PHILOSOPHY

150.111 (H) (W)

PHILOSOPHIC CLASSICS (3) Williams (Michael) Limit 20 per section An historical introduction to reading and doing philosophy by way of critically examining selected classic texts in the Western philosophical tradition. Philosophers to be examined include Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche.

Secs. 3 & 7 canceled 9/11/06

Lec.

Sec. 01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

ThF 1

M 11

M 12

M 1

T 11

T 12

T 1

M 1

T 1

150.190 (H)

FRESHMEN SEMINAR ON CONSCIOUSNESS (3) Williams (Meredith)  Limit 15   Freshmen Only  The key questions concerning consciousness are: Can consciousness be something natural, e.g., a neurophysiological property or a cognitive property of certain complex organisms or a biologically emergent property? How is the consciousness of animals and humans the same or different? What is the relation of consciousness to our sense of self? We shall examine several attempts to answer these questions, including those who think that consciousness is a mystery.

Sec. 01

MTW 9

150.201 (H)

INTRODUCTION TO GREEK PHILOSOPHY (3) Bett  Limit 20 per section A survey of the earlier phase of Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle will be discussed, as well as two groups of thinkers who preceded them, usually known as the pre-Socratics and the Sophists.

Lec.

Sec. 01

02

03

04

MT 11

W 11

W 12

W 11

W 2

150.219 (H)

BIOETHICS (3)  Bok  Limit 20 per section  Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g., physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research.

Cross listed with Public Health Studies

Lec.

Sec. 01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

ThF 12

M 12

T 1

M 12

T 1

M1

W 12

M 12

W 12

T 1

M 12

150.225 (H)

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (3)  Jenkins   Limit 40 Environmentalists say (or maybe shout) "Preserve nature!" while environmental ethicists ask "What makes nature worth preserving?" In this course we will employ our energies as ethicists, rather than environmentalists, except insofar as answers to our philosophical questions force rethinking of our environmental sympathies. One main focus of the course will be wilderness. What kind of thing is it? How is it valued? Is such value relative? Does our behavior towards it match our values?  Course added 03/15/06

Sec. 01

MTW 9

150.245 (H)

PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: SELF-KNOWLEDGE (3)  Tumulty   Limit 25 per section 35  how is your knowledge of yourself different from your knowledge of other people? This question will organize our approach to key questions about the relation between the mind and the body, between emotion and belief, and about the nature of perception.

Sec. 01 & 02 added 7/26/06

Sec. 03 & 04 added 8/23/06

Lec.

Sec. 01

02

03

04

MTW 1

W 1

W 2

W 9

W 10

150.405 (H)

HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY: RENAISSANCE THROUGH KANT (3) Greenberg  Limit 35   Prereq: 150.205 or equivalent or Perm Req’d.  An examination of selected texts by Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, and Berkeley.

Sec. 01

T 1-4

150.419 (H)

KANT’S CRITIQUE OF JUDGEMENT (3) Förster   Limit 35  A close study of both parts of Kant’s third Critique, Aesthetics and Teleology and their significance for post-Kantian philosophy.

Sec. 01

ThF 9-10:30

150.420 (H,Q)

INTERMEDIATE SYMBOLIC LOGIC (4) Rynasiewicz   Limit 35 Prereq: Experience in Math Logic   Includes topics covered in 150.218 but with an introduction to meta-theory.

Sec. 01

MTW 10,
F 2

150.422 (H,Q)

AXIOMATIC SET THEORY (3) Rynasiewicz   Limit 35   Prereq: 150.421 or a sufficient level of mathematical maturity   Axiomatic development of set theory, including the theory of transfinite ordinals and cardinals. Relative consistency proofs. Independence of the axiom of choice, and of the continuum hypothesis. Implications for the foundations of mathematics.

Sec. 01

MTW 1

150.431 (H)

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (3) Achinstein Limit 20 35   An examination of basic concepts underlying thought and practice in the natural and social sciences, such as scientific methods, the verification of hypotheses, explanation, and the role and status of scientific theories. Readings will be from philosophers of science past and present.

Sec. 01

ThF 10:30-12

150.440 (H)

PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE, PART I: FROM FREGE TO QUINE (3)  Tumulty   Limit 35  This course surveys 20th century analytic philosophy of language and focuses on the themes of meaning, understanding, truth, and reference. This course is self-contained but will be followed by 150.441 Philosophy of Language, Part II:  From Quine to the Present Day.

Sec. 01

MTW 10

150.451 (H)

ETHICAL THEORIES (3) Jenkins  Limit 35  This course features, first, close readings of the classic texts (by Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) behind philosophy’s dominant attempts to systematically order, explain and justify ethical life; and, second, an examination of contemporary attempts to ground theory in considerations of virtue and character.

