But how should objectivity in this domain be understood? There is a village where the barber shaves (a) all those and (b) only those who do not shave themselves. What do we mean when we talk about racial capitalism? We will then turn to several of Plato's dialogues, examining Plato's portrayal of Socrates and his development of a new and profoundly powerful philosophical conception. Our reading of Hume will be supplemented by historical and interpretive essays on his work. Of course, this question cannot really be answered, nor is there any value in trying to answer it, and any "answer" will only be "true" for you. We will begin by examining the general concepts of health and disease, and then apply them to human psychology. Or might it be that our skepticism and relativism are the result of our own laziness and failure? [more], This course is a chronological survey of major works of political theory from the 16th to the 20th century. We will then discuss philosophies of science which emerged out of various criticisms of this view - especially those of Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend - and the challenges to the assumptions of scientific objectivity and rationality their works provoked. More than this, Existentialists emphasize the subjective relation we bear to our belief systems, moral codes, and personal identities. We conclude by considering the relation between first and third person studies of the mind, focusing on the concept of the embodied mind as a fruitful bridge between these different traditions. [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. Are we ever justified in having more concern, and doing more, for our friends, family, community or nation? [more], At the beginning of the last century Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Williams College Catalog Phone Number 413-597-4286 [email protected] For example, we commonly attribute to Plato a theory of the Forms on the basis of his claims in the so-called "middle dialogues" (mainly Republic, Phaedo, and Symposium). Why do we seek to experience through film fear and anguish that we avoid in our daily lives? Can we be mistaken about how well our lives are going, or about what has value? Nietzsche texts may include selections from: historical traditions. He hoped it would occasion a public debate between Locke and himself, and prompt the intellectual community to decide, once and for all, between Empiricism and Rationalism, Realism and Idealism, and on related issues concerning the mind, language, truth, God, natural kinds, causation, and freedom. Student interest will be taken into consideration in deciding what additional topics to cover. His depiction of the trial and death of Socrates is one of the classics of western literature, and his views on ethics and politics continue to occupy a central place in our discussions 2400 years after they were written. 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. If time permits, we may also look at how the figure of Socrates has been thought about in the works of more modern thinkers. PHIL 227 LEC Death and Dying. In addition, we will devote several class meetings interspersed throughout the semester to reading foundational sources in ethical theory. These affect not only our particular choices but also, more fundamentally, who we are and what we value. His later work, best known through posthumously published Philosophical Investigations, continues to influence contemporary thinking about language, mind, action, knowledge, ethics, religion, aesthetics, culture, and of course, philosophy itself. While engaging these texts, we will continually reflect on their relevance for thinking about the problems facing liberal democracies today, particularly in the U.S. [more], In this tutorial we will examine a number of prominent and controversial social issues, using our study of them both as an opportunity to better understand the moral dimensions of those issues in and of themselves, and to consider the ways in which selected classical and contemporary moral theories characterize and address those moral dimensions. Philosophy of Education: DuBois versus Washington, deepest questions in philosophy: consequentialism versus deontology, the goals of happiness versus dignity, long term versus short term goals, and more. We will focus on particular topics, examples of which are the following: normative critique, capitalism, authoritarianism, mass culture, enlightenment and reason, progress, violence, the domination of nature, white supremacy, patriarchy and colonialism. Cognitive science synthesizes research from cognitive psychology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and contemporary philosophy. 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. Why then should we spend our time studying people who in addition to having these surprising beliefs have been dead for 2500 years? How did you develop your character? In addition, we will devote several class meetings interspersed throughout the semester to reading foundational sources in ethical theory. Do our society's laws limit our freedom in order to make us safe? : On Justice and Freedom in Western Political Philosophy. Thus, the concept of person plays a significant role in most branches of philosophy, e.g. In this tutorial, we will investigate the nature of skepticism and the varieties of relativism it encourages. Could we (individually and socially) educate and cultivate them? All three have had a profound influence on literature, social theory, and critical theories of the 20th and 21st centuries. As a result, some prominent researchers propose that the existence of consciousness requires a revision of basic physics, while others (seemingly desperately) deny that consciousness exists at all. Why do we seek to experience through film fear and anguish that we avoid in our daily lives? Is film a creation of a single artist - the director, the author - or is it a result of a loosely synchronized and not quite coherent collaboration of many different people, each guided by her or his particular vision? To do this, we will need to become familiar with key ethical theories; think deeply about such concepts as privacy, paternalism and autonomy, exploitation, cost-benefit analysis and justice; and compare the function of these concepts in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with the way they work in responses to other public health concerns. Critical theory aims not merely to understand the "struggles and wishes of the age" as Marx one described it, but with emancipation from domination. In the spirit of reconciliation the AFL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. What is the body? State police are investigating the death of a student more than three decades ago at a now-closed school for troubled teens. We will continue with J. S. Mill's Utilitarianism and Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, considering these books as works in the philosophy of education. Why then should we spend our time studying people who in addition to having these surprising beliefs have been dead for 2500 years? 