Fall
2002 Course Descriptions
Department
of Philosophy
University of Illinois at Chicago
100-level Courses
200-level Courses
400-level Courses
500-level Courses
PHIL
100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect 12:00 MW/Disc 11:00 or 12:00 F/Staff
Catalog description:
A survey of traditional problems concerning the existence and nature of God, freedom,
justification, morality, etc. Readings from historical or contemporary philosophers.
Required texts: to be announced
PHIL
100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect 1:00 MW/Disc 12:00 or 1:00 F/Instructor:
Sinkler
This course will provide a general introduction to some of the
central problems in philosophy: What do we know and how do we know it? Does a
supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality?
Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources. Required text: Philosophy
and Contemporary Issues, J. Burr and M. Goldinger, eds.
PHIL
100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect
11:00 TR/Disc 10:00 or 11:00 F/ Downing
A survey of a number of traditional philosophical issues, stressing both their
depth and their interconnection. Questions addressed will include the following:
What makes an action morally right or wrong? Do we have free will? Under what
conditions are we morally responsible for our actions? What is a mind and how
is it related to the human brain/body? What is the fundamental nature of reality
and how do we gain knowledge of it? Does God exist? Readings from historical and
contemporary sources. Required texts: to be announced.
PHIL
100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect
5:30-7:00/Disc 7:00-8:00 F/ Staff
Catalog description:
A survey of traditional problems concerning the existence and nature of God, freedom,
justification, morality, etc. Readings from historical or contemporary philosophers.
Required texts: to
be announced
PHIL
102: INTRODUCTORY LOGIC
Lect
11:00 MW/Disc 10:00 or 11:00 or 12:00/Huggett
What is logic and what does it have to offer? In one sense, logic is a study of
the structure of language -- it is based on the idea that the infinity of possible
sentences can all be composed according to a few simple rules, so that different
sentences composed according to the same rules have the same ‘form’.
In another sense, logic is a study of arguments -- the idea of ‘formal’
logic is that when one knows the logical form of an argument, one can precisely
determine whether it is valid or not. In yet another sense, logic is a study of
thought and reason - for it is natural to think of our thought processes as like
arguments from existing beliefs to new ones. Hence logic is also important in
computer science -- since computers are ‘artificial reasoning machines’.
To understand these ideas we will study and master the apparatus of formal
logic: the languages of propositional and predicate logics, and the methods of
proving validity. With this in hand we can start to see the power and importance
of modern logic in a variety of fields: and, perhaps of most immediate practical
benefit in other courses, students will develop precision in their arguments and
reasoning. Required texts: Language, Proof and Logic, Jon Barwise and John
Etchemendy.
PHIL
102: INTRODUCTORY LOGIC
Lect
5:30-7:00 T/Disc 7:00-8:00 T/ Staff
Catalog description: Sentential logic representation of English using truth-functional
connectives, truth table methods, natural deduction techniques. Introduction to
predicate logic; representation of English using quantifiers. Decision methods
for monadic predicate logic. Required texts: to be announced.
PHIL
103: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Lect
11:00 TR/Disc 10:00 or 11:00 or 12:00/Fleischacker
Philosophers have long
tried to define the terms "good" and "bad," "right"
and "wrong," and to provide arguments for why one should be "good"
rather than "bad." We will look at three classic approaches to these
questions, then focus more narrowly on what the point of ethical action, and of
human life, might be - on what "happiness" might mean. Readings from
John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, Plato, Aristotle, Iris Murdoch, Aldous Huxley,
and George Bernard Shaw. Assignments will include five short papers and a final
exam. Required texts: to be announced.
PHIL
103: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Lect 5:30-7:00 W/Disc 7:00-8:00 W/Staff
Catalog description: Surveys attempts to answer central questions of ethics: What
acts are right? What things are good? How do we know this? Required texts: to
be announced.
PHIL
104: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect 10:00 MW/Disc or 10:00
or 11:00 F/Cronin
This course will examine some of the most pressing social
and political problems confronting us today both on the national and the global
level. The primary goal of the course will be to deepen our understanding of what
is at stake in a range of controversial topics including: personal liberty and
the problem of pornography; human rights; racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination;
economic justice and poverty; and nationalism and multiculturalism. In addition
to a wide range of contributions by contemporary philosophers and social thinkers,
we will also examine how social and political questions have been dealt with by
such major political philosophers as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, J.S. Mill,
Karl Marx, and Jeremey Bentham. Required texts: to be announced.
