Philosophy 001-01 / Introduction to Philosophy / Jeff McConnell / F+TR

Metaphysics is the philosophical study of the ultimate character of reality. This section is an introduction to metaphysics. We will be examining some central metaphysical problems: What is the relation between the mind and the body? Do we have free will? Are our actions causally determined? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the origin of the order and of the complexity in the world? What makes us the same persons over time? What is truth? Throughout the course, we will be concerned with the relation between metaphysics and another area of philosophy, ethics. In particular, we will be worried about the nature of evil and how certain metaphysical arguments that have been made by philosophers grow out of a concern with the nature of evil. Readings will be drawn from classical texts as well as from contemporary authors. There will be regular writing assignments and a final take-home examination.

Philosophy 001-02 / Introduction to Philosophy / Aaron Boyden / M+MW

This course will survey many of the classic issues in philosophy, the "love of wisdom" as its etymological origins would have it. Wisdom perhaps involves knowing things, and we will examine some accounts of what it is to know anything, and whether we ever do have knowledge. Some would say that wisdom particularly consists in knowing what is important, and we will also examine issues of values. We will look at various theories of right and wrong and investigate how such theories could be evaluated and why anyone should be concerned with them anyway. Some of the traditional metaphysical questions, concerning such issues as the existence of God and the nature of free will, will also be examined, particularly with respect to their connections to the issues of knowledge and values. Throughout, the main objective will be to learn to identify, evaluate, and respond to reasons and arguments given for the various views examined, rather than merely learning what those views are. The readings will be classic texts, though contemporary insights into the same issues will be discussed in lecture and sometimes described in handouts.

Philosophy 001-03 / Introduction to Philosophy / Gal Kober / L+TR

Philosophy 001-04 / Introduction to Philosophy / Jeff McConnell / H+TR

Philosophy 001-04R / Mandatory Film Section / U (Sunday 7:30-9:30)

This section is an introduction to philosophy by way of film. In a sense, films create their own "reality." What is this thing they create -- "reality"? How do they create it? Do they, in fact, "really" create it? Philosophers have not until very recently been much concerned with film, but they have had a longstanding concern with "reality" -- about what it is and about how we can know anything about it. We will discuss a variety of films, mostly cinema classics made between 1930 and 1960, which raise questions about how film itself can "create a reality." The films will raise questions as well about some related philosophical problems: the relation between mind and body, the existence of the soul and of God, and the nature of time, of truth and of possibility. The classic status of each of the films we discuss will be connected to the philosophical questions it raises; so in each case we will discuss what this connection is and why that connection makes it a film classic.

Throughout, we will read and discuss classical and contemporary texts by philosophers in connection with the films. There will be regular showings of the films to be discussed. Since this is a writing course, students will be expected to do regular writing assignments in conjunction with their viewing and reading, and there will be a final take-home examination.

Notes: Students registering for this course must register for both Philosophy 001-04 and for Philosophy 001-04R, the film viewing section which meets once a week.

Recitation and film sections of this class may be interchangeable during the semester, which makes it imperative that students attend all sessions.

Philosophy 001-05 / Introduction to Philosophy / Margaret Sadock / D+TR

This course is intended to introduce students to four areas of philosophy: the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetics. We will explore a variety of philosophical issues such as the existence of God, the problem of evil, skepticism, the mind-body problem, free will and determinism, personal identity, and the nature of art and its appreciation. The course aims to be accessible without compromising the depth and the complexity of the issues being explored. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills by evaluating and responding to the arguments that we will examine. The readings include both classical and contemporary texts and, whenever possible, links will be made between current debates and the texts read. Films will be on reserve for optional viewing and some course materials will be posted online.

Philosophy 001-06 / Introduction to Philosophy / Margaret Sadock / F+TR

This course is intended to introduce students to four areas of philosophy: the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetics. We will explore a variety of philosophical issues such as the existence of God, the problem of evil, skepticism, the mind-body problem, free will and determinism, personal identity, and the nature of art and its appreciation. The course aims to be accessible without compromising the depth and the complexity of the issues being explored. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills by evaluating and responding to the arguments that we will examine. The readings include both classical and contemporary texts and, whenever possible, links will be made between current debates and the texts read. Films will be on reserve for optional viewing and some course materials will be posted online.

