Philosophy
Courses
For course descriptions not found in the 2005-2006 General
Catalog, please contact the department for more information.
Lower-Division
1. The Nature of Philosophy (4) What
is philosophy? A study of major philosophical questions, making
use of both classical and contemporary sources. An introduction
to the basic methods and strategies of philosophical inquiry.
10. Introduction to Logic (4) Basic
concepts and techniques in both informal and formal logic and reasoning,
including a discussion of argument, inference, proof, and common
fallacies, and an introduction to the syntax, semantics, and proof
method in sentential (propositional) logic. (May be used to fulfill
general-education requirements for Warren and Eleanor Roosevelt
Colleges.)
12. Logic and Decision Making (4) An
introduction to the study of probability, inductive logic, scientific
reasoning, and rational choice among competing hypotheses and alternative
courses of action when the evidence is incomplete or uncertain.
(May be used to fulfill general-education requirements for Marshall,
Warren, and Eleanor Roosevelt Colleges.)
13. Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics (4) An
inquiry into the nature of morality and its role in personal or
social life by way of classical and/or contemporary works in ethics.
(May be used to fulfill general-education requirements for Muir
and Marshall Colleges.)
14. Introduction to Philosophy: Metaphysics (4) A
survey of central issues and figures in the Western metaphysical
tradition. Topics include the mind-body problem, freedom and determinism,
personal identity, appearance and reality, and the existence of
God. (May be used to fulfill general-education requirements for
Muir and Marshall Colleges.)
15. Introduction to Philosophy: Theory of Knowledge (4) A
study of the grounds and scope of human knowledge, both commonsense
and scientific, as portrayed in the competing traditions of Continental
rationalism, British empiricism, and contemporary cognitive science.
(May be used to fulfill general-education requirements for Muir
and Marshall Colleges.)
27. Ethics and Society (4) An examination
of ethical principles (e.g., utilitarianism, individual rights,
etc.) and their social and political applications to contemporary
issues: abortion, environmental protection, and affirmative action.
Ethical principles will also be applied to moral dilemmas in government,
law, business, and the professions. Satisfies the Warren College
ethics and society requirement. Same as Poli. 27. Prerequisite:
WCWP 10A-B or WCWP 11A-B.
31. History of Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy (4) A
survey of classical Greek philosophy with an emphasis on Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle, though some consideration may be given to Presocratic
and/or Hellenistic philosophers. (May be used in fulfilling the
Muir College breadth requirement.)
32. History of Philosophy: The Origins of Modern Philosophy
(4) A survey of early modern philosophy.
Beginning with the contrast between medieval and modern thought,
the course focuses on modern philosophy and its relation to the
scientific revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Philosophers to be studied include Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, and
Leibniz. (May be used in fulfilling the Muir College breadth requirement.)
33. History of Philosophy: Philosophy in the Age of Enlightenment
(4) A survey of the major philosophers
of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with a focus on
the British empiricistsLocke, Berkeley, and Humeand
the critical philosophy of Kant. (May be used in fulfilling the
Muir College Breadth requirement.)
Upper-Division
100. Plato (4) A study of Socrates
and/or Plato through major dialogues of Plato. Possible topics include
the virtues and happiness; weakness of the will; political authority
and democracy; the theory of Forms and sensible flux; immortality;
relativism, skepticism, and knowledge. May be repeated for credit
with change of content and approval of instructor. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
101. Aristotle (4) A study of major
issues in Aristotles works, such as the categories; form and
matter; substance, essence, and accident; the soul; virtue, happiness,
and politics. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor.
102. Hellenistic Philosophy (4) A
study of selected texts from the main schools of Hellenistic philosophyStoicism,
Epicureanism, and Skepticism. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
104. The Rationalists (4) The major
writings of one or more of the seventeenth century rationalistsDescartes,
Spinoza, and Leibniz. Topics include the existence of God, the mind-body
problem, free will, the nature of knowledge, belief, and error.
May be repeated for credit with change of content and approval of
instructor. Prerequisite: upper- division standing or consent
of instructor.
105. The Empiricists (4) The major
writings of one or more of the British empiricistsLocke, Berkeley,
Hume, and Reid. May be repeated for credit with change of content
and approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
106. Kant (4) A study of selected
portions of the Critique of Pure Reason and other theoretical writings
and/or his major works in moral theory. Prerequisite: Philosophy
33 or 105 or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit
with change in content and approval of the instructor.
