Introduction to the Western Philosophical Tradition This course will introduce students to fundamental philosophical issues concerning the nature of reality (metaphysics), the possibility of knowledge (epistemology), and the nature of value (ethical theory) through a reading of a number of important primary texts of thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Mill, Nietzsche, and Freud. Cannot be taken by students with credit for PHIL 0151.

Introduction to Philosophy: Mortal Questions This course is an issue-based introduction to core philosophical questions such as the following:  What is the nature of reality, and can we ever know it?  What is the relation between mind and body, and could computers ever think?  What is the nature of the self?  Do humans have free will?  Is there such a thing as an objective right and wrong?  Can we say God exists in the face of all the evil in the world?  Readings will be drawn from both traditional philosophers (e.g., Descartes, Hume, Locke, Russell) and contemporary reflections on the issues (e.g., Nagel, Searle, Williams).  Cannot be taken by students with credit for PHIL 0150.

Contemporary Moral Issues We will examine a selection of pressing moral problems of our day, seeking to understand the substance of the issues and learning how moral arguments work. We will focus on developing our analytical skills, which we can then use to present and criticize arguments on difficult moral issues. Selected topics may include world poverty, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, human rights, just and unjust wars, capital punishment, and racial and gender issues. You will be encouraged to question your own beliefs on these issues, and in the process to explore the limit and extent to which ethical theory can play a role in everyday ethical decision making. 2 hrs.lect./1 hr. disc.

Theories of the Good What makes for a good person? What makes for a good society? What makes for a good piece of art? What makes for a good life? This introductory course will explore theories of the good within ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Drawing on both historical and contemporary works, we will consider a diverse range of perspectives on what makes someone or something good.

Introduction to World Philosophy This course will offer a comparative introduction to a number of world philosophical traditions, including those of Europe and America, India, China, and Africa.  We will consider central debates within these traditions, including:  How should we live?  What is the ultimate nature of reality, and how can we come to know it?  What is the nature of the self, and how does it relate to society?  We will also investigate the broader question of whether truth and morality are relative to culture.  Central readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and contemporary African philosophers, as well as Hindu and Buddhist texts.

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.

Ancient Greek Philosophy This class introduces students to the range and power of Greek thought, which initiated the Western philosophical tradition. We will begin by exploring the origins of philosophy as found in myth (primarily Hesiod) and in the highly original speculation of the Pre-Socratic thinkers (such as Heraclitus and Parmenides). We will then focus on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, examining their transformations of these earlier traditions and their own divergent approaches to ethics and education. We will also consider the influences of Greek philosophy on later thought.

Human Nature and Ethics This course offers a historical introduction to different views of morality and human nature, and the relationship between them. We will cover the central figures of both the ancient and modern periods of philosophy and consider their answers to questions fundamental to our lives and the decisions we make.  We will consider the nature of the good life, happiness, and the virtues; whether or not a moral life is in our nature, and whether reason or emotions are the best guides to morality; and the nature of justice, and what role it plays for creatures like us.  The philosophers we will study include Aristotle, Hobbes, Butler, Mill, and Kant. 3 hrs lect.

The Philosophy of Human Rights What is a human right?  If there are human rights, what moral obligations, if any, follow from them, and who bears those obligations?  In this course, we will investigate the philosophical origins and development of the concept of human rights.  We will critically analyze both historical and contemporary moral perspectives concerning the existence and nature of human rights.  What does it mean to say one possesses a human right?  We will also take a close look at the issue of human rights as they relate to world poverty and humanitarian intervention.  Authors will include Hobbes, Bentham, Rorty, Nickel, and Pogge.  (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1317).

Morality & War Are there any Just Wars? What would make a war a Just War? In the first part of this course we will investigate the historical origins of Just War Theory. In the second part, we will analyze contemporary moral perspectives on whether war can be morally justified and if so, what actions in war are morally justified or prohibited. In the final part, we will read articles concerning war and humanitarian intervention and on what actions, e.g. punishment, are morally permissible or demanded after war. Authors will include Augustine, Grotius, Nagel, Walzer, Luban.