Philosophy 001-07 / Introduction to Philosophy / David Etlin / M+MW

We will explore several fundamental problems of philosophy: the theory of knowledge, the relation between mind and body, and the freedom of the will. Readings are drawn from classical and contemporary sources. The class will involve a good amount of student participation, as well as frequent writing assignments.

Philosophy 001-08 / Introduction to Philosophy / David Etlin / K+MW

We will explore several fundamental problems of philosophy: the theory of knowledge, the relation between mind and body, and the freedom of the will. Readings are drawn from classical and contemporary sources. The class will involve a good amount of student participation, as well as frequent writing assignments.

Philosophy 006 / Reasoning & Critical Thinking / Susan Russinoff / H+TR

TA: Beata Bujalska

Reasoning and Critical Thinking is an introductory course intended for all students, regardless of academic major or interests. The skills learned and reinforced in Philosophy 006 are crucial for anyone who wants to think clearly, read carefully, speak effectively, and argue convincingly. You will develop a sensitivity to language, become better able to uncover arguments, and learn to distinguish good argumentation from bad. Your ability to recognize and evaluate your own assumptions and those of others will improve, and you'll come away better able to provide compelling reasons for your own views and to evaluate critically the views of others. You will learn to reason about various subjects, including science, ethics, philosophy, and the law and have the opportunity to evaluate and closely analyze articles from a variety of texts and editorials from leading newspapers and periodicals. In addition to regular written exercises, the class will engage in oral debate. The tools you will develop in this course are important to all the disciplines.

Note: Philosophy 006 cannot be taken for credit by those who have already taken Philosophy 033. You may take Philosophy 006 and then take Philosophy 033 for credit. Unlike Philosophy 033, this course does not satisfy the mathematical sciences requirement.

Philosophy 016 / Philosophy of Religion / Elizabeth Lemons / F+TR

This course offers an introduction to the philosophical analysis of major religious issues, such as the nature of religion, religious experience and ultimate reality, as well as the problem of evil or suffering and the relationship of faith and reason. By exploring different philosophical approaches to the study of religion--including phenomenological, existential, linguistic and comparative, students will develop constructive responses to the variety of ways in which philosophers analyze religious beliefs and practices in diverse world religions.

Philosophy 024 / Introduction to Ethics / David Denby / G+MW

Mandatory recitation sections: (one of) 024-RA, AR; 024-RB, KW; 024-RC, PW; 024-RD, QR; 024-RE, NR

TAs: Nathaniel Brown, Gabriel Chapman, Kevin Lui, Timothy Rauschenberger, Nick Serafin

At this moment, like every other, you're faced with a question: What should I do?

People often say that, in general, what you should do is help others. But then they would, wouldn't they? Perhaps what you really should do is always act in your own self-interest. Perhaps that is what everyone else is already doing anyway (despite what they say).

Some people say that you should promote the values of your community or society. But some societies have vile values. Indeed, don't the values of our society need at least a little adjustment? Anyway, why should the fact that a society is yours mean that you should promote its values, especially if doing so is contrary to your self-interest?

Some people say that you should act according to God's will. But what does God will, exactly? And surely we should obey Him only if He is good and commands us to do what is right. Yet that seems to mean that morality is independent of Him.

Some philosophers have argued that whether you should do an action depends entirely on its consequences (compared to those of its alternatives). But should you really ignore the past? Doesn't just punishment, for instance, depend on whether the person is actually guilty -- a fact about the past? Other philosophers have focused instead on the motives behind an action, in particular on whether you're acting out of respect for others (and yourself). Still others have argued that whether you should do an action depends on a combination of these and perhaps other factors. But each of these suggestions faces problems: What on earth is "respecting others"? What is it to "combine" the various factors?

Self-interest then? Maybe, but even self-interest is a tricky notion. Something is not in your self-interest simply because you want it, as every smoker knows. And maybe our interests, or at least the best means for achieving them, are mutually interdependent: perhaps the best way for you to get what you want depends on what I do and vice versa.

We will discuss all this in this course. After a brief introductory discussion of logic and the nature of ethical theory we will spend most of the semester critically evaluating a number of normative ethical theories. These will include various forms of Relativism, religiously-based theories, Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Egoism and Social Contract theories. We will also discuss self-interest, values, and other matters. Finally, we will discuss how to apply what we've learned to an issue of contemporary moral concern – probably abortion.

