PHILOSOPHY (AS) {PHIL}

Introductory Courses

L/R 001. Introduction to Philosophy. (C) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Detlefsen, Schneider. Also fulfills General Requirement in History & Tradition for Class of 2009 and prior. Freshman Seminar sections offered.

In this class we will reflect on the following fundamental questions: What is the nature of underlying reality? What are the scope and limits of human knowledge? Does God exist? What is the ultimate nature of persons? Do we have free will? These are questions which have been asked since ancient times. As we shall see, they do not have obvious or uncontroversial answers. Perhaps this is why they are still with us. We shall examine a range of answers to these questions, and students shall develop analytic thinking skills to defend and develop their own answers to these questions.

L/R 002. Ethics. (C) Society Sector. All classes. S.Meyer, Tan, Martin. An investigation of some of the central questions about the nature of morality: Are moral judgments objective and justifiable? Can moral disagreements be resolved rationally? How are we to understand the idea of a good life, and what is the relationship between a good life and morality? To what extent can we be held responsible for our conduct? Readings will be from both contemporary and historical sources, and will concern both practical problems (e.g. abortion, euthanasia, or resource conservation) and theoretical issues.

L/R 003. (CLST103) History of Ancient Philosophy. (A) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Kahn, Meyer, S. A survey of classical Greek approaches to questions about knowledge, the nature of the world, the soul, ethics, and politics. Will focus on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

L/R 004. History of Modern Philosophy. (B) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Guyer, Hatfield, Detlefsen. In this course, we shall read and analyze some of the centrally important works of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century philosophy. Our readings will include writings from Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant. We shall focus on metaphysics (the fundamental nature of reality) and epistemology (theory of knowledge). Some of the metaphysical questions dealt with by these authors concern the existence and nature of mind, matter and God, and the problem of human freedom. Some of the epistemological questions dealt with by these authors concern how much and what kind of knowledge we gain by the senses and by pure reason, and the limits of the human intellect. While we shall read these authors in order to get a sense of their historical relations to each other, the aim of the course is not to provide a sweeping survey of philosophy from Descartes through Kant. Rather, the aim is to focus on a few seminal texts in the history of modern philosophy especially appropriate to the themes noted above.

005. (LGIC010, PHIL505) Formal Logic I. (C) Domotor, Weinstein. This course provides an introduction to some of the fundamental ideas of logic. Topics will include truth functional logic, quantificational logic, and logical decision problems.

006. (LGIC310, MATH570, PHIL506) Formal Logic II. (B) Weinstein. An introduction to the elements of first-order model theory including the completeness, compactness, and Lowenheim- Skolem theorems, with some discussion of the theory of effectively computable functions.

007. Critical Thinking. (M) Staff. This course will provide the student with informal techniques for identifying and analyzing arguments found in natural language. Special attention will be paid to developing the ability to assess the strength of natural language arguments, as well as statistical arguments.

L/R 008. (PPE 008) The Social Contract. (B) Society Sector. All classes. Freeman,Tan. This course examines the role of social contract doctrines in Western thought and culture. We will focus on the political writings of the major modern proponents of social contract theory: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Rawls. We will contrast their views with the utilitarian tradition, as represented by the political and economic philosophy of David Hume, Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill. We will also study Karl Marx, regarded as a critic of liberal constitutionalism. The course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the main issues in modern political philosophy.

015. Logic and Formal Reasoning. (B) Domotor. This course offers an introduction to three major types of formal reasoning: deductive, inductive (probabilistic) and practical (also known as decision-making). First, and most centrally, we will be focusing on the logical structure of deductive arguments in the context of sentential and predicate logics, and their applications in scientific reasoning. Next, we turn to inductive arguments forms within the frameworks of elementary probability theory and statistics, with special regards to reasoning in experimental research. In the third (shortest) module, we introduce the basic principles of decision theory and practical reasoning. This course is designed for students with minimal background in Mathematics.

SM 018. The Idea of Nationalism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Steinberg. Freshman Seminar. Nationalism is one of, if not, the major geo-political forces of the past two hundred years. Its continuing power has been amply demonstrated by recent events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This course will focus on the conceptual and theoretical issues raised by competing notions of nationalism, rather than on its history or expression in particular cultures.

L/R 025. (STSC025) Philosophy of Science. (C) Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Weisberg. An introductory course in the history and philosophy of science focused on the development of the modern, scientific view of the world. Starting with ancient Greek science, the course surveys the history of biology, chemistry, and physics examining the origin of concepts such as force, atom, evolution, species, and law of nature. The course also covers key issues in the philosophy of science including the relationship between theory and evidence, the nature of scientific explanation, and scientific realism. Readings will be drawn from the writings of Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Descartes, Newton, Boyle, Dalton, Darwin, Mendeleev, and Einstein, as well as secondary sources.

026. (STSC026) Relativity and the Philosophy of Space and Time. (A) Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Domotor. Also fulfills General Requirement in Science Studies for Class of 2009 and prior. A study of the historical introduction to the philosophy of space and time from ancient Greek conceptions to modern scientific theories. We will especially focus on Zeno's paradoxes of space, time and motion, on Democritus' atomistic concept of empty space and Aristotle's topos, on the development of cosmology from Aristotle-Ptolemy to Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Then we will study the development of a new worldview in the XVI-XVIII centuries; Descartes, Galilei and Newton. Some lectures will be devoted to the crisis of the mechanical worldview and the origin of the modern science: theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and relativistic cosmology. No previous physics or philosophy will be presupposed, and only high school mathematics will be used.

L/R 027. (CHEM027, PHIL527) Origin and Meaning of Quantum Theory. (M) Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Hatfield, Fitts. Quantum theory provides the fundamental underpinning of modern physical science, yet its philosophical implications are so shocking that Einstein could not accept them. By following the historical development of 20th century quantum science, the student should gain an appreciation of how a scientific theory grows and develops, and of the strong interplay between scientific observation and philosophical interpretation. Although students will not be expected to carry out mathematical derivations, they should gain an understanding of basic quantum findings.

SM 028. (COML028, GSOC028) Introduction to Feminist Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Meyer, M. Offered through the College of General Studies. Feminist theory grows out of women's experience. In this course we will investigate how some contemporary feminist thinkers' consideration of women's experience has caused them to criticize society and philosophy. Traditional philosophical areas addressed may include ethics, social and political philosophy, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, and epistemology.

SM 032. Topics in Contemporary Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ross. Topics vary each semester. Course is part of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program. Topics may include skepticism, perception, truth, representation, and ontology.

044. (CIS 140, COGS001, LING105, PSYC107) Introduction to Cognitive Science. (A) Kearns, Liberman, Weinstein, Hatfield. Formal Reasoning Course. All Classes. Scope and limits of computer representation of knowledge, belief and perception, and the nature of cognitive processes from a computational prespective.