Justice and the State In the first part of this course, we will examine historical conceptions of political legitimacy. Political legitimacy is often thought to entail a State’s authority to coerce its citizens and a citizen’s obligation to obey the law. Authors will include Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. In the second part, we will analyze contemporary justifications and criticisms of political legitimacy. In the third part, we will examine different State "punishment" practices when a citizen is accused of committing a crime..Throughout the course, students will be engaged with questions concerning the moral relationship between citizen and state, and students in this course will research and develop positions on specific criminal justice reforms from a moral point of view. 3hrs. Lect.

Science and Society Science is not developed in a vacuum. Social circumstances influence the practice of science and in turn, science shapes how we organize ourselves as a society. We will investigate both directions of this relationship, asking such questions as: how do the values of society drive scientific research? What does it mean for science to be understood as objective? And how can socially and politically influenced scientific work be trusted? Drawing on the work of philosophers of science and interdisciplinary science studies scholars we will investigate what makes science such a powerful method of understanding the world, and how social and political pressures play a role in shaping and applying that understanding. We will also investigate the challenges of developing public trust in science by focusing on examples of socially significant scientific research such as climate science and research related to the Covid pandemic.

Philosophy of Technology In 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.

Science and the Quest for Truth On a fairly conventional view, science exemplifies humankind's rational inquiry into the true structure of the world. But what exactly is science? In what sense is it rational? Are scientific claims true or merely useful in predicting and controlling our environment? To answer these questions, we will examine scientific activities such as theory construction, explanation, confirmation, and experimentation, and their role in debates concerning the role of rationality and truth in scientific knowledge.

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.

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?

Theories of the Good In this contemporary introduction to ethics and political philosophy, we will explore prominent philosophical accounts of what makes actions, lives, and societies good. Among the topics we will consider are: the relationship between right acts and good acts; the role of morality in a good life, the nature and importance of democracy and liberty, and the role governments should play in promoting welfare and well-being. Among the theories we will consider are: deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics, welfarism, and liberalism.

Moral Psychology Moral psychology is the study of human behavior in the context of morality. How do we think about morality? How do we make moral judgments? How do we behave in moral situations? Answering these questions forces us to think deeply about the nature of our actions and the way we do and should evaluate them. In this course we will explore these questions and more. Specific topics covered may include  altruism and egoism, moral judgment, moral responsibility, practical deliberation, intentional action, virtue and vice, character, and moral development. Readings will be drawn from both philosophy and psychology.

Aesthetics In this course we will investigate the nature of art and aesthetic experience through readings from historical and contemporary philosophers and artists.  Is art essentially rational or non-rational, and can it offer a deeper insight into reality than discursive knowledge can?  What is beauty, and is it essential to art?  What is the relation between art and the ethical, the social, and the political?  We will consider both influential traditional theories of art such as those of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Nietzsche, and more recent modern and postmodern critiques of traditional views.  Readings will also include works by artists such as Van Gogh and Kandinsky.

Philosophy and Feminism This course will examine the contributions of various feminists and feminist philosophers to some of the central problems of philosophical methodology, epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics. Are there gendered assumptions in operation in the way particular philosophical problems are framed? For example, do the politics of gender contribute to accounts of objective knowledge and rationality? Are some philosophical perspectives better suited to the goals of feminism than others? We will also examine the general relationship between feminism and philosophy, and we will reflect on the relevance of theorizing and philosophizing for feminist political practice.

Philosophy of Race In this course we will explore different answers to philosophical questions about the nature and reality of race, the nature of racism, and social or political questions related to race or racism.

Chinese Philosophy A survey of the dominant philosophies of China, beginning with the establishment of the earliest intellectual orientations, moving to the emergence of the competing schools of the fifth century B.C., and concluding with the modern adoption and adaptation of Marxist thought. Early native alternatives to Confucian philosophy (such as Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism) and later foreign ones (such as Buddhism and Marxism) will be stressed. We will scrutinize individual thinkers with reference to their philosophical contributions and assess the implications of their ideas with reference to their historical contexts and comparative significance. Pre-1800.

