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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
How trustworthy are our sense organs for giving us information about the world Is there any other good source of knowledge besides sensory experience How reliable are the inductive methods of science How can we tell when we have achieved knowledge What is the scope of human knowledge What are its limits This course examines some 20th century discussions of these and similar questions that have long intrigued thinkers wishing to understand the capacities of the human mind. ( Offered alternate years)
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3.00 Credits
This course examines various feminist critiques of traditional approaches to ethics and to knowledge. The first half of the course addresses moral issues. Are traditional moral theories adequate for addressing the problems that women face Do women tend to think about morality differently than men do What is "feminist ethics " What moral obligations does it assign to individuals What are its implications for governments and social policy The second half of the course discusses issues in science and epistemology (i.e., theory of knowledge). Historically, how has science contributed to the subordination of women Are social and political considerations relevant to science Is it possible for science to be "objective " What can be done to make science less biase d (Offered alternate year
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3.00 Credits
This course explores one of the newest theories of mind and language and applies it to one of the oldest philosophic texts. The circle linking Lakoff and Johnson (1999) to the work of Chuang Tzu (4th century B.C.) does not only enclose some 2,500 years of philosophy but also attempts to build a bridge between a U.S. version of a philosophy of cognitive science with a version of Chinese Taoism. Specifically, students study a method of cognitive linguistics which states that the mind is inherently embodied and articulates itself mostly in metaphors in ways that remain largely unconscious. (Baer, offered occasionally)
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3.00 Credits
This course will focus on questions such as the following: What is real Is the material world the only reality Are properties, like being round, or being rational, as real as things Is mind, awareness, consciousness, a different sort of reality Are people simply complex machines Are human beings free to create their own futures With respect to physical reality, we will consider issues such as causality, space, time, and substance. For persons, we will examine the relationship between mind and body, the idea of personal identity, and the nature of human free will and responsibility. Both classical and contemporary perspectives will be considered. (Oberbrunner, offered annually)
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3.00 Credits
This course examines the classics of ancient Greek philosophy, especially the works of Plato and Aristotle, but also the pre-Socratics, the sophists, and the Hellenistic philosophers. The course material covers ancient Greek ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind. (King, offered annually)
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3.00 Credits
This course is an introduction to the principal works and central theories of the early modern period (1600-1750). The philosophical thought of this period was closely tied to the newly developing sciences and also to profound changes in religion, politics, and morality. Accompanying the transformation of thinking in all of these areas was a renewed interest in skeptical theories from ancient sources, and what emerged was the beginning of uniquely modern approaches to philosophy. Each year this course focuses on a handful of texts from this period, to be selected from the works of Montaigne, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Hobbes, Arnauld, Gassendi, Mersenne, Leibniz, Spinoza, Boyle, Butler, Malebranche, Pascal, Newton, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. (Brophy, offered annually)
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3.00 Credits
Kant's critical and transcendental investigations of the limits of the ability of the human mind to resolve issues of what we can know and how we should act have been enormously influential for all subsequent philosophical inquiry. This course is devoted to understanding the problems Kant faced, the answers he advanced, and the difficult and intriguing arguments he provided to support his views. Because understanding Kant's empirical realism and transcendental idealism is incomplete without critical scrutiny of his argument, objections are introduced and discussed. (Baer , offered annually)
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3.00 Credits
This course traces the development of contemporary philosophy in the analytic Anglo-American tradition from Charles Peirce and Bertrand Russell through Ludwig Wittgenstein and Willard Quine, and beyond. Among the philosophical movements considered are pragmatism, naturalism, realism, intuitionism, positivism, emotivism, linguistic philosophy, conventionalism, and the return to normative theory. Special attention is paid to the development of analytic philosophy within ethics. At the end, an important recent book in analytic philosophy is studied. (Lee, offered annually)
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3.00 Credits
If you like games, then you'll love game theory. Game theory is about understanding how people trust, threaten, and come to cooperative agreements. We will use some simple game theory to understand how morality might be seen as an agreement by a diverse group of people, and what such a morality might demand of us and our government. Central issues will include: self-interest, fairness, rationality, redistribution of wealth, rights, and morality. We will begin with some classic texts by Hobbes and Mill, then quickly move into how contemporary economic thinking (esp. game theory) has influenced recent developments in utilitarian and contractarian theory. Upper level students from philosophy, economics, political science and public policy are encouraged to take this course (Barnes, alternate years)
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3.00 Credits
This course has variable content. Each year a central philosophical issue or the work of an important philosophical figure is examined. ( Offered annually)
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