2015-2016 University Catalog archived
Philosophy (PHIL)
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Pierre S. duPont Foundation
HONORS: An Honors Program in philosophy is offered for qualified students.
Department Head: Paul Gregory
Faculty
First date is the year in which the faculty member began service as regular faculty at the University. Second date is the year of appointment to the present rank.
N. Melina Bell, Ph.D.—(2005)-2011
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Gregory J. Cooper, Ph.D.—(1999)-1999
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Nathaniel Goldberg, Ph. D.—(2008)-2011
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., Georgetown University
Paul Gregory, Ph.D.—(2002)-2008
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Angela Smith, Ph.D.—(2008)-2013
Roger Mudd Professor of Ethics and Director of the Roger Mudd Center for the Study of Professional Ethics
Ph.D., Harvard University
Florentien Verhage, Ph.D.—(2008)-2008
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D., McGill University
Major
Minor
PHIL 100 - Introduction to Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
The course provides a broad historical survey of Western Philosophy. Students read selections from the work of a number of great women and men from the ancient to the contemporary period, dealing with questions of ethics, knowledge and reality, and social and political philosophy. Starting with Socrates who stands trial for questioning his fellow citizens, we consider how philosophy can be way of life and how we can pursue wisdom through careful argumentation and analysis of the foundations of our beliefs about the world, god(s), mind and body, truth and falsehood, morality, human nature, good and evil, government and society, justice, and equality. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 110 - Ancient Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of the metaphysics of the pre-Socratic philosophers, especially the Milesians, Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and the Atomists, and the ethics and political philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Topics include the origin and nature of the kosmos, the nature and existence of the god(s), the trial and execution of Socrates, theories of virtue, the nature of knowledge and truth, justice and the ideal state, the nature of eudaimonia (happiness, flourishing), and the possibility of akrasia (weakness of the will). Goldberg, Mahon. Planned Offering: Fall
PHIL 120 - Modern Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion of the modern European philosophical era, including views of the rationalists Rene Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz; and the empiricists Catharine Cockburn, John Locke, and David Hume. Topics include skepticism about the external world, mind-body dualism, the existence and nature of God, theories of substance, personal identity, and causation. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Winter
PHIL 130 - Chinese Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An introductory course focusing on classical (Zhou period) Confucian and Taoist philosophers. No background in Chinese studies is presupposed. Staff.
PHIL 135 - Topics in 20th-Century Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of philosophical issues in recent Western thought, from logical atomism to deconstructionism: Husserl, Russell, Heidegger, Dewey, Wittgenstein, Quine, and others. Staff.
PHIL 140 - Introduction to Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
The aim of this course is to sharpen your understanding of some important issues concerning value and morality. We read classic works and contemporary writings in considering such questions as: Is pleasure the only ultimate good? Are individuals’ preferences the only basis for assessing the quality of their lives? What makes right acts right? What makes for a just society? What is the role of character in ethical behavior? We examine a number of influential ethical theories, including Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Contractualism, and Virtue Ethics, and assess their competing answers to these and other questions. The aim is to help you to understand the arguments put forward by defenders of these views and, by examining them, to refine your own understanding of the questions. Smith. Planned Offering: Fall or Winter
PHIL 145 - Contemporary Moral Problems
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Philosophical consideration of some of the main moral and political issues we confront in society and the world today, such as war, terrorism, global climate change, poverty, capital punishment, affirmative action, abortion, the treatment of animals, and hate speech. Topics vary. Bell, Smith. Planned Offering: Alternate years.
PHIL 150 - Ethics and the Environment
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course is a philosophical exploration of one’s responsibilities to the natural world. It has three main objectives: first, to provide an understanding of different dominant ethical theories and their application to animals, plants, and ecosystems; second, to provide an understanding of major environmental issues in current political debates, such as climate change, species preservation, and sustainable development; and third, to facilitate the development of a student’s own ethic towards the environment. Cooper. Planned Offering: Yearly
PHIL 170 - Introduction to Logic
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
The study of argumentation and modern formal logic. This course explores the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning. Students learn to symbolize and evaluate natural language arguments. Topics covered include sentential and quantificational logic. Gregory, Hu, McGonigal. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 180 - FS: First-Year Seminar
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
First-year seminar. Prerequisite: First-year standing. A seminar for first-year students. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally. Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and the Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.