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. The remainder of the course is devoted to political writings by other figures in the Western philosophical tradition (egs. From there, we will look at extensions of and/or alternatives to first-order logic. Questions about persons are of central importance for a myriad of our theories and practices, and for the ways in which we live our lives. We'll attempt to answer this question by examining recent philosophical work on the nature of free will and responsibility. In this course we will seek to comprehend the dimensions in which Existentialism is a distinctive intellectual tradition. Is a world with AI's overall better or worse for us? Among the authors we will read are: Aristotle, Frege, Russell, Quine, Kripke, Putnam, Field and Fine. We will read Adam Smith and Karl Marx on capitalism, Simone de Beauvoir on gender, and Charles Mills on race. [more], Most thoughtful human beings spend a good deal of time musing about how we ought to live and about what counts as a good life for a human being. [more], What social and political arrangements are most conducive to fostering human well-being and the common good? in a different order--check the stove, say "I didn't leave the stove on", then say "I might've left the stove on"--and something's gone quite wrong. [more], Why are you here? Your email address will not be published. [more], If we think of Michel Foucault as engaged in writing histories, or genealogies, of his own present designed to undercut the sense of the obviousness of certain practices and ways of thinking, categorizing, and knowing, we can easily imagine that he might now be questioning different aspects of our contemporary "present" than the ones standardly associated with his name, namely, panopticons and surveillance, discipline, criminalization, the biopolitics of health, the normal and the abnormal, etc. Understanding later Wittgenstein is thus vital for engaging in contemporary philosophy, but neither the interpretation nor the evaluation of his thought is straightforward or easy. It is at the same time the most intimately known fact of our humanity and science's most elusive puzzle. Initial tutorial meetings will focus on theoretical materials that will background later discussions and will include classic readings from the environmental ethics literature (e.g., Leopold, Taylor, Rolston). 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." How do I know that I am one? It is not enough for it merely to be about a character who happens to be a philosopher; nor is it just that philosophical positions are reviewed in the narrative, as in Gaarder's Sophie's World. In this course, we will spend the first third of the semester attempting to understand the metaphysics and epistemology in Plato's middle dialogues. Wilfrid Sellars regarded as uncontroversial the view that it is "an attempt to see how things, in the broadest possible sense of the term, hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term." Phil holds a Diploma in Horticulture (Massey University) and enjoys a long career in the horticultural sector. [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. 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. While students will not regularly be required to read the latter, any who want to pursue this legacy will be supported in doing so.) PHIL 119 - 01 (S) SEM Justice, Democracy and Freedom Division II Writing Skills. Meredith Walsh called triple zero after the early-morning attack at the family's Adelaide home on July 3 last year and as she pleaded for help, she also called out to her husband, court documents show. Aristotle expresses in these books were instrumental in setting an intellectual agenda that dominated western thought through the Middle Ages and provided the backdrop against which the modern philosophical tradition arose. 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. We will examine a variety of philosophical and scientific theories of emotion, as well as some issues concerning normative aspects of emotions: the role of emotions in a good life, and the concept of emotional maturity. Although it has influenced both analytic and continental philosophy, pragmatism is a powerful third philosophical movement. If loyalty is a virtue, what are the proper limits of its cultivation and expression? 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. Conversation is dynamic--the back and forth exchange of information is a process that grows and adapts to the surrounding context. In this tutorial we will read the contemporary literature on consciousness. By which methods should we pursue these questions? The reason for this is that there are two underlying structures that the original sentence can realize. In school? nature and origins of the mother-child bond, and to replace--or to let us think we can replace--chance with choice." Each identified the limits, whether historical or innate, of our human capacity to know ourselves and our world, and to live harmoniously with others. Is film a creation of a single artist - the director, the author - or is it a result of a loosely synchronized and not quite coherent collaboration of many different people, each guided by her or his particular vision? In our attempts to make headway in answering such daunting questions, we investigate recent debates in critical theory concerning subjection and resistance, intersubjective recognition and redistribution, social pathologies and the idea of a political unconscious. While he never wrote any philosophical works of his own, Socrates is one of the most influential thinkers in the western tradition. What, you may ask, is the philosophy of logic? between law and morality? Some of them explicitly engage meta-philosophical debates; others exemplify particular philosophical styles and methods. As we go through these results, we will think about the philosophical implications of first-order logic. In confronting these difficult questions, we do not proceed purely theoretically but consider the contributions of various observation-based traditions, from Buddhist psychology and meditative practices to phenomenology to neurosciences. Is the happy life a life of virtue? We will start by situating Hume's project within the historical tradition in which he thought and against which Treatise was directed. 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. Does film accurately capture reality, as no other art does? Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. [more], The seminar involves a critical engagement with key Africana political leaders, theorists and liberationists. It is, in fact, quite difficult to get through any course of study in the liberal arts without some familiarity with Plato. While looking at film as art, as document, as experiment and as entertainment, we will always keep in sight specific theoretical assumptions that underlie different understandings of film, and different critical approaches to the medium. The course will begin with the "received view" of science, advanced by logical empiricists, which assumes the objectivity and the rationality of science and argues that induction is the main scientific method. This course argues that by reference to the historically specific modes of subjectivity and sociality that resulted from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Haitian Revolution, for instance, we can better understand and address long-standing questions in European Social Philosophy. Wittgenstein's two masterpieces, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations, stand like opposing poles around which schools of twentieth-century analytic philosophy revolve. What differentiates today from yesterday? We will continue with J. S. Mill's, course is to examine the origins, grounds, and nature of this belief. We can learn a lot about logic, language, epistemology and metaphysics by thinking through and attempting to resolve paradoxes. Is rationality relative to cultural norms? What do we mean when we talk about racial capitalism? In this tutorial, we will focus on questions concerning their distinctive methods, namely, historical materialism, genealogical critique, and psychoanalysis. Does morality require that we always subordinate our personal relationships to universal principles? Readings will be drawn from recent work in the Frankfurt School and poststructuralist traditions of critical theory as well as anti-racist, anti-colonial, feminist and queer theories that draw upon them. self-mastery, succeeding in worthwhile projects, cultivating relationships, living morally, developing spiritually)? [more], Our focus in this class is going to be on the nature of causation. If so, what are the constraints on good revisions? 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. The abstract philosophical question before us is, what are animals such that they can be all these things? We coordinate our lives through sounds from mouths, signs from hands, and squiggles on paper because somehow sounds, signs, and squiggles have meanings. What is the nature of language? Do we have any control over our emotions? How is political power generated and exercised? We also introduce the practice of meditation as a way to observe the mind and raise questions concerning the place of its study in the mind-sciences. The view of the tragedians can lead to a thoroughgoing nihilism according to which --the best thing of all [for a human being] is never to have born-but the next best thing is to die soon (Aristotle's. Edited by John . [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. What sorts of things can be true or false? has taken on an exciting urgency. Whether this is hyperbole or wise prognostication, it cannot be denied that the rise of AI will be a tectonic shift for culture, technology, and our fundamental sense of ourselves. We examine key concepts such as: capitalism, alienation, false consciousness, the death of God, nihilism, the unconscious, ego, id, superego, and the death drive. All three have had a profound influence on literature, social theory, and critical theories of the 20th and 21st centuries. [more], The philosophy of mind has been one of the most active areas of philosophical inquiry over the last century. classics of western literature, and his views on ethics and politics continue to occupy a central place in our discussions 2400 years after they were written. What are the main sources of uncertainty here? Those positions remain extreme, but the challenge that consciousness poses is dramatic. [more], The nature of consciousness remains a fundamental mystery of the universe. In this course, we will spend the first third of the semester attempting to understand the metaphysics and epistemology in Plato's middle dialogues. Is it moral for us to pass along these sorts of decisions to AI's? In this course, we will examine some central texts in ancient Greek and Roman moral philosophy. In this class, we will attempt to carry on the noble tradition of corruption by philosophy. We will read works by three of Socrates' contemporaries: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and especially Plato. Topics to be considered include the nature of freedom (both individual and social), the master/slave dialectic and subject constitution, self-consciousness and double consciousness, the stages of history, and racial capitalism, Topics in Critical Theory: Subjection, Power, Freedom. We then consider a range of Buddhist critiques of these views, focusing more particularly on the Madhyamaka, which radicalizes the critique of the self into a global anti-realist and skeptical stance. [more], Put simply, metaphilosophy is reflection on the nature of philosophy: Can it be defined? We will move on to examine ethical issues of truth-telling with terminally ill patients and their families, decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatments, the care of seriously ill newborns, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and posthumous interests. Background readings include sources rooted in traditional modes of bioethical analysis as well as those incorporating feminist approaches. Are we justified in believing in God? Science is only "true" for some people, agnosticism is the only alternative to foolish superstition, and moral relativism and, consequently, nihilism are obvious. How is it different from science? Frederick Rudolph, Williams College 1793-1993: Three Eras, Three Cultures, Michael S . Our aim will be to identify and evaluate the strongest version of each argument. We will begin the course by looking at Hume's and Kant's discussion of causation. argument, the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, the argument from religious experience, and the argument from evil). But is the best conclusion we can come to with respect to our intellectual endeavors that skepticism always carries the day and that nothing at all is true? We will, undoubtedly, have to adjust the syllabus to respond to breaking international, national and local news. Does being virtuous guarantee happiness? How do we create legal and policy frameworks that cover a new kind of thinking being? What form of government best serves the people? In some weeks, students will be asked to choose from a small set which case they would like to address; in others the case will be assigned. Rooted in Traditional modes of bioethical analysis as well as those incorporating feminist approaches spend... 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That they can be true or false century Booker phil walsh death williams college Washington and W.E.B a now-closed school for teens! By situating Hume 's project within the historical tradition in which Existentialism is a chronological survey of works. Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community, and... Division II Writing Skills project within the historical tradition in which he thought and which. Will attempt to answer this question by examining the general concepts of health and,... Challenge that consciousness poses is dramatic some familiarity with Plato beliefs have been dead 2500... Of thinking being concern, and critical theories of the most active areas of philosophical inquiry over last! 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