Critical Theory and Philosophy Critical theory is a social and political philosophy that emerged from 19th century continental thought in relation to political economy, psychoanalysis and aesthetic theory. It is concerned with the application of philosophy to “the abolition of social injustice” as Max Horkheimer once noted. This is an introductory, discussion-based seminar where we will begin with Hegel and Marx and read primary texts from the Frankfurt School on alienation, material culture, and dialectical reasoning. Authors to include: Adorno, Benjamin, Butler, Habermas, Jaeggi, Marcuse. We will conclude with a selection from contemporary critical race theory, performative and social philosophy.

Early Modern Philosophy This course offers an introduction to some of the most influential European philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries: Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. We will consider and critically examine the responses these thinkers gave to various questions in metaphysics and epistemology, including the following: What is the relationship between reality and our perception of reality? What is the nature of the mind and how is it related to the body? What is the nature of physical reality? Which of our beliefs, if any, do we have good reason to maintain in the face of radical skepticism? 3 hrs lect.

Philosophy of Mind What is the nature of the mind, and how does it relate to the body and the physical world? Could computers ever think? Do animals have mental and emotional lives? This course will explore several of the major recent philosophical conceptions of the mind. A central focus will be on evaluating various attempts to explain the mind in purely physical terms, including the project of artificial intelligence (AI). Can these theories give us a complete understanding of the mind? Other key questions will include: What is the nature of thought, and how is it capable of representing the world? What is consciousness, and can it be explained physically?

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.

Roman Philosophy  In this course we will seek to answer the question of what is Roman philosophy - philosophia togata. Is it simply Greek philosophy in Roman dress? Or, while based in its Greek origins, does it grow to have a distinctive and rigorous character of its own, designed and developed to focus on uniquely "Roman" questions and problems, in particular, ethical, social, and political questions?  We will investigate how some of the main schools of Hellenistic Greek thought came to be developed in Latin: Epicureanism (Lucretius), Academic Skepticism (Cicero), and Stoicism (Seneca).  As we read we will investigate how each school offers different answers to crucial questions such as what is the goal of life?  What is the highest good?  Should one take part in politics or not?  What is the nature of the soul?  What is the nature of Nature itself?  Is there an afterlife?  Can we ever have a certain answer to any of these questions? 3hrs. lect.

Semantics, Logic, and Cognition Using logical and mathematical tools, formal semantics answers the following questions: Why do sentences mean what they mean? How is reasoning possible? How does language structure our understanding of time, change, knowledge, morality, identity, and possibility? We will evaluate several formal-semantic models from philosophical, linguistic, and psychological perspectives. This course is well suited for students interested in computer science, linguistics, logic, mathematics, neuroscience, philosophy, or psychology.

Philosophy and Literature In this course we will explore the border both separating and joining philosophy and literature. How does literature evoke philosophical problems, and how do philosophers interpret such works? How does fiction create meaning? Beginning with Greek tragedy, we investigate Plato’s “quarrel” with, and Aristotle’s defense of, poetry. Then we will turn to modern works, mostly European, on topics such as: tragedy and ethics; style and rhetoric; author and reader; time and temporality; mood and emotion; existence and mortality. Literary readings after Sophocles will be selected from Borges, Calvino, Camus, Kafka, Tolstoy, and Woolf.  Philosophical readings after Plato and Aristotle will be selected from Bergson, Danto, Freud, Murdoch, Ricoeur, and Nussbaum. Not open to students who have taken PHIL/CMLT 1014 or FYSE 1081.

Philosophy of Plato In this class, we will explore the significance, influence, and development of Plato's thought, paying special attention to the form of the dramatic dialogue and topics such as Platonic love, rhetoric and politics, learning and recollection, and the theory of forms. We will begin with the early period (dialogues such as the Meno and the Apology) focused on the historical figure of Socrates, continue to the middle period (Symposium, Republic), in which Plato develops his own distinctive views; and conclude with the later period (Philebus, Parmenides) in which Plato suggests a critique of Socrates and his own earlier positions.

