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Undergraduate Courses Fall 2008
Intensive Introductory Courses
V83.0010-001
Central Problems in Philosophy
MW 9:30-10:45
James Pryor
This course is an introduction to the methods of contemporary philosophy, concentrating on the following questions:
1. The Problem of Other Minds: How can we tell whether animals and future computers have minds, or whether they're instead just mindless automata? How can we tell that other people have minds?
2. Free Will: Is it already settled how the future is going to turn out? If so, does that mean you have no free will? Are your actions and decisions all part of the mechanical chain of causes and effects studied by physicists?
3. The Mind/Body Problem: What is the relation between your mind and your body? Are they made up of different stuffs? If a computer duplicates the neural structure of your brain, will it have the same thoughts and self-awareness that you have?
4. Life and Death: What does it mean to die? Why is death bad? Do you have an immortal soul which is able to survive the death of your body?
5. Personal Identity: What makes you the person you are? Why would a clone of you have to be a different person than you are yourself? If we perfectly recorded all the neural patterns in your brain right now, could we use that recording to "bring you back" after a fatal accident?
There will be mandatory recitations for this course.
Group I: History of Philosophy
History of Ancient Philosophy
V83.0020-001
MW 11:00-12:15
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.
There will be mandatory recitations for this course.
V83.0021-001
History of Modern Philosophy
MW 12:30-1:45
David Barnett
We’ll be examining some of philosophy’s “Greatest Hits,” from some of the 17th and 18th centuries’ greatest thinkers: Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, and Kant. We’ll be asking questions like: Is there a God, and how could we know? Is your mind just your brain, or do you have an immaterial soul? What is free will, and are we just fooling ourselves when we think we have it? Does your subjective perception of the world correspond to how it is in reality, and how can you possibly know? Are there universal moral duties, which everyone has regardless of their time, place, and social position?
V83.0101
Topics in History of Philosophy
TR 3:30-4:45
Japa Pallikkathayil
This course examines the social contract tradition in political philosophy. Views in this tradition begin by considering the kinds of problems we would face in the absence of coercive political institutions, i.e. in a 'state of nature'. In light of these purported problems, these views then employ some conception of a contract in the attempt to justify the state's use of coercion. Readings will be drawn primarily from Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant. We will focus on both understanding and critically evaluating the different ways in which these philosophers conceive of the state of nature and the contract that establishes the state.
Group II: Ethics, Value, and Society
V83.0040-001
Ethics
MW 2:00-3:15
Bogdan Rabanca
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.
V83.0041
Nature of Values
MW 11:00-12:15
Dana Evan
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.
V83.0045
Political Philosophy
TR 11:00-12:15
Samuel Scheffler
This course will deal with central questions about the justification of political and social institutions. The primary focus will be on contemporary philosophical thought in the liberal tradition, with special emphasis on the work of John Rawls.
There will be mandatory recitations for this course.
V83.0050
Medical Ethics
TR 9:30-10:45
Greg Bognar
This course examines moral issues in medical practice and research. Topics include: abortion, euthanasia, and end-of-life decision making; consent, deception, autonomy and paternalism; ethical issues in animal, tem-cell, and clinical research; reproductive autonomy, cloning, and genetic enhancement; the allocation of health care resources and access to care; procurement and trade in organs.
V83.0053
Ethics and the Environment
TR 2:00-3:15
Dale Jamieson
Environmental philosophy is a large subject that involves questions in metaphysics, philosophy of science, and history of philosophy, as well as in such normative areas as ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. This class is primarily devoted to these normative areas. Beginning with some basic concepts in value theory, the goal is not to arrive at definite solutions to specific environmental problems, but rather (i) to improve your ability to think critically, read closely, and to argue well about environmental issues; (ii) to introduce you to some major controversies in environmental philosophy; and (iii) to aid you in arriving at your own rational and clear-minded views about the matters under discussion.
There will be mandatory recitations for this course.
Group III: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic
V83.0070-001
Logic
MW 12:30-1:45
Walter Dean
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.
V83.0076-001
Belief, Truth and Knowledge
MW 2:00-3:15
Seunghyun Song
This course is an inquiry into the nature of inquiry. We often seek answers to questions—e.g., Who was responsible for the Sept 11 attacks? Will the Knicks win tonight? 837+655=?—and take ourselves to know the answers, or have rational opinions, or to have good evidence for our views. Rather than answer these questions, we will step back and ask, What is the nature of evidence? and, What it is to know something or to be rational? In answering these questions, we will examine versions of, and responses to Skepticism: that there is very little we can know or have reason to believe.