Sec. 01

MTW 12

150.467 (H)

(W)

ABSTRACT PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICAL LIFE (3) Smith   Limit 20  Introductory Course - Undergrads Only This course examines the ways in which philosophical ideas about knowledge and reality can influence ethics, politics, and everyday life. Readings will be from Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Hobbes, and William James.
Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Course

Sec. 01

MTW 2

150.476 (H)

PHILOSOPHY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE (3) Gross   Limit 25 An examination of some philosophically important foundational issues in the cognitive sciences. Topics covered this year will include modularity (the "Swiss Army Knife" view of the mind), innate knowledge, adaptationist hypotheses in psychology, and the computational theory of mind. The first part of the course will provide background for understanding a recent series of exchanges between Steven Pinker (How the Mind Works) and Jerry Fodor (The Mind Doesn't Work That Way), which will occupy the second part of the course. Other figures read will include Chomsky, Sperber, Carruthers, Tooby and Cosmides, Sterelny, etc., as well as a few selections from Plato, Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz for historical perspective. Cross-listed with Cognitive Science & Psychological and Brain Sciences Course added 7/19/06

Sec. 01

ThF 12-1:30

191.420 (S)
(W)

SPEED AND POLITICS (3) Glezos  Limit 15 Prereq: Junior or Senior standing or permission of instructor.
Cross-listed with Political Science
Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Course

Sec. 01

W 2-5

300.335 (H)

PROUST AND PHILOSOPHY (3)  deVries  Limit 20   Cross-listed with German & Romance Languages, and Humanities Center

Sec. 01

T 2-4:30

300.343 (H)

BERGSON AND THE PROBLEM OF NOVELTY IN PHILOSOPHY (3)  Marrati   Cross-listed with Anthropology, German, Political Science, Romance Languages, and Humanities Center

Sec. 01

T 2-4:30

212.379 (H)

THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE (3) Celenza   Limit 20 15   Cross-listed with Classics, History, Humanities, and Romance Languages

Sec. 01

W 11-1

360.133 (H)
(W)

GREAT BOOKS: WESTERN TRADITION OR THE HUMANITIES: A TRADITION OF CLASSICS (3) Bett / Biddle / Talle / Valládares   Limit 20 per section
Open to all Undergraduates
Cross-listed with Classics, Interdepartmental, Music, and Writing Seminars.

ThF 10:30-12

ThF 10:30-12

ThF 10:30-12

ThF 10:30-12

150.511

DIRECTED STUDY

150.551

HONORS PROJECT

TBA

150.618

TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Greenberg   Limit 35  Consideration of Early Modern discussions of FREEDOM

W 4-6pm

150.621

SEMINAR IN HEGEL’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT (Part one of two part course)  Förster  Limit 35  A two semester course devoted to Hegel’s masterpiece The Phenomenology of Spirit. Students should plan on taking both semesters, and must have read the book at least once before class begins.

Th 2-4

150.637

SEMINAR IN THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE Williams (Michael) This seminar will examine problems of knowledge and perception.

Sec. 01

W 2-4

150.639

SEMINAR IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: CONCEPTS Williams (Meredith)  This will be an examination of contemporary theories of concepts, drawing on both philosophical and psychological literature. We will consider both robust theories of concepts as well as deflationary accounts. Course canceled 7/26/06

Sec. 01

M 3-5

150.645 (H)

THE LATER WITTGENSTEIN Williams (Meredith) Though this seminar will focus on the Philosophical Investigations and On Certainty, we will also be concerned with sections from Remarks on the Foundation of Mathematics and Philosophy of Psychology. The seminar assumes a familiarity with the Tractatus and Investigations. We will also be reading articles from contemporary philosophers to bring Wittgenstein into dialogue with current debates (e.g., Quine and Davidson in philosophy of language, and N. Block and Chalmers in philosophy of mind). Course added 7/26/06

Sec. 01

M 3-5

090.341 (H)

MARX, FREUD AND MODERN CRITICAL THEORY  Gold
See German for full description Cross-listed with German,History, and Political Science

Sec. 01

MTh 3-4:30

040.601

MYTHOLOGY OF THE GREEK GODS: HERMES AND APOLLO   Detienne
Cross-listed with Anthropology, Classics, and the Humanities Center

Sec. 01

W 3-5

300.623

MIRACLES, EVENTS, EFFECTS deVries Limit 20   Cross-listed with Anthropology, the Humanities Center, and Political Science

Sec. 01

Th 1-4

300.639

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND ART HISTORY Fried / Leys Limit 20
Cross-listed with History, the Humanities Center, and Romance Languages and German

Sec. 01

T 1-4

090.641

HEGEL: ON ETHICS AND THE THEORY OF TRAGEDY Menke  Limit 12   Two month intensive course
Cross-listed with German and the Humanities Center

Sec. 01

M 3-6pm

090.656

THEORIZING EMOTIONALITY Pahl  Limit 12   Cross-listed with Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, the Humanities Center, and German

Sec. 01

W 3-5pm

090.661

ALLEGORY, SOVEREIGNTY, AND HISTORY: BENJAMIN'S ORIGINS OF GERMAN TRAGIC DRAMA  Gold See German for full description Cross-listed with German, and Political Science

Sec. 01

T 1-3

300.678

DIFFERENCE AND REPETITION AND ITS SOURCES  Marrati  Limit 20 
Cross-listed with Humanities Center , Political Science, Anthropology, German & Romance Languages

Sec. 01

M 2-5 W 10-12:30

150.810

INDEPENDENT STUDY
Sec. 01 Staff
Sec. 02 Förster
Sec. 03 Tumulty
Sec. 04 Moyar
Sec. 05 Rynasiewicz
Sec. 06 Williams (Meredith)
Sec. 07 Bok
Sec. 08 Bett
Sec. 09 Williams (Michael)
Sec. 10 Greenberg
Sec. 11 Achinstein

150.811

DIRECTED STUDY
Please see 150.810 for section numbers to use when registering.