Course
Descriptions Fall 2001
CAS PH 100
PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY
Professor Fried
Introduction to some basic questions of human
existence, with particular reference to the relationship
between man and nature, between the individual
and the political domain; the soul and the passions;
the definition of virtue and ethics; morality
and freedom.
CAS PH 110
GREAT PHILOSOPHERS
Professor Diamandopoulos
The purpose of the course is to introduce students
with vigorous minds to an intellectual activity
which for the past twenty-five centuries is called "philosophy." The
instructor intends to achieve this goal by interpreting
the investigations of five seminal thinkers that
pursued the goals of philosophy in sustained
yet different ways. By comparing and contrasting
their incompatible perceptions, it is expected
that what proved lasting in philosophy will become
clearer and more thought-provoking, and what
is only of historical interest will prove instructive.
Many in the course will eventually understand
that they have an intellectual and practical
stake in philosophy: they have to philosophize.
The philosophers and works to be studied are:
Plato's Protagoras, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics,
Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals,
Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
and Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals.
Through an examination of mainly ethical questions,
the instructor will try to show: problems about
knowledge, reality, the nature and purpose of
the world and the meaning of being human, all
related to each other. Philosophy, it will be
argued, is to understand the implications of
these relations and their significance for human
existence.
CAS PH 150 A1
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Professor Speight
An introduction to ethics through the reading
of classic texts and articles on contemporary
ethical issues. Course is intended to give an
overview of major philosophical approaches to
ethics and their applications. Specific issues
to be discussed will include cloning, the moral
status of animals, the death penalty and developmental
ethics.
CAS PH 150 B1
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Professor Dahlstrom
An introduction to ethics through examination
of both classical and contemporary philosophical
investigations of ethics.
CAS PH 150 C1
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Professor Garrett
An introduction to the field of ethics through
the reading of classic texts. The class will
focus on understanding the major positions in
moral theory and on applying ethical theories
to two moral issues: punishment and the moral
status of animals animal testing.
CAS PH 155
POLITICS AND PHILOSOPHY
Professor Griswold
An introduction to political philosophy, with
emphasis on classical questions concerning (among
other topics) the nature of justice, the notion
of liberty, the difference between might and
right, the character of the best regime. Readings
drawn from a variety of influential political
philosophers, with an eye to specifying some
of the important differences between ancient
and modern political thought.
CAS PH 160 A1
REASONING & ARGUMENTATION
Professor Ostrow
A systematic study of the principles of both
deductive and informal reasoning, with an emphasis
on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse,
and on their strategies. The aim of the course
is to train the student in the skills of argument
analysis, argument construction, and argument
evaluation.
CAS PH 160 B1
REASONING & ARGUMENTATION
Professor Dodd
A systematic study of the principles of both
deductive and informal reasoning, with an emphasis
on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse,
and on their strategies. The aim of the course
is to train the student in the skills of argument
analysis, argument construction, and argument
evaluation.
CAS PH 160 C1
REASONING & ARGUMENTATION
Professor Hintikka
Beginning course in deductive logic. Truth tables,
truth trees, testing validity, translating sentences
into symbolic language, and examination of different
voting rules will be covered.
Intermediate Level I
*Prerequisite: one philosophy course
or sophomore standing*
CAS PH 242
PHILOSOPHIES OF HUMAN NATURE
Professor Michalski
In Moby Dick, Ahab says:
"All visible objects, man, are but pasteboard masks. But in each event--in
the living act, the undoubted deed-there, some unknown but still reasoning
thing puts forth the moldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask.
If man will strike, strike through the mask!"
Is human nature a "visible" object,
a mask concealing "some unknown but still
reasoning thing?" Can human nature be known
like any other "visible" object? If
there is something necessarily invisible about
human nature, how is it to be known or thought?
Can we--should we--"strike through the mask?" The
course will examine selected ideas or concepts
which might help make human nature more visible
while at the same time respecting its tendency
to withdraw from inspection, i.e., to remain
invisible. These concepts include: attention,
habit, reason, transcendence.
CAS PH 245
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
Professor Lobel
This course will be cross-listed with CAS RN
109: "God, Freedom, Immortality."
Explores the aims of human life, the place of
God in the good life, and the role of contemplation
and action in the philosophical quest.
