PHIL 295 - Seminar on Philosophical Topics

FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

Topic for Winter 2012:

PHIL 295: Seminar on John Stuart Mill (3). A study of the life and ideas of a 19th-century philosopher 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? (HU) Bell.

Topic for Fall 2011:

PHIL 295: Seminar in Postmodernism (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 into its essentially fluid character. We follow John Protevi’s description (“difference produces identity”) as a guiding thread through several readings. The course concentrates especially on the writings of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Gilles Deleuze. Most notably, we read Foucault’s account of power and the docile body in Discipline and Punish; Derrida’s deconstructionist project and his concept of “differance”; and the fascinatingly complex world of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. After exploring these complicated texts, we read several critical appropriations of these works in contemporary race theory, postcolonial studies, and feminist philosophy. (HU) Verhage