PHIL

PHIL 29601 Intensive Track Seminar

Title: Philosophy and Fiction

In this course we will try to make sense of fiction using the techniques of philosophy. What is the ‘logic’ of fictional discourse? What makes a work, a work of fiction? (Is it the intentions of the author?) What is the metaphysical status of fictional characters? How does the making and consuming of fiction relate to other practices in human life—for example, playing games and lying? How can we be emotionally affected by fiction when we know it is fiction? We will read a variety of texts on these subjects, but the focus will be on work in the analytic tradition.

Open only to third-year students who have been admitted to the intensive track program.

2021-2022 Autumn

PHIL 43114 Foundations of the Philosophy of Action

In this seminar we will explore a set of interrelated topics in the philosophy of action. These include: the purposive structure of practical reason, the nature of the relationship between means and ends, the idea of ‘practical inference’, and the place of causation in the understanding of intentional agency. Course readings comprise a manuscript by the course instructor in conjunction with a constellation of primarily contemporary writings on these topics. (III)

2021-2022 Winter
Category
Epistemology
Metaphysics

PHIL 38100 Whitehead’s Process and Reality

(DVPR 38100)

A close reading of Alfred North Whitehead's seminal work.

Undergraduates must petition to enroll.

Thomas Pashby, Daniel Arnold
2021-2022 Spring

PHIL 24050/34050 Understanding Practical Wisdom

(BPRO 24050, RLST 24055, CHDV 24050, PSYC 24060, PSYC 34060)

Thinking about the nature of wisdom goes back to the Greek philosophers and the classical religious sages, but the concept of wisdom has changed in many ways over the history of thought. While wisdom has received less scholarly attention in modern times, it has recently re-emerged in popular discourse with a growing recognition of its potential importance for addressing complex issues in many domains. But what is wisdom? It's often used with a meaning more akin to "smart" or "clever." Is it just vast knowledge? This course will examine the nature of wisdom-how it has been defined in philosophy and psychological science, how its meaning has changed, and what its essential components might be. We will discuss how current philosophical and psychological theories conceptualize wisdom and consider whether, and how, wisdom can be studied scientifically; that is, can wisdom be measured and experimentally manipulated to illuminate its underlying mechanisms and understand its functions? Finally, we will explore how concepts of wisdom can be applied in business, education, medicine, the law, and in the course of our everyday lives. Readings will be drawn from a wide array of disciplines including philosophy, classics, history, psychology, behavioral economics, medicine, and public policy. The course will include lectures by philosophers and psychologists. This course is offered in association with the Chicago Moral Philosophy Project and the Good Life program (the Hyde Park Institute).

Third- or fourth-year standing.

Candace Vogler, Anne Henly, Howard Nusbaum
2020-2021 Spring

PHIL 21821 Justice as Fairness and Social Pathologies

(HMRT 21821)

For many decades John Rawls’s theory of “justice as fairness” has been criticized from the left. One recurrent criticism is that justice as fairness cannot respond to the social pathologies that afflict modern societies. The criticism says (i) Rawls’s ideal society (his “well-ordered society”) cannot forestall the presence of significant social pathologies, and (ii) no alteration of justice as fairness that successfully responds to such pathologies could remain within a broadly liberal tradition. In the first half of the course we will read parts of A Theory of Justice as well as other Rawls writings to set the conceptual stage. In the second half we will read several recent writers from the tradition of the Frankfurt School (Axel Honneth, Rahel Jaeggi, Fabien Freyenhagen) as well as others (e.g., Miranda Fricker) who focus on social pathologies. We will ask whether (i) is true and, if it is, whether (ii) is true. (A)

2020-2021 Spring
Category
Social/Political Philosophy

PHIL 51200 Workshop: Law and Philosophy

(LAWS 61512, RETH 51301, GNSE 50101, HMRT 51301, PLSC 51512)

The year-long Workshop will expose students to work in "general jurisprudence" from roughly the last five years, including some new and forthcoming work. General jurisprudence is that part of philosophy of law concerned with the central questions about the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the nature of legal reasoning. ; Confirmed speakers include Emid Ataq (Cornell), Julie Dickson (Oxford), David Plunkett (Dartmouth), Stephen Sachs (Duke), and Kevin Toh (University College London). Students who have taken Leiter's "Jurisprudence I" course at the law school are welcome to enroll. Students who have not taken Jurisprudence I must contact the instructor with information about their prior study of legal philosophy. Detailed familiarity with Hart's The Concept of Law and Dworkin's criticisms of Hart is essential. A final paper of 20-25 pages is required.