107. Hegel (4) A study of one or
more of Hegels major works, in particular, The Phenomenology
of Spirit and The Philosophy of Right. Readings and discussion may
also include other figures in the Idealist traditionsuch as
Fichte, Hþlderlin, and Schellingand critics of the Idealist
traditionsuch as Marx and Kierkegaard. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
108. Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (4) A
study of one or more figures in nineteenth-century philosophy, such
as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Marx, Emerson, Thoreau,
James, and Mill. The focus may be on particular figures or intellectual
themes and traditions. May be repeated for credit with change of
content and approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
111. Contemporary Work in Epistemology and Metaphysics (4) A
study of a prominent figure or central issue in contemporary epistemology
and/or metaphysics. Exam-ples of figures: Quine, Putnam, Sellars;
examples of issues: the problem of universals, the nature of self-knowledge,
freedom, ontological relativity. May be repeated for credit with
change of content and approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
115. Philosophical Methods Seminar (4) This
course provides an introduction to the techniques of philosophical
inquiry through detailed study of selected philosophical texts and
through extensive training in philosophical writing based on those
texts. Enrollment limited and restricted to majors; must be taken
for letter grade. May not be repeated for credit. Prerequisite:
open to philosophy majors only.
120. Symbolic Logic I (4) The syntax,
semantics, and proof-theory of first-order predicate logic with
identity, emphasizing both conceptual issues and practical skills
(e.g., criteria for logical truth, consistency, and validity, the
application of logical methods to everyday as well as scientific
reasoning). Prerequisite: Philosophy 10 or consent of instructor.
121. Symbolic Logic II (4) The meta-theory
of first-order predicate logic: expressive power, the notions of
a model, truth-in-a-model, effective procedure, proof and decidability,
the completeness of first-order logic (co-extensionality of the
semantic and proof-theoretic methods), etc. The course is fairly
formal. Prerequisite: Philosophy 120 or consent of instructor.
122. Topics in Logic (4) A study
of new, extended, or alternative logics and/or special issues
in
meta-logic. Topics include the nature of logic, modal logic, higher-order
logic, generalized logic, free logic, the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem,
the incompleteness of arithmetic, undecidability. May be repeated
for credit with change in content and approval of instructor. Prerequisite:
Philosophy 120 (and for advanced topics: Philosophy 121) or consent
of instructor.
123. Philosophy of Logic (4) Philosophical
issues underlying standard and non-standard logics, the nature of
logical knowledge, the relation between logic and mathematics, the
revisability of logic, truth and logic, ontological commitment and
ontological relativity, logical consequence, etc. May be repeated
for credit with change in content and approval of instructor. Prerequisite:
Philosophy 120 or consent of instructor.
124. Philosophy of Mathematics (4) The
character of logical and mathematical truth and knowledge; the
relations between logic
and mathematics; the significance
of Godel’s incompleteness theorem; Platonism, logicism,
and more recent approaches. Prerequisite: Philosophy 120 or
consent of instructor.
125. Games and Decisions (4) Formal
and philosophical issues in the theory of games and the theory
of rational decision. Prerequisite: Philosophy 12 or consent
of instructor.
126. Topics in the History of Logic
(4) Problems and figures in history of logic. Subject matter
varies, in some cases a single author or text (e.g., Aristotle,
The Port
Royal Logic, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Tarski), in other a particular
tradition or problem (e.g., Hilbert’s Program, intuitionism,
quantification, logicism and psychologism, modality). Prerequisite:
Philosophy 120 or consent of instructor. 130. Metaphysics (4) Central problems
in metaphysics, such as free will and determinism, the mind-body
problem, personal identity, causation, primary and secondary qualities,
the nature of universals, necessity, and identity. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
131. Topics in Metaphysics (4) An
in-depth study of some central problem, figure, or tradition in
metaphysics. May be repeated for credit with change of content and
approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
132. Epistemology (4) Central problems
in epistemology such as skepticism; a priori knowledge; knowledge
of other minds; self-knowledge; the problem of induction; foundationalist,
coherence, and causal theories of knowledge. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
134. Philosophy of Language (4) Examination
of contemporary debates about meaning, reference, truth, and thought.