L/R 050. (RELS155, RELS455, SAST150) Indian Philosophy: Themes, Methods, and Western Responses. (M) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Staff. An introductory survey of the fundamentals of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, the main patterns of Western response to it and some basic questions on "comparative philosophy".

054. Contemporary Continental Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. An introduction to 20th century continental European philosophy, focusing on the origins and development of phenomenology and existentialism and their influence on contemporary thought. The course will include an introduction to the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and examine the subsequent development of modern philosophic existentialism by critics of Husserl, such as Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre or Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Finally, the important influence of phenomenology and existentialism on contemporary trends in French, German, and American philosophy will be explored, including hermeneutics, deconstruction, post-modernism, and post-analytic philosophy. No previous study of philosophy is required.

L/R 055. Existentialism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. A critical examination of existentialist views of the nature of the moral life. Readings from both classical (Kierkegaard and Nietzsche) and modern existentialism (Sartre). Readings also include related literary works. Attention will be given to the conceptions of the self; the visions of personal ideals; and the treatment of the relation among different kinds of practical ideals.

L/R 072. (HSOC101, PPE 072) Biomedical Ethics. (M) Society Sector. All classes. Staff. A survey of moral problems in medicine and biomedical research. Problems discussed include: genetic manipulation, informed consent, infanticide, abortion, euthanasia, and the allocation of medical resources. Moral theory is presented with the aim of enabling students to think critically and analytically about moral issues. The need for setting biomedical issues in broader humanistic perspective is stressed.

L/R 076. Political Philosophy. (M) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. An introduction to some central issues in social and political philosophy: liberty, equality, property, authority, distributive justice. Readings from Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Marx, Rawls, Nozick.

L/R 077. Philosophy of Law. (M) Society Sector. All classes. Freeman, Ross, Tan. This course is an introduction to some of the central philosophical problems in the law. We will look at questions such as: What is the relationship between law and morality? Are we bound to obey laws that are immoral? What are the limits to liberty, and how can we balance liberty and equality? Are there limits to free speech and expression? Is affirmative action justifiable? Is capital punishment acceptable? To properly address these and other questions, we begin the course by looking at this fundamental question, "What is law?" We will read historical and contemporary philosophical writings about these issues, as well as some of the well-known court cases to motivate and to focus our discussion. Authors include Aquinas, Mill, Rawls, Hart, Dworkin and others.

079. Environmental Ethics. (M) Staff. The course offers a survey of ethical and policy issues relating to the environment. Topics to be discussed include, the moral standing of the non-human environment and its habitants, environmentalist concerns about the adequacy of traditional philosophical and economic conceptions of value and specific environmental problems, such as population pressure and biodiversity.

L/R 080. Aesthetics. (M) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Guyer, Camp. A discussion of some major issues in the philosophy of art and beauty, paying special attention to ways our appreciation of specific works of art can encourage us (even force us) to ask philosophical questions.

155. Continental Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. In this course we read various texts in the Enlightment tradition and more recent ones critical of modern distortions of this tradition. We shall begin briefly with Kant and Marx, two exemplars of this tradition, and then we shall study in some detail the views of the Frankfurt School (especially the writing of Horkheimer and Adorno), Foucault, and Derrida. Background readings from Nietzsche and Saussure shall also be assigned to place the material from Foucault and Derrida in its proper context.

Intermediate Courses

SM 209. Introduction to Plato. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. This course will involve an intensive reading of a number of Plato's dialogues. We will also pay attention to the background from which Plato's views emerged and ask what it is that makes Plato at least the first, if not also the greatest, philosopher of the western world. We will discuss the character of Socrates, through whom Plato usually expresses his own view, and examine the relations between Socrates and the Sophists with whom Plato constantly contrasts him. We will concentrate on Socrates' views on virtue and the good life, the possibility of teaching people to be good, Plato's theory of Forms asan answer to Socrates' questions and its relations to Parmenides and Plato's later modifications of that theory.

210. (CLST210) Introduction to Aristotle. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. Fulfills General Requirement II: History & Tradition. A systematic survey of Aristotle's principal works in different branches of philosophy and science, including logic, biology, theory of science, philosophy of nature, metaphysics and psychology, with particular attention to his work in political theory and moral philosophy.

L/R 211. (CLST211) Ancient Moral Philosophy. (M) Society Sector. All classes. Meyer, S. Also fulfills General Requirement in History & Tradition for Class of 2009 and prior. A survey of the ethical theories debated by philosophers in Classical Greece and Rome. Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Epicureans and Pyrrhonist Sceptics offer competing answers to the fundamental question raised by Socrates: How are we to live? That is, what is the best life for a human being? These philosophers generally agree that virtue is an important part of the best human life, but disagree about whether it is the greatest good (Epicurus, for example claims that pleasure is the highest good), or whether there are any other goods (for example, health, wealth, family). Much attention is paid in their theories to accounts of the virtues of character, and to the place of wisdom in the best sort of human life.

SM 212. Greek Concepts of the Psyche. (M) Kahn. The origins of psychological theory and concepts of psyche in Greek literature and philosophy. Readings will include Homer and other poets, as well as Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus.

215. Probability and Statistical Reasoning. (M) Domotor. This course provides a conceptual and calculational approach to scientific reasoning with special regards to hypothesis formation, design and analysis of experiments for students with little or no formal background in probability calculus or statistics. Experimental inquiry is viewed in terms of a series of models, each with different questions, stretching from low-level representations of data and experiment to higher level hypotheses and theories of interest.

SM 225. (COML224, STSC108) Introduction to Philosophy of Science. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Science studies. Class of 2009 & prior only. Domotor, Akhundov. A discussion of some philosophical questions that naturally arise in scientific research. Issues to be covered include: The nature of scientific explanation, the relation of theories to evidence, and the development of science (e.g., does science progress? Are earlier theories refuted or refined?).

226. (PHIL521, PPE 225, STSC128) Philosophy of Biology. (M) Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Domotor, Weisberg. This course consists of a detailed examination of evolutionary theory and its philosophical foundations. The course begins with a consideration of Darwin's formulation of evolutionary theory and the main influences on Darwin. We will then consider two contemporary presentations of the theory Richard Dawkins' and Richard Lewontin's. The remainder of the course will deal with a number of foundational issues and may include discussions of adaptation, what constitutes a species, whether there is evolutionary progress, and the concept of fitness. We will also discuss the units of selection, the alleged reduction of classical genetics to molecular genetics, and the possibility of grounding ethics in evolutionary theory.

SM 227. Conceptions of the Self. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Investigation of such topics as the unity of consciousness and personal identity. Some attention will be given to the relations between conceptions of the self and conceptions of morality.

SM 228. (PPE 228) Philosophy of Social Science. (M) Weisberg. This course is about the foundations of contemporary social science. It focuses on the nature of social systems, the similarities and differences between social and natural sciences, the construction, analysis, and confirmation of social theories, and the nature of social explanations. Specific topis may include structuralism and functional explanation, methodological individualism, qualitative vs. quantitative social theorizing, positivist and radical critiques of the social sciences, rational choice, game theory, evolutionary modeling, and agent-based modeling. In addition, the course will examine questions about objectivity in the social sciences. As part of this course, students will be expected to construct and analyze simple computational models of social phenomena.