Philosophy 038 / Rational Choice / Patrick Forber / D+TR

TA: Lin Zhang

Decision making and strategic interaction are activities we engage in every day. But do we make the right decisions? Do we adopt the most advantageous strategies? This course will approach these questions by using a set of formal philosophical methods for analyzing decisions and strategies: decision theory and game theory. We will cover the basics of formal frameworks of probability and game theory and their application to problems in decision making and strategic thinking. We will also look at promising applications of game theory to understanding evolution in both biological and cultural domains.

Philosophy 046 / Western Political Thought II / Robert Devigne (PS) / J+

The course introduces students to the central concepts of modern political thought. It begins with the views of Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, and Adam Smith, identifying and analyzing the main transformations of political thinking that characterized the Enlightenment, an outlook centered on the possibility of humanity – not the gods - taking responsibility for human fate. The course reviews Rousseau's powerful indictment of the Enlightenment that contributed to the French Revolution and explores the alternative conceptions of liberty and morality that he introduced to modern political thought, setting the stage for protracted conflict in Western civilization for the following two centuries. We will then examine how Kant further developed Rousseau's positions, challenging and radicalizing the Enlightenment project.

Finally, the course reviews Mill's attempt to heal the divisions in Western political thought that had developed between the Enlightenment and its critics and Nietzsche's charge that such reconciliation projects reflects Western thought's decay and atrophy. We review Mill and Nietzsche's distinct critiques of modern societies, analyzing why Mill felt modern liberal societies could be reformed to generate more human creativity and equality and Nietzsche believed modernity must be fundamentally challenged. Throughout the semester we will analyze whether Western thought has reconciled the divisions - liberty and virtue, self-interest and morality, equality and human excellence – that has characterized its development. We will particularly focus on the debate that continues to animate modern political thought - the nature and requisites of human liberty.

Philosophy 052 / Aesthetics / Stephen White / J+TR

In the tradition of Anglo-American philosophy, aesthetics has played a largely marginal role. (Possible explanation: German romanticism was the product of philosophers; their closest British counterparts were poets.) There is good evidence that this situation is currently undergoing a profound change. Fundamental problems in aesthetics, long believed to be of relevance only to specialists in the philosophy of art, are rapidly emerging as central to a range of issues at the heart of contemporary philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science. The problems of aesthetics include the nature of the expression of feeling in art and correlative issues in our understanding of the emotions, the notions of projection and identification in the context of the psychology of film spectatorship, and the nature of narrative. Central issues in philosophy include the problem of other minds, the problem of the definition of normative terms in meta-ethics and the problem of the characterization of human action, and the problem of grounding linguistic meaning in the concept of use. The issues in cognitive science are those surrounding the debate between proponents of the so-called "theory theory" of mental ascription and proponents of the competing simulation theory. I have special interests in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, Georgio De Chirico, and Edward Hopper, in the photography of Bill Brandt and Lee Friedlander, in the films of Werner Herzog, Terence Malick, and Andre Tarkovski, in the cinematography of Vitorio Storaro and Christopher Doyle, in film noir, and in the films of such recent Korean "new wave" directors as Kim Ki-Duk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring; Three Iron).

Philosophy 094 / Honors Thesis / ARR

Honors Thesis. Prerequisite: consent.

Senior thesis guidelines.

Philosophy 116 / Philosophy of Science / George Smith / L+TR

Nowadays, few words of praise outrank 'scientific,' and the scientific method is held up to be the best approach for answering questions about the world around us. This is not without justification. The more advanced sciences have achieved extraordinary results over the last 300 years. Physics, for example, has exhibited an uninterrupted train of progress since Newton, raising questions, answering them, and going on to new questions. Chemistry and more recently biology have not been far behind. Clearly, these sciences are doing something right.

Not all sciences, however, have had such success. Psychology, sociology, and political science, for example, have continued to struggle Questions are answered, only to have the answers rejected a few years later when some new school of thought comes into vogue. These sciences claim to be following the same method as the more advanced sciences, yet they have not achieved the same sort of step-by-step progress. Why? In particular, are they really following the same method?

To begin addressing these questions, we first need to clarify what the method is that the advanced sciences follow and how this method contributes to the progress they achieve. This is what the course will focus on. We will examine three different accounts of the scientific method, accounts that yield different pictures of the nature and growth of scientific knowledge. We will also read, as illustrations of the scientific method, parts of Newton's Principia and a watershed paper by J. J. Thomson that did much to initiate modern atomic physics.

The prerequisites for the course, other than Philosophy 001, are either the logic course or a major in science. The course will focus on physics, but the physics we discuss will be accessible to anyone who has satisfied the prerequisites. The substantive requirement of the course will be five short papers.