Topics include descriptional theories of reference, sense and reference,
compositionality, truth, theories of meaning, vagueness, metaphor,
and natural and formal languages. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
136. Philosophy of Mind (4) Different
conceptions of the nature of mind and its relation to the physical
world. Topics include identity theories, functionalism, eliminative
materialism, internalism and externalism, subjectivity, other minds,
consciousness, self-knowledge, perception, memory, and imagination.
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
137. Philosophy of Action (4) The
nature of action and psychological explanation. Topics include
action
individuation, reasons as causes, psychological laws, freedom and
responsibility, weakness of will, self-deception, and the emotions.
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
138. Consciousness (4) Philosophical
issues about consciousness, such as multiple or split consciousness,
altered consciousness, perspectives and points of view, neuroscientific
and cognitive theories, animal, machine, and social consciousness,
the evolution of consciousness, zombies. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
139. The Nature of Representation (4) A
philosophical grounding in concepts and distinctions that govern
the use of representations in various media, such as analog/digital,
implicit/explicit, imagistic/propositional, indexical/descriptive,
medium/message, distributed/local, symbolic/associative, situated/
context-independent, and opaque/transparent. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
145. Philosophy of Science (4) Central
problems in philosophy of science, such as the nature of confirmation
and explanation, the nature of scientific revolutions and progress,
the unity of science, and realism and antirealism. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
146. Philosophy of Physics (4) Philosophical
problems in the development of modern physics, such as the philosophy
of space and time, the epistemology of geometry, the philosophical
significance of Einsteins theory of relativity, the interpretation
of quantum mechanics, and the significance of modern cosmology.
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
147. Philosophy of Biology (4) Philosophical
problems in the biological sciences, such as the relation between
biology and the physical sciences, the status and structure of evolutionary
theory, and the role of biology in the social sciences. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
148. Philosophy and the Environment (4) Investigation
of ethical and epistemological questions concerning our relationship
to the environment. Topics may include the value of nature, biodiversity,
policy and science, and responsibility to future generations. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
149. Philosophy of Psychology (4) Philosophical
issues raised by psychology, including the nature of psychological
explanation, the role of nature versus nurture, free will and determinism,
and the unity of the person. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
150. Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences (4) Theoretical,
empirical, methodological, and philosophical issues at work in the
cognitive sciences (e.g., Psychology, Linguistics, Neuroscience,
Artificial Intel-ligence, and Computer Science), concerning things
such as mental representation, consciousness, rationality, explanation,
and nativism. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor.
151. Philosophy of Neuroscience (4) An
introduction to elementary neuroanatomy and neurophysiology and
an examination of theoretical issues in cognitive neuroscience and
their implications for traditional philosophical conceptions of
the relation between mind and body, perception, consciousness, understanding,
emotion, and the self. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
152. Philosophy of Social Science (4) Philosophical
issues of method and substance in the social sciences, such as causal
and interpretive models of explanation, structuralism and methodological
individualism, value neutrality, and relativism. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
153. Philosophy of History (4) A
study of classical and/or contemporary conceptions of history and
historical knowledge. Topics may include the structure of historical
explanation, historical progress, objectivity in historiography,
hermeneutics and the human sciences. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
160. Ethical Theory (4) Systematic
and/or historical perspectives on central issues in ethical theory
such as deontic, contractualist, and consequentialist conceptions
of morality; rights and special obligations; the role of happiness
and virtue in morality; moral conflict; ethical objectivity and
relativism; and the rational authority of morality. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
161. Topics in the History of Ethics (4) Central
issues and texts in the history of ethics. Subject matter can vary,
ranging from one philosopher (e.g., Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, or
Mill) to a historical tradition (e.g., Greek ethics or the British
moralists). May be repeated for credit with change in content and
approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
162. Contemporary Moral Issues (4) An
examination of contemporary moral issues, such as abortion, euthanasia,
war, affirmative action, and freedom of speech. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
163. Biomedical Ethics (4) Moral
issues in medicine and the biological sciences, such as patients
rights and physicians responsibilities, abortion and euthanasia,
the distribution of health care, experimentation, and genetic intervention.
