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Undergraduate Courses Spring 2001

Non-Major Introductory Courses

V83.0005-001
Ethics and Society
TR 8:00-9:15 AM
TBA
Examines grounds for moral judgment and action in various social contexts. Typical topics: public versus private good and duties; individualism and cooperation; inequalities and justice; utilitarianism and rights; regulation of sexual conduct, abortion, and family life; poverty and wealth; racism and sexism; and war and capital punishment.

V83.0010-001
Central Problems in Philosophy
TR 9:30-10:45 AM
Prof. White
An intensive introduction to the central problems of philosophy. We will consider such questions as, Are we purely physical beings? Do we have free will and are we responsible for our actions? Is there a God? How can we have knowledge of the world around us? What is it for a belief to be justified? Are there objective moral standards? How should we act? What is a just society?

V83.0021-001
History of Modern Philosophy
TR 11:00-12:15 PM
TBA
This is a survey of 17th and 18th century European metaphysics and epistemology.  We will read Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. 

V83.0030-001
Kant
TR 6:20-7:35 PM
Prof. Kamm
Focuses on Kant's ethics only. Detailed examination of The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, parts of the Critique of Practical Reason, along with modern commentaries on these. Possibly also, discussion of Perpetual Peace. Midterm and final essay examinations and a ten page final paper.

V83.0040-001
Ethics
MW 12:30-1:45 PM
TBA
Examines fundamental questions of moral philosophy: What are our most basic values and which of them are specifically moral values? What are the ethical principles, if any, by which we should judge our actions, ourselves, and our lives?

V83.0050-001
Medical Ethics
MW 6:20-7:35 PM
Prof. Dwyer
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.  We will discuss ethical theories, moral principles, case-based reasoning, moral virtues, and pragmatism.  Course work will include two midterm exams, a term paper, and a final exam.

V83.0060-001
Aesthetics
TR 2:00-3:15 PM
Prof. Ruddick
How similar are aesthetic judgments of works of art (e.g. painting and sculpture) to those of constituents of daily life (e.g. buildings, interiors, people and clothes, food and meals, cars and trains, advertisements and photographs)?   How do aesthetic experiences and theories relate to other human interests (moral, scientific, commercial, erotic, political, spiritual)?  Readings in Plato, Hume, Kant, Dewey, Okakura, Wittgenstein, Tanizaki, and contemporary writers. 

V83.0062-001
Philosophy & Literature
TR 9:30-10:45 AM
Prof. Gurland
This course will employ fictional works, the novel and the play, as a vehicle for exploring philosophical themes and issues.  Great works of literature endure on the strength of their ability to address the human condition, and the course's intention is to exploit the power of selected writings to place significant philosophical issues within vibrant concrete contexts.  The traditional philosophical dualisms of mind and body, appearance and reality, along with issues concerned with truth, personal identity, and values, both moral and aesthetic, will provide the central concerns of the course.  Camus, Kafka, Faulkner, Hemingway, Styron, Kesey, and Kundera will be among the authors whose works will be read and analyzed from a perspective which will employ philosophical rather than literary criteria and techniques.

V83.0070-001
Logic
MW 3:30-4:45 PM
TBA
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.

V83.0072-001
Advanced Logic
TR 11:00-12:15 PM
Prof. Fine
We shall cover the basics of classical metalogic.  The focus will be on providing a rigorous account of the syntax and semantics for first-order logic and of proving completeness.  Some attention will also be given to issues of philosophical interest

[May be taken by graduate students as an independent study to satisfy logic requirement]

V83.0078-001
Metaphysics
MW 11:00-12:15 PM
Prof. Dorr
Our starting point in this course will be the paradoxes of material constitution.  For example, suppose that I have just taken some clay and shape it into a statue of Elvis.  Surely there is just one material object occupying the clay-filled space: a statue which is also a lump of clay.  But surely the statue is something that only just came into existence, whereas the lump of clay has been in existence for a long time.  So the statue and the lump of clay must be two different things, even though they occupy exactly the same space.

As we think about the various ways in which one might resolve paradoxes like this one, many other metaphysical questions will come up.  We will embrace these opportunities for digression.  As a result, by the end of the course, we will have considered a fair sampling of the traditional topics of metaphysics.  These topics might include: questions about the existence and mind-independence of material objects; the nature of space and time; the possibility of time travel; the meaning of claims about possibility, necessity, and essence; the theory of composition; the existence and nature of properties and relations; the meaning of claims about causation and physical law; the freedom of the will; the criteria for, and significance of, personal identity.

V83.0085-001
Philosophy of Language
MW 9:30-10:45 PM
TBA

We will examine various philosophical approaches to language and meaning, and their consequences for traditional philosophical problems in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind.  The authors discussed are primarily 20th century figures, including Russell, Wittgenstein, and Quine.  Some familiarity with first-order logic is strongly recommended.  Requirements include two five- to seven-page papers and short response papers over the course of the semester.

V83.0090-001
Philosophy of Science
MW 2:00-3:15 PM
Prof. Belot
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.

V83.0102-001
Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy
TR 2:00-3:15 PM
Prof. Kamm
Examination of various topics in ethical theory, such as the nature of reasons, contractualism, aggregation, and responsibility, by way of a close reading of What We Owe to Each Other by Thomas Scanlon, along with sections of Morality, Mortality, vol. 1 by F.M. Kamm and selected articles. Requirements: short class presentation, final essay examination, ten page final paper.

Honors Seminar
Hartry Field