Graduate Course Descriptions
Fall 2009
PHIL 6198 (Class #19158)
Room: TBA
Meeting Time: 13:00-14:30 TH
Pro-Seminar in Cognitive Science
PHIL 6333 (Class #30656)
Room: C 107
Meeting Time: 10:00-11:30 TTH
Combined Section on Metaphysics
This course will survey various classic and contemporary issues in metaphysics. Possible topics include: the natures of existence and identity, the relationship between individuals and their properties, possibility and necessity, causation, the nature of time and persistence, vagueness, and the relationship between material objects and their proper parts.
PHIL 6351 (Class #30662)
Room: C 107
Meeting Time: 13:00 - 14:30 TTH
Combined Section on Contemporary Moral Issues
Prof. Morrison
PHIL 6358 (Class #20966)
Room: C 112
Meeting Time: 10:00 - 11:00 MWF
Combined Section on Classics in the History of Ethics
PHIL 6376 (Class #30660)
Room: C 106
Meeting Time: 11:30 - 13:00 TTH
Combined Section on Philosophy and the Scientific Revolution
In this course we will examine the interaction between philosophy, science, and religion during the 17th century, the century of the Scienfitic Revolution. In particular, we will discuss the debates that arose over the nature of explanation, scientific methodology, the status of natural laws and their relation to miracles, and the status of so-called "occult qualities." All of these issues were joined in the protracted conflict that arose between Continental philosophers and scientists, most prominently Leibniz (1646-1716), and the English Newtonians (Newton: 1643-1727) over the status of gravitational force. This conflict involved a central methodological, debate, pitting the Newtonian "experimental philosophy" against the "mechanical philosophy" favored on the Continent. This conflict, in its many and varied forms, will be discussed in detail, as will the equally vexed debate about the "force of a body's motion" — the so-called vis viva controversy.
We will begin with a brief discussion of the Copernican revolution and the work of Galileo (1564-1642). We will then turn to an extensive examination of the influential version of the mechanical philosophy that was developed by Descartes (1596-1659) and his followers, as well as the objections made against it by Leibniz and Newton, among others. We will also discuss the influential work of the English scientist Robert Boyle (1627-1691), who was in Florence in 1642 when Galileo died in his nearby villa in Arcetri. Boyle quickly became a devotee of Galileo's philosophy and the new approach he advocated for studying the world through mathematics and mechanics. Boyle was a founding member of the Royal Society of London, which became the principal organ of the British scientific community. When Newton became president of the Royal Society in 1703, he used his position to bash his opponents, especially Leibniz, who had been elected a fellow to the Royal Society in 1673. Our final topics of discussion will the be dispute, mentioned earlier, between Leibniz and the Newtonians over the status of gravitational force and the vis viva controversy concerning the "force of a body's motion."
There will be a midterm and a final exam, as well as a 10-12 page term paper on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with the instructor. Graduate students will be required to submit a 20-25 page term paper.
Texts (Required)
- Boyle, Robert. Selected Philosophical Papers of Robert Boyle, edited by M. A. Stewart. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1991.
- Descartes, René. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. I, edited and translated by John Cottingham, et al. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
- Galileo. The Essential Galileo, edited by Maurice A. Finocchiaro. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2008..
- Leibniz, G. W. Philosophical Essays, edited and translated by Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989.
- Newton, Isaac. Philosophical Writings, edited by Andrew Janiak. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence, edited by H. G. Alexander. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956.
Texts (Recommended)
- The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, edited by John Cottingham. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- The Cambridge Companion to Galileo, edited by Peter Machamer. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz, edited by Nicholas Jolley. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
- The Cambridge Companion to Newton, edited by I. Bernard Cohen and George E. Smith. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
PHIL 3383 (Class #30651)
Internet Course
Combined Section on History of Ancient Philosophy
PHIL 6395 (Class #31429)
Room: AH 512
Meeting Time: 14:30 - 17:30 M
Seminar on Models of the Mind
Broadly construed, this seminar’s topic falls into the philosophy of mind. However, its main focus is not on the more standard issues such as Dualism, Reduction of the Mental to the Physical or the Nature of Consciousness. Instead, we will focus on two main schools of thought concerning how to model minds, that is, how to account for mental abilities we find in human beings within a scientific theory. So from one point of view, this is a course in the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence.