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
164. Technology and Human Values (4) Philosophical
issues involved in the development of modern science, the growth
of technology, and control of the natural environment. The interaction
of science and technology with human nature and political and moral
ideals. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
166. Classics in Political Philosophy (4) Central
issues about the justification, proper functions, and limits of
the state through classic texts in the history of political philosophy
by figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill,
and Marx. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
167. Contemporary Political Philosophy (4) Different
perspectives on central issues in contemporary political philosophy,
such as the nature of state authority and political obligation,
the limits of government and individual liberty, liberalism and
its critics, equality and distributive justice. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
168. Philosophy of Law (4) A study
of issues in analytical jurisprudence such as the nature of law,
the relation between law and morality, and the nature of legal interpretation
and issues in normative jurisprudence such as the justification
of punishment, paternalism and privacy, freedom of expression, and
affirmative action. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or
consent of instructor.
169. Feminism and Philosophy (4) Examination
of feminist critiques of, and alternatives to, traditional philosophical
conceptions of such things as morality, politics, knowledge, and
science. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
170. Philosophy and Race (4) A philosophical
investigation of the topics of race and racism. The role of race
in ordinary speech. The ethics of racial discourse. Anthropological
and biological conceptions of race. The social and political significance
of racial categories. Post-racialist conceptions of race.
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
175. Aesthetics (4) Central issues
in philosophical aesthetics such as the nature of art and aesthetic
experience, the grounds of artistic interpretation and evaluation,
artistic representation, and the role of the arts in education,
culture, and politics. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
176. Aesthetics: Film (4) An examination of philosophical
issues that arise in relation to the movies. May include questions
about mass art, genre, fiction
and emotion, and relations to other media, e.g., novels, plays. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing.
177. Philosophy and Literature (4) A
study of philosophical themes contained in selected fiction, drama,
or poetry, and the philosophical issues that arise in the interpretation,
appreciation, and criticism of literature. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
180. Phenomenology (4) An examination
of the phenomenological tradition through the works of its major
classical and/or contemporary representatives. Authors studied will
vary and may include Brentano, Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty,
Levinas, Bourdieu. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor.
181. Existentialism (4) Classical
texts and issues of existentialism. Authors studied will vary and
may include Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Heidegger. Prerequisite:
upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
182. Marx and Marxism (4) Central
issues in the writings of the early and late Marx, such as alienation,
false consciousness, exploitation, historical materialism, the critique
of capitalism, and communism. Attention may be given to Marxs
philosophical predecessors (e.g., Smith, Rousseau, Hegel, Feuerbach)
and/or to subsequent developments in Marxism (e.g., the Frankfurt
school and analytical Marxism). Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor. Not offered in 2004-2005.
183. Topics in Continental Philosophy (4) The
focus will be on a leading movement in continental philosophy (e.g.,
the critical theory of the Frankfurt school, structuralism and deconstruction,
post-modernism) or some particular issue that has figured in these
traditions (e.g., freedom, subjectivity, historicity, authenticity).
May be repeated for credit with change in content and approval of
instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor.
185. Philosophy of Religion (4) A
general introduction to the philosophy of religion through the study
of classical and/or contemporary texts. Among the issues to be discussed
are the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the existence
of miracles, the relation between reason and revelation, and the
nature of religious language. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
190. Special Topics (4) A special
philosophical topic. May be repeated for credit with change of content
and approval of instructor. Prerequisite: upper-division standing
or consent of instructor.
191. Philosophy Honors (4) Independent
study by special arrangement with and under the supervision of a
faculty member, including a proposal for the honors essay. An IP
grade will be awarded at the end of this quarter; a final grade
will be given for both quarters at the end of 192. Prerequisites:
department stamp; consent of instructor.
192. The Honors Essay (4) Continuation
of 191: independent study by special arrangement with and under
the supervision of a faculty member, leading to the completion of
the honors essay. A letter grade for both 191 and 192 will be given
at the end of this quarter. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
199. Directed Individual Study (4) Directed
individual study by special arrangement with and under the supervision
of a faculty member. (P/NP grades only.) Prerequisite: consent
of instructor.
GRADUATE COURSES
200. Proseminar (4) Introduction
to philosophical methods of analysis through study of classic historical
or contemporary texts. Writing intensive. Enrollment limited to
entering graduate students.
201A. Core Course in History (4) A
study of selected texts or topics in the history of philosophy.
Usually the focus will be on a single major text. May be taken for
credit nine times with changed content.
202. Core Course in Ethics (4) An
introduction to some central issues in ethical theory with emphasis
on classic texts or contemporary authors. May be taken for credit
three times with changed content.