Philosophy 117 / Philosophy of Mind / Stephen White / N+TR

Philosophy 117WW / Writing Workshop / QT

This course will focus on the nature of conscious experience, its relation to the subjective point of view, and their implications for the mind-body question and the question of other minds. We will be concerned not only with such questions such as whether computers could be conscious, but with the question of what is involved in seeing a world that contains opportunities for genuine action, states of affairs worth striving for, and agents like ourselves.

We will begin by examining the Cartesian conception of consciousness, which holds that the intrinsic features of conscious experience are fully manifest and completely given at the time the experience takes place. The intuition behind this conception is that consciousness experience has no hidden sides and no unnoticed features. This intuition supports the sense-data theories of consciousness and experience held by the major figures from Descartes to Kant and implicit in many contemporary arguments that there cannot be a materialistic account of "qualia."

We will go on to consider a wide range of problems for this conception of consciousness, including the perception of depth and seeing aspects. We will then look at some of the contemporary alternatives to the Cartesian conception, including behaviorism, physicalism, and functionalism, and we will explore the implications of such theories for a range of problems including narrow content, color perception, the representation of space, and bodily intentionality. Despite the success of some of these theories in handling a number of the problems, the objection remains that such theories fail to explain the depth and significance of the distinction between those entities that do and those that do not enjoy consciousness.

Finally, we will examine the relation between consciousness, self-consciousness, selfhood and the subjective point of view, and we will consider whether the significance that we normally attach to consciousness might be more appropriately attached to what is expressed by one of these latter notions. In order to do so we will explore some of the problems raised by personal identity, freedom, and the problem of other minds.

Writing Component

We will concentrate on two kinds of writing: writing to support a conclusion and writing to develop and internalize the kinds of models necessary to think creatively about difficult topics. Writing of the first kind will involve the detailed analysis of arguments from the philosophical literature and the mass media, as well as the creation of novel arguments. The goal is to produce valid and sound arguments that support genuinely interesting conclusions and advance the discussion in some area of inquiry. Such arguments are tools to help us reveal the logical, evidential, and explanatory relations that hold between the propositions in the area in question. The emphasis in constructing such arguments will be consistency, cogency, and the elimination of ambiguity.

The second kind of writing is intended to promote thinking that results in new solutions to problems, and, more generally, new perspectives in a given subject area. Paradoxically, one writes, performing an external activity (as opposed, say, to reading), in order to internalize the elements of what becomes the mental model one uses in thinking productively and creatively about a particular problem. One also writes in order to make oneself aware of the nature of the mental models one habitually employs in a given domain -- to examine their adequacy, and to compare them to alternatives. (The point is that meta-level thinking about the adequacy of one's own philosophical thought is easier to carry out in the context of one's writing, particularly one's informal writing, than in other ways.)

We will also give special emphasis to the earliest stages of our writing and thinking. In doing so we will not expect the kind of rigor aimed for in the finished product. Rather, we will focus on the use of metaphors and analogies, ways of generating different perspectives on problems, and the creative use of paradox and ambiguity to suggest new questions for investigation.

Prerequisites: Phil 001 and another Phil course or consent.

A note about Philosophy Writing Workshop Courses: Students will not write more than the usual number of papers, but will learn to use their writing as an aid in conceptualizing the material more effectively and in responding to it in deeper, more sophisticated, and more creative ways. Both the instructor and other students will read early drafts of papers in order to provide suggestions for revision. Only final drafts will be graded. Enrollment is limited. In addition to any normal prerequisites for these courses, English 1 and 2 or their equivalents are required.

Philosophy 120 / Metaphysics / Jody Azzouni / E+M

Metaphysics addresses fundamental questions about the existence and reality of what there is: What kinds or categories of things are there? Are there, for example, mental objects as well as physical objects? Properties as well as things having properties? Abstract objects in addition to concrete ones? Leibniz said that whatever is, is one. What are the conditions under which something is one thing rather than two? Can one thing share all of its properties with another? How can a thing change and remain one and the same?

Beginning with an introduction to some ways in which philosophers have dealt with such questions, this course will focus upon those concerning unity and identity, especially over time: How is it that a thing remains one and the same object or individual when it undergoes more or less radical change? How can a butterfly have been a caterpillar when no butterfly is a caterpillar? How can someone with the feelings and thoughts of a child be the same person as one who is now a student at Tufts? What, if anything, is essential to an object or individual?

