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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
In moral and legal decisions we hold people responsible for their deliberate actions. This practice seems justified as long as people are free to make the choices that they do. But which criteria must a decision meet in order to qualify as free? Clearly, a free decision must not be the result of external coercion. But must the decision also be free from any outside influence at all? If so then freedom may seem impossible, for we are all deeply influenced by external factors ranging from the general laws of nature to specific features of our genetic endowment and social environment including religion, political ideology, and advertising. These affect not only our particular choices but also, more fundamentally, who we are and what we value. Since it is undeniable that we are pervasively influenced by such forces, the real question is whether, and how, free choice is possible amidst all of these influences. In this course we will examine the best-known recent philosophical attempts to make sense of the nature of free will and responsibility. Since these issues have a direct bearing on which theory of legal punishment we should accept, we will also examine influential theories of punishment. Our focus will be on works by contemporary authors. Emphasis will be placed on developing skills in reading, interpretation and oral argument as well as critical reasoning and writing.
Prerequisite:
A 100-level philosophy course, PHIL 201, or PHIL 202
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3.00 Credits
Socrates was executed in 399 BCE on the charges of impiety and corruption of the youth of Athens. Apparently he corrupted the youth by engaging with them in philosophy. In this class, we will attempt to carry on the noble tradition of corruption by philosophy. We will read works by three of Socrates' contemporaries: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and especially Plato. Through an examination of these works, we will try to get some feeling for what Socrates' controversial positions and his arguments for these positions may have been. While he never wrote any philosophical works of his own, Socrates is one of the most influential thinkers in the western tradition. His thought influenced the thought of subsequent generations of philosophers. In fact, Socrates seems to have been thought of as a kind of intellectual saint in the Hellenistic world. The stoics and skeptics both claimed a Socratic imprimatur for their own thought. Stoicism and skepticism, however, are wildly divergent schools of thought. How could proponents of each be claiming to follow in the footsteps of Socrates? We will read some representative works from each of these schools of thought to see how each approaches Socrates. If time permits, we may also look at how the figure of Socrates has been thought about in the works of more modern thinkers.
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3.00 Credits
This tutorial examines Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of our Nature. Why Violence Has Declined (2011). We focus first on the controversial theses that--despite two world wars and the Holocaust--the twentieth century was not the most violent so far, and that, over the entire course of history, human beings have become decreasingly violent. We then turn to the book's explanations of the factors it identifies as leading us to be violent--our "inner demons"--and as curbing our violence--our "better angels."
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3.00 Credits
This course explores developments in recent feminist thought influenced by philosophical currents in France and Germany (poststructuralism and critical theory.) Depending upon the year in which the course is offered, we explore topics such as self and society, sexual difference, embodiment, critiques of reason, the psyche, new materialist theories, queer feminism, and transnational feminism. We will read from works by authors such as the following; Sandra Bartky, Iris Young, Judith Butler, Elizabeth Grosz, Luce Irigaray, Jessica Benjamin, Gayle Rubin, Rosi Braidotti, Eve Sedgwick, Lynne Huffer, Sara Ahmed, Jasbir Puar, and Wendy Brown. Fiction and film may also be included.
Prerequisite:
WGSS 101, and a second course in WGSS, or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
This course begins with a brief introduction to some of Foucault's early writings but focuses on a close reading of a selection of middle and late texts that have become central to debates about the significance of his work: Discipline and Punish, The History of Sexuality (vols. 1-3), and selected interviews and course lectures. We examine debates in the Foucault literature about freedom, power, ethics, and the nature of critical theory. This course has been designated EDI because it engages questions concerning power, social differences and social and political freedom.
Prerequisite:
At least two courses in Philosophy or Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
Epistemology is one of the core areas of philosophical reflection. In this course, we will study the literature in contemporary philosophy on the nature of knowledge and rational belief. Epistemologists seek answers to the following kinds of questions: When is it rational to have a particular belief? What is knowledge (as opposed to mere opinion)? In order to be justified in holding a belief, must someone know (or believe) that she is justified in holding that belief? What, if anything, justifies our scientific knowledge? These questions are typically asked within a framework where the overarching goal is attaining truth and avoiding falsity. Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. Some maintain that these issues are solely the provinces of philosophy, using traditional a priori methods. Others maintain that these questions will only yield to methods that incorporate our broader insight into the nature of the world including, perhaps, feminist thought or science. Both stances face severe difficulties. Further, even where there is agreement as to the proper way of answering epistemological questions, there is a stunning variety of possible answers to each question.
Prerequisite:
At least one upper-level philosophy course or permission of the instructor
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3.00 Credits
We often speak as if moral judgments can be true or false, well-reasoned or not. But how should objectivity in this domain be understood? Is moral objectivity like scientific objectivity, assuming we have a clear sense of what that involves? If not, should that concern us? Are there other models for understanding moral objectivity besides science? While answers to such questions are implicit in historically important accounts of morality, these issues became the topic of explicit, sustained debate in the twentieth century. Our focus will be on the most recent and sophisticated work in this area. We will examine several different approaches in depth, including realism, constructivism, expressivism, and skepticism. Readings will include works by Moore, Stevenson, Harman, Mackie, Railton, Boyd, Blackburn, Williams, McDowell, Korsgaard, and Nagel.
Prerequisite:
Two courses in philosophy (including one of the following: a 100-level course, PHIL 201, or PHIL 202)
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3.00 Credits
Martinican psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary Frantz Fanon was among the leading critical theorists and Africana thinkers of the twentieth century. Fanon ushered in the decolonial turn in critical theory, a move calling on those both within and outside of Europe to challenge the coloniality of the age and to forge a new vision of politics in the postcolonial period. This course is an advanced seminar devoted to a comprehensive examination of Fanon's political thought. We will begin with an analysis of primary texts by Fanon and end by considering how Fanon has been interpreted by his contemporaries as well as activists and critical theorists writing today.
Prerequisite:
Open to juniors and seniors with a background in Africana Studies, Political Philosophy, and/or Political Theory, or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
The late 20th Century philosopher Richard Rorty characterized the present age as "post-Nietzschean." Indeed Nietzsche's influence has been pervasive. German philosopher Martin Heidegger thought he represented the culminating point of Western metaphysics; French Nietzscheans such as Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze as well as French feminist Luce Irigaray appropriate Nietzschean themes and concepts in their critical engagements with the Western philosophical tradition; and Anglo-American moral philosophers such as Bernard Williams, Alisdair MacIntyre, and Phillippa Foot (as well as Rorty) respond to and engage his critique of traditional morality. In this tutorial we read key writings from early, middle and late periods by this controversial 19th century philosopher in order to address some (certainly only some) of the current debates in critical and ethical theory that have been fueled by Nietzsche's work. Key ideas and concepts such as the death of god, the use and abuse of history, the eternal recurrence, will to power, and master and slave morality will be addressed. Nietzsche texts will include selections from: Untimely Meditations, The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, and Ecce Homo.
Prerequisite:
Two courses in philosophy, preferably either Ancient and/or Modern surveys, or background in Critical Theory, or permission of instructor
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3.00 Credits
In this seminar we will study contemporary philosophers who see themselves as public intellectuals, using philosophy in an attempt to change as well as comment on the world.
Prerequisite:
The course is required for senior Philosophy majors
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