Phil 101: Problems of Philosophy

Phil 1101: Problems of Philosophy

This course is an introduction to some of the main questions considered by Western philosophy from ancient Greece through the present era. The main objective of the course is to introduce you to the characteristic methods of philosophical inquiry: the systematic clarification of puzzles that arise when we reflect on the most general features of the world and our place in it, and the critical evaluation of the reasons for and against particular resolutions to these puzzles. Questions will include: What reasons can you have for your beliefs? Is there a God and (if so) what is God like? Do you have free will, or is this just an illusion? What changes could or couldn't you survive? What is the basis of morality?

Phil 1103: Philosophical Classics

This course is an introduction to characteristic questions and methods of the Western philosophical tradition, based on a close reading of three of its central texts: Plato's Republic (4th century BC), René Descartes's Meditations (1641), and George Berkeley's Three Dialogues (1713). Topics will include what makes for a good life, how we can achieve knowledge, and whether such knowledge will reveal to us a world radically different from the one common sense presents.

Phil 2221: Ancient Philosophy

This course serves as an introduction to some of the major ideas, arguments and methods of ancient Greek philosophy, based on a close study of selected works by Plato (427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC). We will focus on topics in ethics (especially virtue and its relation to knowledge) and metaphysics (especially views of causal explanation). The emphasis will be on understanding the reasoning behind what may be very unfamiliar positions on issues that remain central to philosophical reflection. Where the issues are ethical, we will need to take account of the influence of Socrates (469-399 BC); where the issues are metaphysical, we will need to consider some of the pre-Socratic background.

Phil 2222: 17th and 18th Century Philosophy

Around the beginning of the 17th century, European philosophy entered a period of creative upheaval during which central features of previous thinkers' views of the world were widely rejected. The aim of this class is to investigate some of the most prominent alternative views of nature and our place in it that came to be defended by "modern" philosophers. What kinds of things exist? How do minds relate to physical things? What is the nature of causation? What capacities do we have for knowledge? We will examine approaches to these questions in key texts by Descartes (1596-1650), Locke (1632-1704), Berkeley (1685-1753), Hume (1711-1776), and Kant (1724-1804).

Phil 5320. Topics in the History of Philosophy: Locke

We will undertake a close study of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, with some attention to context (Scholastic and Cartesian views of reality and our capacity for knowledge, Boyle’s corpuscularianism). Throughout, we will try to keep in mind the Essay’s epistemological aims. Topics to be discussed include: the nature of Lockean ideas, Locke’s distinction between primary and secondary qualities, his position on substance, the role of mechanism in his philosophy, his account of kinds and their essences, his view of the functioning and philosophical significance of language, and his account of personal identity. In recent decades, each of these topics has generated exegetical controversy, often informed by different views of what makes Locke an interesting philosopher. As time allows, we will explore some of this literature.