Knowledge and Reality This course will introduce students to central issues in epistemology (the philosophical study of knowledge) and metaphysics (the philosophical study of reality). We will examine philosophical answers to some of the following questions: What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? How does knowledge differ from mere opinion? Does reality exist independently of our minds? When is it rational to believe something? What is the nature of time, causality, and possibility? Are our actions freely chosen or determined by natural forces? Do abstract entities-such as numbers and universals-exist?

Environmental Ethics In this course we will explore a variety of moral questions that arise in connection to the environment and our relationship to it. Questions may include: What are our moral obligations to the environment? What is the moral status of non-human animals, and how should we take their welfare into account? Do we have a duty to be vegetarian/vegan? What should we do about climate change? How should we respond to climate change deniers? What role should technology play in combating climate change? Is biodiversity intrinsically or only instrumentally valuable?; What duties do we have to future generations? The primary goal of this course is to engage in an overview of philosophically and ethically significant questions about the environment and our relation to it.

Issues in Bioethics In this course, we will look at when medicine departs from its usual purpose of prolonging life and treating disease/injury, as well as how to distribute medical resources needed for that purpose. First, when should medicine be used not to avoid death, but to bring it about? We will discuss abortion and euthanasia. Second, when should medicine be used to change our physical condition, in non-disease/injury contexts? We will discuss the nature of disability and the permissibility of human enhancement. Finally, we will look at how we should distribute medical resources in a variety of contexts, including triage, vaccine distribution and the anti-vax movement, Third World clinical trials, and blood donations, as well as how structural inequalities hamper just resource distribution.

Introduction to Modern Logic Logic is concerned with good reasoning; as such, it stands at the core of the liberal arts. In this course we will develop our reasoning skills by identifying and analyzing arguments found in philosophical, legal, and other texts, and also by formulating our own arguments. We will use the formal techniques of modern propositional and predicate logic to codify and test various reasoning strategies and specific arguments. No prior knowledge of logic, formal mathematics, or computer science is presupposed in this course, which does not count towards the PHL distribution requirement but instead towards the deductive reasoning requirement.

Philosophy of Technology n this course we will explore a number of philosophically and ethically significant questions about the nature of technology and how it interacts with, improves, harms, and ultimately structures our individual lives and society, generally. The answers to the questions pursued in this course lie somewhere between two common attitudes towards technology: an unbridled optimism that technology will improve our lives and a romanticized Ludditism that desires a return to pre-technological human society. While there is much to appreciate and much to criticize about modern technology, both appreciation and criticism need to be tempered with critical and rational reflection. Specific topics include ethics of artificial intelligence, ethical design, genetic engineering and human nature, technologizing cognition, technology in politics, technology creep.

Tim Juvshik

Reviews and ratings for Tim Juvshik at Middlebury College.Tim Juvshik teaches Knowledge and Reality, Environmental Ethics, Issues in Bioethics and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Tim Juvshik good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I took this class not knowing what it was going to be about and I enjoyed the class overall. The work was difficult but not too hard to figure out if you put the time in. Professor did a great job keeping the class engaged and teaching the content.

Juvshik is generally a helpful and accommodating professor. Logic is a course where you either get it your you don't, and he always helped those who were falling behind a bit. Although the material is fast-paced, the course grading is quite fair as long as you keep up with concepts.

Juvshik is an incredibly chill professor and gives massive extensions to anyone who wants one. His teaching environment is very relaxed, but he expects good participation. I do not find the readings to be very interesting every time, but most of the time they are useful and enjoyable.