PHIL
105: SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
Lect
1:00 MW/Disc 12:00 or 1:00 F/Huggett
What is space? It seems to be all around us, but we can't see it (and not because
it is too small, for it may be infinite). It is part of the physical realm, for
it is studied in physics (in classical physics physical objects are located in
space, and in relativistic physics one studies the physical curvature of space),
but it is not a material object like other physical objects. Space is at once
familiar and unfamiliar. This
course looks at the history of scientific and philosophical attempts to come to
grips with these questions, from antiquity to modern times. Our central idea is
that space is described by geometry, for instance, as a three dimensional version
of the Euclidean plane. We will study the alleged difficulties of this view: Zeno's
paradoxes seem to show that it is incompatible with the possibility of motion,
and we must untangle this challenge. We will also consider an important debate
between Newton and Leibniz concerning the relation between space and material
objects: does space exist at all independently of matter? Does space influence
matter? (Does matter influence space?) We will consider what it is to be handed:
left and right hands are at once very similar -- twins -- but wholly different
-- just try to put a left hand glove on your right hand. Can we find an explanation
of this phenomenon in space? Finally we will also look at two key features of
modern views of space: that space and time are not truly distinct but are really
combined in one four dimensional entity, 'spacetime', and that space is not, as
Euclid would have us believe, flat, but can be 'warped'. Both of these ideas jar
with our intuitions, and we will have to think through physical examples carefully
to illustrate them. Aside from learning about the history of thought on space
and understanding some important concepts of contemporary spacetime physics, students
will discover how philosophy and physics interact, and will develop their writing
skills. Required texts: Space from Zeno to Einstein: Classic Readings with
a Contemporary Commentary, Nick Huggett.
PHIL
115: DEATH
Lect
10:00 MW/Disc 10:00 or 11:00 F/Grossman
We will examine several philosophical issues pertaining to death and dying, with
particular emphasis on the question of survival of the person after death. Some
of the questions we shall discuss are: Is there evidence for survival? How do
our beliefs about survival affect our attitude towards death and dying? How do
our attitudes about death affect how we live our lives? Required texts: The
Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy; Death and Personal Survival, Almeder;
Final Gifts, Callanan and Kelley; Tuesdays with Morrie, Album; Lessons
From the Light, Ring.
PHIL
120: INTRODUCTION TO ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Lect 9:30-10:25 TR/Disc 9:00 or 10:00
F/ Lee
Note: this course does not appear in the paper version of the
timetable; it does appear in the online version. The call number are the following:
Lecture #43262; Discussion 9:00 Friday #43921; Discussion 10:00 Friday, #43939.
This course will provide an introduction to some of the the central issues
and problems of philosophy through the study of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.
We will read selected texts from ancient authors in translation. Topics to be
covered include: (i) fate responsibility and freedom, (ii) reason and emotion,
(iii) knowledge, belief and skepticism, (iv) metaphysical questions concerning
cause explanation and existence, (v) ethics, and (vi) society and state. Required
texts: Voices of Ancient Philosophy: An Introductory Reader, Julia Annas
PHIL
201: THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
Lect
12:30-1:15 TR/Disc 1:15-1:45 TR/Edelberg
This is a course on uncertainty—its nature and extent, and what
to do about it. Although we will touch on the problem of skepticism, that is not
to be the main focus. Our questions will be broader: In what kinds of situations
does available evidence fall short of conclusive proof? What are our options in
these cases? Is one such approach always the best? When evidence falls short of
proof, how should we understand the relationship between evidence and hypothesis?
Do certain facts about the world, or about ourselves, have any bearing on these
issues? We will read works by W. K. Clifford, Blaise Pascal, René Descartes,
Bertrand Russell, William James, David Hume, Philip Kitcher, Gilbert Harman, W.
V. Quine, Fred Dretske, Arthur Fine, Robert Nozick, and David Lewis, among others.
Required texts: course pack and textbook to be announced. Prerequisite: one course
in philosophy.
PHIL
202: PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
Lect 11:00 TR/Disc 11:45-12:15 TR/Schroer
We will explore various issues within the philosophy of psychology, focusing mostly
on the mind-body problem. After reviewing some historical approaches to this problem
(e.g. substance dualism, behaviorism, functionalism), we will explore the contemporary
version of the mind/body problem--the problem of qualia. Required text: The
Mind-Body Problem: An Opinionated Introduction, by D.M Armstrong. Prerequisite:
one course in philosophy; or junior or senior standing in the physical, biological,
or social sciences; or consent of the instructor.