V83.0078
Metaphysics
TR 3:30-4:45
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
Philosophy of Mind
TR 2:00-3:15
Geoffrey Lee
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.
V83.0085
Philosophy of Language
TR 11:00-12:15
Michael Raven
This course will focus on the central questions in the philosophy of language. The two central themes will be meaning and reference. We will explore questions like: What is it for a person to mean something by uttering a sentence? What is it for that sentence to mean something? How can ink on a page or sounds emitted from our throats refer to things in the outside world? We will also investigate the profound influence the philosophy of language has had on contemporary philosophy.
V83.0090
Philosophy of Science
MW 9:30-10:45
Michael Strevens
What is science? How does it work? When it works, what kind of knowledge does it provide? Is there a scientific method? What is a scientific theory? How do experiments provide evidence for theories? What is the nature of scientific explanation? How does the social organization of science contribute, if at all, to its success?
V83.0104
Topics in Language and Mind
MW 3:30-4:45
Imogen Dickie
Reference and Perception
This course is about how our thought and speech about particular things work, and how the capacities to think and speak about particular things relate to the capacity to perceive them. Here are some examples of questions we will look at: ‘What makes it the case that your uses of a proper name (like “Abraham Lincoln” or “Washington Square”) refer to a determinate object?’; ‘Do you have to know any non-trivial truths about an object in order to refer to it?’; ‘What is the relation between referring to an object using a demonstrative (like “this” or “that”) and perceiving the object?’; ‘Is “I” a referring expression?’; ‘How are we able to understand names like “Pegasus” and “Sherlock Holmes” which seem not to refer to anything?’.
V83.0201-001
Honors Seminar
Friday 1-3
Sharon Street
Graduate courses offered for Philosophy Majors
V83.1005
Advanced Introduction to Bioethics
MW 5:30-7:30
William Ruddick
The course explores a range of concepts and principles for framing and addressing moral questions in both medical and environmental practices. Topics include: Concepts of Health, Disease, and Nature; Reverence and Respect for Life; Sentience, Pain, and Empathy, Rights to Life and Health care; Autonomy, Paternalism, and Trust; Human and Animal Research; Conflicts of Interest; Political and ethical principles of medical care, research, and environmental protection; Levels of population and consumption; Biodiversity and extinction.
This course may be taken by senior Philosophy majors in place of Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy in order to satisfy the Area 7 requirement.)
Philosophy Department –New York University
5 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003-6688. (212) 998-8320. FAX: (212) 995-4179.
DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES:
Professor John Richardson
Room 304, 5 Washington Place Fall office hours:
Email: jr8@nyu.edu Mon 11:00-12:30, Th 11:00-12:30
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF:
Matt Perry; matt.perry@nyu.edu; 998-3546
Debbie Bula: db7@nyu.edu ; 998-8325
Anupum Mehrotra: aqm4735@nyu.edu ; 998-8320
Keri Sender: ks121@nyu.edu; 998-9056
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR:
The Department changed the major requirements in Spring 2005, by increasing the number of courses needed from 9 to 10. However, the new requirements will only apply to students entering NYU in September 2005 and after.
Requirements for students who began at NYU before September 2005:
A major in philosophy requires nine 4-point courses in the department, with numbers higher than V83.0009 (so that Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics & Society do not count). These nine courses must include (1) Logic, V83.0070; (2) History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; (3) History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; (4) Ethics, V83.0040; or Nature of Values, V83.0041; or Political Philosophy, V83.0045; (5) Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076; or Metaphysics, V83.0078; (6) Minds and Machines, V83.0015; or Philosophy of Mind, V83.0080; or Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and (7) Topics in the History of Philosophy, V83.0101; or Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy, V83.0102; or Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology, V83.0103; or Topics in Language and Mind, V83.0104. No credit toward the major is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C.
Requirements for students who began at NYU in September 2005 and thereafter:
A major in philosophy requires ten 4-point courses in the department, with numbers higher than V83.0009 (so that Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics & Society do not count). These ten courses must include (1) Logic, V83.0070; (2) History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; (3) History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; (4) Ethics, V83.0040; or Nature of Values, V83.0041; or Political Philosophy, V83.0045; (5) Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076; or Metaphysics, V83.0078; (6) Minds and Machines, V83.0015; or Philosophy of Mind, V83.0080; or Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and (7) Topics in the History of Philosophy, V83.0101; or Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy, V83.0102; or Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology, V83.0103; or Topics in Language and Mind, V83.0104. Of the three honors courses, only the first two—the Junior Honors Proseminar and the Senior Honors Seminar—may be counted towards the ten courses required. No credit toward the major is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C.