SM 231. Epistemology. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Schneider. The Nature of Knowledge: The central project of this class is to inquire into the scope and limits of human knowledge. What can we know, if anything? How should we define "knowledge"? We will begin by thinking about philosophical skepticism and related attempts to define knowledge. Then, we shall turn to epistemological issues concerning perception. Following this, we will ask methodological questions about epistemology and analytic philosophy more generally, such as whether epistemology should become a branch of cognitive science, and whether attempts to define ordinary language concepts, like "knowledge", will ever succeed.

SM 234. (RELS204) Philosophy of Religion. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ross. Systematic examinations of the nature of religious experiences; proofs of the existence of God; the problem of evil; the relationships of faith and reason; and the possibility of religious knowledge.

SM 242. Freedom of the Will. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Martin. A discussion of various challenges to our self-understanding that arise from thinking about persons and their actions as part of the order of nature. Questions to be considered include: what it is to be a free agent and what it means to have a free will, the degree to which our beliefs about physical causality undermine our beliefs about agency, the nature and importance of moral responsibility, and the relationship between freedom and responsibility. Readings are drawn from both historical and contemporary sources.

SM 243. Topics In Metaphysics. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Domotor. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 001 or PHIL 003 or PHIL 004, or permission of instructor. Topics will vary from year to year.

L/R 244. (PPE 244, VLST244) Introduction to Philosophy of Mind. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Domotor, Camp. This course deals with several problems that lie at the interface among philosophy, logic, linguistics, psychology, and computer science.

249. (EDUC576, GSOC249) Philosophy of Education. (M) Detlefsen. This course covers a variety of philosophical questions surrounding education. These may include questions in epistemology, human nature, philosophy of psychology, ethics, and social-political philosophy.

SM 255. Topics in Continental Philosophy. (M) Staff. Topics will vary.

SM 267. Kant and the 19th Century. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 004. After an orientation to Kant's philosophy, we will examine Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche.

L/R 277. Justice, Law and Morality. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Allen. In this course we will explore what it means to say that a government is just. In the course of our inquiries, we will work through seven major theories of justice: libertarianism, socialism, utilitarian liberalism, contractarian liberalism, communitarianism, perfection-ism, and feminism. There are no prerequisites.

278. (LAW 614) Comparative Law. (M) Ewald. The course will be a basic introduction to the legal systems of continental Europe, with an emphasis on the historical and philosophical developments that have shaped the modern civil law.

280. Topics in Aesthetics. Staff. Discussion will concentrate on the concept of mimesis, the autonomy of art, and the logic of asethetic judgment.

299. Independent Study. (C) Staff. Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a program of reading and writing on a suitable topic.

301. Directed Honors Research. (C) Open only to senior majors in philosophy. Student arranges with a faculty member to do an honors thesis on a suitable topic.

SM 325. Topics in Philosophy of Science. (C) Weisberg. Department Majors Only. Topics will vary.

SM 330. Philosophy of Perception. (M) Hatfield. Department Majors Only. A philosophical study of historical and contemporary theories of perception, using material drawn from both the philosophical and psychological literatures.

SM 331. Epistemology. (M) Schneider. Department Majors Only. Foundations of knowledge, belief, perception, memory, and truth. Justification, evidence, certainty, incorrigibility, acceptance, and coherence. Knowledge of one's own and other people's state of mind. Inference about seeing and knowing. Empirical and mathematical knowledge.

SM 334. Philosophy of Religion. (M) Ross. Department Majors Only. Systematic examinations of the nature of religious experiences; proofs of the existence of God; the problem of evil; the relationship of faith and reason; and the possibility of religious knowledge.

SM 342. Topics in Metaphysics. (M) Weisberg, Ross. Department Majors Only. A seminar for philosophy majors on some main problems of contemporary metaphysics, with readings on existence, modality, causation, time, mind-world, the mind-dependent and the real. Student presentations are required as are regular attendance and active participation. There are five brief written assignments on the readings and a final term paper on a topic approved by the instructor.

SM 344. Wittgenstein: Mind and Language. (C) Staff. Department Majors Only. A close study of central portions of part one of Philosophical Investigations with readings from other of Wittgenstein's later writings, from secondary literature on Wittgenstein, and from recent philosophy of mind.

SM 361. Ancient Philosophical Figures. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 003. Department Majors Only. A study of selected topics, texts, and figures from classical Greek philosophy.

SM 362. Modern Philosophical Figures. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hatfield, Guyer, Detlefsen. Department Majors Only. Spinoza: Spinoza is one of the most fascinating figures in modern philosophy. His thought, which combines medieval and Cartesian influences, was thought to be religiously and politically subversive; for this reason most of his writings did not appear under his name. His opus magnum, the "Ethics", conceptualizes metaphysics towards ethical ends, thereby connecting theoretical and practical reasoning. In this course, we will explore Spinoza's "Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect", parts of the "Ethics", and parts of his two political treatises.

SM 367. Kant and Hegel. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Department Majors Only. We will examine the main theses of Kant's theoretical and practical philosophy and the role of Hegel's criticisms in them in the development of the latter's system of philosophy. Subjects will include Kant's theory of space, time, substance, and causation; his transcendental idealism; and his analysis of the fundamental principles of morality and his defense of freedom of the will. We will then examine Hegel's attempt to overcome the dichotomies of Kant's theoretical philosophy in his objective idealism and his criticism of the formalism of Kant's practical philosophy.

SM 368. Topics in German Idealism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Horstmann. Department Majors Only. The course will start with a brief review of some features of Kant's philosophy, will focus on Fichte and Schelling, and will end with a discussion of the reaction to Idealism by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

SM 372. Topics in Ethics. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 002 (or consent of the instructor). Department Majors Only. Fundamental issues in moral philosophy: for example, the objectivity of morality, the structure of moral theories, conflicts of values, personal and social ideals.

SM 376. Justice. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. Department Majors Only. How are the claims of liberty to be reconciled with the claims of equality? What basic rights do individuals have? What are the requirements of economic justice? What is the common good? These are the basic questions of the democratic tradition in political philosophy. In this course we shall consider the differing responses given to these questions by several philosophical views, including Utilitarianism, Social Contract doctrines, Libertarianism, and Marxist conceptions of justice.

SM 377. (PPE 377) Philosophy and the Constitution. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. For Philosophy and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Majors (PPE) Only. The aim of this course is to investigate the philosophical background of our constitutional democracy. What is the appropriate role and limits of majority legislative rule? How are we to understand First Amendment protections of freedom of religion, speech, and assembly? What is the conception of equality that underlies the l4th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause? Is there a right of privacy implicit in the Constitution? Do rights of property deserve the same degree of protection as other constitutional rights? To investigate these and other constitutional issues, we will read from both Supreme Court opinions and relevant philosophical texts.