CAS PH 258
PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE
Professor Kestenbaum
"Let us suppose for the moment that both our Russells and our Becketts
are engaged in telling us how it is, that the novelist and the philosopher
are companions in a common enterprise, though they go about it in different
ways." (William H. Gass, "Philosophy and the Form of Fiction")
Is the supposition that the novelist and the
philosopher are engaged in a "common enterprise" defensible?
Ought we to have different expectations of the
novelist and the philosopher? Is telling (or
showing) us how it is equivalent to telling us
facts and truths? Is there something beyond the
words, beyond the telling or even showing? What
is the place of imagination in literature and
philosophy? To what are they responsible?
The intent of the course is to examine the sorts
of demands placed upon reason, language, and
experience by literature and philosophy.
Henry James, Tales of Henry James
John Updike, The Same Door
Robert Frost, Robert Frost: Poetry and Prose
Wallace Stevens, The Palm at the End of the Mind
Anne Sexton, The Complete Poems
Two, possibly three, papers. Please contact Professor
Kestenbaum for more information (353-4580 or
vkestenb@bu.edu).
CAS PH 266
MIND, BRAIN AND SELF
Professor Bokulich
This course focuses on the simple but important
question: What am I? In the first part of the
course we will examine various theories in the
philosophy of mind. We will ask questions such
as: What is the relationship between the mind
and the brain? What is consciousness? In the
second part of the course we will consider questions
such as: Do nonhuman animals have minds? Could
we build a machine that thinks--an artificial
intelligence? The final part of the course focuses
on the issue of personal identity. We will ask:
What is it that makes me the same person from
day to day and decade to decade? Could I survive
the death of my body?
CAS PH 270
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Professor Cao
This introductory course is designed for those
with little exposure to science. Main features
of the scientific enterprise will be illustrated
by examples in the study of physics, biology
and mind: the aims of scientific activities (understanding,
prediction and control); the nature of scientific
understanding (causal explanation with general
applicability); scientific procedures (by which
scientific theories are formulated, tested, accepted
or rejected); the structure and interpretation
of scientific theories (evidential support, models
and hypotheses, laws and predictions; the cognitive
significance of these components); the development
of science (accumulation and/or revolution).
Some concepts central to the natural and social
sciences, (such as space, time, forces, atom
and quantum; life and evolution, structure and
function; facts, value and agents) will be examined
carefully. Controversies among competing schools
in the philosophy of science (logical positivism,
falsificationism, historicism, social constructivism
and feminism) over the objectivity and rationality
of the scientific enterprise will also be discussed.
CAS PH 277
PHIL. AND METHOD IN HUMAN SCIENCES
Professor Bokulich
This course is an examination of philosophical
issues central to the natural and social sciences.
The topics will include: explanation, prediction,
laws, rationality, reduction, holism, objectivity,
and values. Although some knowledge of a special
science would be helpful, it is not presupposed.
Intermediate Level II
*Prerequisite: one philosophy course
or sophomore standing*
CAS PH 300 A1
HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Professor Brinkmann
The course will explore Greek philosophy and
will concentrate on its development from Thales
through Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Platonic
dialogues, and major chunks of the Aristotelian
corpus will be read with some care. The focus
will be philosophical rather than historical,
and the emphasis will be on the analysis and
interpretation of texts. One in-class written
exam, a midterm and a final paper.
CAS PH 300 B1
HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Professor Roochnik
The course will explore Greek philosophy and
will concentrate on its chief representatives:
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Platonic dialogues,
and elements of the Aristotelian corpus will
be read with care. The focus will be philosophical
more than historical.
CAS PH 310
HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Professor Ferrarin
Examination of theories of major seventeenth
and eighteenth century philosophers, from Descartes
to Kant. Along with their confidence in reason,
the Continental Rationalists share a conception
of philosophy as a universal discipline whose
propositions are derivable from first principles
regarded as necessary. The British Empiricists,
on the other hand, beginning with Locke's "historical,
plain method," claim to rely primarily on
experience as the basis of their theories of
knowledge. There are lessons in all of this that
Kant takes to heart.
CAS PH 350
HISTORY OF ETHICS
Professor Garrett
This class will prepare students for work in
the history of ethics via an immersion in eighteenth-century
British moral philosophy. The period is uniquely
rich in ideas and debates and influences many
of the ways in which contemporary ethicists view
their discipline. Topics covered will include
utilitarianism, moral sense theory, natural law,
virtue ethics, rights, and conventionalism. Major
authors to be considered will include John Locke,
Shaftesbury, Joseph Butler, David Hume, Adam
Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Jeremy Bentham .
