Undergraduate Course Descriptions Spring 20010

Click here to see Fall 2009 Course Descriptions

Spring 2010 Course Descriptions

Introduction to Philosophy
10100 01 (22866)
David
2:00-2:50 TR (F)
First Year Students Only
co-requirement 12100

This course uses a mixture of historical and contemporary readings to introduce students to some of the central topics in philosophy:

Logic and Reason˜What is a good argument?
Knowledge and Skepticism˜What, if anything, do we know other than ourselves?
God, Faith, and Reason˜Can God be proven? Is it rational to believe in miracles?
The Mind-Body Problem˜Is the mind immaterial? How is it related to the body?
Rationalism vs. Empiricism˜Is there innate knowledge?
Causation and Freedom˜Are we free agents?
Format: Lecture with separate discussion sections.

Texts: Plato, Meno (Hackett 1981); R. Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett 1993); D. Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Hackett 1993); and a Course Reader, available at the DECIO Copy Center.

Requirements: Active participation in discussion sections; two very short papers, one longer paper, a short in-class midterm exam, and a short in-class final exam.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 01 (21684)
Arnold
9:30-10:45 TR
First Year Students Only

n this course, we will acquaint ourselves with some of the central issues of Western philosophy: the importance of truth; the existence of God; skepticism and the nature of knowledge; the relationship between minds, bodies and human persons; and the nature of goodness and morality. Along the way, we will learn how to better argue for and against various positions we encounter, in both speech and in writing. Hopefully, learning how to argue in those contexts will translate into better critical thinking skills overall—a very useful thing indeed.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 02 (22195)
Gardner
11:00-12:15 TR
First Year Students Only

This course will introduce students to classic texts from the tradition of Western philosophy, which represent some of the preeminent efforts of human beings to determine whether and what they can know fundamentally about the material world, the possibility of immaterial being, and themselves as participating in one or both of these spheres. Particular attention will be paid to the continuing influence of Plato and Aristotle as fountainheads of this tradition, with whom later thinkers must contend, whether by incorporation of their insights in new contexts or by divergence on the questions which they identified as fundamental. Consistent themes will include the limits and possibilities of human knowledge (including the relationship between faith and reason), the nature of the soul, the ultimate good for human beings, and the existence of God.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 03 (20537)
Rodriguez.
8:30-9:20 MWF
First Year Students Only

Over the course of the semester, we will examine the basic nature of, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of, a variety of moral theories, including cultural relativism, ethical egoism, divine command theory, and feminist ethics. We will cover some views (Kant, Mill, Aristotle) in more detail. The semester will conclude with a section on applied ethics (although we will be discussing concrete applications in the context of each view as well), specifically, just war and pacifism, with readings by Aquinas, Cady, Yoder, and Gandhi (among others).

Grades for the class will be based on three medium-length (5-6 page) papers, two (non-cumulative) exams, one group presentation, and class participation.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 04 (20480)
Gardner
12:30-1:45 TR
First Year Students Only

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 05 (21305)
Pilkington
5:00-6:15 TR
First Year Students Only

The aim of this course is to introduce students to philosophy. The first half of the course will concentrate on important topics in the history of philosophy. Epistemological questions, metaphysical questions, and ethical questions will be addressed. The second half of the course will concentrate on contemporary answers to these philosophical questions. In the discussion of these contemporary answers, more time will be spent on answers to ethical questions, particularly questions in political philosophy and medical ethics. Students will be required to participate actively in class discussion and complete the following assignments: four short writing responses, two longer papers, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 06 (21813)
Barham
3:30-4:45 TR
First Year Students Only

Philosophy is an effort to think as carefully as possible about some of the deepest and most difficult questions that human beings are capable of asking about the world and their place in it. As such, philosophy has similarities with both natural science and religion, but is different from either.

Philosophy is defined partly by a group of canonical texts and topics. This course is organized around some of these topics: the nature of knowledge; the nature of the human mind and its relationship to the body; whether human beings have free will; what determines whether human acts are right or wrong; whether the existence of God can be reconciled with the existence of catastrophic suffering; and whether, in spite of our inevitable death, human life has any ultimate value, purpose, or meaning. In the course of exploring these topics, we will read some of the canonical texts comprising the Western philosophical tradition.

Philosophy is also defined partly by its methodology. The methodology of philosophy is a combination of careful reflection on the way things seem to us, careful attention to nuances in the meaning of words, and conscientiousness about providing reasons to back up the things we say˜that is, using careful logic. Learning to understand the texts we will be reading in this course involves learning to use this methodology, especially the analysis and evaluation of logical arguments.

By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

- identify the premises and conclusions of logical arguments in philosophical and other texts, and evaluate arguments for validity and soundness

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 07 (20241)
Rodriguez
9:35-10:25 MWF
First Year Students Only

Grades for the class will be based on three medium-length (5-6 page) papers, two (non-cumulative) exams, one group presentation, and class participation.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 08 (21513)
Van Horn
10:40-11:30 MWF
First Year Students Only

This course is a survey of several of the enduring topics discussed throughout the history of western philosophy: the existence of God; the nature and existence of free will; the relation between mind and body; the possibility of knowledge of the external world; and moral duty. We will be reading both classic and recent work on each of these topics, examining arguments for and against the various positions discussed. Students are expected to be able to reproduce the arguments and critically evaluate them, with the goal of being able to develop and defend their own considered views on each topic.

The requirements for the course are two short papers and one longer paper, as well as a midterm and final exam.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 09 (23720)
Branson
1:55-2:45 MWF
First Year Students Only

An introduction to some basic issues in philosophy through a variety of both classical and contemporary readings. We will begin the class with a viewing of The Matrix and use that film to facilitate a discussion about the distinction between appearance and reality, and the question "Why do Ideas Matter?" We will then discuss why clear definitions and sound reasoning matter in philosophy, leading into a short introduction to contemporary logic. With those tools in hand, we will then go on to more in-depth discussions about the existence of God, free will, the relation between the mind and the body, the objectivity or subjectivity of moral values along with some important moral theories, and finally the nature and extent of human knowledge.

Requirements: In addition to occasional pop quizzes over the reading material (10% of your grade), there will be 3 papers (5%, 15%, and 25%), a quiz over logic (5%), a mid-term (15%) and a final (25%).

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 10 (24681)
Skiles
11:45-12:35 MWF
First Year Students Only

This course offers a general introduction to some of the most interesting, longstanding, and difficult questions of the Western philosophical tradition. We will engage with classic and contemporary literature on the following three topics:

II. Are there any good arguments either for or against the existence of God?
III. How do our minds relate to the physical world, such that we can come to know its
features and affect it in various ways?
IIII. Why (and to what extent) do our moral and social obligations to the welfare of
others place demands upon how we live our own lives?

Besides acquainting you with these three core areas of philosophy, another goal of the course will be to help you develop thinking, writing, and speaking skills that will be crucial to your success in any academic discipline.

