Greg Brown received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2024. His work is primarily in the philosophy of action and in ethics, with a focus on practical reasoning and virtue ethics. In his dissertation, he develops a neo-Aristotelian account of practical rationality that is indebted to the work of G. E. M. Anscombe and Philippa Foot. His interests extend to various other areas, especially to Ludwig Wittgenstein, Thomas Aquinas, (meta)ontology, the history of analytic philosophy, and the philosophy of religion.
Recent Courses
PHIL 20100 Introduction to Logic
An introduction to the concepts and principles of symbolic logic. We learn the syntax and semantics of truth-functional and first-order quantificational logic, and apply the resultant conceptual framework to the analysis of valid and invalid arguments, the structure of formal languages, and logical relations among sentences of ordinary discourse. Occasionally we will venture into topics in philosophy of language and philosophical logic, but our primary focus is on acquiring a facility with symbolic logic as such.
Students may count either PHIL 20100 or PHIL 20012, but not both, toward the credits required for graduation.
PHIL 23502 Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind
What is a mind? How are minds related to bodies, to brains, and to the world? In this course, we take up these central questions of the philosophy of mind. We will consider a range of views about the mind-body problem, such as dualism, behaviorism, physicalism, functionalism, and eliminativism. We will also examine accounts that have been given of particular aspects of our mentality, such as consciousness, perception, personal identity, and the so-called propositional attitudes. Finally, we will conclude by considering artificial intelligence. (B)
PHIL 21011 Metaontology
Ontology is, in Quine’s phrase, the study of “what there is.” Ontologists debate the existence and nature of numbers, properties, propositions, ordinary objects, possibilia, and so on. Metaontology asks about the status of this discourse and tries to characterize its goals and prospects. What does it mean to say that something exists? Are there criteria of ‘ontological commitment’? How do the things ontologists debate relate to what ordinary people say? After an historical introduction, the first part of the course will survey a few first-order ontological debates. The remainder of the course will consider varieties of realism and of anti-realism in metaontology. We will read authors such as Rudolf Carnap, W. V. O. Quine, Peter van Inwagen, Ted Sider, Hilary Putnam, and Amie Thomasson. (A)
PHIL 21004 Aristotelian Ethics
In this course, we will engage with one of the fundamental texts of practical philosophy, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. In addition to reading the text closely, we will critically discuss secondary literature, as well as contemporary attempts to revive and enlist Aristotle, with the aim of familiarizing ourselves with the work’s themes, understanding major fault lines in its interpretation, and appreciating its enduring significance. Topics to be considered include happiness and the good life, virtue, and practical reasoning. (A)
PHIL 29200-01/29300-01 Junior/Senior Tutorial
Topic: Practical Reasoning
This course explores the nature of practical reason by examining practical reasoning, its activity. We will examine some accounts that philosophers have given of deliberation and of the so-called practical syllogism or inference; we will consider the relationship between the two and ask what they tell us about practical rationality. In the second half of the course, we will consider the perennial question of whether practical rationality requires acting well, that is, ethically or morally.
Meets with Jr/Sr section. Open only to intensive-track and philosophy majors. No more than two tutorials may be used to meet program requirements.