SM 379. Topics in Political Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman, Kahn, Tan. Department Majors Only. Topics in Justice: This is a seminar course, and our discussions will draw on some of the basic questions of justice as these arise in both the domestic and global contexts. Questions such as: Does distributive equality matter? Is distributive equality global in scope? To what subjects or entities do principles of jsutice apply? What are the limits of toleration? Students will be required to do regular class presentations. Authors we will read include John Rawls, Charles Beitz, G.A. Cohen, Thomas Pogge and others.

SM 380. Topics in Aesthetics. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Department Majors Only. This course will study particular periods in the history of aesthetics and the philosophy of art or particular current problems in the field. Examples of the former would be ancient, eighteenth-century, nineteenth-century, or twentieth- century aesthetics; examples of the latter would be the definition of art, the nature of representation and/or expression in the arts, and art and morality.

Advanced Courses

403. (GREK409) PreSocratic Philosophers. (M) Kahn. Close study of fragments and doxography for the earliest Greek philosophers in the original texts, including fragments of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Philolaus and Empedocles.

SM 405. Philosophy of Language. (M) Staff. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 005/505 or permission of instructor. In this course, we will ask how language works. How do speakers use sounds and shapes to make claims, promises, and threats? How do words and sentences connect to the world: what makes a word refer to an object or property, and what determines when a sentence is true or false? And how to speakers exploit conventional linguistic meaning for alternative ends, as in metaphor and sarcasm? We will apprach these questions by reading classic texts by Frege, Russell, Austin, Grice, Searle, Kripke, Quine, Davidson, and others; but we will also apply these readings to actual, everyday linguistic contexts. Some comfort with basic first-order predicate logic will be required, but no previous experience with formal logic is assumed: I will explain all the relevant symbolism in class.

SM 406. (GREK409) Aristotle's Politics. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. A close reading in Greek of selected texts from Aristotle's POLITICS, especially from Books I-III and VII-VIII, together with general discussions of Aristotle's political theory. Students wil be expected to read the whole of the POLITICS in English, as well as the CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS and relevant sections of the ETHICS. Attention will be paid both to mastery of Aristotle's Greek and to understanding of his political philosophy.

SM 407. Aristotle. (M) S.Meyer. A survey of some of Aristotle's major writings on language, ontology, epistemology, metaphysics, natural philosophy and psychology. Readings will include Categories, De Interpretatione, Posterior Analytics, Physics, Parts of Animals, On Generation and Corruption, Metaphysics, and On the Soul.

SM 409. (GREK409) Plato's Selected Dialogues. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. The course will consist of a close reading of selected passages in Greek from Plato's Protagoras, Phaedo, and Repubic, together with a complete reading of these dialogues in English translation. The primary goal of the course will be the understanding of the greek text and the appreciation of Plato's artistry in these three literary masterpieces. The secondary goal will be an initiation into Plato's philosophy, focusing on epistemology and metaphysics.

411. (CIS 571) Recursion Theory. (M) Weinstein. This course will deal with basic concepts and results in the theory of recursive functions and effective computability. Topics will include Turing machines, recursively unsolvable problems, degrees of unsolvability, inductive definability, hierarchies, and complexity of computation, as time permits.

SM 412. (CIS 518, LGIC320, LGIC499, MATH571, MATH670) Topics in Logic. (M) Weinstein. This course will focus on the fundamental results and techniques of mathematical logic. Topics will be drawn from model theory, proof theory, recursion theory, and set theory. Connections between logic and algebra, analysis, combinatorics, computer science, and the foundations of mathematics will be emphasized.

SM 413. (CIS 572) Set Theory. (M) Weinstein. Topics will include ZF set theory, cardinal and ordinal numbers, constructible sets, inner model consistency proofs, independence results, large cardinal axioms, and philosophical problems concerning set theoretical foundations of mathematics.

SM 414. Philosophy of Mathematics. (M) Weinstein, Ewald. Topics will include formalism, intuitionism, and the foundations of set theory.

SM 416. (LGIC320, MATH670, PHIL516) Model Theory. (M) Weinstein. The course will cover the basic results and techniques of the model theory of first-order logic. Additional topics will include extensions of first-order logic and finite model theory.

SM 417. (PPE 417) Game Theory. (M) Bicchieri. The course will introduce students to non-cooperative game theory and experimental games. The first part of the course will focus on the basic elements of non-cooperative game theory. The second part will cover the experimental literature on social dilemmas, trust and untimatum games. The format will consist of lectures, student presentations, and discussions.

SM 423. (VLST223) Philosophy and Visual Perception. (C) Hatfield. The course will begin with a systematic overview of theories of visual perception and their relation to philosophy, from Ptolemy to Marr. It will then address selected philosophical themes, including the interaction between seeing and knowing (or believing), the metaphysics of seeing, and the role of imagery in thought.

SM 425. (STSC425) Philosophy of Science. (C) Domotor. Prerequisite(s): Background in elementary logic and some rudiments of science. A semiformal treatment of key concepts and techniques in philosophy of science, including causality, counterfactuals, deterministic and probabilistic theories, measurement and testing, models and scientific laws. Simple examples from natural and social sciences will be used.

SM 426. (STSC426) Philosophy of Psychology. (M) Hatfield. Is there a science of psychology distinct from physiology? If there is, what is its subject matter? What is the relationship between scientific psychology and traditional philosophical investigation of the mental? Examination of these questions is followed by analysis of some concepts employed in cognitive psychology and cognitive science, particularly in the fields of perception and cognition.

SM 427. Moral Psychology. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. A discussion of some topics in the philosophy of mind that have shaped questions in ethics. Among the issues discussed will be those surrounding the concepts of character, the self, integrity, responsibility, and freedom.

SM 428. Philosophy of Social Science. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. An examination of fundamental philosophical issues concerning forms of social organization. Consideration of philosophical critiques of society.

SM 429. (RELS437) Medieval Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ross. Critical and historical examination of writings of Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Scotus, Ockham, and others.

SM 430. Philosophy of Mind. (M) Staff. An examination of central topics in philosophy of minding, including intentionality, consciousness, qualia, and the mind-body problem.

SM 431. Theory of Knowledge. (M) Domotor. This seminar surveys the basic theories of empirical knowledge and belief, with special regards to their foundations and justification. We will begin with classical epistemic attitudes, including common and joint knowledge, formulated within the framework of elementary modal logic. Also, we will examine the major inadequacies of this popular apporach. We will then deal in depth with broader questions of revision of knowledge and belief in face of new information, perceptual knowledge, representation of knowledge, skeptical arguments, epistemic paradoxes and naturalized epistemology. Some acquaintance with traditional logic will be helpful.

SM 434. (RELS401) Philosophy of Religion. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ross. Systematic examinations of the nature of religious experiences; proofs of the existence of God; the problem of evil; the relationships of faith and reason; and the possibility of religious knowledge.

