PHIL 100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect: 10:00- 10:50 MW/ Edelberg
A general introduction to western philosophy and its methods. Topics will include the existence of God, the possibility of an afterlife, personal identity, free will, and the possibility
of knowledge in science and ethics. Individual and Society course.
Required Text: James Rachels and Stuart Rachels, Problems from Philosophy, 2nd edition, 2009; and James Rachels and Stuart Rachels, eds., The Truth about the World: Basic Readings in Philosophy, 2nd edition, 2007.
PHIL 100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect: 11:00-11:50 MW/Svolba
This course introduces students to central questions in philosophy and to the way in which philosophers think about these questions. Topics include the existence of God, skepticism, the relationship between mind and body, freedom and responsibility, personal identity, right and wrong, and the meaning of life. In thinking about these very abstract and difficult topics, and by learning to identify and evaluate arguments, students will learn how to think about more concrete matters as well! Individual and Society course.
Required Texts: Nagel, Thomas, What Does It All Mean? Oxford (1987); Perry, John et. al., eds. Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford 2007).
PHIL 100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect: 12:30-1:45 TR/Zarnitsyn
This course is a general introduction to western philosophy and its methods. We will work through a number of philosophical texts that deal with the following topics: the existence of god, free will, morality, personal identity, practical reasoning, and others. Reading, thinking and writing about these topics with the hope of acquiring a taste for clarity, precision and good argumentation should prove valuable in fields other than philosophy. Individual and Society course.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 100: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lect/ Disc: 5:30– 8:00 M/ Brewer
The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to philosophy. The course will focus on the themes of love and friendship. First, we will examine Plato's conception of love presented in the *Symposium*. We will then move to Aristotle and consider his notions of love and friendship in the *Nicomachean Ethics*. Next, we consider how love is presented in literature. We will turn to Shakespeare's *Twelfth Night* and consider whether or not the ideas of love and friendship presented in Twelfth Night reflect the philosophical notions we have seen in Plato and Aristotle. Then we will examine Thomas Wolfe's short story/essay "God's Lonely Man". We will consider why, according to Wolfe, love is necessary for a human life. Next we will consider Harry Frankfurt's recent essay "On Love, and Its Reasons".If time permits, we will examine essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and compare his ideas of love and friendship to the other authors we have read. Individual and Society course.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 102: INTRODUCTORY LOGIC
Lect: 11:00 – 11:50 TR/ Klein
An introduction to contemporary logic. We will cover techniques for translation, evaluation, and derivation in sentential logic, as well as the basics of first-order predicate logic.
Required Text: Required Text: A Modern Formal Logic Primer, Paul Teller (available at UIC Bookstore)
PHIL 102: INTRODUCTORY LOGIC
Lect: 9:30- 10:20 TR/ Jarrett
This course begins with a careful study of the principles governing valid deductive reasoning in sentential (“truth-functional”) logic. Here we will investigate the logical relationships that hold among sentences constructed in English using such words as not, and, or, if ..., then ..., and if and only if. Among the important logical relationships of this sort is that of logical implication: we will see what it means for a collection of sentences (the “premises” of an argument) to logically imply another sentence (the “conclusion” of that argument), thereby rendering the argument valid. Our examination of sentential logic will include the development of a system of formal proof for this language.
We will then move on to take a preliminary look at the language of first-order predicate logic (“quantification theory”). This is the logically richer language that results from the augmentation of sentential logic by incorporating into our logical formalism the means to express structure of two additional sorts: (i) that associated with quantity (as is accomplished, e.g., with such English locutions as at least one, every, some, all, at most three, none, etc.); and (ii) that associated with predicates and relations (as is done, e.g., in ascribing particular properties to things or in asserting that one thing is larger than another).
If time permits, we will take a brief glimpse at one or two more advanced topics.