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 11 (25290)
Barham
5:00-6:15 TR
First Year Students Only

By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

- identify the premises and conclusions of logical arguments in philosophical and other texts, and evaluate arguments for validity and soundness

Introduction to Philosophy
10101 12 (25291)
Branson
12:50-1:40 MWF
First Year Students Only

Philosophy University Seminar: What is a Philosophical Problem?
13185 01 (21831)
Joy
11:00-12:15 TR
First Year Students Only

What is a philosophical problem? How are philosophical problems related to what we study in the social sciences, the natural sciences, and religion? This introduction to Philosophy focuses on classic strategies for conducting philosophical inquiry, including those of Aristotle, Descartes, Mill, and several 21st-century thinkers. Readings will cover the history of philosophy as well as recent writings in ethics and the neurosciences.

Requirements: This University Seminar satisfies the 100-level Philosophy requirement. Class participation and regular attendance are very important to success in the course. Most classes will consist of both lecture and discussion. Written work includes four papers and one revised paper.

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 02 (22213)
Jauernig
9:30-10:45 TR
First Year Students Only

This course provides an introduction to some central problems in various core areas of philosophy: epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and ethics. The questions that will be addressed include: Can we know if there is an external world? Can we know the past or the future? Is it possible to prove the existence of God? Is it possible to reconcile God's goodness and omnipotence with the presence of evil in the world? What kind of things are persons? Is the mind different from the brain? Supposing that the physical world is deterministic, can we still maintain that humans are free? What is wrong with being an egoist? What does virtue consist in? Ought we all become vegetarians? We will be reading both historical and contemporary texts dealing with the mentioned topics.

Readings:
Joel Feinberg, Russ Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing (13th ed., 2007). Note: The 14th edition of Reason and Responsibility is scheduled to be released in January 2010. In order to prevent potential complications in case the release is delayed, we will be using the 13th edition.

Requirements:
Class participation and five papers.

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 03 (22392)
Jauernig
11:00-12:15 TR
First Year Students Only

Requirements:
Class participation and five papers.

Philosophy University Seminar: The Philosophy of Socrates
13185 04 (22393)
Karbowski
12:30-1:45 TR
First Year Students Only

Plato’s early Socratic dialogues are some of the most engaging philosophical works ever written. They can be approached on many different levels and in many different ways, but their charismatic nature makes them an attractive tool for introductory philosophy courses. This course aims to introduce students to philosophical questions and puzzles by a close study of the views and methods of Socrates and his interlocutors in the early Socratic dialogues. We will read the Apology, Euthyphro, Crito, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, and Phaedo. The issues examined will include the nature of the best human life, the structure of knowledge, the immortality of the soul, the justifiability of civil disobedience, hedonism, among other things.

Requirements:
There will several writing assignments of various lengths. Please email the instructor for more details about the course assignments.

Required Texts:
Plato: Five Dialogues (Hackett)
Protagoras (Hackett)
Gorgias (Hackett)

Recommended Texts:
The Philosophy of Socrates (Brickhouse and Smith)

Philosophy University Seminar: The Philosophy of Socrates
13185 05 (22394)
Karbowski
2:00-3:15 TR
First Year Students Only

Recommended Texts:
The Philosophy of Socrates (Brickhouse and Smith)

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 06 (22395)
Kelsey
2:00-3:15 TR
First Year Students Only

Content: This course is (among other things) an introduction to philosophy. There are many ways to make a first approach to philosophy; ours will be by way of reading and discussing some classic texts on the topic of “knowledge.”
Goals: In an ideal world, by the end of this course students would be able to:

-Identify, restate, illustrate, and explain the central question(s) at issue in a particular text.
-Explain how such questions bear on things they care about
-Locate, formulate, and explain the central line(s) of argument being pursued in a particular text
-Invent, articulate, develop, and evaluate focused objections to philosophical arguments.
- Talk intelligently about some of the main problems studied in the course.

Required Texts: Plato, Theaetetus; Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy; Wittgenstien, On Certainty; Course Reader.

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 07 (22396)
Stubenberg
3:30-4:45 TR
First Year Students Only

This course is an introduction to philosophy. We’ll start off by reading a contemporary introduction to philosophy that focuses on the ideas about knowledge and the self. Then we turn to Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy—the famous book on which our introductory book is modeled. In the remainder of the course we will address two questions: what is the place of consciousness in the material world? And what is it to live a good live.

Texts:
Stephen Hetherington: Self Knowledge (2007)
René Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)
Torin Alter & Robert J. Howell: A Dialogue on Consciousness (2009)
Harry Frankfurt: The Reasons of Love (2006)

Requirements:
Five short papers (1500 words each). Participation in classroom discussion.

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 08 (24698)
Stubenberg
5:00-6:15 TR
First Year Students Only

Requirements:
Five short papers (1500 words each). Participation in classroom discussion.

Philosophy University Seminar
13185 09 (24820)
Howard
2:00-3:15 TR
First Year Students Only

What is the good life, for individuals and for communities? What is the nature of human knowledge and what are its limits? What are the roles of reason and experience in the direction of human affairs? What is the ultimate nature of reality? Is it all just material substance, or do immaterial mind and soul also play an important role? Are there rational grounds for religious belief? This seminar explores these and other such questions through a reading of many classic philosophical works, ranging from Plato's Republic to Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. The goal will be not only to learn what these thinkers had to say but also to work out one's own views though a focused, critical conversation with the likes of Boethius, René Descartes, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.

Introduction to Philosophy
20101 01 (20535)
Williams
9:35-:10:25 MWF

The aim of this course is to introduce you to some central philosophical issues by a thematic and historical approach. The texts we use will introduce you to a variety of philosophical questions with regards to a good human life individually and in a society, the nature of reality, the extent of human knowledge, the problem of evil, and free will vs. determinism. You are expected to learn what various philosophers argue to be the case and why, and to articulate your own philosophical responses.

Work:
1. Various in-class student responses to three questions written after a lecture (1. What was unclear before class? 2. How was it clarified during class? 3. What is still ambiguous to you?).
2. 2 short essays (2-3 pages each) chosen out of 3 possible short essays.
3. 1 long essay (10-15 pages) composed of 2 parts, one question based on readings from before the midterm, and one question based on readings after the midterm.
4. Midterm and Final exams are multiple-choice. The Final Exam is not-cumulative.

Texts:
Adams, Marilyn McCord and Robert Merihew Adams, The Problem of Evil. Oxford University Press, 1991 (paperback).
Aristotle, Selections, Hackett, 1995 (paperback).
Descartes, Rene, Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies, ed. John Cottingham, Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy, 1996, (paperback).
Irwin, Terence, Classical Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Kant, Immanuel, The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Cambridge University Press, 1998 (paperback).
Plato, Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo. Trans. G.M.A. Grube.
IIndianapolis: Hackett, 1981 (paperback).
Plato, Republic, Trans. C.D.C. Reeve, Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004 (paperback).

