Philosophy

• GRS PH 603: Plato I
  A careful study of one or several Platonic dialogues. Emphasizes both close reading of the text(s) and discussion of the deep philosophical issues raised by them. Frequent references to other Platonic dialogues as relevant. Knowledge of Greek is helpful but not required. Familiarity with Greek philosophy is helpful.
• GRS PH 605: Aristotle I
  A careful study of Aristotle's theoretical philosophy conducted through a close reading of selections from the Categories, Posterior Analytics, Physics, On the Soul, and the Metaphysics.
• GRS PH 606: Aristotle II
  A close reading of Aristotle's writings on practical philosophy (i.e., the Nicomachean Ethics and the Politics) and of his philosophy of art in the Poetics, focusing on the nature of human happiness and the good life, the question of the best form of political government, and the function of art for life.
• GRS PH 609: Maimonides
  A study of major aspects of the thought of Maimonides. Primary focus on the Guide of the Perplexed, with attention to its modern reception in works by Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Leo Strauss, and others. Also offered as GRS RN 720. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
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  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
• GRS PH 611: British Empiricism
  A critical study of major texts of British Empiricists, with emphasis on Locke and Hume.
• GRS PH 612: Philosophy of the Enlightenment
  A critical examination of that family of philosophical and political movements that called itself "the Enlightenment." Students analyze key texts by Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Smith, Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, Jefferson, Madison, Kant, and Hegel.
• GRS PH 615: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
  Study of the important themes in the philosophy of Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.
• GRS PH 618: Marx and Marxism
  Philosophical foundation of Marxism and its development. Critical study of Marx's writings stressing questions of philosophy, political economy, science, and history. Emphasis on Marx's theory of relation of praxis to consciousness. Later (including contemporary) Marxists and critics.
• GRS PH 619: Nietzsche
  A study of Nietzsche's philosophy, focusing on one or more of his works.
• GRS PH 622: Analytic Philosophy
  A survey of the basic works of twentieth-century analytical philosophy.
• GRS PH 624: Wittgenstein
  An intensive (line by line) study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations.
• GRS PH 626: Phenomenology
  Rigorous examination of the foundations of philosophical phenomenology in Husserl and Heidegger.
• GRS PH 627: Heidegger and Existential Philosophy
  A study of the main topics of Heidegger's philosophy against the background of his interpretation of Husserl's phenomenology, Kant's transcendental philosophy, and ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on the concepts of being, time, and truth.
• GRS PH 633: Symbolic Logic
  Study of methods characteristic of modern deductive logic including use of truth tables, Boolean normal forms, models, and indirect and conditional proofs within the theory of truth-functions and quantifiers.
• GRS PH 636: Gender, Race, and Science
  Examines issues in feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, and philosophy of science. Is "race" a genuine scientific category or a social construct? How have views about gender and race changed? Why are there still so few women and minority scientists?
• GRS PH 640: Metaphysics
  A survey of basic questions in contemporary metaphysics that may include reality, time, change, free will, personal identity, and causation.
• GRS PH 643: Philosophy of Mind
  The topic is sentience, embodiment, and the brain. The aim is to develop a "neurophenomenological" approach to consciousness and embodied experience in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind.
• GRS PH 645: The Philosophy of Love
  What is love? What different forms does it take (e.g. parental love, romantic love)? Is love non- rational or are there reasons of love? We aim to answer these and other philosophical questions by focusing on contemporary philosophical writings on love.
• GRS PH 647: Asian Philosophy
  Topic for Spring 2005: Buddhist Philosophy. Major issues, personalities, and texts in the Buddhist philosophical tradition, including early Buddhist scriptures, intellectual developments in classical India, China, Japan, and Tibet, and the encounter with modernity in Asia and the West.
• GRS PH 651: Contemporary Ethical Theory
  An examination of contemporary English and American moral theories. Topic for Fall 2019: The Color Line and the Problem of Reparations.

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