Logic requires the development of a range of skills. Some of these skills are similar to those employed in learning a foreign language. Logic employs a distinctive formal language with a characteristic vocabulary and rules of syntax and semantics. Much of logic involves learning how to “translate” back and forth between natural language (English, in this case) and this abstract formal language that (for purposes of logic) is considerably more perspicuous. Other necessary skills are very much akin to those employed in mathematics. This is so, in particular, when it comes to mastering the techniques for evaluating the logical “links” that hold among a given set of sentences in the formal language
Required Text: Understanding Symbolic Logic (Fifth Edition), by Virginia Klenk . Prentice Hall.
ISBN: 0-13-205152-4
PHIL 102: INTRODUCTORY LOGIC
Lect-D: 5:30-8:00 T/Instructor: Gordon
In this course, we will study the principles governing valid deductive reasoning in sentential and first-order predicate logic.
Required Text: Understanding Symbolic Logic, 5th Edition, Virginia Klenk
PHIL 103: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Lect: 11:00-11:50 MW/ Sedgwick
This course provides an introduction to classic texts in Western moral philosophy. We briefly examine two moral systems of the ancient Greeks, then devote the remainder of the course to great authors of the modern period: Immanuel Kant, J.S. Mill, and Friedrich Nietzsche. There are no prerequisites for this course. Gen Ed: Individual and Society.
Required Text: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals.
J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism and The Subjection of Women.
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality.
PHIL 103: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Lect 12:00- 12:50 MW / Disc 1:00-1:50 or 2:00-2:50 W / Upin
This class will explore two interconnected topics: what is a good person and what is a good life. In order to enable students to participate in a dialogue about ethical issues, readings will center on a precondition for understanding that dialogue, the profoundly influential texts on ethics by Plato, Aristotle, and Kant. We will also examine some challenges to these classic philosophical positions as well as alternates that have been proposed in their place. [Gen Ed course: Individual and Society.]
PHIL 103: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Lect: 5:30-8:00 PM W/Farley
The central question of ethics is 'What should I do?' The main focus of this course will be an examination of several well known answers to this question. In addition, we will briefly consider some issues in meta-ethics (How do I come to know what I should do? What is it that I know when I know
a moral truth?) and applied ethics (How does my ethical theory apply to specific problems, such as abortion, poverty, war, etc?). Readings will be drawn from historical and contemporary sources. Individual and Society course.
Required text: TBA
PHIL 104: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect/Disc: 10:00- 10:50 MWF/ Gunes
The objective of this course is to introduce you to some major topics and methods of social and political philosophy. We will cover important philosophical questions such as, What is justice? What sorts of political power are legitimate? What are the limits of our freedom? What is the significance of gender in the constitution of our social and political institutions? You will be encouraged to critically examine beliefs that you have previously taken for granted and also the views of famous philosophers whose works we will study this semester. Individual and Society course.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 105: SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
Lect: 9:30- 10:45 TR/ Balcells
This course will introduce issues in the philosophy of science dealing with space and time. Are space and time infinite? Is there an edge of the universe? Is there a beginning of time? Does time flow like a river? Or is it laid out like a road? Do things in the past exist? Do things in the future exist? Is time travel possible? We will consider these, as well as other questions regarding space and time. Natural World - No Lab course.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 107: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF ART
Lect/Disc: 1:00- 1:50 MWF/ Hotoda
This course is an introduction to various issues in the philosophy of art and aesthetics. Topics to be covered include the definition of art, what constitutes an aesthetic experience, who decides
the criteria of beauty, whether there is "high" or "low" art, and if time permits, Japanese aesthetics. There will be one required visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. Readings will come from both traditional and contemporary authors.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 115: DEATH
Lect: 12:00-12:50 MW/Disc: 12:00 F/Schaffer
This course will undertake a multidisciplinary approach to the subject of death. It will be divided into three general units: First, we will investigate various traditional philosophical issues: the nature of death (definitions), its meaning for our attitudes toward life, whether it is an inherently bad or thing, and various moral issues connected with the rights of the dying and of the deceased (euthanasia, capital punishment, etc.). Second, we will consider the question of what constitutes a healthy dying process from both a literary as well as a psychological standpoint. Third, we will investigate evidence and arguments for the existence of afterlife. Individual and Society course.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 201: THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
Lect/Disc: 12:00- 1:15 MW/ Edelberg
A general introduction to epistemology. Topics will include epistemic ideals, perception, a priori belief, probability and induction, fallibilism, knowledge of minds, moral knowledge, Bayesianism, and naturalistic approaches. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy.
