Graduate Course Listing Fall 2008
Click here to see Spring 2008 Course Descriptions
Fall 2008 Course Descriptions
83201 01 (18054) Plato's Trilogy
Sayre
3:30-4:45 TR
A careful reading (in translation) of three late Platonic dialogues, the Theaetetus, the Sophist, and the Statesman, focusing mainly on Plato's epistemology and metaphysics. A brief written summary of each dialogue will be due before it is discussed in class. There will be a term paper and a final, but no midterm examination.
83251 01 (18465) Plotinus and Proclus
Gersh
11:00-12:15 TR
Cross List: MI 60324 (18103)
This course will (a) introduce students to the two major figures of ancient Greek Neoplatonism and (b) provide a sketch of their influence on Latin, Byzantine, and Islamic thought. The multicultural approach of the second half of the project will be stressed.
83273 01 (18055) Kant's Critique of Judgment
Rush
6:00-8:30 T
An intensive reading and analysis of the Critique of Judgment. Emphasis will be placed on Kant’s aesthetic theory and philosophy of art; if time permits attention is also paid to his analysis of teleological judgment. We shall approach the text with three aims in mind: (1) a close analysis of the structure of Kant’s account of judgments of taste (2) understanding the role that that account plays in Kant’s broader systematic concerns—methodological, epistemological and ethical, and (3) providing a sense of the place of Kant’s account in the history of aesthetics, especially to work in German philosophy following directly after him.
Texts:
1. Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment, trans. Guyer & Matthews. CUP.
2. Allison, Kant’s Theory of Taste. CUP.
3. Guyer, Kant and the Claims of Taste, 2 ed. CUP.
4. Xerox packet containing various primary and secondary articles
Prerequisites and limitations: Enrollment limited to graduate students. A prior course devoted to Kant is recommended, but not required. Ability to read German is also an advantage but is not required.
Requirements: a short seminar report, a term paper (15-20 pp.) and regular preparation for and participation in seminar discussion.
83281 01 (TBA) Vico's New Science
Hösle
3:00-5:30 T
Cross List: POLS 60640 (18094)
Vico's "New Science", which we will read in the third edition of 1744, is doubtless the most important work of Italian philosophy. But the work is not simply of historical interest; it remains still today one of the most valid attempts to develop a theory of human culture and to grasp the peculiar methods of the humanities - "the new science" to be added to natural science and psychology, as they had been conceived by Descartes. We will try to reconstruct the wealth of insights of this book in the fields of philosophy of language,
aesthetics, philosophy of law, political philosophy and philosophy of history and discuss later developments in the humanities and social sciences that have partly confirmed, partly confuted Vico's conception of the humanities.
83601 01 (12648) 20th Century Ethics
Sterba
9:30-10:45 TR
The aim of this course is to provide a critical survey of the analytical moral philosophy of the 20th Century and beyond. The course will focus on the nature and justification of morality (What is morality and why be moral?), alternative moral perspectives (Which moral perspective is best?), and contemporary challenges to morality (Is morality biased against women, nonhuman living beings, or nonWestern cultures?)
Requirements: Three papers (each around 3000 words) and participation in class discussions
83801 01 (12569) Philosophy of Science
Howard
11:00-12:15 TR
Cross List: HPS 83801 (14217)
A survey of major problems, movements, and thinkers in twentieth-century philosophy of science. The course begins with a look at the historical background to logical empiricism, its rise to prominence, and its early critics, such as Popper. After a study of major problems in the neo-positivist tradition, such as confirmation, explanation, and the nature of scientific laws, historicist critiques of neo-positivism, chiefly Kuhn's will be studied next, followed by a consideration of the realism-instrumentalism debate. The course concludes with a brief look at new perspectives, such as social constructivism and feminist philosophy of science.
Requirements: Students will write mid-term and final essay examinations and a fifteen-page term paper on a topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor.
83901 01 (11348) Intermediate Logic
Franks
12:30-1:45 TR
Intermediate logic is a "first course" in logic at the graduate (and advanced undergraduate) level. We introduce the syntax and semantics of first order logic (FOL) in three stages: sentential logic, monadic quantification, and polyadic quantification. After studying the sentential fragment via the axiomatic method, we develop a proof system for first order logic and develop an algorythmic decision procedure for the monadic fragment of FOL. We show that polyadidic formulas are not decidable, but that the proof system for full FOL is complete and sound. Finally we study the compactness theorem, the Loewenheim-Skolem theorems, and natural deduction. We will often take note the historical origins of our techniques and results. There will be handouts and practice problems to supplement the text.
TEXT: Deductive Logic. Goldfarb. Harvard University Press.
REQUIREMENTS: Attend lecture and write several graded take-home tests.