Introduction to Philosophy
20101 02 (20001)
Williams
10:40-11:35 MWF

Introduction to Philosophy
20101 03 (21363)
Toader.
9:30-10:45 TR

This introductory course will focus on fundamental philosophical problems about the sources and limits of our knowledge, God's existence, the nature of morality, the meaning of life, and some (other) puzzles and paradoxes.

Course requirements: three papers, two exams, a few logic exercises and pop-up reading quizzes.

Introduction to Philosophy
20101 04 (20889)
Toader
11:00-12:15 TR

Course requirements: three papers, two exams, a few logic exercises and pop-up reading quizzes

Introduction to Philosophy
20101 05 (21213)
Rasmussen
8:30-9:20 MWF

In the first third of the semester, we focus on fundamental concepts in philosophy: e.g., properties of arguments, principles of identity, and a variety of useful philosophical distinctions and other conceptual building blocks. We then survey paradigm topics in philosophy: topics in philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion (the existence of God), free will, and morality. The primary objectives of the course are: to train students to (i) analyze and assess philosophical arguments, (ii) develop their own arguments, and (iii) think wisely (intelligently) about some of the most fundamental questions in philosophy. No textbook required. Readings made available online. There will be three essay assignments, periodic quizzes, a midterm, and a final.

Philosophy of Human Nature
20201 01 (22454)
Reimers
8:30 -9:20 MWF

Classically, the question about human nature has been posed in terms of the relation of the soul to the body. However, when we speak in daily life of "human nature" we refer to what we love and hate, what we most want, and how we behave. In this course we will examine the the human constitution in relation to emotion, love, desire, and their effects on and implications for human action. In a word, by examining human nature, we explore the meaning of human life.

Texts will be drawn from the Vatican Council's constitution Gaudium et Spes, Plato's Republic, Thomas Aquinas's Treatise on Happiness, and Karol Wojtyla's Love and Responsibility.

Course requirements: one term paper, two tests, and a final exam.

Philosophy of Human Nature
20201 02 (22455)
Reimers
9:35 - 10:25 MWF

Classically, the question about human nature has been posed in terms of the relation of the soul to the body. However, when we speak in daily life of "human nature" we refer to what we love and hate, what we most want, and how we behave. In this course we will examine the the human constitution in relation to emotion, love, desire, and their effects on and implications for human action. In a word, by examining human nature, we explore the meaning of human life.

Existentialist Themes
20202 01 (25293)
Ameriks
11:00-12:15 TR

This course focuses on writings from three main figures: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre. The contrast of aesthetic, ethical and religious views, as discussed from an existentialist perspective, is the main thematic focus of the course. Students are advised to purchase texts in the editions that are on order for the course at the Notre Dame bookstore.

Requirements: The main requirements are two papers, two tests, and a final.

Death & Dying
20203 01 (25295)
Neiman
1:30-2:45 MW

This course will be divided into two parts. First of all, we will discuss moral problems relating to death and dying, such as the death penalty, physician assisted suicide, abortion, cloning, and stem cell research, as well as world hunger. Secondly, we will be treating death in a more existentialist vein, asking and discussing the following sort of questions: What is the value of human life if it must end in death? How should human beings act knowing that they will not live forever? The course will be divided roughly into 2/3 lecture and 1/3 discussion. Texts will include Louis Pojman, ed. Life and Death: A Reader in Moral Problems, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, and various handouts.

Death & Dying
20203 2 (27825)
Neiman
3:00-4:15 MW

Death & Dying
20203 03 (27828)
Neiman
2:00-3:15 TR

Minds, Brains and Persons
20208 02 (27815)
Iwanicki
5:00-6:15 TR

An examination of selected accounts of persons in philosophical literature, popular science, classic novels and contemporary cinema. Topics examined include: neural correlates of consciousness, personal identity, free will, love and friendship, moral dilemmas, death and the meaning of life. Special attention will be given to analysis and evaluation of arguments, since, as someone once said, “the word philosophy means the love of wisdom, but what philosophers really love is reasoning”.

Requirements: weekly reading and movie watching assignments, three sets of logic exercises at the beginning of the semester, two papers, in-class presentation, in-class debate, midterm exam, and (non-cumulative) final exam.

Chinese Ways of Thought
20218 01 (23195)
Jensen
11:00-12:15 TR
Cross List: ASIA 30101, HIST 30143, LLEA 30101, RLT 40218, THEO 30214, LIT 87913

Chinese Ways of Thought is a special topics class on religion, philosophy, and the intellectual history of China. Conventionally it is assumed that the religion and philosophy of the Chinese can be easily divided into three teachings: Daoism, Buddhism, and "Confucianism." Chinese Ways of Thought questions this easy doctrinal divisibility by introducing the student to the world-view and life experience of Chinese as they have been drawn and local cultic traditions, worship and sacrifice to heroes, city gods, earth gods, water sprites, nature deities, and above all, the dead. China's grand philosophical legacy of Daoism, Buddhism, "Confucianism," and later "Neo Confucianism" with which we have become familiar in the West derived from the particular historical contexts of local practice and it was also in such indigenous contexts that Islam and later Christianity were appropriated as native faiths.

Paradoxes
20229 01 (27831)
Speaks
12:30-1:45 TR

Topic. Bertrand Russell suggested that philosophical theories can be tested by their ability to deal with logical puzzles. This is the approach to philosophy that we will take in this course. The puzzles with which we will be concerned are paradoxes: sets of propositions each member of which is intuitively true but which nonetheless seem jointly inconsistent. Paradoxes of various sorts have been a focus of study in almost every area of philosophy; accordingly, this course will use paradoxes as a tool to raise questions about the following topics, among others: the nature of space and time; the nature of physical objects and change; the possibility of an omniscient and/or omnipotent God; the rules which govern what we rationally ought to believe, and what we rationally ought to do. We will also discuss more purely logical paradoxes such as the sorites, the liar, and Russell's paradox. A subsidiary aim of the course will be to help students to appreciate the importance of consistent beliefs and to improve their ability to think clearly about the logical relations between claims.

Texts. Students will be required to purchase Sainsbury's Paradoxes (3d edition). Copies are available in the bookstore or online. Other readings will be made available in PDF form via links from the syllabus.

Assignments. Two 5 page papers, each worth 20% of the grade; and a midterm, and a final exam, each worth 25% of the grade. The final 10% of the grade will be based on class participation and attendance.

Ethics
20401 01 (22339)
Sterba
1:55-2:45 MWF

This course will begin by considering three challenges to a reason-based morality: 1) It’s all relative, 2) It’s better to be an egoist, 3) Morality is determined by religion not reason. Assuming we can overcome these challenges - if we can’t, we will stop the course right here - but if we can, we will then evaluate three traditional moral perspectives: 1) Kantian morality (It is all about doing your duty), 2) Utilitarian morality (It is all about maximizing utility), and 3) Aristotelian morality (It is all about being virtuous) to see if one of them is better than the others. That accomplished, we will then take up three challenges to a traditional conception of morality: 1) the Feminist challenge (Traditional morality is biased against women), 2) the Environmental challenge (Traditional morality is biased against nonhuman living beings), and 3) the Multicultural challenge (Traditional morality is biased against nonWestern cultures). Assuming we think some defensible form of morality survives these challenges (We will take a vote), we will then go on to apply it to two (not three) practical topics: 1) Is affirmative action justified today? and 2) Does feminism discriminate against men?

