[more], This course will emphasize interdisciplinary approaches to the study of intelligent systems, both natural and artificial. [more], In this course we will examine traditional philosophical approaches to understanding death and related concepts, with a special focus on the ethical concerns surrounding death and care for the dying. The first, shorter part will focus on the writings of the three classics of American pragmatism--Charles S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey--and analyze their reaction against traditional epistemology, as well as the positive philosophical ideas that they had to offer. But perform those exact same steps in a different order--check the stove, say "I didn't leave the stove on", then say "I might've left the stove on"--and something's gone quite wrong. Here are a few: the cosmos. A number of conceptual themes will emerge throughout the course of the term, including notions of exploitation and coercion, privacy and confidentiality, and the balance between public interests and individual rights. We will then turn to some specific social forms in the second unit, and ask whether they promote or preclude our freedom. central to debates about the significance and value of his work such as: psychology academically respectable. characteristics, but rather what a human being becomes and how it defines and creates itself under conditions it does not choose. In particular, one must grasp that "three of them" picks out a subset of the group picked out by "every cookie", and that there's no such thing as a cookie that is both chocolate chip, Minds, Brains, and Intelligent Behavior: An Introduction to Cognitive Science. If so, freedom may seem impossible since we're all deeply influenced by factors ranging from the general laws of nature to specific features of our genetic endowment and social environment (including religion, political ideology, and advertising). it stands at the beginning of both the Analytic and Continental traditions in contemporary philosophy. We will ask, for example, what these theories tell us about the nature of space, time, probability and causality. Is it possible to have systematic knowledge of subjective experience? In addition, we will devote several class meetings interspersed throughout the semester to reading foundational sources in ethical theory. [more], This tutorial, designed especially for first year students, is a philosophy course, not a prelaw course. How do I know that I am one? Initial tutorial meetings will focus on theoretical materials that will background later discussions and will include classic readings from the environmental ethics literature (e.g., Leopold, Taylor, Rolston). The issue of prediction was also raised by economist Donald McCloskey who, in 1988, asked his fellow economists, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" This tutorial will bring to life the debate between Locke and Leibniz, and enable students to reach their own conclusions about Empiricism vs. Rationalism, Realism vs. Idealism, and related issues. To what extent do these myriad force relations limit, enable, or deform our participation as political citizens, and our capacity to transform and improve them? of Western metaphysics; French Nietzscheans such as Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze as well as French feminist Luce Irigaray appropriate Nietzschean themes and concepts in their critical engagements with the Western philosophical tradition; and Anglo-American moral philosophers such as Bernard Williams, Alisdair MacIntyre, and Phillippa Foot (as well as Rorty) respond to and engage his critique of modern morality. This introduction will be of use to students interested in language from a variety of perspectives, including philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science. Among the questions that we will address: What is justice? This tutorial aims to provide students with the skills necessary for careful, serious and thorough reading of Wittgenstein's later philosophy. Our focus will be on recent influential work in this area. Questions include: Does the world decide the truth and falsity of all our beliefs? The stoics and skeptics both claimed a Socratic imprimatur for their own thought. this fact? What should be the goals of Williams College? Phil Walsh!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? (v) Either you are reading or you are a fish. the Enlightenment . The College Mission Statement says that "Williams seeks to provide the finest possible liberal arts education by nurturing in students the academic and civic virtues, and their related traits of character." What, if anything, justifies our scientific knowledge? Among the authors we will read are: Aristotle, Frege, Russell, Quine, Kripke, Putnam, Field and Fine. In order to hit the ground running, students will be expected to read. [more], We will consider a series of debates in 20th Century Analytic Philosophy concerning the relationship between the mind and the world. Assigned works will include Booker T. Washington. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. Who is equal? The first portion of the course will be devoted to considering general theories of justice as well as alternative conceptions of justice specifically within the health care context. We got it anyway . This course will introduce students to fundamental concepts, methods, and issues in environmental ethics. There will also be a midterm paper (roughly 10 pages) and a final paper (roughly 15 pages) which you will develop and revise in consultation with the instructor. Existentialists investigate deeply irrational phenomena of human life, including anxiety, boredom, tragedy, despair, death, faith, sexuality, love, hate, sadism, masochism, and authenticity. Unfortunately, the relevance of Hume's ideas and arguments for particular philosophical disciplines has too often led to a piece-meal reading of his work: the three books of Treatise ("Of the Understanding," "Of the Passions" and "Of Morals") are typically considered in isolation from one another. We will first get clear on the formal semantics of first-order logic and various ways of thinking about formal proof: natural deduction systems, semantic tableaux, axiomatic systems and sequent calculi. [more], Is morality simply a matter of opinion? With few exceptions, thoroughgoing skepticism and relativism have not been the prevailing views of the greatest minds in the history of philosophy. (iii) You exist. [more], The aim of this tutorial is to critically examine the nature, importance, and ethical value of personal attachments and loyalties. who happens to be a philosopher; nor is it just that philosophical positions are reviewed in the narrative, as in Gaarder's. Aristotle expresses in these books were instrumental in setting an