203. Core Course in Political Philosophy (4) A
study of central topics concerning the nature, justification, and
limits of state authority. The emphasis may be on classic texts
or contemporary writings. May be taken for credit three times with
changed content.
204A. Core Course in Philosophy of Science (4) An
introduction to one or more central problems in the philosophy of
science, or in the philosophy of one of the particular sciences,
such as the nature of confirmation and explanation, the nature of
scientific knowledge, reductionism, the unity of science, or realism
and antirealism. May be taken for credit three times with changed
content.
205A. Core Course in Metaphysics (4) An
introduction to central topics in metaphysics with emphasis on classic
texts or contemporary authors. May be taken for credit three times
with changed content.
206A. Core Course in Epistemology (4) An
introduction to central topics in epistemology with emphasis on
classic texts or contemporary authors. May be taken for credit three
times with changed content.
209A. Introduction to Science Studies (4) Study
and discussion of classic work in history of science, philosophy
of science, and of work that attempts to develop a unified science
studies approach. Required of all students in the Science Studies
Program.
209B. Seminar in Science Studies (4) Study
and discussion of selected topics in the science studies field.
Required of all students in the Science Studies Program. The topic
varies from year to year and students may, therefore, repeat the
course for credit. May be taken for credit three times with changed
content.
209C. Colloquium in Science Studies (4) A
forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress
in science studies, by graduate students, faculty, and visitors.
May be taken for credit two times with changed content.
209D. Advanced Approaches to Science Studies Contemporary
themes and problems in science studies. Focus on recent literature
in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science,
technology, and medicine. 210. Greek Philosophy (4) A study
of selected texts or topics from the history of Greek philosophy.
Usually centers on works by Plato or Aristotle. May be taken for
credit six times with changed content.
214 . Early Modern Philosophy (4) A
study of selected texts or topics from philosophers of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, or Locke.
May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
215. Eighteenth-Century Philosophy (4) A
study of selected texts or topics from philosophers of the eighteenth
century: for example, Kant or Hume. May be taken for credit six
times with changed content.
216. Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (4) A
selective study of major philosophical texts for the period, with
emphasis on such figures as Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Mill, and others.
May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
217. Twentieth-Century European Philosophy (4) A
study of selected topics in twentieth-century European philosophy
as reflected in the major writings of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre,
Merleau-Ponty, and others. May be taken for credit six times with
changed content.
218. Contemporary Analytical Philosophy (4) A
study of the historical development of the analytical movement,
with emphasis on major texts. May be taken for credit six times
with changed content.
221. Advanced Symbolic Logic (4) Topics
in mathematical logic and set theory, metatheory, nonstandard logics,
and other contemporary developments in logical theory. May be taken
for credit five times with changed content.
222. Philosophy of Logic (4) A study
of selected issues in the philosophy of logic. The focus may be
on contemporary texts or historical works or both. May be taken
for credit six times with changed content.
230. Metaphysics (4) Topics may include
identity, personal identity, universals and particulars, modality
and possible worlds, causation, reduction, supervenience, freedom
and determinism, space and time, and realism versus antirealism.
May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
232. Epistemology (4) This seminar
will cover issues such as rival accounts of knowledge, justification,
and warrant, traditional and contemporary perspectives on empiricism,
rationalism, and pragmatism, and skepticism. May be taken for credit
six times with changed content.
234. Philosophy of Language (4) Central
issues in contemporary philosophy of language, such as the nature
of linguistic meaning, truth, content, reference, the syntax and
semantics of various linguistic constructions, presupposition, speech
acts, the epistemology of language understanding and language learning,
the mental/psychological basis of linguistic understanding and use.
May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
236. Philosophy of Mind (4) Contemporary
debates on the nature, function, and operation of the mental. May
include questions about the mind-body relation, mental causation,
perception, consciousness, and mental representation. May be taken
for credit six times with changed content.
245. Philosophy of Science (4) This
seminar will cover current books and theoretical issues in the philosophy
of science. May be taken for credit seven times with changed content.
247. Philosophy of Biology (4) Historical
and contemporary perspectives on foundational issues about biology.