Philosophy of Aristotle In this class we will explore both the original breadth and the contemporary relevance of Aristotle's thought. We will read a diverse selection of his writings, beginning with ethical and political works, continuing to works on art and poetry, the soul, and nature, and concluding with logical and ontological works. We will ask why Aristotelian virtue ethics in particular has enjoyed a recent renaissance and generated special interest in Aristotle's ideas about the ethical role of friendship, the perceptive power of the emotions, and the different kinds of intelligence.

Confucius and Confucianism Perhaps no individual has left his mark more completely and enduringly upon an entire civilization than Confucius (551-479 B.C.) has upon that of China. Moreover, the influence of Confucius has spread well beyond China to become entrenched in the cultural traditions of neighboring Japan and Korea and elsewhere. This course examines who Confucius was, what he originally intended, and how the more important of his disciples have continued to reinterpret his original vision and direct it toward different ends. Pre-1800.

Philosophy of Law In this course we shall consider a number of questions concerning law and its institution in human society. What is the origin and authority of law? What is legal obligation? What is the connection between law and coercion, between law and morality, and law and rights? Are laws merely conventions or is there a law of nature? What is the role of law in judicial decisions and the effect of these on the law? We shall also consider and evaluate various theories of law: natural law theories, utilitarian theories, analytical philosophy of law, critical legal studies, feminist theories.

Readings in the Philosophy of History Even before the appearance of Georg W. F. Hegel's classic study The Philosophy of History, a heated debate was being waged concerning the nature and substance of history. Is history, like science, expressible in predictable patterns or subject to irrevocable laws? What factors distinguish true history from the mere random succession of events? What should we assume to be the fundamental nature of historical truth, and are we to determine it objectively or subjectively? Is it possible to be human and yet be somehow "outside of" history? These are among the questions we will examine as we read and deliberate on a variety of philosophies of history, while concentrating on the most influential versions developed by Hegel and Karl Marx.

Seminar in Buddhist Philosophy: Yogacara Depth Psychology and Philosophy of Mind In this seminar we will survey the basic ideas of Yogacara Buddhism (4-6th c. CE), one of two major schools of Indian Buddhism, in relation to cognitive science and philosophy of mind. We will examine these ideas historically, philosophically and comparatively. We focus on the Yogacara analyses of the largely unconscious ‘construction of reality’ and its systematic deconstruction through forms of analytic meditation. We will read primary and secondary texts on Indian Buddhism and texts espousing similar ideas in modern philosophy and the social and cognitive sciences.

Liberalism and Its Critics Liberal political thought is widely touted and accepted in Western societies. In this course, we will take a close look at what liberalism is by investigating the origins of liberalism in the writings of John Locke and John Stuart Mill and by evaluating the thought of contemporary liberal political philosophers, e.g. John Rawls and Will Kymlicka. We will also analyze the arguments of those like Michael Sandel and Yael Tamir who have criticized liberalism as misguided or incomplete. We seek to gain an understanding of the political and moral principles that give priority to liberty and related values or concepts like toleration, autonomy, and fairness. (One course in philosophy or waiver) 3hrs.

Feminist Epistemologies: Knowledge, Ignorance and Social Power As a philosophical field, epistemology investigates questions of what constitutes knowledge and understanding and how we acquire such goods. Feminist epistemologies seek to answer these questions while giving special attention to how social relations of power shape our practices and possibilities of knowledge and ignorance. In this seminar we will trace the vast development of feminist epistemologies from the 1980s to the present. We will explore both how these feminist approaches have contributed to a shift in the landscape of epistemology generally, and how they have offered crucial tools for feminist and critical race theorists seeking to understand the reality of and experiences of oppression. Topics will include situated knowing, objectivity, trust (and distrust) in testimony, and epistemic injustices due to bias.