Texts:
Introducing Ethics (McGraw-Hill, 2010)
Affirmative Action and Racial Preference (Oxford, 2003)
Affirmative Action for the Future (Cornell, 2009)
Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men? (Oxford 2008)

Requirements:
Three papers 5-7 pages (1500-2100 words), e-mail comments on all readings, and participation in class discussions

Ethics
20401 02 (22461)
King
3:30-4:45 TR

Our course will focus on four topics in moral philosophy:

(1) The Foundations of Morality. What is the nature and ground of morality? Are moral standards objective? That is, do they hold independently of what we happen to think of them? If there are objective moral standards, where do they come from? In particular, does morality depend upon God?
(2) Moral knowledge. If there are objective moral standards, what can we know about them? Do ethical diversity and disagreement somehow undermine our beliefs about morality?
(3) Moral motivation. Supposing that there are objective moral standards, why should we bother to live in accordance with them?
(4) Applied ethics. What is the moral thing to do with respect to real-world issues such as famine, animal rights, war, and so on?

Texts (subject to change): Russ Shafer-Landau, Whatever Happened to Good and Evil?; a course reader available on Concourse.

Tentative list of requirements: 2-3 short papers, a midterm exam, a final exam.

Ethics
20401 03 (24727)
King
5:00-6:15 TR

Ethics
20401 04 (24729)
Holloway
12:50-1:40 MWF

The approach to ethics in this course will be theoretical rather than practical. Instead of focusing on particular moral problems, we will be considering whether or not we can rationally justify a supreme ethical principle or set of ethical principles to guide our actions. After looking at three challenges to this theoretical project, ethical relativism, psychological egoism, and ethical egoism, we will turn to a consideration of two classical types of ethical theory - utilitarianism and Kantianism. Finally, we will end with a look at virtue ethics, a theoretical approach to ethics that calls into question the emphasis on principles that tell us what to do, and instead focuses on the kinds of people we ought to be.

Requirements: Three exams and two papers on an assigned topic.

Moral Problems
20402 01 (22370)
Rabbitt
8:30-9:20 MWF
Cross List: HESB 30231 01

This course serves as an introductory ethics course through focusing on current controversial moral issues (as opposed to “Theory”). It will begin with a brief consideration of key questions about the nature of morality, such as whether there are objective moral standards or whether all moral standards are “relative.” Next there will be a quick overview of the major normative moral theories, those theories that provide us with a general criterion for determining which of our actions are morally acceptable, obligatory, or forbidden. With some understanding of these major approaches in hand, we will turn our attention to topics such as euthanasia, abortion, whether we have obligations to animals and/or nature, the extent of our obligations to the poor, and the right to health care (students will have an opportunity to influence the choice of a topic or two).

Requirements include quizzes on readings (taken on Concourse), a midterm, a final, and three 5-7 pg. papers.

Moral Problems
20402 02 (22371)
Rabbitt
9:35-10:25 MWF
Cross List: HESB 30231 01

Requirements include quizzes on readings (taken on Concourse), a midterm, a final, and three 5-7 pg. papers.

Basic Concepts of Political Philosophy
20406 01 (27833)
Wicks
3:00-4:15 MW
Cross List: HESB 30260 01

This course is an introduction to the Western tradition of political thought. We will read selections from the works of some of the most influential political thinkers from ancient Greece to the present day.

We will examine questions such as: From where does government derive its authority and what are the limits of that authority? On what basis is the state justified in the use of force? What is the relationship between morality and politics?

In addition to familiarizing you with the history and central themes of political philosophy, the course is intended to develop your ability to critically assess arguments and to communicate complex ideas in writing in a clear and precise way.

Textbook: Stephen Cahn, ed. Political Philosophy: The Essential Texts. Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780195177084.

Requirements: 2 papers, 3 quizzes, and a final examination.

Morality and Modernity
20415 01 (22673)
Solomon/Wicks
10:40-11:30 MW(F)
Co-req: 22415
Cross List: HESB 30232 01, PHIL 40314 01

Our society is deeply divided by controversies over a range of moral issues. Underlying the controversies surrounding issues such as abortion, euthanasia, the conduct of war, and the distribution of scarce medical resources are profound disagreements about the nature and purpose of morality.

In this course will read AlasdairMacIntyre’s groundbreaking account of emergence of modern morality, After Virtue, and compare his interpretation of the morality of modernity with that offered by Charles Taylor inThe Ethics of Authenticity. We will also read works by two of the philosophers who have done the most to shape modern moral thought; Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Having traced the origins of our deepest moral disputes in the history of modern morality we will turn to questions of how, if at all, these disputes could be resolved and which ways of thinking about ethics are best able to meet the challenges of the modern world.

Books: Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue (ISBN-10: 0268035040). Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity (ISBN-10: 0674268636). Friedrich Nietzsche, On The Genealogy of Morals (ISBN-10: 019283617X). Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (ISBN-10: 087220166X), Walter Miller Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz (ISBN-10: 0060892994).
Requirements: 3 short (3-5 page) papers and 1 medium length (5-7 page) paper, a midterm, and a final examination.

Agency, Responsibility, and Determinism
20420 01 (25314)
Rhoda
9:30-10:45 TR

In this course we will explore a number of philosophical problems involving fate, free will, determinism, and moral responsibility. The course will be divided into two parts.

During the first part (covering the first two thirds of the semester) we focus on human free will in relation to causal determinism (roughly, the idea that past and present events plus the laws of nature causally necessitate all future events). Questions to be considered under this rubric include: What is the proper analysis of free will? In what sense, if any, is free will necessary for moral responsibility? Does free will require having a choice among alternative possibilities? Is free will compatible with determinism? Is free will compatible with indeterminism? And do we actually have free will, or is it just an illusion? In addition to strictly philosophical approaches to these questions, we will also look at what physics and neuroscience have to say.

During the second part of the course, we will shift our focus to logical and theological challenges to free will, both human and divine. We will discuss logical fatalism, the view that there are determinate truths about what you will do in the future and that these truths are incompatible with your having the ability to do otherwise. We will also discuss theological challenges to free will connected with divine foreknowledge and foreordination. Are either of these doctrines, as traditionally conceived, compatible with human free will and moral responsibility? If not, should we give up human freedom or challenge the theological tradition? Finally, we will also look at a problem for divine freedom. Can God be free? Maybe not, some have recently argued.

Course Texts: Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford, 2005) Robert Kane (ed.), Free Will (Blackwell, 2002) Stephen Cahn, Fate, Logic, and Time

Supplementary course readings will be located either on e-reserve or on the Internet.

Course Requirements: Four 4-5 page papers and a final exam.

Agency, Responsibility, and Determinism
20420 02 (27834)
Rhoda
11:00-12:15 TR

In this course we will explore a number of philosophical problems involving fate, free will, determinism, and moral responsibility. The course will be divided into two parts.