In addition Kant will be discussed as a challenge
to this tradition..
CAS PH 360
SYMBOLIC LOGIC
Professor Dodd
Study of methods characteristic of modern deductive
logic including truth tables, Boolean normal
forms, models, and indirect and conditional proofs
within the theory of truthfunctions and quantifiers.
For 400/600 courses, register as follows:
400 level/Undergraduate Students
600 level/Graduate Students
Modern and Contemporary Philosophy *Prerequisites:
PH310 and 2 other PH courses*
CAS PH 406
ARISTOTLE II
Professor Diamandopoulos
Through a close reading of Aristotle's Politics,
the instructor will interpret the Hellenic invention
of the "political" as a philosophical
and practical challenge; as a challenge to ideas
and action. How philosophy perceived that challenge,
and, according to Aristotle, ought to meet it,
will be one of the aims of the course. How history
appears to have dealt with the issue and responded
to philosophical argument, will be the other
concern of the course. The purpose of this joint
approach will be to clarify the mission of philosophy
in practical projects; also, the causes of intractability
in human affairs.
For the undertaking to succeed, constant references
to Aristotle's theory of sciences, physics, metaphysics,
psychology and ethics will be made. Yet the course
will focus primarily on a systematic explication
of the text of the Politics.
Students of different interests but with keen
concerns about what can be done regarding the
recalcitrance of the human condition, if prepared,
are welcome to the course; they can learn a lot
from Aristotle.
The course will be conducted as a seminar, with
a lot of writing and oral presentations.
CAS PH 411/611
BRITISH EMPIRICISM
Professor Allison
The course will be devoted to a study of selected
portions of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding
and most of Book I of Hume's Treatise of Human
Nature.
CAS PH 412
PHILOSOPHY OF ENLIGHTENMENT
Professor Rosen
Stamped Approval Necessary--see Dr. Rosen. This
is cross-listed with Dr. Rosen's UNI course on
Nietzsche.
A detailed interpretation of Nietzsche's Thus
Spoke Zarathustra with special attention to the
problem of the the crisis of the Enlightenment
in late modernity.
CAS PH 413
KANT
Professor Ferrarin
A single text constitutes the basis for this
course--Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Some
of the great scholars of the past have devoted
a lifetime to analyzing, explicating, and evaluating
this work. We, alas, have only one semester.
In this, the first of three Critiques, Kant introduced
the idea of a critical self-examination of reason,
and in the execution of this program he developed
a unique new type of philosophy, called transcendental
philosophy, which forever revolutionized philosophical
thought. We shall examine the text carefully
from beginning to end. Because Kant's thinking
is enormously complex, intricate, and subtle,
we shall make ample use of secondary sources
and complement textual analysis by discussing
helpful comments by some of today’s finest
Kant scholars.
CAS PH 418
MARX & MARXISM
Professor Cao
In this introductory course, Marxism will be
treated mainly as a conceptual framework for
understanding history and society (including
economy, politics and culture), and also as a
critique of capitalism and a program of transforming
the capitalist society for human emancipation,
with an analysis of both its philosophical and
ethical presuppositions and its conceptions of
a post-capitalist society. The evolution of its
theoretical bases, through its three stages (classical
Marxism of Marx and Engels; the Soviet orthodoxy
and its critics; and contemporary Marxisms) will
be critically examined, and its practical (political,
economic and cultural) impacts on the historical
course since its inception briefly outlined.
CAS PH 419/619
NIETZSCHE
Professor Michalski
An examination of the work of the nineteenth
century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Our aim will be to gain a perspective on the
development of his thought and the range of his
concerns.
CAS PH 420/620
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
Professor Hintikka
This course does not only present briefly some
of the main figures of contemporary philosophy,
among them Frege, Husserl, Wittgenstein and Heidegger,
and some of the important developments, such
as hermeneutics, logical empiricism, existentialism,
the new philosophy of science (Kuhn, etc.), the
new theory of reference (Marcus, Kripke, etc.)
neurophilosophy and the realism controversy.
It also seeks to answer the question: What's
in them for us? Which ideas of these thinkers
are helpful in guiding philosophical thought
to the next century and which ones are not?
