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Undergraduate Courses Summer 2009
First SessionThis course will focus on three topics related to life and death:
In addition to philosophy articles, we may also look at short stories, plays, movies, TV shows, and so on. No background in philosophy is required. Over two thousand years ago, philosophers were thinking about some of the central topics that we still struggle with today. What are we obligated to do? What kinds of things exist? What makes for a good person, and a good life? How can we have knowledge of the world around us? The ancient greeks developed some striking and sophisticated arguments on these topics that still inform contemporary discussion. In this course we will study many of the main pre-Socratic philosophers, including Thales, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno and Democritus, as well as Plato (and through him, Socrates) and Aristotle. The focus of this course will be on extracting and evaluating the views and arguments that were presented by these philosophers, while drawing connections to contemporary debates on these topics.
Existentialism and Phenomenology
V83.0036 MTWR 11:00–12:35 The course will examine the works of the most representative thinkers associated with existentialism. We will read Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre. Since some of these thinkers were influenced by the phenomenological method developed by Husserl, we will spend some time on his work as well. If time allows, and depending on the students’ interests, we might also read some Merleau-Ponty, Camus, or de Beauvoir. We will also look at one or two literary works that illustrate existentialist themes—most likely a play by Sartre and Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Some of the themes that we will cover are: the concept of anxiety, the status of morality and religion, the nature of death, authenticity, freedom and consciousness. Course requirements: four very short assignments, a midterm and a final. There is no prerequisite for this class. V83.0070 Logic
MTWR 1:30–3:05pm Justin Clarke-Doane This course 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. More advanced topics will be covered if time permits. This course satisfies the logic requirement for NYU Philosophy majors. V83.0078 Metaphysics
MTWR 3:30–5:05pm Michael Schweiger This course is an introduction to some of the central questions of metaphysics. The questions we will cover include: 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? Do we have free will, or are we simply cogs in a mechanistic, clockwork universe? Does God exist? Why does anything exist at all (rather than nothing)? Through the examination of these and other related questions students will gain a good sense of the topics and methodology of contemporary metaphysics. This is an introductory course in Philosophy of Mind—no background in philosophy is required. The course will focus on three groups of questions about mentality. The first concerns mind and body: What is it to have a mind? Is it just a matter of having certain complex physical properties? Or does it involve having non-physical properties or a non-physical soul? The second concerns consciousness, content, and perception: What is it for a perceptual experience or a thought to be conscious? And what makes a perceptual experience or a thought about objects in the world? Do these things depend on our own intrinsic make-up? Or do they depend on features of our environments? The third group of questions concerns mental causation and action: Can our minds causally affect the physical world? If so, how? What makes the difference between an action and an involuntary bodily movement? What is it to be a free agent? Second SessionPhilosophy, if done well, can force you to think carefully and creatively about some of the most foundational beliefs and practices that shape our lives. What makes an act morally right or wrong? Does God exist? What is it to know something, and do we ever actually meet this standard? What makes a society just? Is free will compatible with a scientific view of the universe? This course has two principal aims. The first is to introduce you to some of the foundational problems (like those listed above) that have occupied philosophers. This examination can help lead to a more nuanced and reflective appreciation of the nature of our lives and our way of thinking about the world. The second aim is to help you develop the tools needed for thinking clearly and productively about these problems. These tools are essential for good philosophical work. But as they encourage clear and creative thinking, they should be useful no matter what discipline you choose to pursue. The course has no prerequisites. V83.0015 Minds and Machines
MTWR 6:00PM–7:35pm Jonathan Simon Could man-made machines like robots, or even laptops, or soda machines, ever be conscious? Might they have thoughts, experiences, feelings, and desires? Could they be intelligent? Could they have moral status? These questions help us ask a more basic question: what is it about ourselves in virtue of which we have thoughts, experiences, feelings, etc—is it something that we might have in common with robots, or something essentially different. Are we merely neural computers? Is the relation between our minds and our brains like the relation between software and hardware? For that matter, what is software, and what is hardware? This course will serve as an introduction to the philosophy of mind, and will touch on foundational issues in psychology and foundations of theoretical computer science. Topics will include: The Mind-Body Problem. The Turing Test, The Abstract Concept of an Algorithm, the Debate between Behaviorists and Functionalists and Physicalists, The Language of Thought Hypothesis, Connectionism, Representationalism, Recent Neuroscientific Developments on the Nature of Consciousness, etc. V83.0021 History of Modern Philosophy
