Finally, we will consider how the concept of freedom is applied in contemporary social contexts, such as speech, religion, voting, and sexuality and gender. Science is only "true" for some people, agnosticism is the only alternative to foolish superstition, and moral relativism and, consequently, nihilism are obvious. What does it take to realize this fact? What do you expect to learn? The first portion of the course will be devoted to developing and understanding four moral principles which have come to be accepted as canonical: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. We will discuss the importance of specific genre conventions and broader contextual matters to the interpretation of literary texts (along the lines suggested by Quentin Skinner); the possibility of using intention to rule out mistaken and arrive at acceptable interpretations, if not a single correct interpretation (a possibility denied by such relativists as Stanley Fish); the use and meaning of metaphors; and the host of questions surrounding the intentional fallacy (the alleged result of invoking authorial intention to determine textual meaning). We will also read more recent work by Foucault inspired scholars on topics such as the biopolitics of gender, the genealogy of terrorism, the informational person (how we become our data), and neoliberal subjects. So there is not a heap in my backyard. PHIL 119 - 01 (S) SEM Justice, Democracy and Freedom Division II Writing Skills. We will prepare for the Republic by reading two Socratic dialogues: the Euthyphro and the Meno. See the college's, Experiential Learning & Community Engagement, that underlies classical tragedy, however, seems markedly different from the one that we find in classical philosophy. Last modified on Wed 26 Oct 2016 19.14 EDT. In this course, we will spend the first third of the semester attempting to understand the metaphysics and epistemology in Plato's middle dialogues. [more], Put simply, metaphilosophy is reflection on the nature of philosophy: Can it be defined? Now, ask yourself: who shaves the barber? What is his legacy today? We will then turn to contemporary controversies such as campus free speech. According to Hegel, subjects are both historically and socially constituted; they are formed through their relations with other subjects. Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. [more], Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is perhaps the most significant text in the history of philosophy. In this course we'll explore justice as a fundamental moral principle and as a desideratum of the US health care system. How do I know that I am one? Finally, there are those who do not think philosophy can contribute much at all to answering such questions and others who question its claims to universality given its associations with colonialism, racism, sexism, etc. [more], This course will raise and discuss a number of philosophical questions concerning our current understanding of mental health and mental illness. [more], In this course we will examine traditional philosophical approaches to understanding death and related concepts, with a special focus on the ethical concerns surrounding death and care for the dying. Cy Jacob Walsh, 26, entered no plea after being charged with murdering his father in a killing that has stunned Australia's sporting community. The question of this course is whether these values are in conflict. Reasoning and Inference: The Philosophy of Logic, and thinking within formal systems and how to prove various things within these systems. The course will place special emphasis on developing students' intellectual skills in close, analytical reading; reconstructing and evaluating claims and reasons that support them; producing original ideas and arguments, orally and in writing; responding to the claims and arguments presented in texts and in class; and writing clear, polished, well-argued papers. We will first get clear on the formal semantics of first-order logic and various ways of thinking about formal proof: natural deduction systems, semantic tableaux, axiomatic systems and sequent calculi. Is it possible to have systematic knowledge of subjective experience? Associate Dean of Students / Director of International Student Services. This course will offer a selective overview of the debates that characterized philosophy of film since the early 20th century. Why do we seek to experience through film fear and anguish that we avoid in our daily lives? Are there ethical considerations that should govern both film production and spectatorship? To do this we will explore topics that might traditionally be considered "women's issues" in healthcare, such as medicine and body image (e.g., cosmetic surgery, eating disorders), reproductive and genetic technologies, and research on women and their health care needs. While Hegel studies tends to occur in isolation from philosophers in the Africana tradition, many of the above explicitly refer to and take up questions in Hegel. Furthermore, they share the conviction that the most important components of a successful life are within the control of the individual human being. [more], From questions about contact tracing apps to racial and age disparities in health risk and outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic has foregrounded the importance of ethics as a key concern in public health policies and activities. Critical theory aims not merely to understand the "struggles and wishes of the age" as Marx one described it, but