Autumn

Topic: Hegel's Science of Logic

Hegel's Science Of Logic is a philosophical work of rare ambition. A presuppositionless exposition of the  basic categories of thought, the text at once provides a critique of the concepts foundational to philosophical thought before Hegel, as well as the principles for the philosophical cognition of the realm of nature as well as the sphere of human freedom. In this class we will focus on the third part of Hegel's Logic in order to understand Hegel's sustained account of the nature of concepts, judgment, inference, objecthood and causation. At the same time we will try to formulate answers to the exegetical and philosophical questions that have been prominent in Hegel scholarship: What does it mean for this text to both be a work of logic as well as one of metaphysics? What do we make of Hegel's insights in light of developments in formal logic and the natural sciences since Hegel's time?

Topic: Define ‘definition’: Socratic definition and its subject-matter

Socratic philosophy consists in defining things like “courage,” “virtue,” and “love.” We will ask about this practice in general; what is Socrates doing when he asks people ‘what is’ questions? What is the subject-matter of his questioning? How do he and his interlocutors pursue their common goal? We will focus first on the “what is” question as it appears in the early dialogues. Socrates asks his questions, which he insists are prior to his interlocutors' concerns, with great urgency. But why should Socrates’ questions override other questions? Is socratic questioning about “courage,” “virtue” or “justice” prior to other questions we ask or simply different? Modern readers of Plato often accuse Socratic philosophy of moving indiscriminately between questions about terms in ordinary language, what a word signifies, and the real essence of what is so signified, the object of scientific study. Has Socrates failed to distinguish between what is prior for us and what is prior by nature? In the second part of the course we will continue to ask about definition and its object by reading parts of dialogues from the middle and later period. Our focus in this part of the course will be on the method of collection and division as a way of defining things. We will focus on the unity of definition, its relationship to forms, and the difference between scientific taxonomy and the philosophical need to comprehend the unity of beings by defining.

The course is devoted to the unity and the disunity in the evolution of Wittgenstein's philosophy. We shall question the prevalent view that the later work radically breaks with the earlier. In accord with Wittgenstein's own advice we shall study the Philosophical Investigations in light of the Tractatus, and the Tractatus from the perspective of the Philosophical Investigations. We shall also look at some of Wittgenstein's writing from the thirties (e.g., The Big Typescript).

Human rights are claims of justice that hold merely in virtue of our shared humanity. In this course we will explore philosophical theories of this elementary and crucial form of justice. Among topics to be considered are the role that dignity and humanity play in grounding such rights, their relation to political and economic institutions, and the distinction between duties of justice and claims of charity or humanitarian aid. Finally we will consider the application of such theories to concrete, problematic and pressing problems, such as global poverty, torture and genocide. (A) (I)

This course will examine Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's intellectual development, from the time he wrote Sorrows of Young Werther through the final states of Faust. Along the way, we will read a selection of Goethe's plays, poetry, and travel literature. We will also examine his scientific work, especially his theory of color and his morphological theories. On the philosophical side, we will discuss Goethe's coming to terms with Kant (especially the latter's third Critique) and his adoption of Schelling's transcendental idealism. The theme uniting the exploration of the various works of Goethe will be unity of the artistic and scientific understanding of nature, especially as he exemplified that unity in "the eternal feminine."

Ancient Greek tragedy has been of continuous interest to philosophers, whether they love it or hate it.  But they do not agree about what it is and does, or about what insights it offers.  This seminar will study the tragic festivals and a select number of tragedies, also consulting some modern studies of ancient Greek tragedy.  Then we shall turn to philosophical accounts of the tragic genre, including those of Plato, Aristotle, the Greek and Roman Stoics (especially Seneca), Lessing, Schlegel, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Iris Murdoch, Sartre, and Bernard Williams.  If we have time we will include some study of ancient Greek comedy and its philosophical significance.

Syllabus

The period from 1600 to 1800 saw an explosion of new philosophical positions in Europe. This period has a tendency to be studied not on its own terms, but rather through later historical reconstructions. It is particularly common to focus only on “rationalists” and “empiricists” while neglecting anyone who doesn’t fit neatly into these constructed categories. This course aims to come to a deeper understanding of early modern philosophy through a study of non-canonical thinkers and neglected texts by canonical thinkers. Our particular focus will be different conceptions of the proper method of philosophy. There will also be a focus on the thought of early modern women. Thinkers covered may include Petrus Ramus, Francis Bacon, Francisco Suarez, Thomas Hobbes, Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Mary Astell, John Norris, George Berkeley, Anton Amo, and Mary Shepherd. (B) (V)

An investigation of the applied ethics of technology in the 21st century. Fundamental debates in applied ethics are paired with recent technological case studies. Topics covered include moral dilemmas, privacy, consent, human enhancement, distributed responsibility, and technological risks. Case studies include self-driving cars, geo-engineering, Internet privacy, genetic enhancement, Twitter, autonomous warfare, nuclear war, and the Matrix. (A)