PHIL 195 - Seminar in a Philosophical Topic
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter 2016, Winter 2016, PHIL 195-01: Seminar: Comparative Philosophy East and West (3). Taking a multi-cultural perspective, this introductory level class discusses some of the most essential and fundamental philosophical questions in both Western and Eastern civilizations. This course explores and compares, in depth and breadth, texts in Ancient Chinese philosophy, Ancient Greek philosophy, and contemporary philosophy. Some questions investigated include: What is human nature? Is it inherently good or bad? What are virtues, and how do we achieve them? What is a happy life? What is the ideal relationship between individual and community? (HU) Hu.
Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring
PHIL 212 - Philosophy and Religion
(REL 212) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An exploration of selected issues, such as mystical and numinous experiences and doctrines, theistic arguments, faith and reason, religion and morality, and science and religion. Staff. Planned Offering: Not offered in 2012-2013
PHIL 214 - Religion and Existentialism
(REL 214) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration of the accounts of human existence (faith and doubt; death and being-in-the-world; anxiety, boredom, and hope; sin and evil; etc.) elaborated by philosophers, theologians, and literary figures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The central figures considered are Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Attention is paid to their significance for future philosophers, theologians, artists, and literary figures, and consideration may also be paid to forerunners in earlier centuries. Kosky.
PHIL 215 - Philosophy of History
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Who makes history, individual human beings, social or economic classes, or broad and deep circumstances, such as climate, disease, currency exchange rates, or the collective psyche? How are explanations of historical events different from explanations in physics, biology, psychology, or economics? How is our understanding of historical events influenced by ethical, aesthetic, or ideological considerations? Is history just one thing happening after another, or is there a discernible pattern or meaning in it? What role do theories play in our understanding of history? What do historians and artists have in common? What does history tell us about ourselves? Readings include works by Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Arendt, and contemporary authors. Lambert. Planned Offering: Fall 2015 and alternate years
PHIL 218 - Heidegger and Being in the World
(REL 218) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course explores the work of Martin Heidegger and the development of its themes in the work of select philosophical, literary, and/or film artists. A close reading of the magisterial account of being in the world in Being and Time is followed by careful study of representative essays from his later work. After our reading of Heidegger, we consider the literary, cinematic, and/or philosophical work of major 20th- and 21st-century artists who let us reflect on the possibilities and/or problems that his account of being in the world poses for ethical, religious, and existential concern. Kosky.
PHIL 221 - Plato
(CLAS 221) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An in-depth examination of the philosophy of Plato. We look at Plato’s epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy through a careful analysis of several dialogues, including some or all of the following: Euthyphro, Laches, Apology, Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and Republic. In addition, we consider certain challenges posed by Plato’s use of the dialogue form, such as whether we are justified in assuming that Socrates is a mouthpiece for Plato’s own views, and how we should interpret Plato’s frequent appeal to myths and other literary devices within his dialogues. Smith. Planned Offering: Winter 2015 and alternate years
PHIL 222 - Aristotle
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of Aristotle’s comprehensive philosophy of man and nature, including his logic, physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and aesthetics. Staff. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 228 - John Stuart Mill
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of the life and ideas of a 19th-century philosopher who was ahead of his time. The class considers such questions as: Are liberty and individuality absolutely crucial to human happiness? Are we morally obligated to conduct our lives in ways that maximize the greatest aggregate happiness? Should women and men have equal rights and opportunities? How can we combine the benefits of capitalism (higher productivity and innovation) with the benefits of socialism (avoiding poverty and exploitation)? Is it more important to fill your head with knowledge or your heart with love? M. Bell. Planned Offering: Fall 2013 and alternate years.
PHIL 230 - Kierkegaard
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
What does it mean to exist as an authentic human being? This course explores diverse inquiries into this question by one of the 19th century’s most challenging thinkers. We read from a variety of famous pseudonymous writings (including parts of Either/Or , Fear and Trembling , Philosophical Fragments , The Sickness Unto Death ), as well as some lesser-known works under his own name (Upbuilding Discourses, Works of Love ). In doing so, we not only follow Kierkegaard’s literary and philosophical genius for displaying the intricacies and depths of aesthetic, ethical, and religious ways of living a human life, but we also deepen our own reflections on these matters – and perhaps strengthen our grasp on authentic living as well. Staff. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 232 - Nietzsche
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of Nietzsche’s central philosophical conceptions - revaluation of values, genealogy of morality, self-overcoming, eternal recurrence - through selected readings from various periods in Nietzsche’s authorship. Staff. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 235 - The Second Sex: Beauvoir on the Power of Gender
(WGS 235) FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Sixty years after its initial publication, The Second Sex is as eye-opening and relevant as ever. Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpiece weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to analyze the Western notion of “woman” and to explore the making and the power of gender and sexuality. The Second Sex is an important philosophical and political document about inequality and enforced “otherness.” Referring to the history of philosophy, new developments in existential thought, and drawing on extensive interviews with women, Beauvoir synthesizes research about women’s bodies and psyches as well as their historic and economic roles. Verhage. Planned Offering: Spring 2016 and alternate years.