PHIL
210: SYMBOLIC LOGIC
Lect
9:30-10:15 TR/Disc 10:15-10:45 TR/Jarrett
This course provides a review of truth-functional logic (the main focus of Philosophy
102, which is a prerequisite for this course) and a thorough treatment of the
principles of first-order predicate logic ("quantification theory").
Our study will include a system of natural deduction for predicate logic. We will
examine a handful of more advanced topics as time permits. Requirements for the
course include a few problem sets, quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
Grades will be computed by assigning to these three components the following approximate
weights: problem sets & quizzes, 20%; midterm exam, 30%; and final exam, 40%.
The remaining 10% will be based on class participation. Required texts: Understanding
Symbolic Logic, 4th edition, Virginia Klenk. Prerequisite: Phil 102; a grade
of B or better in Phil 102 is recommended.
PHIL
220: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY I: PLATO AND HIS PREDECESSORS
Lect
11:00-11:45 TR/Disc 11:45-12:15 TR/Meinwald
Designed to acquaint the student with Plato's contribution to philosophy through
a study of his early and middle dialogues. Discussion concerning the relations
between being successful, being (morally) good, and having knowledge in light
of the claim that the world accessible to the senses is not the real world. Required
text: Plato Complete Works, ed. John M. Cooper. Prerequisites:
one course in philosophy or consent of the instructor. It is recommended that
Phil 220 and 221 be taken as a sequence in successive terms.
PHIL
223: HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY I: DESCARTES AND HIS SUCCESSORS
Lect 9:00-9:45
TR/Disc 9:45-10:15 TR/HILBERT
Modern philosophy and modern science are
two descendants of a single intellectual movement that began in 16th century.
This course will exam the origins of modern science and philosophy in the early
modern period as exemplified in the work of Descartes and some of his immediate
successors. In addition to Descartes, the figures to be discussed will include
Boyle, Newton, Locke, Leibniz and Berkeley. An emphasis throughout will be on
the interplay between science and philosophy in the early modern period. Required
texts: to be announced. Prerequisite:
One course in philosophy or consent of the instructor. It is recommended that
Phil 223 and 224 be taken as a sequence in successive terms.
PHIL
230: TOPICS IN ETHICS AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect
11:00 MW/Disc 11:00 F/Santiago
This course will focus on the contemporary notion of personal autonomy and authenticity.
We will read the early seminal works of Harry Frankfurt, Gerald Dworkin, as well
as the current work done by John Christman. While these theorists work within
a hierarchical framework of human psychology to offer an account of autonomy,
we will also look at other theories that critique this approach and offer alternative
ways to think about autonomy and authenticity. We will read feminist such as Diana
Meyers, and cultural theorists such as Maria Lugones and Gloria Anzaldua. We will
also look at non-standard sources of theory, such as the poetry and autobiography
of Jimmy Santiago Baca and Martin Espada. Required texts: Course packet. Prerequisite:
Phil 103 or 112 or 116 is recommended.
PHIL
232: SEX ROLES: MORAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES
Lect3:30-4:15
TR/4:15-4:45 TR/Weekes
In this course, we
will examine the claim that the consequence of "sex roles"--the marking,
recognition, social status, and identities etc. of men and women as such--is that
women are oppressed as such for the benefit of men. In exploring this claim, we
will consider a series of questions arising from it: What is the metaphysical
seat of gender-nature or nurture? What does it mean to be oppressed? Who is responsible
for oppression? What are the specific indicators of oppression in the case of
women? What if anything can be done to combat oppression? Is feminist philosophy
particularly situated to respond to these questions? Among the issues we may consider
are homophobia, gender and the family, nontraditional families, the relationship
between sex oppression and sexuality oppression, women's work, sexist language,
sexual harassment, rape, pornography, and other images of women in our culture.
Required Texts: A compilation of articles will be available at the library.
PHIL
299: SEMINAR
Disc 2:00-3:15 TR/Fleischacker
This course will both
serve as an introduction to Jewish philosophy, and give some attention to the
question, "what is philosophy?" (by way of the question, "is there
any specifically 'Jewish" kind of philosophy?"). The bulk of the course
will be devoted to Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed, setting
in the context of the Bible, the Talmud, and certain works of Aristotle. In the
remaining weeks, we will consider works by such figures as Samson Raphael Hirsch,
Martin Buber, and Joseph Soloveitchik. No prior knowledge of Judaism is required,
but at least one prior course in philosophy is strongly encouraged. Assignments
will include 4 short papers and a longer, research paper. Required texts: to be
announced. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or consent of the instructor.
