2012-2013

In this course we shall study some of the very different accounts of the world developed by the ancient Greek philosophers. In particular we shall consider the following: Aristotle’s ontology of form and matter, actuality and potentiality; Epicurean atomism; the Stoic strange combination of rationalism and thoroughgoing physicalism of all-pervading pneuma; Platonic theories of a transcendent realm.

This course is a reading of works by a variety of contemporary authors who deal with the question of whether, and how, fiction and philosophy are related to one another. (A) (I)

An introduction to the foundations and applications of dynamic approaches to natural language semantics. We will study the formal details and empirical motivations of various major dynamic semantic frameworks such as File Change Semantics, Discourse Representation Theory, Dynamic Predicate Logic, and Update Semantics, and see how they address a number of puzzling natural language phenomena such as donkey anaphora and presupposition projection. In parallel to the formal component, the empirical and theoretical advantages and drawbacks of dynamic semantics will come under scrutiny, and we will also pay close attention to the philosophical repercussions of a dynamic approach to discourse and reasoning. (B) (II)

Course not for field credit. An introduction to the techniques of modern symbolic logic. The focus will be on the syntax and semantics of classical propositional and first-order quantificational logic. The course will introduce methods for determining whether a given argument is valid or invalid. We will discuss how statements and arguments of ordinary discourse can be represented within the formal language of propositional and quantificational logic. There will also be discussion of some important meta-theorems for these logical systems.

Students writing senior essays register once for PHIL 29901, in either the Autumn or Winter Quarter, and once for PHIL 29902, in either the Winter or Spring Quarter. (Students may not register for both PHIL 29901 and 29902 in the same quarter.) The senior seminar meets all three quarters, and students writing essays are required to attend throughout.

Students are required to submit the college reading & research course form.

This course will consist in a close reading and discussion of Descartes' Meditations. Our main aims will be to understand what Descartes attempts to achieve in this work, and to consider how successful he is in doing so. Topics to be discussed are doubt and certainty, the nature and existence of external objects, truth and error, and the alleged Cartesian circle. We will also study proofs for God's existence and veracity, the real distinction between mind and body, and the notion of mind-body union.

Topic: Relativism and Universalism (instructor: A. Luboff)
Are our normative claims about what is good, what is right, even what is true, constrained to a particular culture, or way of life?  Or, are there universal principles to which all people, of all places and times, either (implicitly or explicitly) adhere, or should adhere? In this course, we will examine the rich, complex relationship between these two views, relativism and universalism.  Our readings will draw from both philosophy and anthropology, giving us the opportunity to consider closely the interplay between theory, examples and context. Authors include M. Krausz, D. Wong, C. Geertz, R. Shweder and M. Nussbaum.

Topic: Knowledge and the Concept of Mind (instructor: N. Koziolek)

What is knowledge? How do we acquire it? Do we really have any? These are, typically, taken to be the central questions of epistemology, i.e., the theory of knowledge. But attempts to answer them are intimately connected with the arguably broader issue of how to understand the nature of the mind. Different conceptions of mind suggest different answers to these questions, different answers—indeed, even approaches—to these questions encourage different conceptions of mind. In this course, we will trace out some of the connections between epistemology and philosophy of mind as they appear in the history of epistemology, with a focus on the late twentieth century. We will consider both the analytic approach to epistemology instituted by Edmund Gettier, including the now well-known criticisms of the approach due to Timothy Williamson, as well as the more historically oriented approach represented in the works of Wilfrid Sellars and his followers, including Donald Davidson and John McDowell.

Topic: Relativism and Universalism (instructor: A. Luboff)
Are our normative claims about what is good, what is right, even what is true, constrained to a particular culture, or way of life?  Or, are there universal principles to which all people, of all places and times, either (implicitly or explicitly) adhere, or should adhere? In this course, we will examine the rich, complex relationship between these two views, relativism and universalism.  Our readings will draw from both philosophy and anthropology, giving us the opportunity to consider closely the interplay between theory, examples and context. Authors include M. Krausz, D. Wong, C. Geertz, R. Shweder and M. Nussbaum.

Topic: Knowledge and the Concept of Mind (instructor: N. Koziolek)

What is knowledge? How do we acquire it? Do we really have any? These are, typically, taken to be the central questions of epistemology, i.e., the theory of knowledge. But attempts to answer them are intimately connected with the arguably broader issue of how to understand the nature of the mind. Different conceptions of mind suggest different answers to these questions, different answers—indeed, even approaches—to these questions encourage different conceptions of mind. In this course, we will trace out some of the connections between epistemology and philosophy of mind as they appear in the history of epistemology, with a focus on the late twentieth century. We will consider both the analytic approach to epistemology instituted by Edmund Gettier, including the now well-known criticisms of the approach due to Timothy Williamson, as well as the more historically oriented approach represented in the works of Wilfrid Sellars and his followers, including Donald Davidson and John McDowell.

This is a course in Ancient Greek Philosophy. We will study major works by Plato and Aristotle, ones that introduced the philosophical questions we struggle with to this day: What are the goals of a life well-lived? Why should we have friends? How do we explain weakness of will? What makes living things different from nonliving things? What is the difference between knowledge and belief? What is definition and what is capable of being defined?