PHIL 238 - Existentialism: Meaning and Existence
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Overview of existential thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. The course presents core existentialist thinkers and their critics - e.g. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Heidegger, Camus - and explores important existential themes such as human experience, anxiety, freedom, authenticity, and absurdity. Verhage. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 239 - Postmodernism: Power, Difference, and Disruption
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
While many things are said to be “postmodern” –architecture, pop-culture, literature, art, philosophy– the term itself escapes many attempts at definition. In this seminar, we examine the philosophical roots of postmodern thought in an effort to gain better insight to its fluid character. The course concentrates especially on the writings of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Gilles Deleuze. We read Foucault’s account of power and the docile body in Discipline and Punish; we discuss Derrida’s deconstructionist project and his concept of “differance”; and we explore the fascinatingly complex world of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. After carefully exploring these complicated texts, we read several critical appropriations of these works in contemporary race theory, postcolonial studies, and feminist philosophy. Verhage. Planned Offering: Winter 2014 and alternate years.
PHIL 240 - Contemporary Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of different normative ethical theories, including consequentialism (utilitarianism), Kantian deontology, moral intuitionism, and virtue ethics, followed by an application of these normative theories to a selection of ethical problems, including famine and world hunger, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, suicide, and self-defense. Philosophers include W.D. Ross, J. J. C. Smart, Bernard Williams, Susan Wolf, Peter Singer, Michael Tooley, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Shelly Kagan. Mahon. Planned Offering: Yearly
PHIL 241 - Poverty, Ethics, and Religion
POV 241
Credits: 3
This course introduces students to some of the most influential and compelling ethical arguments (both secular and religious) about our moral obligations regarding poverty. The course also examines the benefits and challenges of doing comparative religious and philosophical ethical analysis of a pressing moral and social problem. In particular, students will consider the arguments for and against including religiously inflected arguments in public deliberation about anti-poverty policy. Pickett. Planned Offering: Winter 2015
PHIL 242 - Social Inequality and Fair Opportunity
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An exploration of the different range of opportunities available to various social groups, including racial, ethnic and sexual minorities, women, and the poor. Topics include how to define fair equality of opportunity; the social mechanisms that play a role in expanding and limiting opportunity; legal and group-initiated strategies aimed at effecting fair equality of opportunity and the theoretical foundations of these strategies; as well as an analysis of the concepts of equality, merit and citizenship, and their value to individuals and society. Bell. Planned Offering: Winter
PHIL 243 - Martin Luther King Jr.: Poverty, Justice, and Love
(POV 243) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course offers students the opportunity to examine the ethics and theology that informed the public arguments about poverty made by one of the 20th century’s most important social justice theorists and activists, Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the competing views of his contemporaries, critics, forebears, and heirs. The course asks the following questions, among others: How do justice and love relate to one another and to poverty reduction? What role should religion play in public discussions and policies about poverty and justice? Are the dignity and the beloved community King championed the proper goal of anti-poverty efforts? Pickett. Planned Offering: Winter 2016 and alternate years.