PHIL
404: PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Lect-D
11:00-12:15 TR/Hilbert
Many contemporary controversies ranging from the question of how to understand
the human impact on the environment to the claims concerning existence and nature
of differences between men and women depend crucially on understanding biological
science. Understanding the science, however, requires an understanding of the
basic concepts and theoretical structures of biology, concepts and structures
which themselves have been the object of good deal of controversy. This course
will survey some of these debates with the usual philosophical emphasis on issues
concerning evolutionary theory. No prior acquaintance with biology is required.Required
Texts: Sex and Death: An Introduction to Philosophy of Biology, Kim Sterelny
and Paul Griffiths. Prerequisite:
Phil 102 or Phil 210.
PHIL
416: METALOGIC I
Lect-D 9:30-10:45 TR/Hart
We will review the syntax and semantics of quantification theory with and without
identity. The main focus of the course will be a proof of the completeness of
these theories, and related results llike the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem. Required
text: Introduction to Mathematical Logic, Elliott Mendelson. Prerequisite: Phil
210 or consent of the instructor.
PHIL
422: MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect 11:00 MW/Disc 11:00 F/Sinkler
This course
will follow the development of philosophy, in the Latin West from the beginning
of the Christian era through the 15th Century. The emphasis will be on metaphysics,
including philosophical theology, in the work of authors such as Augustine, Anselm,
and Aquinas. Required texts: Medieval Philosophy, W. Kaufmann and F. Baird
(eds.); The Evolution of Medieval Thought, D. Knowles; The Philosophy
Student Writer's Manual, A. Graybosch, G. Scott, S. Garrison (eds.).
PHIL
423: STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Lect-D
2:00-3:15 TR/Downing
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a scientist, mathematician, theologian,
and a metaphysician par excellence. In this course, we will focus on his metaphysical
thought, although we will also consider its connections to his scientific and
theological views. Issues addressed will include the nature of substance, causation,
the relation between mind and body, identity, contingency and free will. Students
should be prepared to grapple with a quite abstract philosophical system, and
to consider its implications. We will also address, to some extent, the thought
of philosophers with whom Leibniz engaged, possibly including Samuel Clarke, John
Locke, and Nicolas Malebranche. Required texts: to be announced. Prerequisite:
Phil 223 or Phil 224.
PHIL
425: STUDIES IN NINETEENTH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY
Lect-D
5:30-8:00 M/Cronin
Hegel's dialectical theory of historical development, the priority he accords
communal ethical life over individual morality, and his controversial theory of
the absolute state as the end of history continue to influence contemporary debates
in political philosophy. This course will focus on the thought of Hegel with particular
reference to his major work in political philosophy, The Philosophy of Right.
Some acquaintance with the philosophical culture of German Idealism, in particular
its response to Kant, is essential for understanding the problems and concerns
that inform Hegel's thought. Thus we will begin with a reading of one of the more
accessible works of idealist thought before Hegel, Fichte's Vocation of Man, which
addresses problems posed by Kant's theory of knowledge and moral theory and the
theory of the self that informs them. We will then explore some of the main themes
of Hegel's logic, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of history through selections
from his major works, before examining in detail how they shape his political
thought in the Philosophy of Right. Hegel exerted a profound influence on 19th
century philosophy, but his most important successors criticized his model of
a unified rational philosophical system and his totalizing vision of history.
In the remainder of the course we will examine his impact on Marx and, time permitting,
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Required texts: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy, Forrest
E. Baird and Walter Kaufmann; The Vocation of Man, J. G. Fichte; Elements of the
Philosophy of Right, G. W. F. Hegel; Hegel and Modern Society, Charles Taylor.
Prerequisite: one 200-level
course in philosophy or consent of the instructor.
PHIL
500: WRITING IN PHILOSOPHY
Disc 2:30-5:00 R/Meinwald
We will practice
writing philosophy. Prerequisite: graduate standing in philosophy.
PHIL
501: TOPICS IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Conf
11:30-2:00 R/Lee
Description: In this seminar, we will examine some non- or anti-rationalist theories
of knowledge from antiquity, including various forms of skepticism in Democritus
and his followers like Pyrrho and in the later Pyrrhonist skeptics, forms of empiricism
in the Cyrenaics and the Epicureans, and, if we have time, the Empiricist and
Methodist theories of medical knowledge. No Greek is presupposed. Required texts:
Outlines of Scepticism, Sextus Empiricus, (translated by Julia Annas and
Jonathan Barnes); The Modes of Skepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations,
Julia Annas and Jonathan Barnes, Lives of the Philosophers (with an English
translation by R. D. Hicks), Diogenes Laertius; The Hellenistic Philosophers,
A.A. Long and D.N. Sedley (eds.); Three Treatises on the Nature of Science,
Galen, (translated by R. Walzer and M. Frede, with an Introduction by M. Frede).