CAS PH 426/626
PHENOMENOLOGY
Professor Dahlstrom
The aim of this course is to provide an introduction
to phenomenology as a way of doing philosophy.
To this end the course concentrates on central
themes and methods of the founder of phenomenological
movement, Edmund Husserl. The course begins with
a review of Brentano's concept of intentionally
and its critical appropriation by Husserl in
the analyses of truth, facts, and categorical
intuitions within the Logical Investigations
(1900). Based upon Husserl's own introductions
into phenomenology in the first two volumes of
Ideas to a Pure Phenomenology and Phenomenological
Philosophy:, the course critically analyses the
natural attitude and phenomenological reductions,
the general structures of pure consciousness,
and the conception of the Lebenswelt in Husserl's
later thinking. While all texts are available
in translation, reading knowledge of German is
helpful.
Speculative Philosophy *Prerequisites: PH300,
310, and 1 other PH course*
CAS PH 446/646
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Professor Olson
An examination of principal issues and topics
in the philosophy of religion. This course develops
in three stages: first, an historical overview
of the development of philosophy of religion
as a discipline or sub-discipline of philosophy,
theology and metaphysics with special attention
to the problems and challenges facing this discipline
in the context of the comparative philosophy
of religion. The second part of this course is
dedicated to readings and discussions of source
materials in the philosophy of religion, viz.,
the traditional proofs for the existence of God,
the problem of evil, mysticism and religious
experience, faith and reason, revelation and
authority, science and religion, religious ethics,
etc. The third and final part of the course will
consist of religious ethics, etc. The third and
final part of the course of a close reading and
commentary on Hegel's 1827 Lectures on the Philosophy
of Religion, the first serious attempt to do
a comparative philosophy of religion.
Requirements: Two position papers on the readings
(2-3 pages each) by undergraduate students and
graduate students, research paper or "take-home" final
examination for undergraduate students; research
paper by graduate students.
Texts:
Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger (eds),
Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (Oxford,
1996).
G.W.F. Hegel, 1827 Lectures on the Philosophy
of Religion, California, 1988.
Philosophy of Value *Prerequisites: PH350 and
2 other PH courses*
CAS PH 454/654
PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
Professor Lyons
Cross-listed with Law JD853 A1
What is law? How does law differ from other forms
of social organization and control? We speak
in both law and morals of justice, rights, and
duties, but the law of the land is not the same
as any moral code. How are law and morality related?
This course addresses the two central concerns
of general jurisprudence--the nature of law and
its relations to moral principle. (It is not
a survey but addresses current theory.) Topics
include the idea that laws are orders backed
by threats, the logical structure of a legal
system, the basis of legal authority, the idea
that law has an "open texture," the
nature and merits of value-free and value-based
approaches to the interpretation of law, the
possibility of a moral obligation to comply with
law, and the moral justification of civil disobedience.
CAS PH 455/655
LEGAL PHILOSOPHY
Professor Lyons
Cross listed with: The Interpretation
of Law [seminar] Law JD846 A1
Stamped Approval Necessary--see Dr. Lyons.
What general principles determine how laws should
be understood? This seminar will consider three
general, competing answers to this question:
textualism, intentionalism, and naturalism The
textualist (or "plain meaning") view
maintains that the text of a law is the sole
basis of its meaning: a statute or written constitution
neither requires nor admits of genuine interpretation.
By contrast, intentionalism holds that the text
of a law can obscure its true meaning, which
is determined by the intentions of the original
lawmakers. The third view, naturalism, maintains
that interpretation must instead be based on
a law’s justifying rationale. This seminar
will consider the content, underpinnings, and
implications of these views, and along the way
will consider two related issues: whether law
can have determinate meaning when there is reasonable
disagreement or uncertainty about it, and whether
interpretation to identify the true meaning of
a law must be value-free.
Readings will be drawn from contemporary writers
-- mainly, but not all, in law — such as
Herbert Hart, Carl Hempel, Raoul Berger, Richard
Posner, Ronald Dworkin, and Robert Bork, as well
as a few judicial opinions. In addition to a
term paper with a theoretical focus, seminar
members will be required to submit brief weekly
reports, consisting of notes and comments, on
the current reading assignment.