Required text: Adam Morton, A Guide Through the Theory of Knowledge, 3rd edition, 2002. Additional readings will be placed on electronic reserve.
PHIL 202: PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
Lect/Disc: 10:00- 10:50 MWF/ Hilbert
The course will have two main and interrelated themes. First will be the mind-body problem: the question of the relation between psychological descriptions and explanations and descriptions and explanations drawn from the physical and biological sciences. Second we will look at a particular area of psychological research with philosophical implications. This term the study of the visual agnosias and their implications for theories of perceptual consciousness and perceptual knowledge. In both cases we will be concerned with both common-sense psychology and scientific psychology. Course requirements: 1 4-6 page paper, 2 6-8 page papers, final, class participation.
Required Text: D.M. Armstrong, The Mind-body Problem: An Opinionated Introduction (ISBN: 0813390575)
PHIL 204: INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Lect/Disc: 11:00- 11:50 MWF/ Schmor
Advertisements frequently inform us how that their product has been scientifically proven to work (or to work better than their leading rivals). Why is it thought important to be "scientifically proven"? The answer is surely that we hold science in high esteem. We regard science as objective and rational, not subject to superstition or personal biases. But how accurate is this picture? Is science really so different from other methods of investigation (such as for, example, those espoused by creation-science, astrology, or "The Secret")? How much faith should we place in our scientific
theories? In this course we will begin with such questions. From there, we will consider a number of other related issues, which may include: the nature of scientific observation, explanation, confirmation of laws and theories, scientific revolutions and paradigms, and the relation between physical and social sciences.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 210: SYMBOLIC LOGIC
Lect/Disc: 12:30 – 1:45 TR/ Morris
The focus of this course will be first-order quantification theory. We will begin by reviewing truth-functional logic, treating it in a somewhat more abstract and rigorous way than in Philosophy 102. Our study will proceed to monadic and polyadic quantification theory, for which a deduction system will be introduced. We will also consider meta-theoretic questions that arise about such a system in particular, its soundness and completeness.
Note: The course is designed as a continuation of Philosophy 102, and should be accessible to students who have mastered the material of that course. In other words, it will presuppose a good understanding of the basic elements of truth-functional logic, and some acquaintance with quantification theory. As usual, aptitude and willingness to work hard can to some extent make up for a lack of background; some students may even be able to take this course as a first course in logic, but for most that would be unwise. Students who have not taken Philosophy 102 at UIC should see me as soon as possible.
Required Text: Deductive Logic, Warren Goldfarb
PHIL 224: HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY II: KANT AND HIS PREDECESSORS
Lect/Disc: 9:30-10:45 TR/Whipple
In this course we will study four major figures from the modern period: John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. We will begin with Locke’s masterpiece, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. We will then study Berkeley’s Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge and Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. The final four weeks of the semester will be devoted to what is arguably the most important work in the modern period—Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Throughout the course, our aim will be not only to understand particular views of individual philosophers, but also the historical and conceptual relations between the various views we are studying. Topics will include skepticism, substance, personal identity, causation, space and time, and the limits of reason.
Required Texts:
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Kenneth Winkler (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996) (ISBN 0-87220-216-X)
Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, ed. Kenneth Winkler (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1995) (ISBN 0-978-0-915145-39-3)
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Eric Steinberg (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993) (ISBN 0-87220-229-1
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Werner Pluhar, abridged by Eric Watkins (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999) (ISBN 0-87220-449-9)
PHIL 230: TOPICS IN ETHICS AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lect: 12:00-12:50 MWF/Svolba
The language of human rights figures prominently in contemporary moral and political discourse. The aim of this course is to acquaint students with recent philosophical work on the content, scope, and justification of human rights, so that they may gain a better understanding of this discourse and participate in it themselves.
Required texts: James W. Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights (Blackwell 2007).
Additional readings will be assigned.