Philosophy as Theory and Practice: Intersections with Feminism, Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Philosophy is inherently a theoretical discipline. Yet in spite of its abstractions, much of its work is influenced by the culture and social practices within which it is embedded. In this course we will investigate the philosophical significance of many of the contributions of feminist and anti-racist theorists who work to diminish oppression in society. We will examine a selection of topics from the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and social philosophy. Our goal will be to better understand how feminist, anti-racist, and anti-oppression theorists have influenced the contemporary field of philosophy, and how philosophy itself has offered theoretical tools to better understand oppressive social forces and help envision non-oppressive practices. 3 hrs. Lecture

Buddhist Philosophy This course is an introduction to central ideas and debates in the history of Buddhist philosophy, focusing primarily on Indian Buddhism.  We will critically evaluate the philosophical views of a range of texts and schools of Buddhist thought, including early Buddhist sutras and the Abhidharma, Madhyamaka, and Yogācāra schools.  Readings will be from both primary and secondary texts.  Topics addressed will include the Buddhist critique of a permanent self; ultimate and conventional truth; Buddhist approaches to knowledge; the nature of meditation; and Buddhist ethics.  We will also consider the modern appropriation of Buddhist ideas.  The course will include a discussion section in which students will receive training in meditation practices.

Social Metaphysics Social metaphysics focuses on the nature of social kinds and phenomena, including race, gender, sexual orientation, groups, teams, organizations, institutions, virtual artifacts, games, social relationships, governments, nations, and cultures. In this seminar we will focus on the ways such kinds are constructed via social norms and conventions, whether social kinds have essential properties, and what mental states are needed to sustain them. We will also consider how social kinds structure relations of power as well as our lived experiences, and the relations of dependence between social kinds and material artifacts. Students will be introduced to different methodological approaches to these issues, including methodological individualism, holism, conceptual engineering, and descriptive meta-ontology.

Philosophy of Language Speaking a language is a complex form of behavior that plays a rich and varied role in human life. The philosophy of language seeks to give a philosophical account of this phenomenon, focusing on such questions as: How does language gain meaning?  How does meaning relate to truth and reference?  What is conveyed by different speech acts?  In the Public Humanities Lab component of the course, students will apply their understanding of these themes to case studies involving issues such as free speech, linguistic oppression and silencing, the meaning of terms for gender and race, and truth in political speech.  Readings will include works by Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and contemporary journal articles.  (Previous course in philosophy or waiver.)  3 hrs lect.

Consciousness In this course we will focus on recent philosophical issues in the study of consciousness:  What is the nature of our conscious subjective experience?  What is the function of conscious states?  Can we find neural correlates of consciousness, and if so, can consciousness simply be reduced to them?  If not, how does consciousness relate to the physical?  Is there something irreducible about the qualitative features of consciousness (qualia)?  Could computers ever be conscious?  Are animals conscious?  We will consider such questions through the writings of contemporary philosophers and neuroscientists such as Dennett, Chalmers, Churchland, Nagel, Damasio, and Searle.  (PHIL 0352 is strongly recommended but not required).

The Philosophy of Happiness This is a course on the philosophy of happiness, well-being, and human flourishing. We will consider both the big questions about the nature of these states (for instance, “What is happiness?” and “Is it necessary for a worthwhile life?”) and the specific topics typically taken to be essential to these states, such as pleasure, life satisfaction, virtue, and agency. While working from a philosophical perspective, we will integrate psychological research from the field of “positive psychology” into our analyses. Our readings will draw on contemporary works by both philosophers and psychologists, and will include works by Haybron, Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi, Diener, and Seligman.

Philosophy & Literature: Advanced Topics In this intensive reading and writing course we will explore the border both separating and joining philosophy and literature. How does literature evoke philosophical problems, and how do philosophers interpret such works? How does fiction create meaning? Beginning with Greek tragedy, we will investigate Plato’s “quarrel” with, and Aristotle’s defense of, poetry. Then we will turn to modern works, mostly European, on topics such as: tragedy and ethics; style and rhetoric; author and reader; time and temporality; mood and emotion; empathy and “othering”; existence and mortality. Literary readings after Sophocles will be selected from Borges, Calvino, Kafka, Toni Morrison, Tolstoy, and Woolf. Philosophical readings after Plato and Aristotle will be selected from Danto, Freud, Murdoch, Nietzsche, Nussbaum, and Ricoeur. Not open to students who have taken PHIL 286 or PHIL 1020.

