PHIL

An exploration of some of the central questions in metaethics, moral theory, and applied ethics. These questions include the following: are there objective moral truths, as there are (as it seems) objective scientific truths? If so, how can we come to know these truths? Should we make the world as good as we can, or are there moral constraints on what we can do that are not a function of the consequences of our actions? Is the best life a maximally moral life? What distribution of goods in a society satisfies the demands of justice? Can beliefs and desires be immoral, or only actions? What is “moral luck”? What is courage? (A)

Disasters tax efforts to make sense of human experience to the limits. Whether the death and devastation are wrought by war, plague, storm, or earthquake, disasters bring an abrupt end to life as we once knew it. Such moments shift the human urge to explain and understand into overdrive. This seminar explores the efforts to make sense of disasters, from late Antiquity to the present, in philosophy, science, literature, and theology. Readings will center on specific examples of disasters, drawing upon primary sources wherever possible.

This course explores how the theory of justice relates to political practice and change. We will examine different theories about the relationship of theory to practice, including utopianism, system failure analysis, and pragmatism. We will consider what role both the idea of a just society and an analysis of the unjust status quo plays in our theorizing about justice. Among topics to be explored include the role of the utopian horizon in practice; how to be a realist without being a cynic; whether the addressee of political philosophy is universal or particular; what the role of the oppressed is in both theorizing and bringing change; and how the political philosopher relates to agents of change. Along the way we will engage with thinkers such as Erik Olin Wright, G.A. Cohen, Elizabeth Anderson, Tommie Shelby, David Estlund, and Pablo Gilabert. Time-permitting we may also examine a few historical texts that engage directly with these questions, including Aristotle, Kant, Marx, and Lukács. (A) (I)

Our central text will be Thomas Aquinas’s commentary on Metaphysics IX, which is Aristotle’s thematic treatment of potency and act. We will frame this with other passages—from parts of Thomas’s Metaphysics commentary, from his commentaries on other works of Aristotle, especially the Physics, and from some of his stand-alone writings—which exhibit ways in which he uses and extends the concepts. Time permitting, we will also look into Thomas’s famous notion of being (esse) as the “actuality of all acts.” It has Neoplatonic roots, and its compatibility with Aristotle’s thought on being and act is disputed. (B)

(A) (I)

This course is an introduction to the central ideas of Wittgenstein--in philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics and logic, philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of religion, metaphilosophy, and other areas of the subject. We will attempt to understand, and to evaluate, these ideas. As part of this attempt, we will explore Wittgenstein’s relation to various others figures—among them Hume, Schopenhauer, Frege, and the logical positivists. (B)

The question what to do is commonly said to articulate the fundamental concern of the practical intellect. But when it comes time to explain what it means, philosophers often substitute, for the original question, various other questions. Substitutes include, “What should I (or one) do?,” “What would it be good (or right) to do?,” “What is there most (or sufficient) reason to do?,” and “What is the best (or an adequate) option?” In this advanced research seminar, we will approach a range of foundational topics in practical philosophy—e.g., intention, action, agency, practical reason and normativity—by considering the question what to do in its natural habitat, an arbitrary moment of an ordinary day. Readings will include contemporary literature and a manuscript by the instructor. (I)

Traditionally, epistemologists have concerned themselves with the individual: What should I believe? What am I in a position to know? How should my beliefs guide my decision-making? But we can also ask each of these questions about groups. What should we -- the jury, the committee, the scientific community--believe? What can we know? How should our beliefs guide our decision-making? These are some of the questions of social epistemology Social epistemology also deals with the social dimensions of individual opinion:  How should I respond to disagreement with my peers? When should I defer to majority opinion? Are there distinctively epistemic forms of oppression and injustice?  If so, what are they like and how might we try to combat them? This class is a broad introduction to social epistemology. (B) (II) 

This course will be an introduction to the philosophy of law. The first third will cover some historical classics: Plato's Crito, and selections from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Kant's Doctrine of Right, Hegel's Outline of the Philosophy of Right, and Austin's The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. The second third of the course will cover some classics of postwar Anglo-American jurisprudence, including selections from H.L.A. Hart, Ronald Dworkin, Richard Posner, and Ernest Weinrib. The final third of the course will explore in a little further detail philosophical problems that arise in the following areas: the philosophy of tort law, theories of constitutional interpretation, and feminist jurisprudence. (A)

In this course we will explore some of the central questions in epistemology and metaphysics. In epistemology, these questions will include: What is knowledge? What facts or states justify a belief? How can the threat of skepticism be adequately answered? How do we know what we (seem to) know about mathematics and morality? In metaphysics, these questions will include: What is time? What is the best account of personal identity across time? Do we have free will? We will also discuss how the construction of a theory of knowledge ought to relate to the construction of a metaphysical theory-roughly speaking, what comes first, epistemology or metaphysics? (B)