Readings: will be drawn from classical and contemporary sources: Russell, Quine, Ayer, Lewis, Kripke, and others.

Prerequisites: Phil 001, Phil 033, or consent

Philosophy 124 / Bioethics / Mitchell Silver / 11

TA: Luke Semrau

This course examines standard moral theories and fundamental principles of health care ethics. After an initial consideration of general issues in health care ethics, real and hypothetical case studies will be used to explore such issues as: abortion, euthanasia, informed consent, reproductive technology, doctor-patient relations, psychiatric authority and justice in the distribution of health care.

No previous work in philosophy is required, but one course in philosophy, especially 001 or 024, is recommended. Students are expected to have Junior or Senior standing (the course is also open to graduate students). Sophomores must have consent of the instructor. Freshmen will not be admitted. Texts: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall by Fadiman, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy & Biomedical Ethics by Mappes & DeGrazia.

Philosophy 125 / Racism & Social Inequality / Lionel McPherson / L+TR

TA: Andrew Kukorowski

This course will divide its focus between conceptual and practical issues concerning race. We will begin by asking whether race is essentially a biological category and what difference this might make. We will then set the conceptual questions in a more practical context, with an emphasis on the function of race and ethnicity in the U.S. Some attention will be paid to current policy debates surrounding affirmative action, reparations, and racial/ethnic group recognition. Readings will include DuBois, Gould, Appiah, West, and Loury.

Prerequisite: 1 Phil Course, or 1 Political Science Course.

Philosophy 133 / Philosophy of Language / Jody Azzouni / G+MW

In a sense contemporary analytic philosophy began with "the linguistic turn": a turn, that is, towards aspects of language, and on how, when the properties of language are properly taken account of in arguments, philosophical issues in metaphysics and epistemology are affected. In this course we will read papers, and excerpts from books, that both illustrate the impact of issues about language on traditional philosophical topics, and that illustrate how new philosophical concerns arise when language and its properties are taken philosophical account of. Papers and excerpts from books, will be from the work of central classical philosophers of language such as Frege, Quine, Kripke, Putnam, and others, as well as work from other figures, such as Horwich, Soames, Mark Wilson, and so on.

Philosophy 140 / Liberalism and its Philosophical Critics / Robert Devigne (PS) / N+TR

This class examines alternative conceptions of reason, liberty, and justice developed by critics of the Enlightenment. We open by studying the thinking of Friedrich Nietzsche, analyzing his charge that the Enlightenment has been characterized by restricted and escapist views of reason, a morality that produces enervated individuals, and a debased culture that celebrates mediocrity. We will discuss Nietzsche's charge that modern life is a culmination of a Western philosophic and religious tradition that is concerned for the human need of security and nothing else. We will study why Nietzsche considered the death of God both an opportunity and danger for Western civilization. We also will analyze Nietzsche's alternative conceptions of reason, justice, and freedom.

The second half of the class will be devoted to the 20th century thinker, Leo Strauss, who argued that the Enlightenment's fundamental principles - if not countered - will lead to the denigration of reason and the end of virtue. We will discuss Strauss's thesis that modern life must necessarily engender a philosophic and moral crisis where both intellectuals and the public lose the ability to distinguish better and worse ways of life, creating the pre-conditions for periodic political crises. Finally, we will examine Strauss's thesis, contra Nietzsche, that the Enlightenment project is break from the Western philosophic and religious tradition and that the Enlightenment goal to limit the role ofGod in Western civilization will fail.

Throughout the course we examine continuities and breaks between Nietzsche's and Strauss's thinking in regard to reason, justice, culture, religion, and the entire Western philosophic and religious tradition.

Philosophy 141 / Global Justice / Lionel McPherson / F+TR

TA: Ilhan Zeybekoglu

Issues of justice in a global context have taken on greater urgency in recent years. They also have been the subject of heightened philosophical attention. This course will explore global justice, at both theoretical and practical levels, through a survey of contemporary writings in political philosophy. The main topics will be inequality across countries, human rights, multiculturalism, war, and terrorism. Readings will include Rawls, Singer, Okin, and Walzer. Prerequisite: 1 Phil Course, or Junior Standing.