Global Justice In this course, we will investigate questions of justice that arise in global affairs. We will inquire into whether there are moral principles that constrain the actions of states and how these principles support a conception of global justice. Also, we will seek to understand what global responsibilities are entailed by global justice. Specific topics that will be considered include global distributive justice, world poverty, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and the relationship between global justice and nationalistic moral concerns. Authors will include Beitz, Nussbaum, O'Neill, Pogge, Rawls, Singer, Miller, and Walzer.

Technical Artifacts: Normative and Metaphysical Perspectives In this seminar we will explore normative and metaphysical questions pertaining to technical artifacts, which are human-made technological products like cellphones, cars, drones, software, skyscrapers, and robots. Technical artifacts pervade our daily lives and structure our relations to each other, ourselves, and society, generally. We will engage in philosophical inquiry by asking questions such as what technical artifacts are and whether they have essences, what role maintenance and repair practices play in their persistence over time, what role collective intentions play in their creation, what their relation is to broader sociotechnical systems, how they structure power relations, whether they can embody values and how they contribute to value change, as well as questions regarding responsible design and responsibility for (mis)use. (Junior and senior majors or by waiver);

Nietzsche and Greek Thought: Tragedy and Philosophy This seminar explores the profound influence Greek thought wielded upon Nietzsche. We will focus on Nietzsche's understanding of the complex relation between tragedy and philosophy: Greek tragedy is born out of the spirit of music and the twin deities of Apollo and Dionysus; it dies under attack from Socratic rationalism; but it reemerges when philosophy reaches its limits and yields to a tragic insight, as exemplified by the "music-making Socrates." We will ask how this artistic Socrates relates to Nietzsche's own tragic hero, Zarathustra, and why tragedy affirms life and overcomes pessimism. Readings selected from Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and Nietzsche.

Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology In this course, we will explore a specific topic in either epistemology (the philosophical study of knowledge), metaphysics (the philosophical study of reality), or the intersection thereof. Possible epistemological topics include specific theories of knowledge (foundationalism, coherentism, externalism, internalism, contextualism, etc.), skepticism, different sources of knowledge (perception, inference, testimony, a priori, etc.), the nature of representation, and the value of knowledge. Possible metaphysical topics include whether various entities (possibilities, universals, time) exist independently of our minds, theories of truth, and theories of causation. Points of intersection include the epistemologies characteristic of different metaphysical domains. Readings will be mostly contemporary.

Responsible Knowing: Issues of Trust, Expertise, and Agency In this course we will explore a variety of contemporary philosophical accounts of testimony, expertise, and epistemic trust as articulated by the approaches of social and virtue epistemology. We will investigate how philosophers have incorporated this work into an assessment of what it means to know well—that is, what is it to be a responsible knower in a world where much of our knowledge is acquired through others? What additional challenges do we face with online sources of information? We will also assess accounts of how social power and oppression manifest themselves in our positionalities and thus our pathways to knowledge. Open to junior and senior philosophy majors/minors or by permission.

Concepts: The Stuff of Thought Concepts are often regarded as “the stuff of thought”:  they allow us to categorize the world, learn about it, and navigate through it.  But what are they, and how do they relate to reality?  In this course we will examine prominent contemporary philosophical theories of concepts, drawing as well on readings from cognitive science and neuroscience.  Possible topics include:  Is it possible to define concepts?  How are they mentally represented?  Is reality relative to conceptual schemes?  Do concepts give us knowledge of reality or hinder our awareness of it?  Is perception nonconceptual?  Do animals have concepts?

