Undergraduate

In this class, we will read a number of Platonic dialogues and use them to investigate the questions with which Socrates and Plato opened the door to the practice of philosophy. Here are some examples: What does a definition consist in? What is knowledge and how can it be acquired? Why do people sometimes do and want what is bad? Is the world we sense with our five senses the real world? What is courage and how is it connected to fear? Is the soul immortal? We will devote much of our time to clearly laying out the premises of Socrates' various arguments in order to evaluate the arguments for validity. Note: This course, together with introduction to Aristotle (26200) in the Winter quarter, substitutes for and fulfills the Ancient Philosophy History requirement for the fall quarter: students can take these courses instead of taking PHIL 25000. Students must take them as a 2 quarter sequence in order to fulfill the requirement, but students who already have fulfilled or do not need to fulfill the Ancient Philosophy History requirement may take the one quarter of the course without the other.

An examination of ancient Greek philosophical texts that are foundational for Western philosophy, especially the work of Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the nature and possibility of knowledge and its role in human life; the nature of the soul; virtue; happiness and the human good.

This course centers on a close reading of the first volume of Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality, with some attention to his writings on the history of ancient conceptualizations of sex. How should a history of sexuality take into account scientific theories, social relations of power, and different experiences of the self? We discuss the contrasting descriptions and conceptions of sexual behavior before and after the emergence of a science of sexuality. Other writers influenced by and critical of Foucault are also discussed.

Bernard Williams (1993: 63) famously rejected the Kantian claim that, as moral agents, we should think of ourselves as legislators.  But why did Kant make this claim in the first place? The answer is first and foremost historical. In this course, we shall start by looking at the early Enlightenment context of moral thought (David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Christian August Crusius) to which Kant responds and try to locate the Kantian approach to moral theory within this context. After that, we shall read selected passages from Kant’s main writings on moral theory, the Groundwork, the Second Critique, and the Metaphysics of Morals. Finally, we shall look at some contemporary interpretations of Kant’s moral theory and – if time allows – on some contemporary moral theories that claim a Kantian heritage.

In this course we will prove the Undecidability of Predicate Logic, and both Gödel’s First and Second Incompleteness Theorems. We will also examine the concept of interpretability, and will make some connections with broader issues in mathematics. Finally, we will discuss some uses and abuses of Gödel’s Theorems that can be found outside logic and mathematics. For instance, do Gödel’s Theorems entail that the mind is not a machine? (II) (B)

Core background in evolution and genetics strongly recommended. This course draws on readings and examples form linguistics, evolutionary genetics, and the history and philosophy of science. We elaborate theory to understand and model cultural evolution, as well as explore analogies, differences, and relations to biological evolution. We also consider basic biological, cultural, and linguistic topics and case studies from an evolutionary perspective. Time is spent both on what we do know, and on determining what we don't. (B)

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field in which theories and methods from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy are used to study cognition. Computational models play an increasingly significant role in the understanding of cognitive phenomena such as perception, categorization, concept formation, and problem solving. In this course, students will become familiar with some of the methods and models used in cognitive science, and discuss philosophical issues pertaining to the methodology and basic premises of cognitive science. (B)

Examination of Aristotle’s theory of moral virtue as it is developed in the Nicomachean Ethics, Eudemian Ethics, and Politics. How does virtue differ from self-control? In what way is virtue a perfection of both our capacity for non-rational desire and our reason? What does Aristotle mean by saying that virtuous people act for the sake of the beautiful? How is virtue promoted and sustained by political community? What is the relation between virtue and natural flourishing? (A) (IV)

This is an advanced survey course on the Presocratics. The figures covered will include but will not be limited to Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, and the Atomists. The focus will be primarily on issues of metaphysics, epistemology, and natural philosophy, though other topics will be discussed as they arise. (B) (IV)

We'll read and discuss Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. Our central concerns will include: (1) Wittgenstein's metaphilosophy, (2) meaning and rule-following, (3) privacy and expression. (B) (III)