Philosophy 170 / Computation Theory / George Smith / J

Computation theory is an area in which philosophy, mathematics, and computer science overlap. The basic concern is the nature and limits of symbol manipulation, though this is often expressed in terms of what can and what cannot be done by computational devices of various sorts. The field developed during the 1930's as an outgrowth of studies in the foundations of logic and arithmetic. Among its major early results are conclusions, both established by Kurt Gödel, that formal logic is a matter of symbol manipulation, whereas arithmetic involves something beyond mere symbol manipulation. During the 1940's, computation theory provided the theoretical foundation for the development of digital computers, and during the 1950's it was extended to cover the mathematical study of languages and grammars.

This course will be in three parts. The first part will be devoted to automata theory, i.e., the mathematical theory of devices that manipulate symbols. Topics will include McCulloch-Pitts networks and the relationship between devices of various kinds and the kinds of languages they can process and problems they can solve. The second part will examine the computable functions, which will be characterized in terms of Turing machines, recursive functions, and register machines. The third part will then consider the relationship between computation, on the one hand, and formal logic and arithmetic, on the other. We will prove Gödel's completeness and Church's undecidability theorems for logic and Gödel's celebrated incompleteness theorems for arithmetic. These last results are of considerable philosophical interest since they show that logic is and arithmetic is not, strictly speaking, axiomatizable.

The course will require written homework assignments (to be done in groups) and an open-book final exam. No background will be presupposed. Although the course will be self-contained, with no substantive prerequisites, it is strongly recommended that students already be familiar with some area of the material to be covered. Hence the formal prerequisite for the course is at least one of the following: Philosophy 33, Electrical Engineering 14, Math 46, or Computer Science 15.

Philosophy 186 / Phenomenology & Existentialism / Nancy Bauer / 5

TA: Taylor Davis

An in-depth study of three of the major figures in the continental tradition in philosophy: Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre.

While these thinkers are in many ways very unlike one another, they are united in their interest in the problem of how to find or make meaning in the modern world, a world in which religion, with its grand views of a purposive universe, has been replaced as the dominant conceptual paradigm by cold, hard science. The continental tradition tends to focus on addressing or reformulating the question of how human subjectivity is possible in a world characterized primarily not by divine intention but by the independence of the objects that constitute it.

In contrast with the meaning-making aspirations of the continental tradition, the Anglophone or "analytic" tradition in philosophy is marked by conviction in the idea that the task of philosophy is to solve, or at least to formulate with rigor and clarity, various problems that arise from and underlie modern scientific inquiry and to leave questions about the meaning of life to artists and literary writers. On the dominant analytic view, continental philosophers are both hubristic and confused in their understanding of the powers and limitations of philosophy.

One of our tasks in this course therefore will be to think about the analytic-continental rift in contemporary philosophy and to identify potential common ground between the two main strands of philosophical thinking in the West.

Topics to be covered include: the nature of consciousness, relationships between self and others, freedom of the will, the possibility of autonomy and agency, and skepticism.

This course presupposes no previous experience with continental philosophy, although students are required to have taken at least two other courses in the Philosophy Department.

Philosophy 188 / Socrates' Philosophical Methodology / Gareth Matthews / 5

This seminar will pursue the question, 'Whatever happened to the Socratic elenchus?' We will begin with the Apology, go on to read two or three elenctic dialogues, perhaps the Euthyphro and the Laches, and then take up the transitional dialogue, Meno. We will next try to understand why Plato turns away from the Socratic method in his middle works, especially in the Phaedo. Finally we shall try to understand the method of "Collection and Division" as it appears in the Sophist and Statesman. The course is meant to foster reflection on the nature and prospects of philosophical analysis today. Readings will focus on primary texts, but will also include articles and commentaries. Prerequisite: at least one course in ancient philosophy, Graduate status, or consent. Requirements: class presentations, a short paper, and a longer paper at the end.

Philosophy 192-01 / Agency & Responsibility / Erin Kelly / D+TR

Philosophy 192-01WW / Optional Writing Workshop / EF

In this seminar we will study some recent work in moral psychology and the philosophy of action. Our focus will be the notion of agency associated with moral blame. What is it to blame someone? Is blame a judgment, an attitude, or a matter of behavior? What do we presume about the capacities and self-control of persons we blame? Some philosophers argue that persons are blameworthy for their actions only when they could have done otherwise. We will try to determine whether this is so and to answer the question what a person's capacity to have acted otherwise comes to. Others argue we need only suppose an agent is capable of rationality. We will explore various proposals for understanding the nature of rational agency and examine notions of irrationality, weakness of the will, addiction, and compulsion. Readings by Sher, Strawson, Nietzsche, Williams,Scanlon, Frankfurt, Korsgaard, Watson and others.