436. (CLST436) Hellenistic Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. S.Meyer. Prerequisite(s): This course will be most suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in Philosophy or Classics; others need instructor's permission.

Philosophy in the Hellenistic period (323-331 B.C.) is dominated by the debate between the Stoics and their various sceptical opponents. We will focus on how the Stoics try to construct their system (with special emphasis on their epistemology, physics and ethics), and on how the Academic and Pyrrhonean Sceptics argue against them. Readings will primarily be from Cicero, Diogenes, Laertius, Plutarch and Sextus Empiricus (all works to be read in translation!).

SM 442. Origins of Analytic Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 005 and one other philosophy course, or permission of instructor. A study of the writings of Frege, Russell, and early Wittgenstein with special attention to their views on mathematics, metaphysics, language, and their relationships.

SM 443. Logical Positivism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 005. A study of the sources, development, and criticism of Logical Postivism. Extensive treatment will be given to Rudolf Carnap and W.V. Quine.

SM 444. Wittgenstein. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. A study of the later philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

SM 445. Modal Logic. (M) Domotor. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 005. Semi-formal examination of basic modalities and conditionals, including the varieties of necessity, possibility, counterfactuals, and causality. Special emphasis on applications to ontological proofs, deontic paradoxes, beliefs, and laws. Critical analysis of possible world and belief state semantics.

SM 448. 19th Century Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Horstmann. After an orientation to Kant's philosophy, we will examine Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche.

SM 460. Continental Rationalism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hatfield, Detlefsen. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 004 or permission of instructor. A study of metaphysics and epistemology in the writing of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.

SM 463. British Philosophy I. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 004 or permission of instructor. A study of epistemology and metaphysics in classical British philosophy. Authors studied included Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Reid, and Mill.

SM 464. British Philosophy II. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 002 or PHIL 004 or permission of instructor. A study of moral philosophy, political philosophy, and aesthetics in classical British philosophy. Authors studied include Hobbes, Locke, Hutcheson, Hume, Kames, Adam Smith, and Reid.

SM 465. (GRMN551) Kant I. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer, Hatfield. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 004, one advanced Philosophy course, or permission of instructor. A study of Kant's epistemology, criticism of metaphysics, and theory of science. A close reading of the CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON and associated texts.

SM 466. (GRMN552) Kant II. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 002, PHIL 004, or permission of instructor. This course is a study of Kant's moral and political philosophy. The central theme of the course is Kant's conviction that freedom or "Autonomy" is our most basic value, and that the fundamental law of morality as well as the more particular principles of both justice and personal virtue are the means that are necessary in order to preserve and promote the existence and exercise of human freedom. Central questions will be how Kant attempts to motivate or prove the fundamental value of freedom and the connection between this normative issue and his metaphysics of free will. Texts will include Kant's Lectures on Ethics, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, and Metaphysics of Morals. Written work for the course will include one short paper and one term paper.

L/R 467. Topics in History of Philosophy: Science and Metaphysics in 17th Century. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hatfield, Detlefsen. Prerequisite(s): Previous course in Philosophy or History and Sociology of Science. An examination of the interplay between the rise of modern natural science and the genesis of a new philosophy in the seventeenth century. Readings will be drawn from the works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, Boyle, Locke, and Newton. Philosophical issues include the justification for a mathematical approach to nature, differing grounds for drawing a distinction between primary and secondary qualities, and contrasting conceptions of scientific method and of the role of sensory experience in attaining knowledge of nature.

SM 468. (GRMN583) Hegel. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Hegel and Analytic Philosophy: For many years, Hegel was persona non grata to most analytic philosophers. However, during the last decades, this estimation has been shattered revised. Indeed, some speak of a new school called "Pittsburgh Hegelianism" that combines analytic origins with Hegelian motifs. In this course, we will read selected writings of John McDowell, Robert Brandom, and the sources that influenced them, in order to understand the new marriage of Hegelianism and philosophical analysis.

SM 471. Action Theory. (M) Finkelstein. This course introduces students to the basic problems of the theory of action: What is an action? What makes actions different from (mere) events? How is the notion of action related to what people do intentionally? To what they intend to do? In addressing these questions, we will devote particular attention to the influential writings of Elizabeth Anscombe and Donald Davidson. In this connection we will consider the relation of these questions to the classic dabate about whether reasons can be causes. As we shall see, Davidson transformed the theory of action with his suggestion that an event is an action just in case there is a true description of it under which it was someone's doing something for a reason.

SM 472. Survey of Ethical Theory. (M) Staff. A detailed discussion of selected topics in current moral theory. Some possible topics include: the aims and nature of moral theory, questions concerning the authority of morality, reasons for action and value realism, "internalism" and "externalism" in the theory of practical reasoning, epistemic moral skepticism, the contemporary debate between moral "realist" and "anti-realist" and its relationship to earlier debates between subjectivists and their critics. Readings will be draw from both contemporary and historical sources. The aim of the course is to provide students an opportunity to develop a reasonably sophisticated understanding of selected topics of contemporary interest. Some familiarity with moral philosophy and its history will be presupposed.

SM 473. Topics in Ethics. (C) Staff. In this course we will examine different contemporary positions in theoretical ethics, focussing on topics such as relativism, objectivity in ethics, practical reason, and rational motivation. Authors include B.Williams, G. Harman, T.Scanlon, C.Korsgaard, J.McDowell, C.Wright.

SM 475. (PPE 475) Political Philosophy. (M) Freeman. An examination of basic theoretical problems of political science divided into three parts. First, specific features of social sciences will be examined and three most important general orientations of social sciences (analytical, interpretative and critical) will be compared and analyzed. Second, basic concepts of social and political sciences will be studied: social determination, rationality, social change, politics, power, state, democracy. Third, the problem of value judgments will be considered: Is there a rational, objective method for the resolution of conflicts in value judgments? Is morality compatible with politics?

SM 478. (PSCI390) Ancient Political Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. The history of ancient political theory from early Greece to late antiquity. Primary focus will be on the political philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, but attention will also be given to the fifth-century sophists and to Roman and Hellenistic theories.

SM 479. Modern Political Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. Considers the treatment of such issues as sovereignty, legitimacy, obligation, property and the limits of state power in natural rights theory, social-contract theory and utilitarianism. Authors to be studied may include Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, J.S. Mill, T.M. Green and F.H. Bradley.

SM 480. (COML582, GRMN580) Aesthetics. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. A study of fundamental issues in aesthetics including the nature of taste, art,and interpretation. Readings may be historical or contemporary.

SM 485. (GSOC425) Topics in Gender Theory. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Topics will vary.

