Course Catalog

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Course Catalog

PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE (PL2020)

Introduction to philosophical thinking about the nature and functioning as well as the ethics and socio-politics of that fuzzy phenomenon we call “language.”Provides a comprehensive overview of main theories from the 19th to the 21st century,in both the analytic and the continental tradition. Relates the material to issues important to the students of the course in their everyday lives.

METAPHYSICS, SCIENCE & RATIONALISM (PL2036)

This course explores the impact of modern science upon philosophy through an exploration of the fundamental texts of classical metaphysics - Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, Spinoza's Ethics, Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics and The Monadology - an examination guided by the question of what is it to act with freedom and grace in an infinite universe ruled by the laws of nature.

EMPIRICISM, SKEPTICISM & MATERIALISM (PL2037)

In this course we shall examine the birth of empiricism in polemics over the origins of knowledge and political authority, the limits of human reason, and the possibility of philosophy itself finding a way out of the seventeenth century's religious wars and tyranny towards the creation of free and tolerant societies of rational individuals. Readings from Descartes, Locke, Berkeley and Hume.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (PL2041)

Introduction to ethics by the example of environmental ethics, exploring the role of humans as moral agents with regard to other living beings, the whole planet or its biosphere, and future generations. Through cases studies and to understand implicit assumptions and theoretical problems of standpoints taken by stakeholders in the debate.

THE COMMONS AND THE MARKET (PL2060)

What are the justifications and implications of using markets, and what arrangements are necessary to establish and protect the commons? This course studies foundational texts of (neo-)liberal economics that aim to legitimize market mechanisms; philosophical treatments and critiques of key concepts, such as rationality and motivation, property and common goods; political analyses of how allocative institutions produce distributional outcomes.

PHILOSOPHY OF MIND (PL2070)

Systematic introduction to core questions of the philosophy of mind: What is consciousness? How
does the mind relate to the body? How does the mind relate to the world through perception, thought,
emotions, and actions? Case-based exploration of the consequences answers to these questions have
for our conception of, e.g., reality, social relations, moral values, and a person or self.

CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY (PL2071)

The course focuses on the impact of the emergent discipline of political economy on modern philosophy. A brief overview of the work of Adam Smith and David Ricardo will introduce the concerns of political economy before the course focuses on Karl Marx's attempt to re-orientate philosophy through the critique of political economy.

FREUD & NIETZSCHE (PL2072)

An introduction to one of the key orientations of modern philosophy: critical genealogy and its central problematic, the identity and formation of the subject. The aim of critical genealogy is to unearth the hidden and unsuspected mechanisms, whether institutional or familial, which lie behind the formation of individual and social identities.

PHILOSOPHY & FILM (PL2095)

Uses film to examine various philosophical ideas and critical concepts. Students look at a number of key Western texts and thinkers and discuss them in the context of a broad range of films. Uses these films as illustrations to investigate questions about knowledge, the self and personal identity, moral philosophy, social and political thought, and critical theory.

TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY (PL2910)

TOPICS VARY BY SEMESTER