PHIL 244 - Feminist Social and Political Philosophy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course critically examines the gender norms that pervade our identities, govern our everyday behavior, and organize our social life. Questions addressed may include: What is gender? In what ways does it affect the quality of women’s and men’s lives? Is gender difference natural? Is it valuable? Can it contribute to, or interfere with, human flourishing? Can a gendered society be just? What can any of us do to promote good relations among women and men? Bell. Planned Offering: Fall 2012 and alternate years
PHIL 246 - Philosophy of Sex
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course explores questions related to contemporary conceptions of sexuality and its proper role in our lives. Questions addressed include: What is the purpose of sex? Are sexual practices subject to normative evaluation on grounds of morality, aesthetics, and/or capacity to promote a flourishing human life? We consider the relation between sex and both intimacy and pleasure, viewed from the perspective of heterosexual women and men, and gay men and lesbians. What are our sexual practices and attitudes toward sex? What should they be like? Bell. Planned Offering: Fall
PHIL 248 - Ethics of War
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
An investigation of important ethical issues concerning the justification, conduct, and consequences of war. The course concentrates, in particular, on traditional just war theory and on recent challenges that have been raised to the central tenets of this theory in light of the rise of terrorism and “asymmetric conflict” (i.e., conflicts waged between state and non-state parties), on the one hand, and reflection upon the moral responsibility of individuals who choose to support or participate in unjust wars, on the other. We address questions such as the following: Should we regard all combatants in war as having the same moral status, regardless of whether they are fighting for a “just cause”? Is it ever morally permissible to attack non-combatants? Is terrorism ever morally justified? Is torture ever morally justified? Is there a moral obligation to engage in humanitarian intervention to stop genocide? Can the conditions of war constitute an excusing condition for acts of moral atrocity? Smith. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 250 - Philosophies of Life
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: 3 credits in philosophy or instructor consent. Additional fee. This course provides opportunities to explore philosophies of life held by influential philosophers and by ordinary people, focusing on what it means to live a good or worthwhile life. It also gives students a chance to clarify and develop their own vision of what a good life is for them. Projects include conducting interviews with members of the community outside the classroom. Bell. Planned Offering: Spring 2012 and alternate years
PHIL 252 - Philosophy of Law
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of topics in the philosophy of law, such as the concepts of a law and of a legal system; Natural Law theory; legal positivist and legal realist theories of law; the nature of the relationship between law, morality, and religion; civil disobedience; rights in the U.S. Constitution; freedom of speech and pornography; abortion and the right to privacy; punishment and the death penalty; and different forms of legal liability. Readings include United States Supreme Court opinions. Bell, Mahon. Planned Offering: Winter
PHIL 254 - Philosophy of the Family: Beyond Tradition
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course considers philosophical issues raised by family as a social institution and as a legal institution. Topics addressed include the social and personal purposes served by the institution of family, the nature of relationships between family members, the various forms that family can take, the scope of family privacy or autonomy, and how family obligations, mutual support, and interdependency affect individual members of families. Bell. Planned Offering: Winter 2015 and alternate years
PHIL 256 - Free Will and Moral Responsibility
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course provides an introduction to the problem of free will and moral responsibility. It is natural to wonder what place there is for freedom in a natural world of cause and effect. Our ordinary practices of holding people responsible (which includes not just blame, but also, e.g., credit, where credit is due) seem threatened equally by either determinism or indeterminism, fate or chance. In this class, we ask: What sort of concepts are freedom and responsibility, and what must a person be for those concepts to be applicable? The course begins with a brief historical overview of the problem of free will and moral responsibility, and then examines a number of contemporary philosophical perspectives on this problem, including the seminal work of P. F. Strawson, Harry Frankfurt, Gary Watson, John Martin Fischer, Susan Wolf, and T. M. Scanlon, among others. Smith. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 262 - Art, Imagination, and Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
This course considers ethical issues pertaining to the creation, consumption, and criticism of artistic works, including the visual arts, literature, and music. Can artistic works be assessed morally, and are such assessments relevant to their aesthetic assessment? Is it possible for a work of art to be deeply immoral and at the same time aesthetically excellent (or vice versa)? Is there a distinctive kind of moral knowledge that can only come about through engagement with works of art? To what extent, if at all, are artists accountable for the messages implicit in their works of art, or for the effects of these works on their audiences? Are there distinctive ethical issues raised by current forms of “popular art,” e.g., video games, rap music, and slasher films? Smith. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 264 - Aesthetics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration of the basic issues in philosophy of art. Selected viewings and readings from contemporary sources. What counts as art, and why do we value it? Do the particular arts, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, have a pecking order? What do works of art tell us about ourselves? What sets of skills, sensibilities, and insights are required of an artist? This course examines these questions in the work of G.W.F. Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. Hegel’s Lectures on Fine Art represents perhaps the greatest attempt of philosophy to comprehend art, whereas Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy aims to show how art not only resists any such attempt but also undermines and overcomes philosophy. Lambert.
PHIL 266 - Philosophy and Literature
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Great literature is often profoundly philosophical and great philosophy sometimes takes the form of powerful fiction. This course considers the many philosophical themes in the writings of 19th- and 20th-century authors, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Chinua Achabe, Toni Morrison, Jorge Luis Borges, and Robert Musil. Verhage. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally.