Recommendations on course sequence:
Students considering a major in philosophy are encouraged to begin with one of the Intensive Introductory Courses, or with one of the following: History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; Ethics, V83.0040; or Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076. Logic, V83.0070, should be taken as soon as possible. The Topics courses are the most advanced undergraduate courses, and presuppose coursework in their areas.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINOR:
A minor in philosophy requires four 4-point courses, at least three beyond the Introductory Courses. One course must be History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020, or History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; one course each must come from Group 2 (Ethics, Value, and Society) and Group 3 (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic). (Consult the Bulletin or the Department’s on-line course-list for the classification of courses in these Groups.) No credit toward the minor is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C.
JOINT MAJOR IN LANGUAGE AND MIND:
This major, intended as an introduction to cognitive science, is administered by the Departments of Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. Eleven courses are required (four in linguistics, one in philosophy, five in psychology, and one additional course) to be constituted as follows. The linguistics component consists of Language, V61.0001; Grammatical Analysis, V61.0013; Introduction to Cognitive Science, V61.0028; and one more course chosen from Computational Models of Sentence Construction, V61.0024; Phonological Analysis, V61.0012; and Introduction to Semantics, V61.0004. The philosophy component consists of one course, chosen from Minds and Machines, V83.0015; Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and Logic, V83.0070. The psychology component consists of four required courses: Introduction to Psychology, A89.0001; Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, V89.0010; The Psychology of Language, V89.0056; and Cognition, V89.0029; in addition, one course, chosen from Seminar in Thinking, V89.0026; Language Acquisition and Cognitive Development, V89.0300; and Laboratory in Human Cognition, V89.0028. The eleventh course will be one of the above-listed courses that has not already been chosen to satisfy the departmental components.
INDEPENDENT STUDY:
A student may sign up for an independent study course if he or she obtains the consent of a faculty member who approves the study project and agrees to serve as adviser. The student must also obtain the approval of either the department chair or the director of undergraduate studies. The student may take no more than one such course in any given semester and no more than two such courses in total, unless granted special permission by either the department chair or the director of undergraduate studies.
HONORS PROGRAM:
The Department has also made changes in its Honors Program, in particular by a) changing the credits for the senior honors courses from 2 to 4 points (per course), b) adding a third course, the Junior Honors Proseminar, and c) raising the grade point requirement (both overall and in philosophy courses) from 3.5 to 3.65. (Note: only the first of these changes applies to students who are seniors in 2005-6.) Here is the description of the new program:
Honors in philosophy will be awarded to majors who (1) have an overall grade point average of 3.65 and an average in philosophy courses of 3.65, and (2) successfully complete the honors program. This program consists in the following 3 courses. (Note: of these courses, only the first two may be counted towards the 10 courses required for the major.)
1. The Junior Honors Proseminar, to be taken in spring semester of junior year. This course will play the dual roles of introducing students to core readings in some of the main areas of current philosophy, and of giving them an intensive training in writing philosophy. Admission to this course usually requires a GPA, both overall and in philosophy courses, of at least 3.65, as well as the permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The Department will try to make alternative arrangements for students who wish to participate in the Honors Program but who will be studying abroad in this semester of their junior year.
2. The Senior Honors Seminar, to be taken in fall semester of senior year. Here students begin to develop their thesis projects, meeting weekly as a group under the direction of a faculty member, and presenting and discussing their thesis arguments. Students will also select, and begin to meet separately with, their individual thesis advisors—faculty who work in the areas of their thesis projects. Entry to this seminar depends on satisfactory completion of the Junior Honors Proseminar—or on the special approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. It also usually requires a GPA of at least 3.65.
3. Senior Honors Research, to be taken in spring semester of senior year. The seminar no longer meets, but each student continues to meet separately with his/her individual thesis advisor, producing and discussing a series of rough drafts of the thesis. The final version must be submitted by a deadline to be determined, in April. It must be approved by the thesis advisor, as well as by a second faculty reader, for honors to be awarded. The student must also finish with a GPA of at least 3.65—and here no exceptions will be made. In addition, the thesis advisors will meet after the decisions by readers have been made, and award some students highest or high honors, based on thesis quality and other factors (including GPA in philosophy courses).
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