93310 01 (18057) Frege
Blanchette
9:00-11:30 M
Gottlob Frege is widely, and fairly accurately, characterized as the father of modern logic. He is also a pioneering figure in modern analytic philosophy, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mathematics. The purpose of this seminar is to gain a clear view of what Frege believed about various topics regarding language, thought, and logic, and to determine where he was right and where he was wrong. Readings will be drawn from Frege’s works (in translation) and from secondary sources. Writing requirements will include a final paper and several shorter papers during the term.
93310 01 (18446) Phenomenology
Watson
4:30-7:00R
In this seminar we will examine the classical formulation of Phenomenology in Husserl's account and follow its development and/or challenge in thinkers in its wake, including, but not restricted to, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty.
Requirements: mid-term; research paper.
93520 01 (18060) Consciousness
Stubenberg
2:00-3:15 TR
Phenomenal consciousness will be the main topic of this seminar. What is the phenomenon in question? Do any of the purported explanations satisfy? What would a satisfactory explanation have to look like? What is the metaphysical import of the various conceptions of phenomenal consciousness. Other topics will include: a brief look at the work on phenomenal consciousness done in the first half of the 20th century; different views about perceptual consciousness and their epistemic ramifications; and the idea of the phenomenal self, used by some authors to explain what a self is, and by others to show that there is no self.
93803 (18061) Structuralism in Philosophy of Science
Brading
11:45-1:00 MW
Cross List: HPS 93803 (TBA)
In 1989, John Worrall published a paper entitled ‘Structural realism: the best of both worlds?’ This paper is a response to a tension between two arguments, one which pulls towards realism with respect to our best scientific theories, and the other which supports scientific anti-realism. We will begin with a discussion of the realism/anti-realism debate, and consider Worrall's suggested ‘structuralist’ resolution to the apparent impasse. Worrall’s response is ‘epistemic structural realism’, and he cites Poincaré as a historical source for his position. Indeed, the early part of the twentieth century saw a variety of structuralist positions being offered, from a range of major figures including Russell, Poincaré, Schlick, Cassirer, and Eddington, among others. We will revisit these historical predecessors to the contemporary debate, asking what motivated their advocacy of structuralism, and what forms of structuralism were being offered. In the contemporary debate, ‘epistemic structural realism’ (all we can know is structure) is distinguished from ‘ontological structural realism’ (all there is is structure). Recently, van Fraassen has proposed a further alternative: structural empiricism. We will discuss these versions of structuralism, in addition to structural idealism. The examples used in the debate have been drawn primarily from physics, and this will be our focus too; however, we will turn our attention to the special sciences towards the end of the semester. The format of the class will be a discussion seminar, focussed on primary source reading. Examination will be through short-answer questions and a term paper.
93882 01 (18062) Religion & Science: Conflict or Concord
Plantinga
1:30-2:45 MW
Cross List: HPS 93882
This seminar will roughly follow my 2005 Gifford Lectures on the alleged and/or real conflicts between religion and science. My own thought is that there is superficial conflict but deep concord between Christian belief and science, and superficial concord but deep conflict between naturalism (which at any rate serves some of the same functions as a religion) and science. The first part of the seminar will deal with alleged conflicts between Christian theism and science: evolution, divine action in the world, and some issues from evolutionary psychology. I'll suggest that the first two constitute merely apparent conflict; the third constitutes real conflict, but, because of the methodological naturalism assumed, the conflict is superficial. Then we'll turn to superficial concord: intelligent design and fine tuning. Next will be deep concord (Ratzsch). Finally, we‚ll consider the thesis that there is deep conflict between naturalism and science, because naturalism leads to a profound and pervasive skepticism.
We'll read essays and parts of books by Stephen J. Gould, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Del Ratzsch, David Sloan Wilson, Bas van Fraassen, Arthur Peacocke and others. I'll assign several short (2-4 page) papers on the reading, and a longer course paper.
93915 01 (18063) Interactions Between Mathematics & Philosophy
Detlefsen
12:30-1:45 TR
There have been important interactions between mathematics and philosophy throughout their histories. In this course, we will focus on the more important of these interactions from the modern era through the early twentieth century. Modern figures whose work we will read and discuss include Hobbes, Descartes, Wallis, Newton, Leibniz, Berkeley and Kant. Nineteenth and early twentieth century figures include Bolzano, Dedekind, Frege and Weyl.
Requirements for the course include a final paper and one or two short presentations to the seminar accompanied by a written summary of salient points and arguments. The course will be a mixture of seminar discussion and lecture and will include presentations by experts on some of the matters discussed.
96697 01 (11077) Directed Readings
Holloway
96697 02 (11004) Directed Readings
Holloway
98699 01 (12022) Research and Dissertation
Holloway
98700 01 (12023) Nonresident Dissertation Research
Holloway
