Assessment: Grades will be based on two essays (4-6 pages), a final, and participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 115: Introduction to Ethics
Moeller, TT 8:30-9:45, Max: 20
Content: Perhaps the single most important thing in life is to be a good person. While religion, the family, or the state may be responsible in large part for the set of values and rules for action that determine what it is to be a good person in specific contexts, philosophy alone attempts to bring these disparate institutional demands together into a systematic, disciplined and methodical understanding of the good, and to show the limitations of such an attempt. This class will inquire from a variety of historical periods and philosophical approaches into how one can be a good person and why this is an important goal. Special emphasis will be given to the role freedom has in living ethically.
Texts:
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals
- Mill, Utilitarianism
- Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals
- Selections from Aurelius, Foucault, James, Sartre, and David Foster Wallace will be made available as handouts.
Assessment: Three exams, attendance and participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 115: Introduction to Ethics
Fagiano, MWF 10:40-11:30, Max: 20
Content: In this course we will contemplate two questions: What does it mean to live a good life? What should I do with my life?
We will reflect upon these two interrelated questions by exploring how thinkers throughout the history of Western philosophy have answered them. Additionally, and for comparative purposes, we will also consider thinkers within non-Western intellectual and moral traditions. The ultimate aim of this class is to see whether or not these ideas have any relevance to students’ lives.
Texts:
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- Aurelius: The Emperors Handbook
- Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals
- Plato, Republic
- Handouts: James, The Philosopher and the Moral Life (handout) Emerson, Self-Reliance (handout). Additional handouts from authors/books/schools: Jaspers (axial age), Avatamsaka Sutra, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Kant, Mill.
Assessment: Grading:--10% Participation--This includes: (1) an engagement with the class, and (2) the creation of three moral dilemmas.--20% Paper--this paper will use an ethical theory to analyze an actual moral dilemma.--30% Mid-term--40% Final.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 190: (Freshman Seminar) The Good Life
Lysaker, TT 11:30-12:45, Max: 15
Content: This course will consider multiple accounts of human flourishing and the challenges that humans face in pursuit of the good. Of particular concern will be the cultivation of good character. Class time will revolve around close reading and discussion.
Texts:
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- Camus, The Plague
- de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity
- Dewey, Individualism Old and New
- Emerson, Experience
- Emerson, Friendship
- Emerson, Self-Reliance
- Epictetus, Handbook
- The Upanishads
Assessment: Students will be asked to participate in discussion and write short (1-2 pp) as well as mid-length (4-6 pp) expository essays. At least one paper must be revised in light of comments and instructions.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 205: Introduction to Biomedical Ethics
Fotion, TT 10:00-11:15, Max: 40
Content: Biomedical ethics is one of several so called practical ethics subjects roughly on a par with business, military and environmental ethics. The problems dealt with in this field of ethics include the following:
- When, if ever, do health-care providers cease to support human life?
- Should they ever take steps alone, or with the assistance of patients, to actually end life?
- Is abortion an ending of life and should it be permitted?
- When, if ever, should providers not reveal the truth to their patients (or the subjects of experiments)?
- When, if ever, should health-care providers break rules of confidentiality concerning their patients?
- How should scarce medical resources be allocated? Should the rich have ccess to these resources first since they have the money to pay for medical services? Or should we tax the rich and thus let others have access (and at the same time deny the rich the opportunity to buy medical services?
- Is health care in the US being distributed fairly? Does our system of health care need reform? Is managed care in the US making things worse of better?
Texts:
- Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics
- Pence, Classic Cases in Medical Ethics, 3rd edition
Assessment: Journal of short essays, two mid-term tests (100 points each), and one
semi-cumulative final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 215: Contemporary Moral Issues
Flynn, MWF 10:40-11:30, Max: 40
Content: Contemporary Moral Issues. After reviewing the nature of moral reasoning and considering the general positions of several major schools of thought, we shall read and discuss alternative stands on such moral issues as Sexual Morality, Censorship, Drugs, Racism, Euthanasia, Abortion, The Death Penalty, War, World Hunger, Treatment of Animals and the Environment. Obviously, none of these topics can be treated at any length in such an introductory survey, but the aim is to raise one’s consciousness and sharpen one’s sensitivity to the complexity of these disputed issues.
Texts:
- Timmons, Disputed Moral Issues: A Reader
We will also view and discuss two films of particular ethical significance.