Prerequisite: graduate standing in philosophy.
PHIL
528: SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect-D
11:00-1:30 T/Mills
Western Philosophy has not traditionally had much useful to say about race, and
often what it has had to say has been racist. But in the last decade, there has
been an explosion of work in philosophy and race. In this course, we will survey
some of this literature, looking at such topics as: the metaphysics of race; the
origins of racism; the ethics and politics of white supremacy and its legacy;
the racial views of such leading figures as Locke, Kant, and Mill; the phenomenology
of a racialized existence. Required texts: to be announced. Prerequisite:
graduate standing in philosophy.
PHIL
536: EPISTEMOLOGY
Disc 1:00-3:30 M/Grossman
Is Materialism a logical
truth? If so, then it cannot be false. Or is Materialism rather an empirical theory
about the world?......in which case it could be false. If the latter, then what
sort of empirical evidence would falsify Materialism? And, is evidence of the
required kind already at hand? To put the issue in quasi-historical perspective,
there are a number of questions which at one time were the sole province of philosophy
and theology, but which now are susceptible to scientific investigation. Questions
pertaining to the nature of matter, of space and time, of causality and determinism,
of atomism vs. wholism, and even of the origin and ultimate destiny of the physical
universe, are questions about which empirical science has much to say, and everyone
agrees that philosophical speculations about such matters ought to be informed
by the findings of science. Might the long-standing debate between Materialism
and Dualism, like the above kinds of problems, be decidable empirically. Or at
least, should not this debate take account of the best empirical data, whatever
that turns out to be. In this seminar we will examine a large and varied body
of empirical data that have caused a number of researchers to conclude that the
evidence against Materialism is compelling, if not conclusive. The strongest data
involve very well-documented cases of individuals acquiring veridical and detailed
information about events remote from where their body is known to be. We will
examine these cases (not all of them, for there are thousands upon thousands),
and also examine how Materialists and Dualists have attempted to explain them
(or explain them away, as the case may be). Although my approach to this material
will be epistemological (data, evidence, belief, hypotheses, falsifiability, scientific
methodology, confirmation, and all that neat stuff!), the issues raised in this
discussion have profound implications for the rest of philosophy. Except for logic,
I can think of no area within philosophy that is not deeply sensitive to the Materialism/Dualism
debate. Should Materialism turn out to be empirically false, what consequences
might that have for metaphysics, ethics, moral theory, aesthetics, and so forth?
Robert Almeder's Death and Personal Survival will be a main text for the
seminar, along with lots of articles, case studies, etc. Prerequisite: graduate
standing in philosophy.
PHIL
542: PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL SCIENCES
Disc
2:30-5:00 T/Jarrett
This seminar will be devoted to a study of the foundations of quantum mechanics.
(You might think of it as "What Every Philosopher Should Know About Quantum
Mechanics".) It is intended to be of interest to students in philosophy as
well as to those in physics. As far as technical material is concerned, the course
will be essentially self-contained. No extensive special background in the subject
will be presupposed, but students who are frightened by the very thought of elementary
algebra, trigonometry, ordinary (real, 3-dimensional) vector spaces, etc. probably
do not belong in this class. Officially, the prerequisites for the course are
Philosophy 102 or 210, and another 200-level philosophy course. Students not meeting
these prerequisites will need special permission to enroll. Relevant mathematical
topics (e.g., Hilbert space, non-Boolean lattices, etc.) will be developed in
class at a modest level of rigor, but we will not, for example, be solving differential
equations or doing perturbation theory (as one would do in a standard quantum
mechanics course in the physics department). We will focus on questions that arise
in the attempt to give an adequate elucidation of the logical and conceptual structure
of the theory, questions that appear most dramatically in connection with such
topics as Bell's Theorem and the measurement problem. These questions challenge
our most fundamental ideas about the structure of our world and our place in it;
and the principal goal of the course is to provide formulations of such questions
in a manner that affords the student a genuine understanding of what is at stake
in debates over the "interpretation" of quantum mechanics. Grades for
the course will be based on class participation (10%), a few problem sets and
short essays (15%), a midterm exam (25%), a final exam (25%), and a term paper
(25%). Required text:
The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, R.I.G. Hughes.