intellectual agenda that dominated western thought through the Middle Ages and provided the backdrop against which the modern philosophical tradition arose. Students who have take PHIL 203 will have a good background for this class, but students who are generally comfortable with formal systems need not have taken PHIL 203. From there it is a natural transition to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Our subjects will include hate speech, press censorship, pornography, controversial art, sacrilegious speech and campus controversies. The second, longer part of the seminar will try to isolate and follow some of the pragmatist currents which run through epistemology and philosophy of science in the 20th and 21st centuries. modernity and of politics offered by such thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Mill, and Freud. Dubois, The Talented Tenth, Frederick Rudolph, Williams College 1793-1993: Three Eras, Three Cultures, Michael S. Roth, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, Martha Nussbaum, Cultivating Humanity, William Deresiewicz, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, and Anthony T. Kronman, The Assault on American Excellence. But how often do we ask: What is freedom? By the early 20th century, in the works of Freud, we encounter the idea of the intra-psychic features of subjects and the importance of understanding and regulating psychic forces both within and between subjects in order to adapt to the demands of living at any given time, born as we are both dependent upon and vulnerable to others. Safety measures are in place, and campus community members and guests are additionally advised to take personal precautions. The second portion of the course will use feminist philosophy to inform our understanding of the ways in which gender structures the individual's interactions with the health care system. While Hegel studies tends to occur in isolation from philosophers in the Africana tradition, many of the above explicitly refer to and take up questions in Hegel. If there aren't such things, how do we characterize meaningfulness instead? Stoicism and skepticism, however, are wildly divergent schools of thought. We also introduce the practice of meditation as a way to observe the mind and raise questions concerning the place of its study in the mind-sciences. of the subject developed in the early 19th century German philosophy of Hegel. Furthermore, many of the issues that Aristotle takes up in these books remain of central importance in contemporary philosophy. If loyalty is a virtue, what are the proper limits of its cultivation and expression? The seminar will be structured around a close, critically engaged reading of the, Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations", action, knowledge, ethics, religion, aesthetics, culture, and of course, philosophy itself. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. The seminar will fall into two unequal parts. Attention to the writing process and developing an authorial voice will be a recurrent focus of our work inside and outside the classroom. I just wanted to put on here a tribute video that my Assistant Jessica has put together for Murdered Adelaide Football coach Phil Walsh, who was a true leader of young men in sport and life (it is . Among other things, these critics challenged Rawls' interpretation and defense of the social contract framework, the ideals of freedom and equality, the content of principles of justice, political neutrality about the good, the nature of the self, the division between public and private spheres, and the distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory. Our aim will be to identify and evaluate the strongest version of each argument. philosophers deeply influenced by pragmatism do not recognize the fact, while, on the other hand, some self-proclaimed pragmatists of our days can hardly be seen as continuing the tradition to which they pledge allegiance. Or might it be that our skepticism and relativism are the result of our own laziness and failure? In framing and answering these questions, we will discuss subjective experience (or phenomenology) of mental illness; holism vs. reductionism; functional, historical and structural explanations of psychopathology; theory formation, evidence, and the role of values in psychology and psychiatry; the diversity and disunity of psychotherapeutic approaches; relationship between knowers and the known; and relationship between theoretical knowledge in psychiatry and the practices of healing. This course introduces philosophy students to these and related questions through a parallel reading that brings together 19th century German philosopher Hegel and a tradition of Africana philosophy running through Douglas, Du Bois, Fanon, Gilroy, Hartman and Wynter. Type in your search terms and press enter or navigate down for suggested search results. Starting with early film theorists (such as Munsterberg, Arnheim, Bazin, and Soviet formalists), we will examine how their insights and disagreements influenced later developments in continental and analytic philosophy of film, and in film theory. We will then turn to contemporary controversies such as campus free speech. Ninah T. Pretto. This course is an advanced seminar devoted to a comprehensive examination of Fanon's political thought. We will read some representative works from each of these schools of thought to see how each approaches Socrates. DuBois engaged in a great debate about the nature of education. If there are such things--we'll call them propositions--what are they like? We'll try to make some progress on these issues. We will read works by three of Socrates' contemporaries: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and especially Plato. Our main goal in this course is to work our way through Aristotle's text which can be extremely daunting, and to reconstruct his central positions and his arguments for these positions. The question of this course is whether these values are in conflict. We will read Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in seeking answers to these questions. At home? Furthermore, they share the conviction that the most important components of a successful life are within the control of the individual human being. In this course, we will study the literature in contemporary philosophy on the nature of knowledge and rational belief. Indeed Nietzsche's influence has been pervasive. Perhaps, then, economics is not primarily a predictive science, but instead a descriptive, historical, and/or mathematical one. Readings will include work by Plato, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, Nietzsche, and contemporary authors. Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. 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