PHIL 240: PHILOSOPHY AND REVELATION: JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES
Lect/Disc: 11:00- 12:15 TR/ Fischer
There are various arguments that, if successful, seem to undermine adherence to a revealed religion (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.). In this class, we will examine a few of these arguments and consider responses to them. Doing so will involve asking questions like the following: Can one ever know that a miracle occurred? What exactly can one learn from a sacred text? Does it matter whether the historical claims of a particular religion - Christianity, say - are true? If those historical claims were false, would that there still be any reason to be a Christian? Individual and Society, and World Cultures course.
Readings from Lessing, Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard, among others.
PHIL 402: TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
Lect/ Disc: 2:00- 3:15 TR/ Klein
A survey of the philosophical literature on bodily pain and pain perception. Topics will include: the anatomy and physiology of the nocioceptive system, atypical pain phenomena, philosophical theories about the nature of pain sensations, the role of pain in illness, the ethics of medical pain management, and the morality of torture.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 403: METAPHYSICS
Lect/Disc: 12:30-1:45 TR/Snyder
Are various human capacities and inclinations--such as intelligence, linguistic competence, sexual orientation, aesthetic preference, or moral decency—mostly innate or are they more the result of environmental factors? While we discuss some of these specific issues, we will focus on the general theories that underlie these disputes. The course will meet 12.30-1.45 on T/Th and will emphasize discussion; thus, regular attendance [to be explained] is a course requirement. Assuming adequate attendance, grades will be based on class discussion and a term paper. [There will no exams, unless requested by students, and some students may be allowed to substitute an oral presentation for the term paper.]
There are three required books: Benedict, Patterns of Culture [Houghton, 0395-50088-5]; Stevenson & Haberman, Ten Theories of Human Nature [Oxford, 019-516974-3]; and Wilson, On Human Nature [Harvard, 0674-01638-6]. Two further books are recommended: Lewontin, et.al., Not in our Genes [Pantheon, 0394-72888-2] and Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity [Hackett, 087220-627-0].
PHIL 404: PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Lect/Disc: 3:30-4:45 TR/Huggett
This course will be devoted to the science and philosophy of time. For example: What is time? Why does it seem so
different from space? What are the differences between the past and the future? And the present? Why does time 'pass'? Why does it run in one direction? Is time travel possible? These questions have all been asked by philosophers, but various sciences help us address them: mathematics helps us formulate the questions precisely; physics attempts to understand time's 'arrow'; cognitive science helps us understand the basis of perceptions of time; computer science helps us understand the nature of memory. We will study elementary aspects of these sciences to address the philosophical issues. We will also use literature and media to fuel our inquiries.
Textbook: selected readings, made available through blackboard.
PHIL 417: METALOGIC II
Lect/Disc 9:30-10:45 TR/ Hart
We focus on proving the incompleteness and undecidability of number theory. Our text is Mendelson, chapter 3 especially. There will be homework, an hour exam, and a final.
Required Text: Our text is Mendelson, chapter 3 especially.
PHIL 426: ANALSIS AND LOGICAL EMPIRICISM
Lect/Disc: 11:00- 12:15 TR/ Hylton
This class will deal with some aspects of twentieth-century analytic philosophy, and especially of the tradition of scientific philosophy as it exists within that broader movement. The balance of the reading and discussion will be in part determined as we go, by the needs and interests of the class. We shall, in any case, read a number of works by Bertrand Russell, by the Logical Empiricists (otherwise known as Logical Positivists, especially Schlick and Carnap), and by Quine.
Required Texts: Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy
An Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy
Russell's Logical Atomism (ed. David Pears)
In addition to these books, we shall also read a number of essays by (perhaps among others) Rudolf Carnap and W.V. Quine.
PHIL 441 TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Lect/Disc: 11:00-11:50 MWF/Grossman
I’m retiring at the end of the Spring semester, so this will be the last course I teach as a regular member of the UIC faculty. Wanting to give it my best shot, I made a list of all the books that I think are important to know about with respect to my interests in this area. After some deliberation, I narrowed a several dozen books down to just six. The general topics in this “topics in the philosophy of religion” course include organized religion, spirituality, mysticism, a bit of Eastern Philosophy, and contemporary challenges to faith-based belief. We will also examine some contemporary research by scientists into matters that until recently were considered solely a matter of faith, e.g., studies on the effectiveness of prayer, the Near-Death Experience, etc.