The two schools are called Computationalism (or GoodOlFashionAI, or GOFAI) and Connectionism, and we will take some time talking in detail about what these schools say about how mental abilities (especially linguistic ones) can be explained and predicted. We will then discuss main lines of criticism against each approach. In the case of Computationalism we will cover the frame problem, which is at the root of the failure of artificial intelligence research (so far) to produce computers with human mental abilities. We will also consider Lucas’ and Penrose’s attempts to show (using Godel’s theorem) that human mental abilities transcend those of any computer. We may also visit Searle’s famous Chinese Room argument, which concludes that computational theories cannot give an account of meaning.
In the second half of the seminar, we will turn to Connectionist, or neurally-inspired theories of the mind. First we will investigate whether connectionist models show any prospects for solving problems faced by computational models. Then we will examine the complaint that connectionist models are incapable of explaining language and other crucial forms of processing such as variable binding and default rules.
PHIL 6395 (Class #31431)
Room: 512 AH
Meeting Time: 14:30 - 17:30 W
Seminar on Perception
PHIL 6395 (Class #31432)
Room: 512 AH
Meeting Time: 14:30 - 17:30 T
Seminar on Action Theory and Morality
Kant pressed the question of how morality, or moral action, is even possible. He concluded that it is not possible unless human action has certain characteristics. Specifically, we have to be free and rational.
For the last 30-40 years, action theory has focused on ostensibly smaller issues: what is an intention and how is intention possible? How does something become one's intention? What is action, as opposed to mere behavior? What is the role of reason in guiding action or intention?
Though this recent work has important antecedents in the work of Elizabeth Anscombe and J. L. Austin, in the 1950s, I will concentrate in this course on the work of Michael Bratman, David Velleman and Harry Frankfurt. I plan to start with Bratman's book on intention, and I hope to end with Velleman's new book, HOW WE GET ALONG, which is supposed to come out in May. In between, we will read other papers by both authors, as well as some of Frankfurt's work.
I find these works fascinating in themselves, but I am also interested in their possible implications for moral thought, and in whether an understanding of these (relatively) small issues makes the big questions about freedom seem less pressing.
PHIL 6397 (Class #30734)
Room: 16 AH
Meeting Time: 16:00 - 17:30 MW
Combined Section on Punishment
This course examines a wide range of philosophical theories of punishment, paying close attention to what these theories presume about human agency and responsibility. Questions to discussed include: What right do we have punish wrongdoers? Should our justification of punishment focus on the benefits it provides for society, or on giving criminals their “just-deserts”? To what extent should we take the background and/or the genetic predispositions of criminals into account? Is it morally wrong to punish likely criminals before they commit their crimes (à la Minority Report)? Throughout the course we will hold the empirical assumptions in leading theories of punishment under scrutiny to see how they cohere with contemporary models of human action in the sciences.
PHIL 3397 (Class #31430)
Room: AH 304
Meeting Time: 14:30 - 16:00 MW
Combined Section on Philosophy of Religion
This is an advanced undergraduate/graduate level philosophy course in which we will conduct an in-depth investigation of fundamental philosophical questions that have arisen with respect to religion in the Western tradition (to this end, we also will study some non-Western philosophers who influenced the Western tradition). It requires prior study of Philosophy and/or Theology. The questions we will examine can be divided into roughly three classes:
- Epistemological questions concerning the relationship between philosophical reasoning and religious belief.
- Metaphysical questions concerning the nature of the divine.
- Ethical and political questions concerning the proper relationship between religion, morality and society.
We will begin with the roots of philosophical reflections on these issues in the writings of ancient and medieval philosophers such as Aristotle, Anselm, Avicenna, Al-Ghazali, Maimonides, Averroes and Aquinas. We will then study some of the most devastating criticisms advanced against traditional views by early moderns such as Calvin, Spinoza and Hume. We will conclude by examining the alternative approaches taken in the 19th – 20th centuries by philosophers like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and James, as well as more recent articles. Assignments include papers, presentations and regular participation in class discussions.