Course Texts: Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford, 2005) Robert Kane (ed.), Free Will (Blackwell, 2002) Stephen Cahn, Fate, Logic, and Time

Supplementary course readings will be located either on e-reserve or on the Internet.

Course Requirements: Four 4-5 page papers and a final exam.

Agency, Responsibility, and Determinism
20420 03 (27836)
Boeninger
3:30-4:45 TR

This course will carefully explore some philosophical problems involving human free will and moral responsibility. The course will focus primarily on four sets of issues. The first concerns the thesis of determinism. Suppose all of our decisions are the unavoidable consequences of the past plus the laws of nature: could we still have free will? Does freedom require having "open alternatives?" Does determinism rule out such alternatives? Does freedom require indeterminism?

The second set of issues assesses whether indeterminism - the denial of determinism - is compatible with the existence of human freedom. Suppose our universe is indeterministic: would that mean that our actions are simply random, just the product of mere chance? How could we control our actions in an indeterministic world? Is it possible that freedom requires determinism after all?

The third set of issues we will consider focuses on the nature of moral responsibility, and especially the relationship between moral responsibility and free will. What is it to be morally responsible for a decision? Must we act freely in order to be genuinely blameworthy or praiseworthy for our actions?

The fourth set of issues will consider the apparent threat to freedom and responsibility posed by recent neuroscientific experiments. Some studies suggest that brain scans and other neuroscientific evidence reveal that behavior that we ordinarily think of as freely chosen is in fact the result of non-conscious brain activity, and that brain scans can be used to predict one's putatively free choice even before we are aware of our "decision." How should we understand these studies? How threatening are they to our view of ourselves as free and responsible agents?

Main Course Texts:
Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford, 2005)
Robert Kane, ed., Free Will (Blackwell, 2002)

Main Course Requirements:
About 3 short papers, Final Exam

Agency, Responsibility, and Determinism
20420 04 (27837)
Boeninger
5:00-6:15 TR

Main Course Texts:
Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford, 2005)
Robert Kane, ed., Free Will (Blackwell, 2002)

Main Course Requirements:
About 3 short papers, Final Exam

Self and Society
20423 01 (27838)
Rush
9:30-10:45 TR

An examination of the relation of individuals to the social entities to which they belong. The investigation is partly historical (i.e., we shall consider several treatments of this issue that have been proposed in the past). It is also partly conceptual (i.e., we shall consider various contemporary responses to the question).

Texts from: Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Rawls, Nozick, Geertz, et al.

Required text: Political Thought, ed. Rosen & Wolff (Oxford UP).

Contemporary and Political Philosophy
20425 01 (25343)
Weithman
9:30-10:45 TR
Pre-requisite: ALHN 13950

This course is intended for first year students in the Honors Program, and is intended to satisfy their second philosophy requirement.

The last four decades have been an extraordinarily exciting time in the development of political philosophy. Many of the central questions in the subject have received their most authoritative formulation and treatment since the 19th century. This course will survey developments in the English-speaking philosophical world in that period. A good deal of attention will be devoted to the ground-breaking writings of John Rawls, and to critiques of his work. Topics to be covered include the foundations of constitutional and human rights, the foundations of economic justice in domestic and global settings, and the point and demands of equality. We will consider some other problems briefly, including the conditions of just war in the contemporary world and moral problems connected with torture. Most of the readings will be drawn from books by John Rawls, Gerald Cohen and Amartya Sen, though we will also look at articles by other authors. The course will be run as a seminar.

This course presupposes that students have taken “Introduction to Philosophy”. Other than that, it has no prerequisites except a willingness to work hard and take part in class discussions. Students may be asked to do a small amount of reading over winter break as background for the course.

Requirements include frequent writing assignments, a class presentation and a comprehensive final examination.

Medical Ethics
20602 01 (28761)
Brown
11:45-12:35 MWF

This course is intended to provide a topic-based introduction to biomedical ethics. By the end of this course, you will be able to identify key issues in some of the most serious problems in medical ethics. You will also begin to develop an informed, well-considered perspective on those problems. Some of the specific issues that we will discuss are: the nature of the doctor/patient relationship, medical experimentation and informed consent, race and gender as they relate to medicine, abortion, reproductive technology, treatment decisions regarding seriously ill infants, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, organ transplantation, and health care reform.

Formal requirements include several reading quizzes, three very short papers (2 pages each), one longer paper (8-10 pages), a presentation, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

Medical Ethics
20602 02 (28761)
Brown
12:50-1:40 MWF

Formal requirements include several reading quizzes, three very short papers (2 pages each), one longer paper (8-10 pages), a presentation, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

Science and Catholicism
20627 01 (27839)
O'Callaghan
8:00-9:15 MW
Cross List: STV 20127 01

A historical and philosophical examination of the relations, if there are any, between science and religion with particular reference to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Through the use of historical materials the course will attempt to isolate and examine philosophical difficulties that might be thought to obtain between the claims made by Christian revelation and various scientific theories about features of the world. Emphasis will be placed upon distinctive ways in which the intellectual tradition of the Catholic church has faced the issues raised. Figures to be considered may include Augustine, Aquinas, Galileo, Bellarmine, Darwin, Huxley, Dawkins, Newman, Leroy, Zahm, LeMaitre, and Hawking, as well as others. Topics to be discussed are Language, Meaning, and Revelation, the Nature of Science, Theory, and Hypothesis, Evolution, the Big Bang, Soul and Body, Creation versus Making, Providence and Chance.

Philosophy of Religion
20801 01 (22465)
Rosato, D.
1:30-2:45 MW

The goal of this class is to examine central Christian beliefs with the aid of philosophical reasoning. We will consider the following topics: the problem of evil, proofs for God’s existence, Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement. We will read authors drawn from the medieval and contemporary period, including the following: Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Peter van Inwagen, Brian Leftow, and Richard Swinburne.

Course Requirements: participation, frequent quizzes on the readings, 5 short writing assignments, 1 long paper, a midterm exam, and a cumulative final exam.

Required texts include:
1. Peter van Inwagen, The Problem of Evil, (Oxford, 2008)
2. Oxford Readings in Philosophical Theology, Volume 1: Trinity, Incarnation, Atonement, ed. Michael Rea, (Oxford, 2009)

Philosophical Reflections on Christian Belief: C.S. Lewis and After
20802 01 (27840)
Potter
12:30-1:45 TR

There are two main aims of the course. First, we’ll do a philosophical survey of some of the important elements of the Christian faith - the topics treated will include arguments for God’s existence, the problem of evil, the atonement, hell, as well as more practical elements like prayer, Scripture, and forgiveness. Second, we’ll gain a more systematic understanding of C.S. Lewis’ life and thought. While we won’t confine ourselves to material Lewis has written (we’ll draw from contemporary philosophical literature on each of these topics), we’ll approach all of these topics through his work.

Requirements: Two exams and a term paper.