PHIL 270 - Intermediate Logic
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: PHIL 170 or instructor consent. An examination of alternative formal logics and issues in the philosophy of logic. Topics include formal ways of modeling possibility, actuality, and necessity; obligation and permissibility; pastness, presentness, and futurity; and others. They also include informal considerations of topics like conditionals, counterfactuals, intuitionism, and others. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Alternate years.
PHIL 272 - Philosophy and Science Fiction
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Discussion of one or more major works in science fiction and in philosophy that explore related themes. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Spring 2015 and alternate years
PHIL 274 - Metaphysics: Existence and Reality
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of central issues in metaphysics. Topics include free will and determinism; cause and effect; space and time; being and existence; and possibility, actuality, and necessity. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Alternate years.
PHIL 278 - Epistemology: Knowledge and Doubt
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of the basic problems in epistemology with an emphasis on contemporary discussions. Topics include skepticism, knowledge, justification (foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism), relativism, and rationality. Cooper, Goldberg, Gregory. Planned Offering: Alternate years.
PHIL 280 - Philosophy of Nature
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of various understandings of nature and the natural from the ancient Greeks to the present. The course includes exploration of basic philosophical issues regarding the concepts “nature,” “wild,” and “wilderness.” The focus is on the relationship between landscapes and conceptualizations of time, self, and community. Staff.
PHIL 282 - Philosophy of Biology
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of philosophical issues raised by biology, with an emphasis on current evolutionary theory. Topics include the structure of the theory of evolution by natural selection, an examination of the concepts of fitness and adaptation, the role of teleological explanation in biology, reductionism, the nature of biological species, individuality, levels of selection, and sociobiology. Cooper. Planned Offering: Yearly
PHIL 285 - The Unruly Body: Philosophy, Science, and Culture
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
In this course students study theories of embodiment. Beginning with the history of philosophy, we consider how the body gets to be subordinated to a mind; how it is considered mere matter, a building block that is unpredictable and passionate and needs to be controlled or shaped by the mind or the soul (e.g., Aristotelian biology). Continuing with an examination of how in science the body is depicted, shaped and, at times, reconstructed, the course then moves to social-cultural structures, including bodily containment and construction and, with Foucault, execution of power and punishment. Lastly, we consider how we can rethink, relive, regard, refigure, restore and respect our bodies and the bodies of others in more productive and thought-provoking ways. Verhage. Planned Offering: Spring alternate years
PHIL 288 - American Pragmatism
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Pragmatism is America’s most distinctive contribution to philosophy. In the 19th century, Pragmatists, inspired by the horrors of the Civil War and hopes of Darwinism, argued that truth is linked to concrete consequences, meaning is a social phenomenon, and the line between philosophy and social action is permeable. In the 20th and 21st centuries, philosophers developed these themes, so that today Pragmatism is a force to be reckoned with in philosophy. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Every third year.
PHIL 295 - Seminar on Philosophical Topics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3 credits in Fall or Winter; 4 credits in Spring
A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter 2016, Winter 2016, PHIL 295-01: Seminar: Philosophy and Film (3). Counts towards Film and Visual Culture minor. In this seminar, we discuss a range of issues in philosophy of film, and reflect on other relationships between philosophy and film. Students focus on the following kinds of questions: What is film? How should we understand the art(s) of film? What is the distinctive nature of documentary film? Why is it valuable? How do film narratives differ from other narrative forms? In what ways do motion pictures stand in a distinctive relationship to the emotions? To ethics? To knowledge? To philosophy? Do films have authors? (HU) McGonigal.
Winter 2016, PHIL 295-02: Seminar: The Moral Emotions (3). The theme of the seminar is moral emotions; such as empathy, anger, shame, guilt, pride, and gratitude. We explore popular moral psychological studies, historical texts in both the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, and contemporary philosophers’ account of these emotions. Students gain knowledge about what moral emotions are, the history of emotion, and their role in moral reasoning, moral practice and moral theories. (HU) Hu.
Fall 2015, PHIL 295A-01: Seminar: Honor Beyond the Classroom: Philosophy of Honor (3). What is honor? It lies at the heart of Washington and Lee’s values, yet its hold on the wider American society is tenuous, and its meaning is unclear to many, not least to students struggling to comprehend a revered honor system. This discussion-based seminar seeks to explore the concepts of W&L’s core values, including honor, civility, integrity and respect, and to provide a foundation for students to develop their own philosophical interpretations of these values. Our readings include selections from Honor for Us, a book by W&L Emeritus Professor Lad Sessions, who taught a course on the concept of honor at W&L for more than a decade; John Stuart Mill’s famous essay On Liberty; Immanuel Kant’s celebrated account of ethics based on respect for persons; and W&L’s own White Book, which sets forth the principles of The Honor System at W&L. The central philosophical question of this course is: how can honor, civility, integrity and respect thrive, at W&L and beyond, in the 21st century? (HU) Bell.