Any students who has not taken Jurisprudence I with Prof. Leiter must get instructor approval. Students should contact Prof. Leiter with detailed information about their prior study of legal philosophy: where, with whom, what texts were studied. Learning Outcomes Include:
● Be familiar with the general approaches to the study of law and legal reasoning.
● Demonstrate the ability to identify and understand key concepts in substantive law, legal theory, and procedure.
● Demonstrate the ability to conduct legal research.
● Demonstrate communication skills, including oral advocacy.
● Demonstrate an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of law and the contributions that other disciplines can make to the study of law.

Students must enroll for all three quarters to receive credit.

Brian Leiter, Matthew Etchemendy
2020-2021 Spring
Category
Philosophy of Law

PHIL 51200 Workshop: Law and Philosophy

(LAWS 61512, RETH 51301, GNSE 50101, HMRT 51301, PLSC 51512)

The year-long Workshop will expose students to work in "general jurisprudence" from roughly the last five years, including some new and forthcoming work. General jurisprudence is that part of philosophy of law concerned with the central questions about the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the nature of legal reasoning. ; Confirmed speakers include Emid Ataq (Cornell), Julie Dickson (Oxford), David Plunkett (Dartmouth), Stephen Sachs (Duke), and Kevin Toh (University College London). Students who have taken Leiter's "Jurisprudence I" course at the law school are welcome to enroll. Students who have not taken Jurisprudence I must contact the instructor with information about their prior study of legal philosophy. Detailed familiarity with Hart's The Concept of Law and Dworkin's criticisms of Hart is essential. A final paper of 20-25 pages is required.

Any students who has not taken Jurisprudence I with Prof. Leiter must get instructor approval. Students should contact Prof. Leiter with detailed information about their prior study of legal philosophy: where, with whom, what texts were studied. Learning Outcomes Include:
● Be familiar with the general approaches to the study of law and legal reasoning.
● Demonstrate the ability to identify and understand key concepts in substantive law, legal theory, and procedure.
● Demonstrate the ability to conduct legal research.
● Demonstrate communication skills, including oral advocacy.
● Demonstrate an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of law and the contributions that other disciplines can make to the study of law.

Students must enroll for all three quarters to receive credit.

Brian Leiter, Matthew Etchemendy
2020-2021 Winter
Category
Philosophy of Law

PHIL 51200 Workshop: Law and Philosophy

(LAWS 61512, RETH 51301, GNSE 50101, HMRT 51301, PLSC 51512)

The year-long Workshop will expose students to work in "general jurisprudence" from roughly the last five years, including some new and forthcoming work. General jurisprudence is that part of philosophy of law concerned with the central questions about the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the nature of legal reasoning. ; Confirmed speakers include Emid Ataq (Cornell), Julie Dickson (Oxford), David Plunkett (Dartmouth), Stephen Sachs (Duke), and Kevin Toh (University College London). Students who have taken Leiter's "Jurisprudence I" course at the law school are welcome to enroll. Students who have not taken Jurisprudence I must contact the instructor with information about their prior study of legal philosophy. Detailed familiarity with Hart's The Concept of Law and Dworkin's criticisms of Hart is essential. A final paper of 20-25 pages is required.

Any students who has not taken Jurisprudence I with Prof. Leiter must get instructor approval. Students should contact Prof. Leiter with detailed information about their prior study of legal philosophy: where, with whom, what texts were studied. Learning Outcomes Include:
● Be familiar with the general approaches to the study of law and legal reasoning.
● Demonstrate the ability to identify and understand key concepts in substantive law, legal theory, and procedure.
● Demonstrate the ability to conduct legal research.
● Demonstrate communication skills, including oral advocacy.
● Demonstrate an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of law and the contributions that other disciplines can make to the study of law.

Students must enroll for all three quarters to receive credit.

Brian Leiter, Matthew Etchemendy
2020-2021 Autumn
Category
Philosophy of Law

PHIL 24267/34267 Iris Murdoch

(MAPH 34266)

In this course we'll read through philosophical work by Iris Murdoch spanning her whole career, along with several of her novels. Topics covered will include: Murdoch's criticism of the moral and practical philosophy of her time; her encounter with the work of Sartre and the existentialists; her engagement with the dialogues of Plato; her later work in moral psychology; and her discussions of aesthetics and the relation between art and philosophy. Primary philosophical readings will be taken from the collection 'Existentialists and Mystics,' and her last work 'Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals.'

This class is primarily intended for students in the MAPH program; undergraduates in their 3rd and 4th year will be admitted with instructor consent, based on the number of available places in the class.

2020-2021 Winter

PHIL 24803 Political Philosophy: Hume and Rousseau

(FNDL 20204)

In this course we will look at central texts by Hume and Rousseau.  We will be trying to understand them in their own terms, not as precursors to, say, Kant.  We will connect these writers to other intellectual movements of their time, reading works of fiction along with the philosophical texts.  Writers to be read include Butler, Diderot, Hume, Rousseau and Austen. (A)

2020-2021 Winter
Category
Social/Political Philosophy
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