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Graduate Courses Fall 1998G83.1192-001 The course will focus on Aristotle's (philosophical) biology and psychology. After a few weeks preparing the context in his metaphysics by examining key concepts such as substance, actuality, and reason/cause, we'll turn to his account of living things. This biology has often been judged deeply flawed, especially in its insistence on teleological and 'essentialist' explanations of organisms, which many take to have been refuted by Darwinism. By inspecting the logic of these explanations, and comparing it with that of evolutionary accounts, we'll reassess this common criticism. We'll then turn to Aristotle's 'philosophy of mind', i.e. his analysis of cognitive or mental powers. Here again our interest will be in the relation to current positions; among other things, we'll look at the recent debate whether Aristotle offers a 'functionalist' analysis of mind. At the end we may look briefly at the way both biology and psychology orient Aristotle's ethics. G83.2223-001 By looking at various epistemological theories, we get a model for thinking about similar questions in other areas. What makes it the case that something has a moral or mental property? What does "making it the case" come to? And what are the primary bearers of moral properties (agents, actions or states of affairs) and mental properties (theories, beliefs, or experiences)? We will be concerned with issues specific to epistemology, for example, questions about the relation between experience and justification and the nature of the priori, but we will try to keep an eye on these structural issues that reappear in other areas of philosophy. The readings will be at least primarily twentieth century, some of the classics and some brand new, and we hope to have a few visitors in to tell us what they are working on now. G83.2226-001 G83.2226-002 This seminar will deal with certain fundamental questions concerning the intelligibility and significance of modal and essentialist notions. In the first part, I shall examine the criticisms of these notions made by Quine and the various responses to them. In the second part, I shall develop my own 'ultra-essentialist' view, according to which essentialist claims are conceived as going beyond modal claims, and show how this has interesting implications for the nature of metaphysics. G83.2282-001 The course surveys twentieth-century contributions to legal philosophy. In addition to the central debate between H.L.A. Hart and Ronald Dworkin over the concept of law, we discuss Natural Law Theory, Legal Realism, Critical Legal studies, Feminist Jurisprudence, Critical Race Theory, and some aspects of Postmodern Legal Theory. The course begins with a very brief introduction to the methods of moral and political theory. There is a take-home examination, with a paper option for half the credit for the course. The course will meet Mondays and Wednesdays, from 11 to 12:30pm, in room 208; note that classes begin a week early at the law school. G83.2285-001 G83.2285-002 G83.2285-003 Topic for fall, 1998: Distributive Justice and Some Issues in Tax Policy The course will examine selected issues in taxation policy from the perspective of the philosophy of distributed justice. We will begin with a survey of the major positions in contemporary discussions of distributive justice. Tax policy issues to be discussed will include tax equity norms, progressivity in tax rates, the choice of tax base, and the taxation of gratuitous transfers of wealth. Readings will include works by Rawls, Nozick, and writers in the utilitarian tradition, as well as recent work by Louis Kaplow and other tax policy theorists. Please note: Philosophy students must obtain the permission of the instructors before registering for this course. G83.2285-004 G83.3300-001 G83.3301-001 | |