Philosophical Reflections on Christian Belief: C.S. Lewis and After
20802 02 (27841)
Potter
3:30-4:45 TR

There are two main aims of the course. First, we’ll do a philosophical survey of some of the important elements of the Christian faith - the topics treated will include arguments for God’s existence, the problem of evil, the atonement, hell, as well as more practical elements like prayer, Scripture, and forgiveness. Second, we’ll gain a more systematic understanding of C.S. Lewis’ life and thought. While we won’t confine ourselves to material Lewis has written (we’ll draw from contemporary philosophical literature on each of these topics(, we’ll approach all of these topics through his work.

Requirements: Two exams and a term paper.

*Unless otherwise indicated, you need to be a philosophy major, philosophy minor, or PHTH major to take 30301 or 30302 or 30313 and you must have taken or be taking 30301 or 30302 or 30313 to register for 3xxxx and 4xxxx level courses in philosophy. To declare a major, sign up to meet with Professor O'Connor in 100 Malloy Hall.

Ancient & Medieval Philosophy
30301 01 (22303)
Dumont
12:30-1:45 TR
Cross List: MI 30301 01 (24472)

A survey of Western philosophy from its beginnings in the early Greek physicists to the late middle ages. The emphasis in class will be on the reading and analysis of fundamental texts by main figures of the period: Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Concurrent reading of a standard history will supply additional background and continuity.

Requirements: Two papers (one each for the ancient and medieval portions of the course), a mid-term, and final examination.

History of Modern Philosophy
30302 01 (21145)
Newlands
1:30-2:45 MW

The sweeping scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries paralleled the development of sweeping new approaches to philosophy. Of particular concern to these so-called “modern philosophers” was to understand the relationship between human beings and the natural world, especially in the light of the emerging new scientific picture. In this course, we will explore many facets of this relationship: the relationship between the mind and the body; the nature, role and knowledge of God; skepticism and knowledge of the external world; the possibility of human freedom; the possibility of miracles; causation; and the nature of the fundamentally real. As we will see along the way, many of the new methods, problems and proposed solutions surrounding these topics are the very methods, problems, and solutions still driving contemporary philosophy.

Readings will be drawn mainly from Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

Textbook: The new Second edition Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources, eds. Ariew and Watkins, Hackett Publishing (it came out in November)

Requirements: 2 papers, 2 exams, occasional short writing exercises

19th & 20th Century Philosophy
30303 01 (24738)
Rush
12:30-1:45 TR

This is a survey course of the history of 19th-century European philosophy since Kant. Texts from among: Fichte, Schiller, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche.

Course requirements: two short papers, a midterm, and a final examination.

Formal Logic
30313 01 (20385)
Franks
3:30-4:45 TR
DOES NOT SATISFY UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT

In this class we develop a formal system of classical first-order logic with identity, study this system's syntax and semantics, and become proficient at constructing derivations in the system. We also will critically analyze the system's expressive strength by investigating the relationship between formal and informal validity and entailment.

Requirements: Write several take home exams.

Text: Language Proof and Logic, by Barwise and Etchemendy

Philosophical Issues in Physics
30389 01 (25399)
Brading
9:30-10:25 MWF
Cross List: PHYS 30389, STV 30189

This course concerns developments in our physical theories, focusing on the shifts from Aristotelian cosmology to Newtonian physics, and then from Newtonian physics to special relativity and quantum mechanics. The historical and philosophical backgrounds to these developments are explored, as are the philosophical questions to which the resulting theories give rise. The first part of the course addresses the history of ancient and early modern science, providing necessary background for the quantum and relativistic revolutions discussed in the remainder of the course. The discussion of quantum mechanics will include non-locality and the measurement problem, and how different interpretations of quantum mechanics address these two issues. For special relativity, we will discuss the premises required for deriving the Lorentz transformations, and conventionality of simultaneity, length contraction, time dilation, and the 'twins paradox', among other things. The course will combine lectures with class discussions. We will use J. T. Cushing, Philosophical Concepts in Physics, supplemented by additional readings. Examination will be through assignments, tests and presentations. It is assumed that students taking this course are willing and able to tackle the mathematics necessary for formulating and exploring the philosophical issues at stake.

Morality and Modernity
40314 01 (22683)
Solomon/Wicks
10:40-11:30 MW(F)
Cross List: HESB 30232 01, PHIL 20415

Requirements: 2 medium length (5-7 page) papers and 1 longer (8-10 page) paper, a midterm, and a final examination.

Requirements for 40314: two short papers, one longer paper and a final examination.

Platonic Love
43139 01 (28440)
Gersh
11:00-12:15 TR
Cross List: MI 30370 01 (28219)

This course will study the theme of platonic love from Plato (via Agustine and Aquinas) to Masilio Ficino, focusing on half a dozen key texts in English translation.

Medieval Theories of Cosmic Harmony
43142 01 (28437)
Gersh
12:30-1:45 TR
Cross List: MI 60371 01 (28221)

A study of Pythagorean tradition in the Middle Ages using both philosophical-theological and musictheoretical texts.

Aquinas on Human Nature
43151 01 (27850)
O'Callaghan
9:30-10:45 TR
Cross List: MI 43343 01
.
A close seminar reading of Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae, against the background of Aristotle’s De anima and Augustine’s De trinitate. Focus will be upon questions 75-93 of the First Part of the Summa Theologiae, exploring philosophically Aquinas’ positions on the unity of the human person, the immateriality and subsistence of the soul, the nature of intellect and its relation to sensation on the one hand, and will on the other, and finally, how his philosophical account of human nature fits into his theological discussion of human beings “made in the image and likeness of God.”

Nietzsche
43173 01 (27851)
Ameriks
2:00-3:15 TR

Nietzsche may be the most widely read philosopher of his era, with an influence that extends far beyond the discipline of philosophy. This seminar will involve reading through Nietzsche's main works, in chronological order, putting them in context, and evaluating them from a contemporary perspective. His aesthetic, ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical views will be studied in detail, with attention also to their implications for our understanding of history, modernity, literature, the history of philosophy, and the nature of religion.

Texts: A number of Nietzsche's main works (and recent introductions to his work by authors such as Williams, Geuss, Bittner, Pippin, Ridley, and Clark/Leiter), including not so well-known early essays, plus critical essays on reserve. Students are advised to purchase texts in the editions that are on order for the course at the Notre Dame bookstore.

Requirements: A few short papers or in-class presentations or both, and a term paper.

Continental Philosophy
43201 01 (27581)
Watson
5:00-6:15 TR

This 400 seminar will be devoted to a survey of the major movements contributing to recent Continental philosophy. To be included are phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, critical theory, poststructuralism.

Requirements: midterm, final, 10 page researchpaper.