Fall 2015, PHIL 295B-01: Seminar: Asian Philosophies (3). This course provides an overview of various Asian philosophical traditions while exploring a number of important philosophical themes, such as the self, the relationship between self and the world, the relationship between human and non-human, and the motivation for ethical behavior. Texts include Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy and What the Buddha Taught. (HU) Hu.
Fall 2015, Phil 295C-01: Seminar: Philosophy of Art (3). The course divides roughly into two parts: the nature of art and the value of art. In the first part, we look at issues in the nature of art. In the second part, we discuss the nature of aesthetic value, and its relation to other values, including moral value. (HU) McGonigal.
Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 296 - Spring-Term Seminar on Philosophical Topics
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Planned Offering: Spring
PHIL 310 - Kant
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A close reading of the Critique of Pure Reason , Kant’s most important work in metaphysics and epistemology and one of the most influential philosophical works ever written. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Every third year
PHIL 315 - Hegel
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing. The truth is the whole. Hegel’s philosophy was inspired by an effort to reconcile various dichotomies of modern thought: nature and freedom, mind and body, immanence and transcendence, sensibility and understanding, reason and faith, romanticism and enlightenment, what is and what ought to be. This course examines the method and starting point of Hegel’s project, with a close reading of his Phenomenology of Spirit. In the process, we explore and assess his attempt to comprehend all of the perennial philosophical problems with a revolutionary, systematic approach. Because Hegel is also the first philosopher to take the history of philosophy seriously and make history a fundamental category of philosophy, we gain a better understanding of both his predecessors and those whom he influenced (including existentialists, Marxists, and postmodernists) in our own time. Lambert. Planned Offering: Every third year.
PHIL 320 - Wittgenstein
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: One course in philosophy and instructor consent. Ludwig Wittgenstein is arguably the most influential philosopher of the 20th century. His thought presents a challenge to fundamental assumptions in the history of philosophical ideas. Ultimately, he sees philosophical problems such as those surrounding the nature of being and mind, and questions about how we understand the world as persuasive and subtle misdirections that language can pull us toward. Consequently, in later works, Wittgenstein attempts to dissolve philosophical problems by untangling their sources in language. This course is a close study of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, highlighted by the use of secondary sources, including an emphasis on the analysis of language, meaning, rule-following, understanding, mind, and states of consciousness. Staff. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 327 - Perception and Human Experience: Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course is centered on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s landmark work, The Phenomenology of Perception. Bringing together phenomenological philosophy and (neuro)psychology. Merleau-Ponty discusses a wide range of subjects: the bodily nature of consciousness, the expressivity of the body, our relations to others, the experience of time, space, freedom. etc. The course situates this discussion within a contemporary dialogue between phenomenology and the cognitive sciences. Perception is the primary relation that we have to the world; it reveals to us a world of meaningful objects; it reveals a world to which we belong as embodied subjects. A careful philosophical study of perception not only makes us understand the world better but also gives us more insight into our own embodied existence: “By thus remaking contact with the body and with the world, we shall also rediscover ourself.” (PhP. 206). Verhage. Planned Offering: Winter 2014 and every third year.
PHIL 335 - Ethics of Globalization
(BUS 335)
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: At least junior standing. This seminar examines a number of ethical issues raised by the phenomenon of globalization. Though globalization is not new, recent business, technological, and policy developments have made the world more integrated and interdependent than ever before. Increasing economic, cultural, and political interconnections have created a host of new questions about how to conceive of the moral rights and responsibilities of individuals, multi-national corporations, nation-states, and global institutions within this new global framework. This course identifies and clarifies some of these questions, and considers how they have been addressed from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives. Questions concerning the ethics of globalization are approached through an analysis of a few specific topics, such as immigration, humanitarian intervention, and global poverty and inequality. Because the issues raised by the phenomenon of globalization cross disciplinary boundaries, readings are drawn from a wide variety of fields, including philosophy, business, economics, political science, and anthropology. Reiter and Smith. Planned Offering: Fall or Winter
PHIL 340 - History of Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A close examination of the writings of some of the philosophers and writers who have shaped ethical thought, including Sophocles, Cicero, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Hobbes, Hume, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Kant, and Nietzsche. Topics include ambition, pride, revenge, friendship, family, deception, inequality, justice, law, God, sympathy, duty, reason, and evil. Mahon. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally.