SM 488. The Idea of Nationalism. (M) Steinberg. The course will explore--from a philosophical perspective--the nature of national and group identity, the alleged right of every group to national self-determination, and the contemporary moral and ethnopolitical conflicts that these ideas shape. We will examine the beliefs of a variety of nationalist movements, both contemporary and historical, such as American, German, Jewish, Palestinian, Irish, and a variety of Third World nationalisms, to get a clearer idea of what the idea of nationalism is and why it so often gives rise to seemingly irresolvable conflicts.

Graduate Courses

505.(PHIL005) Formal Logic. (C) Domotor, Weinstein. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course provides an introduction to some of the fundamental ideas of logic. Topics will include truth functinal logic, quantificational logic, and logical decision problems.

506.(MATH570, PHIL006) Formal Logic II. (B) Weinstein. Undergraduates Need Permission. An introduction to the elements of first-order model theory including the completeness, compactness, and Lowenheim-Skolem theorems; and exposition of Godel's theorems, with some discussion of the theory of effectively computable functions.

SM 507. (CLST507) Presocratic Philosophy. (M) Kahn. Undergraduates Need Permission. A reading of greek of the fragments of the Presocratic philosophers, together with an introduction to the modern scholarship on the Presocratics. The course will begin with the mythopoetic worldview presented by Hesiod's Theogony, and follow its transformation above all in Heraclitus, Parmenides and Empedocies.

SM 508. Early Plato. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. Undergraduates Need Permission. A close study of selected dialogues from Plato's early period, against the background of what we know about Socratic dialogues composed by other authors. Questions of the historicity and literary status of Plato's account of Socrates will be discussed, but emphasis will be on Plato's use of the dialogue form for the expression and development of his own philosophical ideas.

SM 509. Middle Plato. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. Undergraduates Need Permission. An examination of the metaphysics and epistemology of Plato's middle dialogues, particularly the theory of Forms, the distinction between knowledge and belief, and Plato's account of properties and predicates. We will discuss how Plato's views develop out of Socrates' dialectical concerns, and whether these views support Socrates' interests. We will read the MENO, the PHAEDO, the REPUBLIC and parts of the PARMENIDES.

SM 510. (CLST508) Late Plato. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn. Undergraduates Need Permission. An examination of the metaphysics, epistemology, and dialectical practice of Plato's late dialogues. We will begin with PARMENIDES and with its criticisms of the theory of forms. We will discuss parts of the PHAEDRUS, in which the method of collection and division is introduced, and proceed to the THEAETEUS, the SOPHIST, the PHILEBUS, and the TIMAEUS. We will consider whether Plato abandons or modifies the theory of forms he presents in his middle works. We will also ask if the new dialectical practice we can find in the late works is connected with Plato's possible disaffection with his middle metaphysics.

SM 511. Aristotle's Metaphysics. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. A study of the CATEGORIES, central books of METAPHYSICS and relevant portions of PHYSICS and DE ANIMA.

SM 512. Aristotle's Ethics. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. A detailed study of major topics in the Aristotelian ethics, including the theory of happiness, virtue, the voluntary, practical reason, pleasure, and friendship, with some background in the POLITICS.

SM 513. Plotinus. (M) Kahn. Undergraduates Need Permission. An introduction to the thought of the major philosopher of late antiquity, founder of Neo-Platonism. Readings will include generous selections from the Enneads.

SM 516. (MATH670, PHIL416) Model Theory. (M) Weinstein. Undergraduates Need Permission. The course will cover the basic results and techniques of the model theory of first-order logic. Additional topics will include extensions of first-order logic and finite model theory.

SM 517. Computational Learning Theory. (M) Weinstein. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course is an introduction to computational theory. The course will survey the results of research on three contemporary mathematical models of learning: identification in the limit, probably and approximately correct learning from queries. Applications of these models to questions about natural language acquisition, concept acquisition, the conduct of scientific inquiry, and epistemology will be considered.

SM 525. (COML525, HSSC527) Topics in the Philosophy of Science. (M) Weisberg, Bicchieri. Undergraduates Need Permission. Experiments in Ethics: How mutual expectations influence trust, fairness and cooperation.

SM 526. Philosophy of Psychology. (M) Staff. Undergraduates Need Permission. The course will examine critically behaviorist and cognitivist approaches to psychological research, dealing with issues concerning methodology, appropriate theoretical concepts, views of explanation, and the scientific status of psychology. Attention will also be given to the relationship of scientific psychology to intentional explanations, and to the role that values play in choices among competing theories.

L/R 527. (PHIL027) Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. (M) Hatfield. Undergraduates Need Permission. Quantum theory provides the fundamental underpinning of modern physical science, yet its philosophical implications are so shocking that Einstein could not accept them. By following the historical development of 20th century quantum science, the student should gain an appreciation of how a scientific theory grows and develops, and of the strong interplay between scientific observation and philosophical interpretation. Although students will not be expected to carry out mathematical derivations, they should gain an understanding of basic quantum findings. Students enrolling in 527 must register for the recitation section that is reserved for that number, which is for graduate students.

SM 529. Medieval Philosophy. (M) Ross. Undergraduates Need Permission. Major Works of Arabic Philosophy in New English Translation: A critical discussion of classics of Arabic Philosophy, with particular attention to Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and to Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) on "The Incoherence of the Philosophers", and, others as well, on the relation of faith and reason, necessity in being and abstractive intellect. The texts are newly translated into English by Jon McGinnis and David Reisman (Hackett Publishing Company). Students will take part in weekly discussions and presentations and write a term paper on an additional major work of Arabic-Islamic philosophy. Students from History, Religious Studies, Near Eastern Studies and Classics are warmly welcomed.

SM 530. Philosophy of Mind. (M) Hatfield. Undergraduates Need Permission. Selected topics in philosophy of mind or philosophy of psychology. Particular topics will vary from year to year.

SM 536. Stoicism. (M) S.Meyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. A discussion of central texts and topics in Greek and Roman Stoicism, including epistemology, ethics, and natural philosophy. Readings (all in English translation) will be drawn from Cicero's Academica, On the nature of the gods, On moral ends, and On duties, as well as from Seneca's Letters, Epictetus' Discourses, and the accounts of Stoic doctrine in Diogenes Laertius and John Stobaeus.

SM 540. Topics in Philosophy of Language. (M) Staff. Undergraduates Need Permission. This seminar will investigate the upshot of context-sensitivity in language use for a variety of issues in the philosophy of language and other areas of philosophy. Topics to be discussed include: accommodating context-sensitivity in truth- conditional semantics; vagueness and the sorities paradox; perspectivalism and the in-principle eliminability (or not) of linguistic context-sensitivity; and forms of ontological relativity.

