Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• GRS PH 665: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
  Can humans be thought of in analogy with machines? The course examines questions of natural and artificial intelligence in light of traditional theory and of recent research in computer science and artificial intelligence.
• GRS PH 668: Philosophical Problems of Logic and Mathematics
  Selected traditional metaphysical and epistemological problems in the light of modern logic and various studies in the foundations of mathematics, including the nature of axiomatic method, completeness in logic and mathematics, and the nature of mathematical truth.
• GRS PH 670: Philosophy of Physics
  Philosophical problems concerning the interpretation of physical discoveries. Elementary particles, the anomalies of quantum mechanics, some modern problems of space and time, and the problem of wholes and parts.
• GRS PH 672: Philosophy of Biology
  Conceptual problems in biology; unity or pluralism of science; hierarchy theory; biological explanation; evolutionary theory, teleology and causality, statistical explanation; the species problem; mind and the brain; and language in animals and humans.
• GRS PH 677: Philosophy of the Social Sciences
  Topics in the philosophy of the social sciences such as the interpretation of human action and the objectivity of social inquiry. Social consideration of alternative theoretic viewpoints such as naturalism and interpretivism.
• GRS PH 680: Topics in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
  Topic for Fall 2017: Thinking Food & Drink. An examination sparked by Greek literature and philosophy.
• GRS PH 685: Topics in Philosophy of Value
  Topic for Fall 2017: Shame.
• GRS PH 686: Topics in Knowledge, Language, and Logic
  Topic for Fall 2017: Philosophy of Computing. What are the logical and philosophical origins and applications of the Turing Machine? What, philosophically, is computation? We discuss some of the logico-philosophical aspects of Turing's work and examine foundational issues surrounding its future extensions and applications.
• GRS PH 687: Topics in the Philosophy of Science
  A discussion-based introduction to core issues in the philosophy of science, focusing on the topics of scientific realism, theory change, reductionism, explanation, models, and natural kinds.
• GRS PH 688: Topics in Aesthetics
  Consideration of selected topics in aesthetics, with particular attention to the relationship between aesthetic experience and analytical accounts of the experience; topics include expression, perception, qualities, the good, the ideal, and the sublime.
• GRS PH 699: Teaching College Philosophy I
  The goals, contents, and methods of instruction in philosophy. General teaching-learning issues. Required of all teaching fellows.
• GRS PH 801: Ancient Philosophy 1
  An advanced study of works by either Plato or Aristotle.
• GRS PH 810: Topics in Modern Philosophy
  Topics vary.
• GRS PH 811: Topics in the Philosophy of Kant I
  
• GRS PH 812: Kant 2
  
• GRS PH 819: Ethics
  An advanced study of ethics.
• GRS PH 820: Contemporary Philosophy
  An advanced study of contemporary philosophy.
• GRS PH 827: Heidegger
  An advanced study of the works of Heidegger.
• GRS PH 850: Ethics
  Examines the origins of two familiar distinctions (1. the good versus the right; 2. sentiment versus reason). Tries to make sense of the eighteenth century approaches to these issues, as well as the continuity of those approaches with related twentieth and twenty-first century ethical theory.
• GRS PH 854: Seminar in Political Philosophy
  Topic for Spring 2018: Hobbes.

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