Honors Philosophy Seminar
Fall 2024 Courses
Honors Philosphy Seminar
13195 01 (17606)
Franks
12:30-1:45 MW
In this seminar, we learn how to think philosophically about science, art, history, ourselves, and inquiry itself. Unlike many philosophy classes, we spend less time looking at the canon of philosophical writing and more time looking at items from our broader intellectual culture. We discuss things as diverse as U.S Supreme Court cases (in order to see how the law is actually practiced) and modern poetry (in order to see how language can actually be used). We read Plato, but we also look at quantum mechanics and evolutionary game theory. In the end, we hope to have some facility with looking at the full gamut of things we do from a philosophical perspective. Every seminar meeting begins with a workshop, in which we read, discuss, and critique one another's writing. The purpose of these workshops is threefold: to learn how to make pointed, concrete observations and to communicate these clearly and effectively, to learn how to engage constructively with other's ideas, and to learn how to make good use of other's reactions to your work. At the end of the term, you will submit two essays. Your grade will reflect the quality of these essays, your demonstrated understanding of and ability to grapple with the texts and concepts we encounter, and your performance in the writing workshop.
Honors Philosphy Seminar
13195 02 (17604)
Weithman
12:30-1:45 TTH
Questions about the nature and demands of justice, the grounds of our obligation to obey the law, and what liberties citizens have against the state are among the oldest questions in philosophy. At a time of deep political divisions, they are also questions of great contemporary importance. This course is intended to introduce students to philosophy through the study of what some of history's greatest philosophers have said about these questions. It is also intended to help you articulate philosophical concerns of your own and, most importantly, to learn how to address them. Skills to be developed include: the ability to read difficult texts with care and comprehension the ability to extract arguments from those texts and to evaluate them the ability to articulate criticisms and constructive arguments of one's own orally and in writing Readings will include -- though probably not limited to -- selections from Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Origins of Inequality and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. These classic readings are paired with readings that raise political issues of current interest. The class is open only to students in the Glynn Family Honors Program and satisfies the University's first requirement in philosophy.
Honors Philosphy Seminar
13195 03 (20171)
Kelsey
2:00-3:15 TTH
First Year Students Only
What is philosophy? What is it good for? In this course we will approach these questions by the method of “taste and see.” To that end we will read texts from four authors: Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Hume. Our first task will be to “taste”: that is, to try to enter into some lines of thought opened up by these texts, to follow those lines in our own thinking, to think those thoughts ourselves. Our second task will be to “see”: that is, to try to step back out again, to reflect on the experience, and to make articulate, in conversation and writing, what we make of it, as well as of the larger enterprise of which it was a sample.
Honors Philosphy Seminar
13195 04 (17607)
Audi
9:30-10:45 TTH
This course will explore major works of philosophy, discuss them in depth, introduce some of the major problems of philosophy, and explore some important methods for understanding them. Students will be asked to write short essays on some of the readings or on philosophical problems related to them.
These problems include these:
1. The objectivity of ethics: Is ethics a realm of universal truths or just a sphere of culturally entrenched doctrines?
2. The nature of knowledge and justification: What kinds of thing can be known, and what does it take to justify our views, especially in moral matters?
3. The varieties of the good and the bad: Are the good and the bad all matters of pleasure and pain, and might they transcend the natural world?
4. What is the relation between the right and the good, and does determining the right depend on determining the good?
5. The types of evidence for the existence of God: Do the classical arguments for God’s existence prove it—or provide evidence it—and is there a range of evidences that are not matters of arguments, so that one could have evidence for a position yet not have an argument for it? A special aim of the seminar is to help participants both to write well and to acquire skill in discussing issues effectively in a group setting conducive to wide-ranging inquiry and development of distinctive views of one’s own. Texts will include major works by Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Mill, together with some selected work by more recent authors. Most of the writings in question have had an enormous influence and are still considered valuable resources for dealing with their main topics. Readings will be discussed in detail, often with close attention to important passages. Critical interpretive reading by seminar participants is encouraged, and the appraisal of major positions on knowledge and reality, good and evil, theism and atheism, freedom and compulsion, and the nature of human persons will be central concerns. The course is designed as a seminar, which means we’re each responsible to all the others in a way that goes beyond the usual format. There will be time for short presentations by the members, and one hope is that all will come away better both as critical readers and in presenting their own views to an audience.
Honors Philosophy Seminar
13195 05 (17605)
Professor TBD
9:30-10:45 TTH
Course Description: TBD