SM 547. Leibniz/Locke. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Detlefsen. Undergraduates Need Permission. Leibniz was one of the most brilliant minds of the seventeenth century. Besides entering into a priority dispute with Newton over the discovery of the infinitesimal calculus, designing royal gardens, working on producing a universal language, designing (though never actually making) some shock absorbers for his carriage, and developing an "idea about fast get-aways on shoes with springs" (!), Leibniz devoted a great deal of thought to issues in metaphysics, epistemology and value theory central to seventeenth-century philosophy. We will study Leibniz's philosophical system by looking carefully at two of these issues: (a) Leibniz on evil: We will deal with Leibniz's developing ideas on theodicy, including his ideas on freedom (both human's and God's), and by extension, determinism and necessity. If time, we will look at his philosophy on evil in relation to that of some of his contemporaries. And, (b) Leibniz on body: Was Leibniz always an idealist? If not, why did he change his mind? Or, was Leibniz ever an idealist? If he was an idealist, how does he differ from Berkeley? How does his (idealist?) metaphysics relate to his natural philosophy, including his theories in the life sciences?

SM 550. Topics in Philosophy of Education. (M) Detlefsen. Undergraduates Need Permission. Socio-Political Philosophy of Education: In this course, we will examine some of the most pressing problems in contemporary philosophy of education. These problems include: how much control over a child's education ought to be allocated to parents and how much to the state; what role, if any, ought religion to play in education; how race and gender impact individuals' educatoinal experiences (and how such issues should be addressed in the classroom); what sort of (if any) civic education ought to be taught in schools (especially in wartime such as in the post 9-11 USA); and how schools should be funded. We will deal with a number of case studies, mostly recent, but some crucial historical cases as well. Our readings will be primarily philosophical texts, supplemented with those from other fields, such as psychology, history and sociology, in oder to provide empirical context to the theoretical problems facing education today. As a seminar, the instructor welcomes student participation, including students bringing their own interests in educational theory to the classroom. At the same time, the instructor will lecture to the extent necessary to make classroom discussion especially rich.

SM 560. Descartes. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hatfield. Undergraduates Need Permission. A reading of the MEDITATIONS (including significant portions of the Objections and Replies) supplemented by other writings of the mature Descartes, including the DISCOURSE and selections from PRINCIPLES and LETTERS. The focus will be on the interplay among Descartes' conception of mind, matter, and God (including the doctrine of the creation of the eternal truths), and on the respective roles of reason and experience in Descartes' epistemology (especially in light of his project of founding a new physics).

SM 564. Post-Kantian Epistemology. (M) Guyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course will study the reception of Kant's theoretical philosophy in the twentieth century, particularly after 1950, when Kant came to be seen as central to the critique of the original project of analytic philosophy as exemplified by such figures as Russell, the early Wittgenstein, and Carnap. After a brief review of the beginnings of post-analytic philosophy in Quine's and White's rejection of the analytic/synthetic distinction, we will look at the appropriation of Kant in such figures as Peter Strawson, Wilfrid Sellars, Hilary Putnam, and John McDowell.

SM 565. Kant's Critique of Metaphysics. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 465 or permission of instructor. Undergraduates Need Permission. A study of Kant's critique of metaphysics and theory of regulative ideas in the"Transcendental Dialectic" and related texts such as CRITIQUE OF JUDGEMENT, ONLY POSSIBLE PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, and LECTURES ON PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY. Collateral readings in such authors as Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Wolff, Baumgarten, Mendelssohn, Bayle, and Hume.

SM 566. (GRMN566) Kant's Moral Philosophy. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Guyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. A study of Kant's moral philosophy, political philosophy, and aesthetics, focusing on his GROUNDWORK FOR THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS, CRITIQUES OF PRACTICAL REASON, METAPHYSICS OF MORALS, and CRITIQUE OF JUDGMENT. Written work for the course will include two papers and a final examination.

SM 567. Development of German Idealism. (M) Horstmann. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course will start with a brief review of some features of Kant's philosophy and will focus on Fichte and Schelling, and will end with a discussion of the reaction to Idealism by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

SM 568. Hegel. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Horstmann. Undergraduates Need Permission. The purpose of this course is to discuss some basic ontological assumptions of Hegel's philosophy and to inquire to what extent these assumptions guide his conception of a 'system'. The seminar will focus primarily (though not exclusively) on Hegel's Logic in its different versions, especially on sections 26-78 of the Encyclopedia (l830) and on the beginning sections of the third part of his Science of Logic (l8l6). There will be some readings from the Phenomenology. Reading knowledge of German would be helpful. Suggested secondary reading in English: R. Pippin, Hegel's Idealism (CUP l989); C. Taylor, Hegel (CUP l975).

SM 572. Contemporary Ethics. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman. Undergraduates Need Permission. Contemporary views of the nature of practical reasoning, the structure and purposes of moral theories, and the role of the concept of the person in moral philosophy. Reading from Nagel, Parfit, Rawls, Williams, Foot, and others.

SM 573. Conceptual Foundations of Bioethics. (M) Staff. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course will focus on several conceptual issues in bioethics and philosophy of medicine. It is intended to be a graduate level seminar for students in bioethics, philosophy, medicine or related fields. Issues to be covered include: the role of underdetermination and incommensurability in medical science; the meaning and significance of the concepts of health and disease; the distinction between genetic and non-genetic diseases; and problems in genetic technology associated with reductionism and causality. This course will explore the intersection between philosophy of science and bioethics. Some of the most important ethical and social issues and even policy decisions hinge on often unexamined conceptual grounds. We will critically examine some of the crucial assumptions which underlie contemporary biomedical practice.

SM 574. (BIOH574) Topics in Bioethics. (M) Staff. Undergraduates Need Permission. Focuses on one or more issues in bioethics. Particular topics to be covered include analysis of the meaning and significance of concepts of disease, health, medicine, therapy, and genetic trait. Other issues to be covered include reductionism in medicine and biology; the extent to which medicine is a science; and the epistemological differences which arise between different groups of practitioners. Particular topics and issues to be covered will vary from year to year.

SM 577. (LAW 799, LAW 946) Topics in Philosophy of Law. (M) Ross. Undergraduates Need Permission. Topics: Natural law Background of American Constitutional Law. This is a reading of major thinkers in the Natural Law tradition, running from Jus Gentium of Roman Law through Aquinas' Treatis on Law, selections from Blackstone, Suarez, Grotius, Puffendorff, Locke, and, perhaps Kant, with time allotted for an inquiry into the extent to which natural law doctrines, especially as to basic human rights, including procedural rights and interests, are appropriately used to adjuciadate Constitutional claims under various amendments, and under provisions regarding secession, conquered peoples, and the like. There will be a number of written and seminar requirements.

SM 578. Topics in Political Philosophy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Freeman,

Tan. Undergraduates Need Permission. This semester the seminar will focus on recent work on political and economic justice. After an overview of Rawls's difference principle, we will read G.A. Cohen's critique of Rawls and alternative theory of distributive justice presented in his newly published book, Rescuing Justic and Equality (2008). We will then move on to discuss recent works by Bernard Williams, T.M. Scanlon, Ronald Dworkin, Joshua Cohen, and others on political and economic justice.