Environmental Justice
43308 01 (27856)
Shrader-Frechette
4:30-7:00 W
Cross List: STV 43396; HESB 43537; BIOS 50544

Offered primarily for biology credit, this course is cross-listed for philosophy credit. Course will cover flaws in scientific method and flaws in ethics that cause environmental injustice – the fact that children, minorities, and poor people receive higher exposures to environmental toxins that damage their health and kill them. Course is hands-on, and students will learn to analyze the scientific and ethical flaws in some of the 3000 draft impact assessments done annually in the US; student work on these assessments will actually help influence policy and serve threatened communities. Majors in environmental sciences, pre-med, engineering, philosophy, or any of the natural or biological sciences, need no permission for the course. All other majors need instructor’s permission (kshrader@nd.edu) to enter the course.

Since this course is cross-listed with biology, and presupposes a good bit of science background, students who are neither pre-meds nor science/engineering majors must have the personal written permission of Dr. Shrader-Frechette to enroll in the course.

Requirements include weekly summary assignments; weekly quizzes; 3 short, analytic papers; participation in classroom analysis, and one major project. Students each choose a project that involves working on a self-chosen EJ project, so that they can use techniques (learned in course) to promote real-world social justice and improved scientific methods in specific poor or minority communities. There are no exams.

Texts include Peter Singer, One World; Shrader-Frechette, Environmental Justice; and a variety of articles from scientific and medical journals.

Animal Minds and Animal Rights
43310 01 (27857)
Warfield
9:30-10:45 TR

What relation is there, if any, between facts about the mental lives of nonhuman animals and the moral status of nonhuman animals? What are the major arguments for the conclusion that human treatment of many nonhuman animals is morally unacceptable? If common farming practices are morally unacceptable, what if anything follows about individual behavior (is, for example, veganism morally obligatory).

We will focus on these and related questions as we explore the intersection of ethical theory and the applied ethics issue of “animal rights”.

This course is a majors-level investigation of these issues: this is not a course intended to be taken as a second general education philosophy course.

Students will be required to complete several substantial papers.

Philosophy & Literature Seminar
43313 01 (22340)
O'Connor
11:45-1:00 MW

This intensive seminar is the gateway course for the Minor in Philosophy and Literature. Core readings for the seminar include: Sophocles, Oedipus The King; Euripides, Bacchae; Plato, Phaedrus; Aristotle, Poetics; William Shakespeare, Hamlet; Richard Wagner, Tristan and Isolde; Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy; Thomas Mann, Death in Venice; and the poetry of Wallace Stevens. We will also have one or two visiting scholars participate in the seminar.

The course is a true seminar, with student papers, distributed to the seminar participants in advance, often the focus of discussion. There are about 20 pages of writing assigned, and usually an oral final exam.

To apply for the seminar, or for further information about the course or the minor, please email the director of the Minor in Philosophy and Literature, Professor David O’Connor (doconnor@nd.edu). Registration is by permission only. Some priority will be given to students intending to participate in the minor, but other interested students are encouraged to apply.

The Minor in Philosophy and Literature allows students and faculty to integrate interests that otherwise might have to be studied separately in two or more disciplines or majors. How philosophy and literature complement and compete with each other has been a lively field of intellectual inquiry ever since the ancient Greeks, and the Minor is designed so students can continue this conversation while working closely with faculty mentors. The formal requirements for the fifteen-credit Minor are: the four-credit gateway seminar; two semesters of the one-credit Philosophy and Literature Colloquium on special topics following on the gateway seminar; and three three-credit courses that fit the intellectual profile of the Minor, usually drawn from the advanced offerings in the departments of Philosophy, Classics, and the departments in modern languages and literatures. Students are also strongly encouraged to consider writing a senior thesis related to the Minor.
INTERESTED? CONTACT: Professor David O’Connor (doconnor@nd.edu)

Philosophy of Law
43403 01 (27858)
Warfield
11:00-12:15 TR

We will focus on issues arising in criminal law including:
the nature and limits of the criminal sanction;
the relation between the rules of evidence and procedure and the conception of a criminal trial as a “search for the truth”;
the relevance of mental states to the nature and severity of various criminal offenses.

Students will be required to complete several substantial papers.

God, Philosophy and Politics: The Catholic Philosophical Tradition and Political Studies
43426 01 (22759)
MacIntyre
11:45-1:00 MW
Cross List: THEO 40825 01 )
Enrollment in this seminar is usually restricted to students in the Minor in Philosophy in the Catholic tradition.

This class falls into three parts. In the first we consider the implications for politics of the thought of Augustine and Aquinas. In the second we examine the nature and justification of modern democratic states and a variety of problems posed for democracy in societies as different as Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. In the third we ask what resources modern Catholic political philosophy is able to bring to the solution of those problems.

Readings:
Augustine, City of God, Book XIX; In City of God tr. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge University Press).
I. Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Ia-IIae 94-96, IIa-Iiae 105, art. 1; In Aquinas: Political Writings tr. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge University Press).
II. R. A. Dahl , On Democracy (Yale University Press).
T. E. Patterson, The Vanishing Voter (Random House).
III. J. Maritain, Man and The State (CUA Press), The Person and the Common Good (UND Press).

Paper topics:
1. What are the differences between Augustine’s perspective on politics and Aquinas’s? Does this difference involve disagreement?
2. Is large-scale abstention from voting a threat to democracy? If so, why?
3. Does a contemporary democracy need a shared conception of its common good? If so, why? If not, why not?

Topics in Political Philosophy
43428 01 (25410)
Sterba
2:00-3:15 TR
Cross List: IIPS 43702 (26256)

This course will focus on the work of three distinguished contemporary political philosophers: Joshua Cohen of Stanford University, Candace Vogler of the University of Chicago and Jerry Gaus of the University of Arizona who will be visiting Notre Dame around the middle of April to participate in a Conference on Justifying Political Philosophy. The course will enable students to evaluate the previous work of these three philosophers that attempts to justify political philosophy. Having read and come to terms with their previously published work on the topic, students should then be able to attend and profitably participate in the conference and question these philosophers about their current views. A special lunch will be arranged with the students of this course and these visiting speakers to facilitate such interaction. Other related works by other contemporary political philosophers will also be read and discussed in class. A further attempt will be made to relate these attempts at justifying political philosophy with issues of global justice, particularly relating to women.

Texts:
Joshua Cohen, Politics, Power and Public Reason, (Oxford, 2010), Candace Vogler, Reasonably Vicious (Harvard, 2002), Jerry Gaus, The Order of Public Reason (forthcoming), Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky (Knopf, 2009).

Requirements:
Three papers 7-10 pages (2100-3000 words), e-mail comments on all readings, and participation in class discussions

Bio-Medical Ethics & Public Health Risk
43708 01 (23296)
Shrader-Frechette
5:00-7:30 T
Cross List: BIOS 50545 (26313), HESB 43538 (24470), STV 40216 (23531)

Designed for premedical students and those interested in the environment, science, and engineering, the course will survey ethical issues associated with current public-health problems such as pollution-induced cancers occupational injury and death, and inadequate emphasis on disease prevention, nutrition, and environmental health.

Courses requirements: Weekly quizzes but no tests, weekly one-page reading reports, 3 one-page papers, readings for every class, participation in classroom analysis.