Assessment: This is a lecture class with discussion. There will be three written exams of equal value throughout the semester (at 30% each) as well as a short essay on one of the topics discussed in class (at 10%).
Participation will prove decisive in borderline cases.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 230WR: Philosophies of Human Nature
Verene, TT 10:00-11:15, Max: 18
Content: Who am I? How can I attain self-knowledge? What is human nature? What is the meaning of life? These questions originate in Greek philosophy with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, with the idea of the examined life and the idea of human beings as rational animals. Various answers to and considerations of these questions are to be found in works of ancient and modern philosophy. The works to be read are short and clearly written classics.
Texts:
- Aquinas, Treatise on Human Nature
- Cassirer, An Essay on Man
- Dostoevesky, Notes from the Underground
- Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
- La Mettrie, Man a Machine
- Pico, On the Dignity of Man
- Plato, Phaedo
Assessment: Readings, discussions, and writing assignments.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 250: History of Western Philosophy I
Marcus, MWF 2:00-2:50, Max: 65
Content: In Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that justice “is the good that the happy man loves both for its own sake and for the effects it produces.” In a like manner, ancient, medieval and Renaissance philosophy are fascinating in themselves and for their effect upon later philosophy and culture. In this course, we will attempt to enter into ancient, medieval and Renaissance world views as we follow the emergence of philosophical spirit. While reliving this conceptual evolution, we will attend to its echoes in the modern world.
Texts:
- Cohen, Curd and Reeve, Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy
- Baird and Kaufmann, Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
- Selected Blackboard readings
Assessment: Three exams (including take-home final), question cards and participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 251: History of Western Philosophy II: Modern
Marcus, TT 11:30-12:45, Max: 65
Content: G. W. F. Hegel observed that philosophy strives for absolute knowing by “the labor of the negative.” In light of that observation, we will see how the Renaissance and the Reformation gave rise to a tension between skepticism and certainty that resulted in a new concept of human reason. We will follow this notion of reason as it develops through four movements—the rationalism of René Descartes, the skepticism of David Hume, the critical idealism of Immanuel Kant, and the speculative idealism of Hegel. Throughout our journey, we will attend to questions of method, knowing, reality, morality, consciousness, and self as we ask, what is the nature of philosophy in the modern world?
Texts:
- Descartes, A Discourse on the Method
- Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
- Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
- Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
- Hegel, The Hegel Reader, ed. Houlgate
Assessment: Midterm and final examinations, weekly discussion cards and participation.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 304WR: American Philosophy (Same as AMST 385WR)
Stuhr, TT 1:00-2:15, Max: 25
Content: This course surveys important perspectives, ideas, and theories in the writings of major American thinkers. The course will focus on pragmatism as developed most fully in the work of Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead, and will examine pragmatism in the context of classical American philosophy more generally. In addition, the course will examine the larger intellectual and cultural context of American thought through reference to earlier intellectual traditions (for example, puritans, American enlightenment figures, and transcendentalists) and writers often marginalized or ignored (for example, women writers, Native American oratory, and African American thinkers). Finally, the course will examine recent work on American culture that draws on pragmatism. The course format is informal lecture and as much discussion as class size permits. The course aims to provide an understanding of American philosophical traditions, the relation of American philosophy to the history of philosophy more generally, and connections between American philosophy and American culture. In addition, this WR course seeks to develop analytical, descriptive, and imaginative writing abilities.
Texts:
- Addams, Democracy and Social Ethics (available online)
- DuBois, The Souls of Black Folks
- Rorty, Achieving Our Country
- Stuhr, Pragmatism and Classical American Philosophy
- Stuhr, Pragmatism, Postmodernism and the Future of Philosophy
- West, Democracy Matters
Additional required readings will be available as handouts, electronic texts, or via library reserve.
Assessment:
- Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in all class meetings. (This is a requirement to pass the course.)
- Study question papers: After each class meeting (or earlier), a short list of study questions concerning the major points in the assigned reading for the next class session will be distributed. Students shall respond in writing to these questions electronically. Approximately 15 times during the semester, these responses will be collected at the beginning of class, evaluated, and returned. Late papers will not be accepted. Papers should be 300-450 words long (1-1.5 pages). Papers will be returned before the following class session with comments and one of the following three marks: + (excellent understanding of reading), a √ (adequate understanding), or a – (insufficient understanding of the reading and an invitation to meet with the instructor). Students who do not submit papers will receive a 0, and students who receive 0s on three or more papers will not pass the course.
