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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
Dillenberger, D. Prerequisite(s): Some high school algebra, Econ 1. This course is about strategically interdependent decisions. In such situations, the outcome of your actions depends also on the actions of others. When making your choice, you have to think what the others will choose, who in turn are thinking what you will be choosing, and so on. Game Theory offers several concepts and insights for understanding such situations, and for making better strategic choices. This course will introduce and develop some basic ideas from game theory, using illustrations, applications, and cases drawn from business, economics, politics, sports, and even fiction and movies. Some interactive games will be played in class. There will be little formal theory, and the only prerequisite is some high-school algebra. This course will also be accepted by the Economics department as and Econcourse, to be counted toward the minor in Economics (or as an Econ elective).
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3.00 Credits
Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Domotor, Weisberg. This course consists of a detailed examination of evolutionary theory and its philosophical foundations. The course begins with a consideration of Darwin's formulation of evolutionary theory and the main influences on Darwin. We will then consider two contemporary presentations of the theory Richard Dawkins' and Richard Lewontin's. The remainder of the course will deal with a number of foundational issues and may include discussions of adaptation, what constitutes a species, whether there is evolutionary progress, and the concept of fitness. We will also discuss the units of selection, the alleged reduction of classical genetics to molecular genetics, and the possibility of grounding ethics in evolutionary theory.
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3.00 Credits
Weisberg. Beginning in Fall 2009 this course will be renumbered as PPE 204. This course is about the foundations of contemporary social science. It focuses on the nature of social systems, the similarities and differences between social and natural sciences, the construction, analysis, and confirmation of social theories, and the nature of social explanations. Specific topics may include structuralism and functional explanation, methodological individualism, qualitative vs. quantitative social theorizing, positivist and radical critiques of the social sciences, rational choice, game theory, evolutionary modeling, and agent-based modeling. In addition, the course will examine questions about objectivity in the social sciences. As part of this course, students will be expected to construct and analyze simple computational models of social phenomena.
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3.00 Credits
Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. The Course explores the development of economic theory for antiquity to the twentieth century. Students read and discuss a rich collection of writing from Aristotle and Aquinas to Marshall and Keynes, with special attention to Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. The course pays special interdisciplinary attention to many historical (great events, social changes), political (governmental involvement in the economy, the process of democratization), and philosophical (theories of value, the notions of freedom,equality, and fairness) factors that shaped economic thinking and economy. Many fascinating questions are discussed. What are the economic values and goods How are those goods created How do we value them What is the role of labor in creating these goods And what is the role of trade and money What is the state's role What is the role of freedom, equality, and other political values in the economic process In the past, these questions were considered so important that the greatest thinkers and philosophers discussed them. The course attempts to illustrate that great tradition and attract students' attention to the fundamental economic concepts. In addition, the methodological evolution of the scientific status of economic theory is examined.
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3.00 Credits
Staff. Prerequisite(s): ECON 101; MATH 104 and MATH 114 or MATH 115. ECON 103 is recommended. This course examines the political and economic determinants of government policies. The course presents economic arguments for government action in the private economy. How government decides policies via simple majority voting, representative legislatures, and executive veto and agenda-setting politics will be studied. Applications include government spending and redistributive policies.
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3.00 Credits
Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Domotor, Camp. This course deals with several problems that lie at the interface among philosophy, logic, linguistics, psychology, and computer science.
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3.00 Credits
Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Smith. This course explores the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in political struggles over the distribution and uses of power in the U.S. constitutional system. Issues include the division of powers between the state and national governments, and the branches of the federal government; economic powers of private actors and governmental regulators; the authority of governments to enforce or transform racial and gender hierarchies; and the powers of individuals to make basic choices, such as a woman's power to have an abortion. We will pay special attention to how the tasks of justifying the Supreme Court's own power, and constitutionalism more broadly, contribute to logically debatable but politically powerful constitutional arguments. Readings include Supreme Court decisions and background materials on their historical and political context.
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3.00 Credits
Tan. This course is an introduction to some of the central problems in global justice. Some of the topics that we will examine include realism, human rights, sovereignty and intervention, economic justice, and war and morality. We will look at questions such as: Is it coherent to talk about global justice, or is the global arena essentially a Hobbesian state of nature In what sense are human rights universal Is the idea of universal rights compatible with the political sovereignty of states What is a just war What is terrorism, and what are the moral limits in combating terrorism Can a state engage in military intervention to defend human rights in a foreign country Readings will be draw from contemporary authors such as Rawls, Walzer,and Sen, as well as historical figures like Kant and Hobbes.
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3.00 Credits
Staff. Prerequisite(s): At Least one of PHIL 002, 008, 009 or equivalent. This course will examine the ethical issues and dilemmas that commonly arise in the professions, such as the law, medicine and health care, journalism, business, public and civil service, and ethnographical and archaeological research. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the moral issues and challenges that practitioners in different professions encounter and to study how moral reasoning can help us understand and confront these challenges.Some of the central organizing philosophical issues we will examine include that of collective responsibility, and the question of special or role obligation. Prerequisite: At least one of Phil 2, Phil 9, Phil 8 or equivalent
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3.00 Credits
Staff. Student arranges with a faculty member in Philosophy, Economics or Political Science to pursue a program of reading and writing on a suitable topic.
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