CAS PH 456/656
PROMISE & PERIL: THE PARADOX OF
RELIGION AS RESOURCE & THREAT
Professor Rouner
Cross-listed with TT 821, RN 397/697
Stamped Approval Necessary--see Dr. Rouner
This seminar will examine the role of religion
in various cultures. It is organized around the
Institute for Philosophy and Religion's lecture
series, which is sponsored by the Institute for
Religion and World Affairs. We meet most Wednesday
afternoons at 3:00 p.m for discussion with the
evening's lecturer. Copies of the lecture are
made available in advance as the basis for discussion.
Attendance at the evening lectures (5-7 PM) is
also required.
The seminar provides a unique opportunity to
engage major world figures in the fields of philosophy,
religion, and theology in an intimate, informal
setting. Consent of the instructor required.
See Professor Lee Rouner or Ms. Anna Lännström
in STH 523 for further information (353-3067).
Please note that this is a year-long seminar
and that you need to take the course both semesters
in order to receive course credit.
Philosophy of Knowledge, Language, and Logic
*Prerequisites: PH310, 360, and 1 other PH course*
CAS PH 461/661
COMPUTABILITY AND LOGIC
Professor Kanamori
(cross-listed with MA 531)
The course begins with a treatment of first-order
logic as the basis for mathematical logic and
an underlying language for mathematics. The syntax
and semantics of quantifiers are analyzed, leading
to Gödel's Completeness Theorem. A sketch
is then given of Gödel's Incompleteness
Theorem. This leads to Turing's Halting Problem
and the beginnings of the theory of computability.
After describing the class of computable functions
and Church's thesis, the theory is developed
through the enumeration and parameterization
theorems to Kleene's Recursion Theorem. Required
Texts: Herbert B. Enderton, A Mathematical Introduction
to Logic (New York: Academic Press, Second Edition
2001); and if available, Assaf J. Kfoury, Robert
N. Moll, and Michael A. Arbib, A Programming
Approach to Computability (New York: Springer-Verlag,
1982).
CAS PH 484
TOP: SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Professor Brinkmann
We will confront the famous metaphysical question "Why
does anything exist at all rather than nothing?" by
taking Martin Heidegger's 1953 publication of
his earlier lecture course, "Introduction
to Metaphysics," as our guide. This will
give us the opportunity to analyze and discuss
some of the chief metaphysical ideas in the history
of philosophy by looking at selected texts from
Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Leibniz, Kant and
Hegel, as well as develop an understanding of
the particular perspective Heidegger brought
to this question and why he thought that it continues
to be a fundamental question even today. Students
will be expected to have a working knowledge
of and familiarity with the major figures in
the history of Western philosophy as taught in
our PH300 and PH310 History of Philosophy courses.
CAS PH 485/685
TOPICS: PHILOSOPHY OF VALUE
Professor Wiggins
Drawing on texts from Hume, Kant, Montaigne,
Schopenhauer, Mill, James, Moore, Ross, Wittgenstein,
Jouvenel, Korsgaard and Aurel Kolnai, this course
will treat topics (1) and (2), as described below,
as well as one or two others from the following
list of five:
1. The moral motive in relation to the content
of ordinary morality (Hume, Kant)
2. Act Utilitarianism, Consequentialism, Ideal
Consequentialism, and the significance of the
distinctions commonly made between doing something
and allowing something to happen, between intending
and foreseeing, between doing an act and producing
an outcome.
3. Social justice, and, in particular, the contrast
between neo-Aristotelian accounts of justice
such as that offered by de Jouvenel and constructionalist
accounts of justice such as that of John Rawls;
equality and G. A. Cohen's critique of Rawls.
4. The status of moral judgements, their relativity,
contextuality, subjectivity, putative objectivity,
etc. (Montaigne, Hume, Kolnai)
5. Moral significance; the mystical sections
of Wittgenstein's Tractatus 6.4 ff.; the meaning
of life (Wittgenstein, James); aspirations and
ideals (James); utopia (Kolnai).
*The following courses are open
to Graduate Students ONLY*
GRS PH 801
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Professor Rosen
The first of a two semester graduate seminar
on Plato's Republic.
GRS PH 813
KANT III
Professor Allison
The seminar will be devoted to Kant's Critique
of Judgement. The aim will be to make as close
a study as possible within a semester of both
Introductions and the Critique of Aesthetic Judgement.
Pre-requisite: one general course on Kant's theoretical
philosophy (413/613 or its equivalent)
GRS PH 820
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
Dean Neville
No description is available at this time.
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