- Final project. Drawing on study question papers and their own interests, students must complete a final paper or other final project or series of exercises. Students must provide the instructor a written proposal that outlines the format and objectives of this final project, and then must meet with the instructor to receive project approval and suggestions. A final project may take any variety of forms—a long paper, a series of shorter papers, a play, a final exam, creative artwork (a musical composition, a painting), etc. However, all final exercises must demonstrate knowledge of a significant range of materials covered in the course, and must contain and carefully defend a critical written perspective (informed by these materials).
Students who satisfy requirement #1 will receive a final grade based 50% on study question papers and class participation and 50% on the final project.
This class has been approved as a Writing Requirement course by the Educational Policy Committee
Prerequisite: One philosophy course numbered 200 or above, or one American Studies course numbered 200 or above.
PHIL 315: Ethics
Fotion, TT 8:30-9:45, Max: 40
Content: This course will be divided into two parts. The first will focus on the history of ethics and in the process discuss such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Augustine, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Mill and Nietzsche. The list of figures to be discussed may vary depending on student interest. The second part will focus on more contemporary figures such as Moore, Prichard, Ross, Ayer, Hare, Brandt, Williams, Rawls, Sturgeon, and Rachels. Again depending on student interest we may add to or subtract from this list.
While we are discussing these various figures we will also discuss (and read about) specific moral issues that trouble us today. These issues include abortion, the death penalty, torture, and animal rights.
Texts:
- Cahn and Markie, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, 3rd edition
Assessment: TBA
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 320: Philosophy of Law
Livingston, TT 2:30-3:45, Max: 30
Content: The course is divided into two parts. In the first, we will explore a number of philosophical theories that seek to answer the question “What is Law?” Implied in that question are other questions about the relation of law to morality, the purpose of law, the source of its authority to punish; and the question of whether one can ever be justified in disobeying the law. In the second part of the course, we will examine the U.S. Constitution in the light of these theories. We will pay special attention to some of the deep changes and conflicts that occurred in constitutional thinking after the Civil War, and especially to those based on the Fourteenth Amendment. We will consider that how one understands these changes (and the Constitution itself) depends on which of the philosophical theories of law (discussed in the first part of the course) we believe to be true.
Texts:
- Berger, Government by Judiciary
- Feinberg and Coleman, The Philosophy of Law, 6th edition
- Reprints of primary legal documents
Assessment: Mid-term exam and a term paper (on a topic to be determined by the student and instructor).
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 332: Social and Political Philosophy
Lysaker, TT 2:30-3:45, Max: 30
Content: We will focus on the roots of modern Euro-American political theory. Texts will be drawn from those published between 1540 and 1870. Themes will include: {a} the nature, sources, and limits of representative government, {b} the origin and function of rights, {c} the nature of civil society and the scope of its freedoms, and {d} the struggles of
exploited and oppressed groups to find justice and freedom in the political context established by {a}, {b}, and {c}.
Texts:
We will read texts from the following authors: Calvin, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Smith, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, Wollstonecraft, Mill, Marx, Douglass, and others.
Assessment: Students will be asked to write two medium length essays (4-6 pp) and complete two take-home exams.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 368: Seminar on Modern Philosophy
Goldenbaum, TT 11:30-12:45, Max: 30
Content: Modern Philosophy starts with the famous Galileo - his engagement for the Copernican system, his new scientific method and his turn to atomism. Although infamously put on trial by the Catholic Church and sentenced to lifelong house arrest he did not change his mind. Since then we see scientists and philosophers struggle with religion. Can science be compatible with religion at all? We will read some of the most challenging texts of Jewish and Christian modern philosophers, all trying to answer this question, from quite different points of view.
Texts:
- Galileo, Letter to Princess Christina
- Hume, Dialogue on Natural Religion
- Kant, Religion within the limits of reason alone
- Mendelssohn, Jerusalem
- Leibniz, Theodicy
- Spinoza, Theological-political Treatise
Assessment: Active class participation, three papers, and final exam.
Prerequisite: None
PHIL 495A: Honors Directed Reading
TBA
PHIL 495BWR: Honors Directed Reading
TBA
PHIL 497R: Directed Reading
TBA |