Texts:
1) The Varieties of Religious Experience; by William James
2) A confession and Other Religious Writings; Tolstoy
3) The World’s Religions; Smith
4) The End of Faith; Harris
5) Seeds; Merton
6) The Power of Now; Tolle
PHIL 501: SEMINAR: TOPICS IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Lect/Disc: 3:30- 5:50 R/ Meinwald
Ancient Philosophy: Reading Plato in Greek. Close study of the text of a selected dialogue. We will follow the traditional practice of translating and discussing as we go, with attention to basic issues of grammar and syntax as well as more sophisticated points concerning editing. Our ultimate goal is to appreciate how all of this affects the way in which we reconstruct the philosophical issues of the text.
PRE-REQUISITE: some study of Ancient Greek.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 505: Whipple
Disc: 1:30-4:00 F/Whipple
Title: Descartes’ Epistemology and Metaphysics
Although Descartes is arguably the most influential figure in the early modern period, his epistemology and metaphysics have been thought to involve a series of egregious philosophical blunders ranging from the so-called “Cartesian Circle” to an utterly implausible account of substance dualism and mind-body interaction. Recent historical scholarship has challenged this long-standing verdict, suggesting that Descartes’ views are far more subtle, systematic, and interesting than the standard view would lead one to believe. In this seminar we will study Descartes’ epistemology and metaphysics in light of these developments in the recent secondary literature. The primary texts for the seminar are Meditations on First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy, and selections from Descartes’ philosophical correspondence.
Required Texts:
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, vols. I-III, trans. J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, and D. Murdoch (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985-91).
PHIL 508: NINETEENTH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY
Lect/Disc: 3:30- 6:00 T/ Sedgwick
Hegel's Philosophy of Right
This course is primarily intended to provide an introduction to Hegel's idealism. Our main text will be his 1821 Elements of the Philosophy of Right . In that work, Hegel offers his account of the history of the development of the idea or concept of right. He also defends what he takes to be the most adequate conception of the conditions and nature of human freedom. The Philosophy of Right thus offers us (i) insight into Hegel's views on practical agency, and (ii) a unique story about how, on his account, ideas come to be. We will devote special attention to the question of how his general approach to these matters differs in fundamental ways from that of Kant.
Required Text:
Immanuel Kant, Metaphysics of Morals, 0-521-31657-X, Cambridge U Press 1991.
G.W.F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right, 0-521-34888-9, Cambridge U Press 1991.
G.W.F. Hegel, Introduction to the Philosophy of History, 0-87220-056-6, Hackett 1988.
G.W.F. Hegel, Natural Law, 0-812210832, U Penn, 2000.
PHIL 534: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
Lect/Disc 12:30-3:00 R/Schechtman
Title: Self-Conception and Self-Consciousness
The human capacity for self-awareness is widely acknowledged to be of profound significance. This capacity remains, however, somewhat mysterious and highly opaque. In this seminar we will look at questions of self-consciousness and self-conception as they appear in a broad range of philosophical discussions. Topics will include (1) issues about indexicals and self-recognition found in the work of philosophers like John Perry, Thomas Nagel and David Velleman; (2) the role of reflective self consciousness in questions of diachronic personal identity with emphasis on Locke, the neo-Lockeans and their critics; (3) the place of self-consciousness in discussions of autonomy and agency as seen, e.g., in the works of Harry Frankfurt and Christine Korsgaard, and (4) narrative theories of the origins of self consciousness defended by a variety of philosophers and psychologists.
Required Text: TBA
PHIL 542: PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL SCIENCE
Lect/Disc: 12:30- 3:00 T/ Jarrett
This seminar is 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 (and accessible) to students of philosophy as well as to students of physics. 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 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 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.
Required Text: The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, by R.I.G. Hughes, Harvard University Press. (ISBN 0-674-84391-6) I will supplement the text with additional readings as time permits.
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