PHIL 342 - Metaethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course focuses on contemporary issues in metaethics. For example, we address questions such as the following: Do moral judgments express truths that are independent of our feelings and conventions? Are “goodness” and “wrongness” real properties of things, or do we simply use these terms to express our subjective preferences toward states of affairs? Can we reason about morality? Do moral considerations provide practical reasons for all rational agents, or does the normative force of these considerations depend upon an agent’s subjective desires? We also consider some meta-theoretical questions about the aims, methods, and authority of moral theory. Smith. Planned Offering: Alternate years.
PHIL 344 - Virtue Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course examines the recent resurgence of interest in virtue-based theories in ethics. These theories, which trace back to the Ancient Greek philosophers (particularly Aristotle), emphasize the importance of the virtues and good character to living a flourishing human life. Such views are increasingly being defended as an alternative to traditional rule-based (deontological) and consequence-based (consequentialist) theories in ethics. We begin by looking at some of the seminal articles that sparked this renewed interest in virtue ethics, and then examine a fully developed neo-Aristotelian virtue ethical account (and some criticisms that have been raised to this account). Smith. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 346 - Medical Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of the issues arising out of the human impact of modern biomedical research and practice. Specific issues are selected from among the following: abortion, contraception, death and dying, experimentation/research, genetics, in vitro fertilization, intellectual and developmental disabilities, public health/community medicine, science/technology, transplantation and patients’ rights. Burstein. Planned Offering: Yearly
PHIL 348 - Legal Ethics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An examination of the issues associated with lawyers’ roles in society and their impact upon and obligations to the client, the court, and the legal profession. The course also addresses questions of the role and function of law and the adversary system. Cooper. Planned Offering: Winter
PHIL 354 - Distributive Justice
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Junior standing or instructor consent. How should the product of social cooperation be distributed in a just society? Is wealth redistribution through taxes fair? Is it a fair distribution of wealth that a just society depends on, or is distributive justice more complicated than that? Should we have welfare programs, and, if so, what should they be like? Our studies may include John Rawls’ political liberalism, Robert Nozick’s libertarianism, Ronald Dworkin’s equality of resources, Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach, Stuart White’s justice as fair reciprocity, and criticisms of the distributive paradigm. Bell. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 357 - Self and Social World
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course takes as its starting point the question of the ‘other.’ We explore such questions as: how do we perceive, and communicate with others who have different bodies, genders, cultures and histories? How do we see ourselves through the eyes of others? Can we speak for others? Can we build bridges across differences and forge common ground? We begin with traditional philosophical accounts of selves and others, i.e., Hegel’s dialectic of master and slave, Husserl’s alter ego, Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, Sartre’s account of shame, Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of embodied intersubjectivity, and Levinas’ ethics of alterity. Later, we concentrate on the work of feminist philosophers, race theorists, and post-colonialist thinkers who critique these traditional philosophies and offer alternative ways of speaking about self and other. Verhage. Planned Offering: Fall 2013 and alternate years.