SM 581. (GRMN580) 18th Century Aesthetics. (M) Guyer. Undergraduates Need Permission. A close study of major texts in aesthetics from Shaftesbury and Addision through Kant and Schiller. Other authors may include Hutcheson, Hume, Burke, Gerard, Kames, Alison, Baumgarten, Mendelssohn, Lessing, Diderot, and Rousseau. Issues can include the nature of aesthetic experience, the distinction between the beautiful and the sublime, the universality of taste, the ethical significance of the aesthetic, and the commonalities and differences among the arts. The course will be taught as a seminar, and students will be responsible for an oral presentation as well as a term paper.

SM 585. (COML598, WSTD585) Aesthetics: Emotion in the Arts. (M) Guyer, Camp. Undergraduates Need Permission. This course will investigate historical and contemporary philosophical views on the role of the emotions in the arts. Do we have genuine emotional responses to works of art - to fiction? paintings? music? If so, what are the conditions under which we do and don't have such emotional responses? When are such responses appropriate? In particular, does an appropriate aesthetic attitude require emotional distance from the object of the artwork? Is it inappropriate to respond emotionally to morally depraved artworks? How do formal devices induce, constrain, and otherwise alter our emotional responses to art? Readings will be drawn from philosophers including Jean-Baptise Du Bos, David Hume, Edmund Burke, Moses Mendelssohn, Henry Home Lord Kames, Arthur Schopenhauer, Edward Bullough, R.G. Collingwood, Stanley Cavell, Tamar Szabo Gendler, Richard Moran, Kendall Walton, and others.

SM 600. Proseminar. (A) Staff. Introduction to the methods of analytic philosophy for first year graduate students only. Subject matter will vary from year to year.

601. Consortium Course. (C) Staff. For graduate students taking courses at other institutions belonging to the Philadelphia area Philosophical Consortium.

SM 607. (CLST607) Presocratic Philosophy. (M) Kahn. Close study of fragments and doxography for the earliest Greek philosophers in the original texts.

SM 609. (CLST609, COML609, GREK606) Plato's Republic. (M) Kahn. A close reading and discussion of Plato's work. As much as possible of the text will be read in Greek.

SM 610. Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus. (M) Kahn. A close reading and analysis of Plato's two major dialogues on love.

SM 611. Plato's Philebus. (M) Kahn. A close reading of the text of one of Plato's latest and most difficult dialogues. Questions to be discussed include: the unity of the dialogue, relation to other late dialogues (such as the TIMAEUS), relation to the doctrine of Forms, relation to the "unwritten doctrines". Knowledge of Greek is not required.

SM 612. Topics in Hellenistic Philosophy. (M) S.Meyer. Topics will vary.

SM 613. (LAW 618) Topics in Medieval Philosophy. (M) Ross. Close reading of selected texts in medieval philosophy.

SM 625. Contemporary Metaphysical Problems. (M) Hatfield. An examination of selected problems at the intersection of philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics.

SM 626. Topics in Philosophy of Psychology. (M) Hatfield. We will investigate the notions of function, adaptation, and teleology as found in biology and as analyzed in the philosophy of biology; we will then apply these notions to selected problems in the philosophy of psychology pertaining to representation and content.

SM 630. Topics in Philosophy of Mind. (M) Hatfield. Topics will vary, and may be historical or contemporary.

SM 633. (HIST610) Colloquium in American History. (M) Kuklick, B. HIST 610 is a topics course. When the subject is appropriate, the course will be cross-listed with Philosophy. Please refer to the current timetable.

SM 642. Contemporary Metaphysics. (M) Ross. This course will deal with the nature of necessity, essentialism, idealism and the concept of truth from a contemporary perspective.

SM 643. Carnap. (M) Staff. A survey of Carnap's writings, with special attention to The Logical Construction of the World and The Logical Syntax of Language.

SM 644. Quine. (M) Staff. A survey of Quine's philosophy with special attention to the critique of analyticity, truth and reference, indeterminacy of translations, ontological relativity, and physicalism.

SM 645. Reference. (M) Staff. Contemporary discussions of reference with special attention to referential inscrutability, first person authority, and anti-individualism. Readings from Quine, Davidson, Putnam, Field, Wallace, Burge, and McDowell.

SM 646. Topics in Early Analytic Philosophy. (M) Staff. Selected interpretive and philosophical issues from Frege, Russell, and early Wittgenstein.

SM 662. Hume's Philosophy of Mind. (M) Hatfield. An examination of Hume's theory of mind, focusing on the Treatise and first Enquiry.

SM 665. Kant's Theoretical Philosophy. (M) Guyer. This course will study not Kant's system of philosophy but his philosophy of system, that is, the role of the concept of systematicity throughout his philosophical work. Special topics will include the role of systematicity in empirical knowledge and science, practical reasoning, and meta-philosophy, where systematicity functions as the criterion of the adequacy of philosophical theories themselves. Some prior acquaintance with the main themes of Kant's theoretical and practical philosophy will be assumed.

SM 672. Topics in Ethics. (M) S.Meyer, Martin. In Spring 2009, Phil 672 will be a workshop on writing papers for submission to either conferences or journals. Papers may address any topic in value theory, broadly construed, and some participants may choose to revise papers written for previous seminars. All participants will be responsible for generating short bibliographies and then leading class discussions on their topics, providing drafts of their papers for critique by the class, and presenting their papers to the class. Students who have passed their prelims are encouraged to participate as auditors.

674. (BIOH574) Topics in Bioethics. (M) Staff. Topics will vary.

SM 679. Liberalism and its Critics. (M) Guyer/Freeman. This course will examine some of the fundamental these of liberalism and some of the criticisms they have encountered. In particular, we will examine the classical formulation of liberal theory in Immanuel Kant as well as his near-contemporaries Moses Mendelssohn and Wilhelm von Humboldt, and criticisms of this view by writers like G.W.F. Hegel and F.H. Bradley; we will then examine modern versions of liberalism in John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin, and its criticism, especially by "communitarians" like Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Michael Walzer. We will be concerned with differences between the classical (Kantian) and contemporary (Rawlsian) foundations of liberalism as well as with the validity of the criticisms which have been made of each.

SM 680. (COML681) History of Aesthetics. (M) Guyer. A study of 18th century aesthetics focussing on Kant, his contempories, and successors.

699. Independent Study. (C) Staff. Directed readings in consultation with individual faculty members.

SM 700. Dissertation Workshop. (E) Hatfield. Seminar for the presentation of work in progress by Doctoral students in the Department of Philosophy. Enrollment is limited to Doctoral students 3rd year and beyond.

990. Masters Thesis. (C) Staff.

995. Dissertation. (C) Staff. Ph.D. candidates, who have completed all course requirements and have an approved dissertation proposal, work on their dissertation under the guidance of their dissertation supervisor and other members of their dissertation committee.

998.Teaching Practicum (Independent Study). (C) Staff. Supervised teaching experience. Four semesters are required of all Doctoral students in philosophy.

999.Independent Study. (C) Staff. May be repeated for credit.