The Scientific Self: Body and Soul in 17th Century Europe
43713 01(27860)
Brading/Newlands
11:45-1:00 MW
Cross List: STV 43114 01

This small group discussion seminar, linked to a week-long summer research workshop in Romania, explores the profound changes in European thought that took place in the seventeenth century. This period is frequently depicted as a time of "crisis" --socially, politically, philosophically, and theologically; we will approach the issues at stake through the window of the “birth of modern science,” using the activities of the Royal Society of London as a focal point. The Royal Society was founded in England in the seventeenth century, and its interests ranged widely: from ghosts to astronomical discoveries, fromthe laws of motionto the principles of agriculture, from experiments exploring the existence of a vacuum, to experiments concerning respiration and circulation of the blood, to experiments as spiritual exercises. Students will be challenged to wrestle with the ways in which these historical developments have shaped their own self-understanding. Seminar participants are encouraged to apply to the Romania workshop, which will be attended byleading scholars.Several funding opportunities are available to support successful applicants.

Format: Discussion seminar, based around required and supplementary readings. There will also be several guest speakers throughout the semester.

Examination: Class participation and a term paper. The topic of the term paper will be drawn from the material covered in the seminar. Students will be encouraged to use the term paper in applying to the Romania workshop.

Pre-requisites: Two philosophy courses. Given the inter-disciplinary nature of the course, non-philosophy majors are encouraged to apply. Places are limited and pre-registration isencouraged. To apply for pre-registration, contact Katherine Brading (kbrading@nd.edu) or Sam Newlands (snewlands@nd.edu).

The Logic of Scientific Method
43714 01(27862)
Pitts
3:00-4:15 MW
Cross List: STV 43174 01

How should we decide today when we are not sure of the future consequences? Will the future resemble the past, and in what respects? Is the present the key to the past, and how do we know? David Hume claimed that testimonial evidence for a violation of natural law (a miracle) could never make it reasonable to believe that the miracle happened; how does his argument fare using modern notions of induction? Scientific reasoning and daily life both involve drawing conclusions and making decisions based on incomplete information. Inductive reasoning aims to make the best use possible of limited information in drawing conclusions and making decisions. Confirmation theory aims to ascertain what makes data count for or against hypotheses, including scientific theories. Because our knowledge often comes in degrees, probabilistic methods are a very helpful tool. While inductive reasoning is important, Hume's critique of it leaves it unclear why induction is justified. Bayes's theorem in probability theory provides the core of a method, Bayesianism, that some philosophers think is the Swiss army knife of inductive reasoning and confirmation theory, with a tool for any task; increasingly scientists are also employing Bayesian methods. This class will introduce induction and confirmation as philosophical problems. Bayesianism will be introduced and assessed as a candidate solution to the problems of induction and confirmation. While sufficient probability theory will be introduced, comfort with mathematics will be helpful. Some questions to be addressed include: Does induction come in many forms, or in one unique form ideal in all circumstances? When hypotheses are tested, how does one assign credit and blame among them? Can probabilistic methods complement deduction, such as by showing whether to accept a valid argument's conclusion, reject its premise(s), or suspend judgment?

Texts:
Course readings will include: Colin Howson and Peter Urbach, Scientific Reasoning: The Bayesian Approach, 3rd edition; John Earman, Bayes or Bust?; Earman's Hume's Abject Failure; and various articles.

Evaluation:
Grading will be based upon tests (partly essay, partly quantitative), essays, and homework.

Joint Philosophy/Theology Seminar
43801 01 (22813)
Solomon/Cavadini
1:30-2:45 MW
Cross List: THEO 43203 01 ()

A close study of some of the most important works of Joseph Ratzinger, both before and after his elevation to the Papacy as Pope Benedict XVI. What follows is a tentative description of the course contents. We will begin with Ratzinger's assessment of the state of Catholic thought before and after Vatican II, concentrating on the distinction between calls for aggiornamento and calls for resourcement. Then we will explore the themes contained in his Introduction to Christianity and his first two encyclicals Deus est Caritas and Spe Salvi, e.g., the nature of faith, the situation of the Christian believer in the intellectual milieu of contemporary Western culture, the relation of faith and reason, and the theology of history. After that, we will turn to Ratzinger's writings on the portrait of Jesus as it emerges from the synoptic Gospels, concentrating on Jesus of Nazareth. We will end, as is only fitting, by looking at the eschatalogical questions that he deals with in his Eschatology.

Requirements: Daily submission of a question based on the reading for that day; writing assignments that will total about 20 pages.

Perception
43909 01 (27863)
Speaks
3:30-4:45 TR

Topic. This course will be a historical introduction to the philosophy of perception, from Plato to the present. Topics of study will include the metaphysics of perception, perceptual representation, the relationship between perception and thought, and the nature of the properties, like the colors, which are represented in perceptual experience. Philosophers studied will include Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Reid, Kant, and Russell. Though the organization of the course will be historical, we will spend at least half of the course discussing philosophy of perception in the last century. During that time we'll also be discussing connections between the philosophy of perception and debates about the nature of consciousness and the mind-body problem.

Texts. Readings will be made available in PDF form via links from the syllabus.

Assignments. A final paper, a midterm, and a final exam, each worth 30% of the grade. The final 10% of the grade will be based on class participation and attendance.

Philosophy of Logic
43914 01 (28701)
Franks
11:30-2:45 MW

We will study the gradual emergence of logic as a scientific discipline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with special attention to (1) the competing conceptions of the nature of logic that its practitioners held during this period (2) the way that these conceptions shaped various parts of modern logic and (3) the tenability of logical historicism. We are interested in whether and why one might say that logic has an"essence" that is represented by one or another of these views, or if logic as successful science is somehow generated by a plurality of views none of which it is ultimately responsible to.

We will read original logical papers by Frege, Gentzen, Herbrand, and Goedel as well as retrospective and philosophical papers by Quine, van Heijenoort, and others. The seminar will be largely textual and philosophical, but along the way we will master some classical logical results (e.g., completeness and cut-elimination theorems).

FORMAL LOGIC (or its equivalent) is a pre-requisite for this seminar. Some familiarity with central ideas in the philosophy of science (Kuhn, Quine, Foucalt, Hacking) will be helpful.

Active participation and a term-long research project that results in a paper are required from all members of the seminar.

Directed Readings
46498 01 (20441)
Holloway

Directed Readings
46498 02 (20552)
Holloway

Senior Thesis
48499 01 (21745)
O'Connor

* The 3xxxx and 4xxxx level courses are typically for majors only and carry the major core courses as prerequisites. They are more difficult than 20000 level courses which should be used for completing university requirements. If you are a non-major interested in taking one of these courses, you must sign up for an appointment with Professor O'Connor, the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Sign up sheets will be posted in the hallway outside 100 Malloy Hall a few weeks before registration begins. .

Department of Philosophy

Undergraduate Course Descriptions Spring 20010

Click here to see Fall 2009 Course Descriptions

Spring 2010 Course Descriptions

College of Arts and Letters