PHIL 360 - Roe v. Wade and the Abortion Question
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. This course considers the question of whether abortion should be legal in a modern state from the perspectives of contemporary moral philosophy and U.S. law. For the first two weeks, we consider some of the most famous arguments for and against abortion from contemporary moral philosophers, law professors, and theologians. For the second two weeks, we consider the relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases that preceded the landmark Roe v. Wade (1973) case, and that case itself; we then consider the subsequent relevant cases, paying special attention to Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), and the more recent Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) and Gonzalez v. Carhart (2007). We listen to the oral arguments as they were presented to the Court in several of these cases, as well as watch some relevant films. Schedule permitting, we take a day trip to Washington, D.C. and visit the U.S. Supreme Court. Mahon. Planned Offering: Spring 2013 and alternate years
PHIL 372 - Philosophy of Language
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A survey of central topics in the field, including some or all of the following: reference, meaning, truth, analyticity, speech acts, pragmatics, verificationism, indeterminacy, innateness, metaphor, and development of language in the species and in the individual. Goldberg, Gregory. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 375 - Philosophy of Mind
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration and assessment of dualism and materialism and of various theories of the relation between the mental and the physical, such as the identity theory, functionalism, and supervenience. Gregory. Planned Offering: Yearly
PHIL 378 - Philosophy of Science
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Discussion of philosophical issues raised by the natural sciences. Topics include the nature of scientific theories, evidence, and explanation, the demarcation of science from non-science, scientific revolutions, the unity of science, and scientific realism. Cooper, Gregory. Planned Offering: Alternate years
PHIL 380 - Philosophy of Mathematics
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of mathematics. In it we investigate what (if anything) numbers are; how mathematics as a discipline relates to the sciences and humanities; whether mathematical truths are necessary, absolute, or permanent; and whether mathematical principles are invented or discovered - and if discovered where these principles exist. We start by reading a foundational work by Gottlob Frege, a philosopher-mathematician, and then read works by other philosophers. We conclude by reading works by other mathematicians Goldberg and Bourdon. Planned Offering: Offered occasionally
PHIL 382 - Human Enhancement and Transhumanism
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. What does it mean to be human? Must we stay that way? We address these questions by looking critically at the technological enhancement of human capabilities. We have the means - robotic, pharmaceutical, computational, neurological, and genetic - to alter and enhance our biological endowments. We can increase our lifespan, improve our physical, cognitive, and emotional abilities like never before. What is currently possible? What will be possible in the short, medium, and long term? Could we change ourselves to such an extent that we are no longer human - becoming transhuman or posthuman? What if our technological descendants far surpass us and enslave us? What are the dangers and moral/ethical considerations, and how are we to adjudicate them? We read authors ranging from essentialist bioconservatives to radical transhumanists. Gregory. Planned Offering: Spring 2015 and alternate years
PHIL 385 - Philosophy of Time Travel
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or instructor consent. This course considers the philosophical possibility of time travel. Students read articles on the nature of time-travel. They also watch time-travel movies, some professional, others that they themselves will have made. Goldberg. Planned Offering: Spring 2012 and alternate years
PHIL 395 - Advanced Seminar
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Usually one course in philosophy other than PHIL 170. Varies by topic. An intensive and critical study of selected issues or major figures in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Fall 2015, PHIL 395-01: The Environmental Philosophy of Aldo Leopold (3). No prerequisite. Student may not also register for ENV 395. Aldo Leopold is arguably the seminal figure in the history of environmental ethics. This course is an in-depth examination of his thought. Using primary and secondary sources, we explore the development of his major contributions to environmental philosophy. Among the topics included are 1) his land ethic; 2) the nature of his environmental aesthetic; 3) his views on the value of wilderness; 4) his prescient focus on the role of apex predators; 5) his emphasis on the connection between biodiversity and ecosystem function; 6) his development of an ecology of place; and 7) his philosophy of outdoor recreation. (HU) Cooper. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 399 - Seminar on A Living Philosopher
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Restricted to philosophy majors or minors with at least junior standing. Philosophy has a long and distinguished history. It is also an amazingly lively and active area of current research. In this seminar, students engage in an in-depth examination of the work of a major contemporary philosopher, including relevant material from other authors. Toward the end of the term, that philosopher visits campus for a few days to meet with students in class and give a lecture open to the university at large. Students have the opportunity to exchange ideas with, and critique the ideas of, someone at the forefront of the field. This course may be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Majors who are pursuing Honors may also chose to take PHIL 399 in place of one of their 10 courses in philosophy.
Winter 2016, PHIL 399-01: Seminar on a Living Philosopher (3). Dale Jamieson is at the Graduate Center, CUNY, where he is Chair of the Environmental Studies Department; Professor of Environmental Studies, Philosophy; Founding Director of Environmental Studies and Animal Studies; Affiliated Professor of Bioethics; and Affiliated Professor Law. Jamieson is author of four books, editor or co-editor of nine, and has published more than 100 articles. He focuses primarily on environmental ethics and environmental policy, with special emphasis on the ethics of climate change, animal rights, and agricultural practices. Jamieson will visit campus toward the end of the term to lead class and give a public lecture. (HU)
Planned Offering: Winter.
PHIL 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
PHIL 473 - Senior Thesis
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Senior standing and major in philosophy. Senior thesis. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall or Winter
PHIL 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
Prerequisites: Honors candidacy and senior standing. Honors Thesis. Note: Students must petition the department via the listed instructor. While awaiting a decision, the student must ensure a full credit load not including PHIL 493. Planned Offering: Fall-Winter
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