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Undergraduate Courses Fall 2005
Intensive Introductory Course
V83.0010-001
Central Problems in Philosophy
MW 9:30-10:45
David Velleman
An introduction to the discipline of philosophy. Topics will include: -- skepticism (Can I know anything for certain?) -- personal identity (Could I continue to exist after my body dies?) -- the justification of punishment (Do wrongdoers deserve to suffer?) -- the nature of property rights (What makes something "mine"?) -- the harm of death (Is dying a misfortune?) Requirements: six 2-page papers and a final exam.
Group I: History of Philosophy
History of Ancient Philosophy
V83.0020-001
TR 2-3:15
Matt Evans
Western philosophy owes its birth to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In their care many of the foundational questions in ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind were raised for the first time and developed in striking and sophisticated ways. We will try to determine which questions they asked, what their answers were, and whether we should accept their answers as correct even now.
V83.0021-001
History of Modern Philosophy
MW 12:30-1:45
Wayne Waxman
In this course, we will read excerpts from the key metaphysical and epistemological texts of the greatest thinkers of what is often called philosophy’s Golden Age: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
V83.0030-001
Kant
MW 11-12:15
Beatrice Longuenesse
In this course the primary focus will be on Kant’s moral philosophy and its relation to Kant’s theory of freedom and the nature of persons. Readings will be from Kant’s writings on morality, metaphysics, religion, and law, as well as from contemporary discussions of Kant’s views.
Group II: Ethics, Value, and Society
V83.0040-001
Ethics
MW3:30-4:45
Sharon Street
In this course, we will examine some central topics in moral philosophy. Among the questions we will consider are: What reason is there to be moral? Is pleasure the only ultimate good? 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? Are there such things as moral facts, and if so, how should we understand them? Is there a single true morality, or is moral truth relative to culture or the individual? Readings will be drawn from both contemporary and historical sources.
V83.0096-001
Philosophy of Religion
TR 3:30-4:45
Ryan Preston
The course will survey some central topics in the philosophy of religion. These will include: The rationality of faith, arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, the possibility and significance of immortality, and theistic conceptions of the meaning of life.
Group III: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic
V83.0070-001
Logic
MW 2-3:15 PM
Ray Buchanan
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
Metaphysics
MW 11-12:15
Peter Unger
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
Philosophy of Mind
MW 12:30-1:45
Thomas Nagel
The course will be primarily about the mind-body problem, but with some discussion of the problem of other minds, personal identity, and theory of action.
V83.0101-001
Topics in History of Philosophy
MW 4:55-6:10
Beatrice Longuenesse
In this course we will try to understand how and why notions of self-consciousness and personal identity have evolved in the modern period, from Descartes to present times. Readings will include selections from Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein, and contemporary discussions of the same issues.
V83.0103-001
Topics In Metaphysics and Epistemology
TR 4:55-6:10
Nico Silins
The focus of this seminar will be on color and color experience. The first part will concern what color properties are and whether anything has them. The second part will concern how color properties are represented in our visual experiences. The final part will address how our experiences make it reasonable for us to believe that the world is the way they represent it to be.
V83.0104-001
Topics in Language and Mind
TR 11-12:15
Paul Horwich
This course will consider how the philosophy of language has evolved over the last hundred years or so, focusing on the works of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Kripke, and Chomsky.
V83.0201-001
Honors Seminar
Elizabeth Harman
TBA
ANTICIPATED SPRING 2006 SCHEDULE:
1. Pryor: Central Problems (intensive intro), V83.0010
2. Ruddick, Life and Death (intensive intro), V83.0017
3. Garrett: History of Modern, V83.0021
4. Richardson: Existentialism and Phenomenology, V83.0036
5. Harman: Ethics, V83.0040
6. Street: The Nature of Values, V83.0041
7. PrestonMedical Ethics, V83.0050
8. Barnhill: Philosophical Perspectives on Feminism and Gender, V83.0055
9. Buchanan: Logic, V83.0070
10. White, Belief, Truth and Knowledge, V83.0076
11. North: Philosophy of Science, V83.0090
12. Unger: Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy, V83.0102
13. Field: Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology, V83.0103
14. Evans: Junior Honors Proseminar, NUMBER TO BE ASSIGNED
15. Fine: Metalogic, NUMBER TO BE ASSIGNED
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