Senior Independent Research In this course senior philosophy majors will complete an independent research project. The course has two components: (1) a group workshop in which students refine their research skills and develop parts of their projects, and (2) individual meetings with an adviser who is knowledgeable about the student's research topic. Students will engage in research activities such as tutorials and peer reviews. Before the course begins, students’ research topics and advisers will be decided in consultation with members of the department.

Philosophy of Fascism in the work of Adorno, Arendt and Benjamin Was the previous US administration fascist? Was it comparable to 20th century European fascism? Upon finding refuge in America, several German-Jewish philosophers sought to understand the terms fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism. They focused on morality, participation and subjectivity rather than the figure of the dictator. They asked if this could happen in America. We will begin with a survey of contemporary debates and then read selections from Adorno/Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality (1950), and Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). We will conclude with Benjamin’s Thesis on the Philosophy of History (1940). Eric Levi Jacobson has taught philosophy and Jewish Studies in London and Berlin. He is the author of Metaphysics of the Profane: The Political Theology of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, New York: Columbia University Press, 2003./

Ethics: Lawyers and the Law In this course we will investigate conceptual questions about the nature of law, including whether the law has moral aims. We will also investigate different ethical challenges that arise for lawyers, judges, and legal organizations. Students will contact legal professionals to interview them about the kinds of ethical challenges that they face in their careers. Students will need to think critically about the moral challenges that arise for those practicing in the legal profession. The goal of this course is to gain a deeper understanding of the law by thinking critically about the ethical challenges that arise for those involved in the legal profession. This course includes a college-funded, week-long trip to the Middlebury in DC offices in Washington, DC. Travel takes place the last week of Winter term. Students should contact Professor Viner directly for approval to register for the course.

Ethics of AI and Algorithms In this course we will look at the ethical and social impacts of the development and application of AI and algorithms. While algorithmic decision-making is by now familiar, advances in generative AI has seen ubiquitous integration of these systems to domains as diverse as healthcare, education, social media, cybersecurity, warfare, politics, climate change, and entertainment. The rapid deployment of these technologies means their ethical and social implications have not been fully understood. We will use ethical frameworks to investigate how to develop and use these technologies equitably, while maximizing their benefits and minimizing potential harms. Because these technologies promise profound social change, critical rational reflection on their ethical and social impacts is crucial for responsibly guiding their integration into society.

Liberal Arts in Greco-Roman, Medieval, Renaissance History & Philosophy In this intensive reading course, we will explore the origins of liberal arts education in ancient Greek, Roman, medieval and Renaissance traditions. What sources and subjects have informed the evolution of liberal arts as an ideal for free citizens? What were the original meanings of artes liberales? What were the medieval liberal arts of trivium and quadrivium? How do these histories influence contemporary debates on education? Readings from Greco-Roman authors include the Pythagoreans, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca. Readings from medieval and Renaissance Europe include Boethius, Isidore of Seville, Herrad of Landsberg, the Scholastics, Leonardo Bruni, and Pier Paolo Vergerio.

Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy Despite scientific consensus that the growing climate change problem is human caused, there remains staunch disagreement about what exactly to do about it.  In this course, we will explore and evaluate the ethical commitments that lie at the heart of arguments for and against specific climate change policies. For instance, we will ask questions like the following: Should carbon taxes be the primary tool for addressing climate change? Should we develop and deploy technologies like carbon removal and solar geoengineering? Or should policy be focused on encouraging smaller lifestyles and producing and consuming less overall? We will engage with these questions by critically assessing both the philosophical literature on climate change ethics and justice as well as policy documents such as the Green New Deal.  Britta Clark is a P.h.D Candidate in the Philosophy at Harvard University. Her dissertation focuses on intergenerational justice and the ethics of emerging climate technologies such as carbon capture and solar geoengineering./

Nietzsche on Art, Poetry, Music: Origins and Influences In this intensive reading course we will examine the widespread influences of Nietzsche’s philosophy of art, poetry, and music on European and Eurasian philosophy and culture. We will explore both Nietzsche’s inheritances from ancient Greek thought and contested legacies for culture and politics across Europe and Eurasia in the Twentieth Century. Readings will be selected from Nietzsche’s primary works (The Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra and others) as well as the creative output of his intellectual disciples and detractors. We will begin with an analysis of selected works from ancient Greek tragedy and philosophy that most influenced the philosopher, and then turn to a close study of Nietzsche’s own writings. We will conclude by exploring philosophical, musical, and artistic works inspired by Nietzsche’s ideas.

