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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
Feminist Legal Theory
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3.00 Credits
Topics in Feminist Theory
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3.00 Credits
3 Credits Often people claim rights and protest when rights are violated but what are rights Which rights do we have Why do we have rights Are there any natural rights Are there any absolute rights Are human rights inalienable and inviolable What are the grounds for their justification, and what is the range of their application This course examines the philosophical basis of rights discourse. It considers different rights-based approaches and contrasts them with non-rights-based theories. It examines a range of contemporary theories including those of Rawls, Nozick, Feinberg and Dworkin, outlines the classical tradition and introduces the work of legal positivists like Austin and Hart. It also explores criticisms of rights systems put forward by contemporary communitarians, virtue theorists and feminist theories. The course continues by studying specific rights (such as liberty, property, security, right to life-and right to die-subsistence) along with some of the philosophical and practical questions raised by conflicting interpretations. Some offering of this course explore how special rights attend to group differences by way of a critical analysis of gay rights and women rights.
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3.00 Credits
3 Credits "Aristotle died in 322 BC. He was sixty-two and at the height of his powers: a tireless scholar, whose scientific explorations were as wide-ranging as his philosophical speculations were profound; a teacher who inspired - and who continues to inspire - generations of pupils; a controversial public figure who lived a turbulent life in a turbulent world. He bestrode antiquity like an intellectual colossus. No man before him had contributed so much to learning. No man after him could hope to rival his achievements." Jonathan BarneAristotle' approach to philosophical problems is built around his down-to-earth common sense, his rationalism, his modest respect for ordinary people's intuitions and for the good ideas of other philosophers, his suspicion of mysticism, obscurity, and pretentiousness, and his keen observation and massive breadth of knowledge.In this class we will read a range of Aristotle's works, including selections from the Categories, Metaphysics, Physics, De Anima, Ethics, and Politics. We will examine his account of substance, his accounts of change, cause, time, and chance, and his thoughts on the mind-body problem; also, his famous ethical system, and his political theory. Our approach will be partly historical, partly critical. Working out the Aristotelian system can help us to understand the entire western philosophical tradition; but we will also examine and evaluate his ideas considered independently of their historical setting, and compare them to modern approaches to the same questions.
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3.00 Credits
3 CREDITS This course is an introduction to the philosophy of Hegel and to the Hegelian tradition, through a reading of Hegel's major work The Phenomenology of Spirit. Other readings for the course include excerpts from Philosophy of History and The Philosophy of Right, as well as some early writings.
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3.00 Credits
3 Credits Perhaps more than any other 20th Century philosopher, Wittgenstein has become a legendary figure in the "linguistic turn" of 20th Century philosohy. This course briefly covers Wittgenstein's early period, influenced by Frege and Russell, in the Tractatus on universal logical form, the picture theory of language and the doctrine on showing vs. saying. Chief emphasis is put on his later work, in the Philosophical Investigations. Topics examined include language garnes, forms of life, essentialism, the concept of a rule, the model of a private language and a critique of hte self in Western philosophy. Course explores Wittgenstein's influence on 20th Century philosophy and other fields relating to human language. Students are encouraged to pursue an independent project and term paper of their choice. Also encouraged are projects connecting Wittgenstein to a range of disciplines; Linguistics, philosophy of law, social sciences, postmodern and cultural studies, art, and psycholog
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3.00 Credits
3 Credits People use language to accomplish myriad tasks: we report, we promise, we praise, we blame, we apologize, we question, we warn, we threaten, we implore, we lament, we express our feelings, and sometimes we just play with our words. Language is the medium within which we live; so often it is transparent to us but sometimes we do notice it, and ask how it is that we can do so many things with this versatile tool. Some 20th century philosophers developed an influential set of views, which came to be known as "speech act theory". Instead of looking at language as a formal system, of the sort one finds in mathematics, built into computer programs, and in science, speech act theorists tended to start with ordinary language used in ordinary settings by ordinary people. This approach, pioneered by Wittgenstein, Austin, Grice, and Searle, sets the stage for our inquiry this semester.The central types of speech act we will address are promising, apology, hate speech, and pornography. In the last decade, legal and political activism has led to the development of speech codes on college campuses, within workplaces, and in communities across the world, particularly in Europe and the USA. The focus of these speech codes has been on "hate speech," which is usually construed as the face-to-face hurling of a racist epithet. In the paradigm case the hurler is a member of the racial power majority, and the target is a member of a racially subordinate group. This course will look at speech act theory as developed in the 20th century and ask how it can help us to understand how hate speech functions. We will also explore the extension of such hate speech analysis beyond the paradigm of racial contexts to pornography, sexist epithets, and other subordinating or potentially subordinating practices. Such an exploration will take us through issues such as the role of individual intentions in the meaning of a speech act, the power of community norms to create, shape, limit or enhance individual meaning, the question of authority--its grounding and its scope, and many issues of the relation between linguistic practices with non-linguistic collateral norms and practices. This inquiry will take us into large social questions about the relation between language and politics, and it will also take us to questions about language and individual identity formation. We are social beings, and the fabric of our social lives is woven through and through with the many-layered hues and tones of our discourse. How do our linguistic practices, the speech acts we sanction and those we forbid, make some forms of life possible, while rendering other forms difficult or even impossible
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4.00 Credits
4 Credits This course will explore a number of important moral and social issues in the second half of the 20th Century, including such issues as the bombing of Hiroshima to end World War II, abortion, gun control, capital punishment, and mercy killing. Instruction will be provided in a variety of critical and creative thinking skills that can be used to think carefully and constructively about these issues. Independent research, class discussion, and group projects will all be structured into this course.
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4.00 Credits
4 Credits This course will study some contemporary problems of social ethics, particularly abortion, the death penalty, pornography and censorship, world hunger and global justice. We will learn about varied positions on the issues, and the justifications that have been offered to support them. This course will develop the ability of each student to clearly articulate her position and defend it persuasively.
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4.00 Credits
4 Credits This course will examine several forms of inequality: oppression and exclusion based on race and gender; the differences between born and unborn humans, and between humans and non-human animals; and inequality in access to social goods such as health care. The course will also examine the issues of moral inclusion, justice and rights that underlie these inequalities.
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