with emancipation from domination. Must the freedom or fulfillment of some people require the subordination of others? [more], Although Kant initially planned for his magnum opus to comprise theoretical and practical chapters, his metaphysics and epistemology take up all of his Critique of Pure Reason while his ethics is spread out over a series of works--Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals. What are the social and ethical prerequisites--and consequences--of democracy? Do our society's laws limit our freedom in order to make us safe? The issue of prediction was also raised by economist Donald McCloskey who, in 1988, asked his fellow economists, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" More than this, Existentialists emphasize the subjective relation we bear to our belief systems, moral codes, and personal identities. Pascal's wager is a different approach: it argues that even though proof of the existence of God is unavailable, you will maximize your expected utility be believing. In this way, we come to appreciate the importance of considering the biology on which mental processes are based and the light that this approach throws on the nature of consciousness. On the sports field? To name just a few ways: We treat animals as companions, as food, as objects of wonder in the wild, as resources to be harvested, as testing grounds for science, and as religious sacrifice. See the college's. In addition to examining general accounts of causation, we will examine particular problems that come up in thinking about mental causation and causation in indeterministic contexts. [more], In this course, we follow the Indian philosophical conversation concerning the self and the nature of consciousness, particularly as they are found in its various Yogic traditions. Nevertheless, comparatively few people realize that the views we commonly think of as "Platonic" represent only one strand in Plato's thought. Success in fulfilling desires? How is it different from science? One must grasp the meanings of the various parts of the sentence. This introduction to philosophy will see how far the microscopes of reason and logic can carry us in traditional arguments about the existence and nature of God. By repeated application of the same reasoning, it seems that even after she removes 99,997 grains of sand--I don't know what she wants with all this sand, but I'm starting to worry about that girl--there is still a heap of sand in my backyard. By the early 20th century, in the works of Freud, we encounter the idea of the intra-psychic features of subjects and the importance of understanding and regulating psychic forces both within and between subjects in order to adapt to the demands of living at any given time, born as we are both dependent upon and vulnerable to others. One possible answer which we will examine is that, while many philosophers recognize that there are intimate connections between what we believe, feel and do, philosophical argumentation by its very nature appeals to belief alone; narrative art, by contrast, can simultaneously engage our reason, emotions, imagination and will, thus resulting not only in deepening our understanding, but also in transformation of the self. The remainder of the course will consider key concepts at the core of medical ethics and central issues for the field, such as privacy and confidentiality, the distinction between killing and "letting die," and therapy vs. research. What differentiates today from yesterday? We will begin with John Stuart Mill's powerful defense of free speech in On Liberty, but will then investigate challenges to Mill's traditional liberalism from thinkers, such as Catharine MacKinnon, who believe that such rights are never neutral. The philosophical study of what we do in language, and how we understand one another, is called pragmatics; within the analytic tradition, the main philosophical contributions to the study of pragmatics in language came from Peirce, Wittgenstein, Austen, Grice and Searle. Possible additional topics would include: modal logic, the theory of counterfactuals, alternative representations of conditionals, the use of logic in the foundations of arithmetic and Godel's Incompleteness theorems. The picture that we find in the works of the tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides is markedly different. What are other models for understanding moral objectivity? As the music wails in the background, we will study the classic pragmatists: William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey. If time permits, we may also look at how the figure of Socrates has been thought about in the works of more modern thinkers. What does it mean to be "philosophical" or to think "theoretically" about politics? We think that there is a difference between a linguistic object's being meaningful and its having a referent. Some of them explicitly engage meta-philosophical debates; others exemplify particular philosophical styles and methods. The Crows staged their main training session at their West . A number of conceptual themes will emerge throughout the course of the term, including notions of exploitation and coercion, privacy and confidentiality, and the balance between public interests and individual rights. The millennia old problem of whether human suffering is compatible with God's perfection is called "the problem of evil." of such projects for philosophy, this tutorial will focus on a less emphasized, but equally essential aspect of our lives: emotions. Flourishing