Mindfulness and the Mind: Buddhist and Western Perspectives In this team-taught class we will examine the theory and practice of mindfulness from traditional Buddhist and contemporary philosophical perspectives, and consider its implications for our understanding of the mind. We will outline the origins of mindfulness in Asian Buddhism, and its development in the modern West. We then examine philosophical questions raised by studying meditation scientifically: does a 1st person perspective validate the content of our experience? Or must it also by verified by objective, 3rd person perspectives? What does meditation reveal about the nature of consciousness?  If consciousness is reflexive, aware of itself, does this self-awareness undermine the Buddhist doctrine of non-self?  Students will get first-hand experience practicing mindfulness two hours a week, led by a local meditation teacher.  Readings will be from Buddhist and Western philosophical texts and articles.

Spinoza's Critique of Religion What is the role of religion in a modern state?  When religious freedoms collide with state interests, which should prevail? Spinoza rejected the authority of religion and the divine origin of Scripture, laying the groundwork for modern Biblical criticism and championing the separation of religion and state. A contemporary denounced the Treatise as “a book forged in hell.”  We begin with a close reading of the Treatise, followed by selections from his Ethics and correspondence, and consider Spinoza’s long legacy: the rise of secularism, the origins of Biblical criticism, and the reasons why Spinoza has been called “the first modern Jew.”

Consciousness	 In this course we will focus on contemporary philosophical issues in the study of consciousness, drawing as well on recent research in neuroscience and psychology, and on the insights of traditional Buddhist accounts of consciousness.  Questions to be addressed include:  What is the nature of our conscious subjective experience, and how does it relate to self-awareness?  Does consciousness create a “grand illusion,” or does it represent the world correctly?  Can we find the neural correlates of consciousness?  Can consciousness be reduced to matter, or must we view it as non-physical?  Readings will be drawn from contemporary philosophers and scientists such as Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, and Antonio Damasio.

Law, the Obligation to Obey, and Disobedience In this course, we will examine the duty to obey the law and its limits, as well as its relevance to pressing issues of social justice. The question of political obligation has long occupied political and legal philosophers and we will begin our exploration with Plato and the Enlightenment thinkers Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Hume. We will then turn to the contemporary debate, beginning with the agenda-setting philosophical anarchism of Robert Paul Wolff and Joseph Raz, before exploring and assessing a variety of positions defending political obligation revolving around consent, fairness, and community membership. Finally, we will turn to the relevance of the duty to obey the law to current debates about racial justice and poverty.  John Oberdiek '95 is a professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers University./

Adam Wager

Britta Clark

Christopher Star

Don Wyatt

Eric Jacobson

Heidi Grasswick

John Spackman

Kareem Khalifa

Lorraine Besser

Louisa Burnham

Martha Woodruff

Rebecca Mitchell

Robert Schine

Steven Viner

Tim Juvshik

Tom Pashby

William Waldron

Read 264 reviews for Philosophy courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Philosophy professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

The professor isn't always the clearest, but she is always willing to sit down and talk it through. The class itself was really interesting. The professor is really good at choosing readings for the class, and she teaches them consistently. If you ever struggle with the materials, she is willing to accommodate you to make sure you can get what you need done.

I liked the main message of the class and thought it was really great with the interdisciplinary Phil/psych. Besser's lecture style was often scattered and redundant but her points did end up making sense. the class does really change your worldview.

There's a LOT of reading so be prepared for that; but lectures cover it well and succinctly. Don't skip out on doing it because of that though, otherwise you'll struggle with the papers. Super fun to do the live like a... challenge, so look forward to that! 