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Undergraduate Courses Fall 2003Introductory Courses V83.0001-001 The most basic questions about human life and its place in the universe. Topics may include free will, the relation of the mind to the body, and immortality; skepticism, self-knowledge, causality, and a priori knowledge; religious and secular ethical codes and theories; and intuition, rationality, and faith. Includes classic and current philosophers (e.g., Plato, Descartes, Hume, Russell, Sartre). This course does not count toward the major requirement. V83.0010-001 Group I: History of Philosophy V83.0020-001 Examination of the major figures and movements in Greek Philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. Group II: Ethics, Value, and Society V83.0040-001 An examination of some central topics in moral philosophy. We will consider several particular moral issues, such as: Is abortion morally permissible? Is there a moral difference between killing someone and letting her die? How is it permissible to treat animals? We will also consider several general issues about morality, such as: Why be moral? What makes an action right or wrong, and to what extent is this a matter of the action's consequences? What role should the concept of virtue play in moral theorizing? Is there a single true morality, or is moral truth relative to cultures or individuals? V83.0041-001 This course will provide an intensive introduction to metaethics, which is the branch of moral philosophy that centers around questions such as the following: When we use moral language, are we making claims that are capable of being true or false, or are we merely expressing our feelings or giving voice to some other state of mind? Should truth in morals be understood by analogy with truth in the sciences, or must it be understood according to an entirely different model? Are there objective moral truths that hold across all times and cultures, or is some version of moral relativism correct? Readings will be drawn primarily from contemporary sources. Prerequisite: at least one course in philosophy or consent of the instructor. V83.0050-001 In the first part of the course, we will consider a number of ethical issues that arise in the practice of medicine. We will discuss confidentiality, truthfulness, informed consent, competence, refusal of treatment, assisted suicide, decisions for children, and professional obligations. In the second part of the course, we will consider ethical issues that are related to health care systems, public policies, and social institutions. We will discuss the allocation of scarce resources, social justice, international obligations, environmental responsibility, and civic engagement. Throughout the course, we will reflect on different philosophical approaches to issues in medical ethics. Group III: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic V83.0070-001 Introduces the techniques, results, and philosophical import of 20th century formal logic. Principal concepts include those of sentence, set, interpretation, validity, consistency, consequence, tautology, derivation, and completeness. V83.0078-001 What is the ultimate nature of the universe, the nature of all concrete reality? Is it physical, or mental, or both, or neither? And, what is our nature: are we physical, or mental, or both, or neither? We'll be concerned to use our inquiry into these questions to help us with traditionally central philosophical problems, including the problem of free will, the problem of personal identity, and the mind-body problem. While much of the course will treat these topics, some will treat some other topics. V83.0080-001 What is involved in seeing an object, hearing and understanding a friend’s utterance, or appreciating a piece of music? This course will be concerned with the philosophical issues involved in addressing these questions. Topics to be covered will, as time permits, be drawn from the following: perception, sensation and representation; the emotions; action; the self; action, awareness, and joint awareness; thought about the objective world and thought about the mental world of other people; reasons and psychological explanation; mental representation. Particular attention will be devoted to issues of interdisciplinary interest; issues overlapping with the concerns of psychology and the other cognitive sciences will be emphasized throughout. Prerequisites: introductory logic; some background in the philosophy of language is highly desirable. V83.0090-001 We will consider a range of question about the nature and objectivity of scientific knowledge. What is the difference between scientific explanations and other ones? What is the role of observation and experiment in scientific knowledge? How and why does scientific knowledge change over time? Can we have knowledge of what is in principle unobservable? Is scientific knowledge more objective than other forms of knowledge? We will read some classic contributions to the philosophy of science from the last fifty years. V83.0103-001 Our focus will be on the relation between theory and evidence. What is it for something to provide good evidence for a theory? How should we go about evaluating the strength of our evidence? How should we adjust our beliefs in the light of our evidence? Some of the approaches that we will consider include enumerative induction, the hypothetico-deductive method, Mill’s methods, Bayesian probability theory, and inference to the best explanation. We will consider a number of paradoxes of rational belief, so be prepared to puzzle over some confusing topics. Some very simple logic and math will occasionally be used—extreme mathaphobes should consult with me before taking the course. V83.0104-001 What is involved in seeing an object, understanding another person’s actions and point of view on the world, and understanding such diverse objects of perception as language and music? This course will be concerned with the philosophical issues raised in addressing these questions. Topics to be covered, as time permits, will be drawn from the following: perception, sensation, and representation; the ability to think about the non-mental world, and about the mental world of other people; how intentional contents of mental states are individuated, and the consequences of a correct account of this individuation; the emotions, other forms of awareness, and joint awareness; reasons and psychological explanation; tacit knowledge. Particular attention will be devoted to issues of interdisciplinary interest, especially to connections with the cognitive sciences. The significance of positions in the philosophy of mind for problems in aesthetics will also be discussed. Prerequisites: a course in elementary logic; some background in the philosophy of language will also be extremely helpful. V83.0201-001 | |