in ways distinctive to a rational agent or a human being (including, for example, developing rational capacities and self-mastery, succeeding in worthwhile projects, cultivating relationships, living morally, developing spiritually)? Rorty challenged the very concept of morality and questioned all moral theory. [more], Twenty-four centuries ago Plato argued for censorship of art. The real question, then, seems to be whether, and how, free choice is possible amidst all of these influences. And, it's not merely that their answer invokes our freedom to determine our own identities. What is the nature of language? Unsurprisingly, philosophers have proffered a variety of answers to these questions, prompting one philosopher to remark, half-jokingly, that "there are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers." We will narrow our focus even further and will concentrate primarily on meaning, reference and truth. Nevertheless, comparatively few people realize that the views we commonly think of as "Platonic" represent only one strand in Plato's thought. In this tutorial, we will investigate the nature of skepticism and the varieties of relativism it encourages. Can science contribute to our understanding of these issues? The philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome were among the first thinkers to develop rigorous arguments in response to such musings. Some of the questions we will consider are: Are moral standards relative to cultural frameworks? The second, longer part of the seminar will try to isolate and follow some of the pragmatist currents which run through epistemology and philosophy of science in the 20th and 21st centuries. [more], Early philosophy of language focused on meaning of assertions, denials and descriptions. [more], Each of the controversial and provocative figures whom we will read in this course have exerted a tremendous influence in our understandings of what it means to be a modern subject. "Phil Walsh was a man of boundless energy and enthusiasm, and his death is a tragic loss. Our main goal in this course is to work our way through Aristotle's text which can be extremely daunting, and to reconstruct his central positions and his arguments for these positions. Last offered Fall 2017 . Starting from scratch, students will learn the building blocks of current-day linguistic research. [more], The core activity of this seminar is the careful reading and sustained discussion of selected works by Plato and Aristotle, but we will also engage such other thinkers as Epictetus and Augustine, and, from a political and theoretical point of view, selections from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Science is only "true" for some people, agnosticism is the only alternative to foolish superstition, and moral relativism and, consequently, nihilism are obvious. "He was just like the rest of us," said Watt to give the first personal reflection of Walsh since his death has brought tributes focused on his football achievements in 122 VFL-AFL games with . However, the status of loyalty as a virtue has always been suspect: it has been argued that it is incompatible with impartiality, fairness and equality, and claimed that it is always exclusionary. In this course we aim to engage that abstract question through two more focused projects. What is the mind? Which characteristics of persons give them moral status? In this course we address key themes and figures from two of the most influential movements in twentieth century European philosophy, namely, existentialism and phenomenology, a philosophical approach to which existentialism is indebted. If not, should this concern us? this fact? If possible, we will arrange to see a live performance of a Greek tragedy. [more], Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, one of the greatest books in the history of philosophy, still exerts a considerable influence on contemporary epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of action, ethics and moral psychology. Topics will range from consideration of "mundane" technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), prenatal genetic screening and testing, and surrogacy, to the more extraordinary, possibly including pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), post-menopausal reproduction, and post-mortem gamete procurement. Key ideas and concepts such as the death of god, the use and abuse of history, the eternal recurrence, will to power, and master and slave morality will be addressed. In school? First of all, Greek thinkers, especially Plato and Aristotle, radically shaped the trajectory of western thought in every area of philosophy. By which methods should we pursue these questions? Your email address will not be published. Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. For that matter, what are logical theorems even about? Throughout the course, our focus will be on the best theoretical and practical knowledge we now have to diagnose, explain, and alleviate mental illness. We'll try to make some progress on these issues. The seminar will fall into two unequal parts. Always asking what practical difference would it make, our authors investigate the central questions and disputes of philosophy, from epistemology and metaphysics to ethics and religion. What sorts of things can be true or false? How do we create legal and policy frameworks that cover a new kind of thinking being? We will read Adam Smith and Karl Marx on capitalism, Simone de Beauvoir on gender, and Charles Mills on race. Do particular case histories offer good explanations of psychopathology? This first-year seminar will examine the philosophy of education through educational autobiographies: works that tell the story of a moral and intellectual education. microscopes of reason and logic can carry us in traditional arguments about the existence and nature of God. Some of the questions which we will discuss are: What is a person? These latter writings of Kant's had a tremendous influence on the development of subsequent moral philosophy and indeed set the stage for contemporary discussions of the nature of practical reason, motivation, freedom, and morality. A hub of student life at Williams, Paresky houses Baxter Great Hall (seen here), four dining options, meeting rooms and study spaces, pool and foosball tables, an auditorium, and the student mailroom. We will begin with Aristotle's Poetics and will continue with Hume's Of Tragedy, Hegel's various writings on tragedy, and Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. We will then turn to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Starting with early film theorists (such as Munsterberg, Arnheim, Bazin, and Soviet formalists), we will examine how their insights and disagreements influenced later developments in continental and analytic philosophy of film, and in film theory. Some of them explicitly engage meta-philosophical debates; others exemplify particular philosophical styles and methods. Student interest will be taken into consideration in deciding what additional topics to cover. This course will introduce students to fundamental concepts, methods, and issues in environmental ethics. and Rationalism concerns whether all our knowledge derives from experience, or any is innate. [more]. In this way we come to realize that far from being the irrational foil of "the West," Indian tradition is a rich resource for thinking through some of the central questions that have challenged philosophers in both traditions. We will then examine how these notions may be exploited in the consideration of various long-standing issues in the theory of literary interpretation. But how should objectivity in this domain be understood? and Augustine, and, from a political and theoretical point of view, selections from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Is a sentence's relation to previously uttered sentences similar to its relation to extra-linguistic events? Do we have any control over our emotions? justice or passionate commitment and curiosity) over happiness? Were they simply too unsophisticated and confused to understand what is for us the irresistible power of skepticism and relativism? In this tutorial, we will investigate the nature of skepticism and the varieties of relativism it encourages. Ms. Sydney Walsh-Wilcox 83 P23 (Sibling), Mr. John C. Walsh (decd) 54 P99 85 83 (Parent). Consequently, many philosophers deeply influenced by pragmatism do not recognize the fact, while, on the other hand, some self-proclaimed pragmatists of our days can hardly be seen as continuing the tradition to which they pledge allegiance. Right? Secondly, we will try to make sense of the moral dimensions of our relationship to animals. [more], Very few people believe that everything is water, that we knew everything before birth, that philosophers ought to rule the state, or that the earth is at the center of the cosmos. Is rationality relative to cultural norms? Is that principle of organization justifiable or not? How have you already been taught the academic and civic virtues? [more], Animals are and always have been part of human life. It is a paradox, because I started with seemingly true statements and used valid reasoning to arrive at contradictory conclusions. Students who have take PHIL 203 will have a good background for this class, but students who are generally comfortable with formal systems need not have taken PHIL 203. Topics include sentience, animal cognition, language in non-human animals, empathy and evolution, the history of domestication, animal rights, cross-cultural views on animals, arguments against and for vegetarianism and veganism, the morality of zoos, hunting and fishing, and pets and happiness. Without challenging the centrality of such projects for philosophy, this tutorial will focus on a less emphasized, but equally essential aspect of our lives: emotions. . [more], What are the purposes of higher education? Why read the history of philosophy? It turns out, however, to be surprisingly difficult to say what causation is. Right? Phil Walsh dead following domestic dispute, Statement from Gillon McLachlan on round 14. In this course we address the question: How is the present we find ourselves living today different from the one that the author Foucault wrote about in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s before his untimely death in 1984? In this way, we develop a rich array of analytical tools and observational practices to further our understanding of the mind. The course will, I hope, provide the students an opportunity and the tools to intellectually examine deeply emotional and contentious issues. [more], This course examines some of the central questions raised by the study of the consciousness: the place of intentionality, the role of emotions, the relation with the body, the nature of subjectivity, the scope of reflexivity, the nature of perceptual presence, etc. Or can meaning be allocated only to entire sets of beliefs? 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