The optional writing workshop provides an opportunity for further analysis of course material in a relaxed, small group environment. It will emphasize informal ungraded writing exercises on the readings and themes of the course, and will aim to promote greater understanding, to stimulate creative thought and expression, and to advance formal writing skills. Writing will also be used to facilitate discussion. Peer review of papers written for the course will enable you to gather critical feedback and to revise your work.

Philosophy 192-02 / Beauvoir's Legacy / Nancy Bauer / 7

Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949) is the founding text of modern feminism, but it is also a serious, original work of philosophy. In this course we will undertake a detailed study of The Second Sex and will use this study as a jumping-off point for thinking about both the nature of sex and gender and the nature of philosophy itself. We will look at contemporary philosophizing about sex difference, particularly as it has been refracted through the lens of Judith Butler's very influential work, and explore the extent to which "feminist theory" represses important philosophical features of Beauvoir's views. We will simultaneously trace the roots of The Second Sex in the writings of some of the philosophers who most heavily influenced Beauvoir's thinking, including Descartes, Hegel, Freud, and Sartre, and explore the question of whether and how feminist philosophers can appropriate non-feminist -- and sometimes even misogynistic -- philosophical work.

Newcomers to philosophy should be aware that the course will be pitched to accommodate the experience and needs of graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Philosophy 192-03 / Logical Positivism / Patrick Forber / 8

The influential work of the Vienna Circle defined early philosophy of science. But logical positivism, as a philosophical research program, fell apart after influential attacks made by Quine, Kuhn, and Feyerabend, among others. Now, after the dust of the attack has settled, we are beginning to see a revival of logical positivism. Michael Friedman, with his book Reconsidering Logical Positivism, is foremost among a group of contemporary philosophers revisiting and resurrecting some of the core ideas of the logical positivist program. In this seminar we will look at this contemporary revival, with the aim of understanding the contemporary view and connecting it back to the original work of the logical positivists, such as Carnap, Mach, Neurath, Schlick, and Reichenbach.

Philosophy 192-04 / David Lewis's On the Plurality of Worlds and the Metaphysics of Modality / David Denby / 6

This is a seminar in metaphysics, intended primarily for graduate students and majors in philosophy, though it should be suitable for others with sufficient philosophical background (ask!) We will critically examine David Lewis's (1986) On the Plurality of Worlds, one of the best and most important recent works of analytic metaphysics. We will also read some of the huge secondary literature that it has generated and some material from the 1970s to which it is a response. The consequences of Lewis's discussions have rippled across other areas of philosophy and we will examine some of these consequences too. The class is small (15 maximum), so it should provide a congenial forum for philosophical debate.

On the Plurality of Worlds is an extended defense of "modal realism", the extraordinary thesis that there is a vast plurality of universes that are just as concrete and as real as our own universe and among whose inhabitants are every possible thing in every possible state, combination, and arrangement. Lewis argues that modal realism has great philosophical utility, greater than any rival theory, and that's why we should believe it. He sets it out in detail, explains its utility, discusses objections, and states, explains and reveals problems with rival theories. He also touches on a number of questions whose significance stretches beyond the metaphysics of modality to metaphysics and philosophy generally.

I hope that by the end of the seminar we will understand and be in a position to evaluate modal realism and its rivals. I also hope that we will better understand key aspects of Lewis's overall philosophy. He is, after all, a dominant figure in contemporary analytic philosophy, especially metaphysics. And I hope we will solidify our grasp of basic philosophical techniques and methodology; On the Plurality of Worlds is a model of good analytic philosophy. Finally, I hope we'll have fun. The book is beautifully written in Lewis's characteristically limpid and disciplined prose, and the ideas are brilliant and gripping.

Philosophy 195-01 / Biological Foundations of Language / Ray Jackendoff / I+IF

Philosophy 195-01 / Recitation / I+F

A prominent claim in modern linguistics is that the human ability to learn and use language is a specialized cognitive capacity, rather just a consequence of having a large brain. This course will address the evidence for this claim, based on the character of language, language learning, and language disability. It will also address the degree to which the language faculty draws on other cognitive capacities, the relation of language to forms of animal communication, and hypotheses about the evolution of the language faculty. Prerequisite: PHIL 15/PSYC 64 or consent.