May include questions about the nature of biological explanation,
the relation of biology to chemistry and physics, the status of
attributions of function, and the relation of biology to the social
sciences. May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
250A. Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences (4) Contemporary
debates about the study of the mind-brain as studied in one or more
of the empirical cognitive sciences. May include questions about
the different strategies of explanation invoked, the conceptions
of representation employed, the connections between theoretical
models developed. May be taken for credit six times with changed
content.
260. Ethics (4) Topics may include
metaethics (e.g., the semantics, metaphysics, epistemology, and
normativity of ethics), consequentialism and deontology, moral psychology
(e.g., freedom, responsibility, and weaknesses of will), or substantive
moral problems. The approach may be systematic, historical, or both.
May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
267. Political Philosophy (4) Topics
may include the nature and limits of state authority, liberty and
equality, distributive justice, liberalism and its critics (e.g.,
feminists, libertarians, and others), or issues in jurisprudence.
The focus may be on classic texts or contemporary authors. May be
taken for credit six times with changed content.
275. Aesthetics (4) An exploration
of problems in the philosophy of art, aesthetic experience, and
aesthetic judgment within the context of a critical survey of some
current aesthetic theories, and their illustrative application in
various fields of art. May be taken for credit six times with changed
content.
276. German Translation Workshop (1) This
course meets weekly to provide training in reading and translating
philosophical German. Students prepare in advance written translations
of assigned passages. The course helps train graduate students preparing
to take the Departmental German Exam. Can be taken nine times for
credit with changed content.
277. Phenomenology Reading Group (1-2) This
course meets biweekly with students reading and presenting material
from the phenomenological literature. The course is designed both
for students doing active research in phenomenology and for those
seeking to gain some familiarity with that tradition. Can be taken
nine times for credit with changed content.
278. Topics and Methods in Contemporary Philosophy (1-2) Investigation
of central issues in contemporary philosophy. Content varies but
typically will center on a recent and important philosophical book.
Can be taken nine times for credit with changed content.
279. Experimental Philosophy Laboratory (2) A
weekly forum of presentations, EPL provides a wider range of content
than a traditional seminar. Content varies, but the focus is on
philosophical problems of mind, representation, language and consciousness
through empirical and philosophical methods. Can be taken nine times
for credit with changed content.
280. Philosophy of Science Topics and Methods (1-2) This
course meets weekly to discuss recent books or articles in philosophy
of science. The reading is designed both for students doing active
research in the field and for those seeking to gain some familiarity
with it. Can be taken nine times for credit with changed content.
281. History of Philosophy Research and Methods (1-2) This
course meets to discuss work in progress in the history of philosophy.
Its aim is to introduce understanding of the methods and standards
of research in the field through constructive criticism of each
other’s work. Can be taken nine times for credit with changed
content.
282. Topics and Methods in Ethics (1-2) Weekly
or biweekly meetings to discuss recent literature in ethics, broadly
construed so as to include ethical theory, normative ethics, jurisprudence,
and historical traditions in these fields. The course is suitable
for those specializing in ethics and for those seeking some familiarity
with the field. Can be taken nine times for credit with changed
content.
283. Topics and Methods in Political Philosophy (1-2) Weekly
or biweekly meetings to discuss recent literature in political philosophy
and historical tradition of this field. The course is suitable for
those specializing in ethics and for those seeking some familiarity
with the field.
285. Seminar on Special Topics (4) Focussed
examination of specific problems or themes in some area of philosophy.
May be taken for credit nine times with changed content.
290. Directed Independent Study (4) Supervised
study of individually selected philosophical topics. S/U grades
permitted.
292. Writing Workshop (1-3) Each
enrolled student produces a research essay ready for publication,
presents it to students and faculty, and offers critiques of other
students presentations. Units will vary according to enrollment
in course. To be taken in fall quarter of third year of philosophy
graduate study.
295. Research Topics (1-12) Advanced
individual research studies under the direction of a member of the
staff. Hours of outside prep.will vary with number of units taken.
May be taken for credit nine times with changed content.
299. Thesis Research (1-12) S/U grades
permitted.
500. Apprentice Teaching (1-4) A
course designed to satisfy the requirement that graduate students
should serve as teaching assistants, either in the Department of
Philosophy or in one of the writing programs offered by the various
colleges. Each Ph.D. candidate must teach the equivalent of quarter
time for three academic quarters. Students are permitted to sign
up as TAs for a maximum of eighteen quarters.
Philosophy Courses
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