MTWR 1:30pm–3:05pm Jed Lewinsohn An introductory survey of 17th and 18th century Western philosophy. Readings will be drawn from the writings of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Topics will include freedom, the nature of mind and body, and human knowledge. We will also be interested in the ethical and religious doctrines of the thinkers we discuss. Take something that is deeply offensive to you, something that enrages you: genocide, rape, slavery, animal abuse – whatever touches you most personally. Why is it morally wrong? Because of its consequences? Because, say, on balance it causes more pain than pleasure? Or, is it because it violates a general principle such as ‘human beings are valuable’, or ‘people are equal’? But what makes such principles true? In this course, we will examine the major ethical theories that provide answers to these questions. Moreover, we will discuss how we make moral judgments: Do we make moral judgments based on reason, or are emotions involved? To what degree are our moral judgments learned, and to what degree innate? Do evolutionary explanations of our moral sensibilities undermine the importance of morality? Depending on the interests of the class, we may also take up other issues such as the role of ethics in international relations, the relationship between ethics and religion, etc. If you have any questions (or suggestions) about the course, feel free to email me: me640@nyu.edu This course is designed to introduce you to some of the central issues of medical ethics. Our aim is to identify, analyze and criticize the main philosophical arguments and positions behind these practical issues. Class discussions will help you improve the analytical ability to formulate and evaluate arguments. Topics include abortion, infanticide, wrongful life, euthanasia, informed consent and disclosure in physician-patient relationships, advance directives, genetic treatment and enhancement, the allocation of scarce healthcare resources (e.g. organs), and the ethics of biomedical research (on demand). These practical topics will lead us to such theoretical concepts as moral standing, well-being, the value of life, the doing/allowing distinction, harm and benefit, autonomy and paternalism, confidentiality, surrogate decision-making, perfection, utilitarianism and justice. For more information, feel free to email me: hk830@nyu.edu This course is an introduction to the philosophy of law and jurisprudence. No background is assumed—either in philosophy or in law. The focus of the course will be philosophical theories of Law. We will consider the four main theories—(1) Natural Law Theory, (2) Legal Positivism, (3) Legal Realism, and (4) Law and Economics. These theories offer different answers to some or all of the following questions: What is law? How do we know whether something is ‘law’ or not? What makes it the case that something is or isn’t law? What are the (actual and/or normatively appropriate) sources of law? What is the connection, if any, between law and morality? How should we evaluate laws and legal systems? We will consider both national and international legal systems. For this part of the class, we will read philosophical texts by Hart, Dworkin, Coleman, Finnis, and Posner, among others. After familiarizing ourselves with the above theoretical frameworks, we will move on to consider an issue important to the American legal system: constitutional interpretation. We will focus on the two main theories of interpretation—originalism and various forms of non-originalism (pragmatism, certain forms of textualism, doctrinalism, and others). Our discussion will be informed by our understanding of legal theory. Our main interest in the topic will be in thinking about the following question: How should judges interpret the U.S. Constitution? Readings for this part of the course will come from Justice Scalia, Amar, Marmor, Balkin, Barnett, and others, and various excerpts from judicial opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court. This course 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. More advanced topics will be covered if time permits. This course satisfies the logic requirement for NYU Philosophy majors. In this course we'll inquire into the nature of inquiry. Questions will include: What is it, exactly, to know something? Is our knowledge built on foundations? Can we know anything about the world beyond our mental states (how do we know that we're not in a Matrix or that the people around us have minds)? Is knowledge, in some sense, socially constructed? Is certainty attainable? What is it to be rational? Is there an objective fact of the matter as to who is rational and who is not? Throughout the course we will read some selections from historical texts (e.g. by Plato, Descartes, Pascal and William James), but spend most of our time discussing contemporary authors. * courses open to Pre-College students | |
