Philosophy

Faculty of the Department of Philosophy

Christine M. Korsgaard, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy (Chair)
K. Anthony Appiah, Charles H. Carswell Professor of Afro-American Studies and of Philosophy
Melissa Barry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy (on leave 2000-01)
Michael Blake, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Peter Godfrey-Smith, Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy (Stanford University) (fall term only)
Warren Goldfarb, Walter Beverly Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic (Head Tutor)
Richard G. Heck, Jr., Professor of Philosophy (on leave spring term)
Edwin William McCann, Visiting Professor of Philosophy (University of Southern California)
Richard Moran, Professor of Philosophy
Robert Nozick, Pellegrino University Professor (on leave 2000-01)
Charles D. Parsons, Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy (Director of Graduate Studies)
James Pryor, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr., Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity (on leave fall term)
Amartya Sen, Visiting Professor of Philosophy (Trinity College, Cambridge)
Susanna Siegel, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Alison Simmons, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Philosophy (on leave spring term)
Gisela Striker, Professor of Classical Philosophy (on leave spring term)
Raphael Graham Woolf, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Primarily for Undergraduates

Philosophy 3. Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy
Catalog Number: 1996
James Pryor
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An introduction to the methods of contemporary philosophy by examining three issues: (1) The mind/body problem: What is the relation between your mind and your body? Are they made up of different stuffs? (2) Personal identity: What makes you the person you are? Could you survive the death of your body? (3) Free will: Are your actions and decisions part of the chain of cause and effects studied by physics? If so, does that mean you never act freely?

Philosophy 7. Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
Catalog Number: 1454
Raphael Graham Woolf
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11.
A survey of some main themes and figures of ancient philosophical thought, concentrating on the Pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle. Topics include the nature of reality, the ways we might come to have knowledge, and the good life for human beings.

Philosophy 8. Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy
Catalog Number: 8947
Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
A survey of major 17th- and 18th-century philosophers, including Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant, on such topics as the nature of the physical world, the relation between mind and body, personal identity, and skepticism. Special attention to the context set by the rise of mechanistic science (the “Scientific Revolution”).

*Philosophy 97hf. Tutorial — Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 1669
Warren Goldfarb
Half course (throughout the year). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of all sophomore concentrators.

*Philosophy 98hf. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 5533
Warren Goldfarb
Half course (throughout the year). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of all junior concentrators.

*Philosophy 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 4396
Warren Goldfarb and members of the department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.

Cross-listed Courses

[Moral Reasoning 33. Issues in Ethics]
[Moral Reasoning 56. Self, Freedom, and Existence]
[Moral Reasoning 60. Reason and Morality]
Moral Reasoning 62. Reasoning In and About the Law
Moral Reasoning 66. Moral Reasoning About Social Protest
Quantitative Reasoning 22. Deductive Logic

For Undergraduates and Graduates

Philosophy 101. Plato
Catalog Number: 5374
Raphael Graham Woolf
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11.
A critical examination of some central themes in Plato’s philosophy, concentrating on the early and middle dialogues, with some consideration of later developments. Topics include the search for definitions, the theory of Forms, the nature of the soul, and the good life.

*Philosophy 106. The Pre-Socratics: Proseminar
Catalog Number: 6569
Raphael Graham Woolf
Half course (spring term). M., 2–4.
Generally acknowledged as the founders of the Western philosophical tradition, the Pre-Socratics raised fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and ways we might discover truths about it. Consideration of the views of some leading figures, including Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus, and the Atomists.

*Philosophy 108. Socrates: Proseminar
Catalog Number: 7075
Raphael Graham Woolf
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
An exploration of one of the most vivid and influential figures in the history of philosophy. Through close reading of texts (mainly from Plato’s early dialogues) we shall examine Socrates’ views on philosophical method, knowledge, and the good life.

Philosophy 111. Epistemology After Aristotle
Catalog Number: 3953
Gisela Striker
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An introduction to, and discussion of, the doctrines of the Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics. The Hellenistic period was the first to make the question of the possibility of knowledge central to philosophical debates, and the arguments first put forward during this time had a profound influence on subsequent developments in epistemology, including the early modern period.

[Philosophy 120. The Rationalists]
Catalog Number: 2512
Alison Simmons
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
A study of some of the major works of Descartes, Spinoza, Malebranche, and Leibniz, with primary emphasis on their contributions to metaphysics and epistemology.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.

Philosophy 122. British Empiricism
Catalog Number: 9025
Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
A study of the major writings of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume on topics in metaphysics and epistemology, such as substance, essence, qualities, causation and scientific explanation, personal identity, and skepticism. Closely related writings by Boyle and Newton will also be considered.

*Philosophy 138. Existentialism: Proseminar
Catalog Number: 5766
Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California)
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
The development of existentialist philosophy from its beginnings in Kierkegaard to its 20th century incarnation in Heidegger and Sartre. Special attention to the influence of Husserl’s phenomenology on the later existentialist philosophers, i.e., Heidegger and Sartre.

Philosophy 141. Frege, Russell, and the Early Wittgenstein
Catalog Number: 6807
Warren Goldfarb
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
An examination of the beginnings of analytic philosophy, with primary interest in the reformulation of traditional philosophical problems by these three authors and the analytic and logical methods they introduced to treat them.

[Philosophy 144. Logic and Philosophy]
Catalog Number: 1111
Warren Goldfarb
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Three philosophically important results of modern logic: Gödel’s incompleteness theorems; Turing’s definition of mechanical computability; Tarski's theory of truth for formalized languages. Discusses both mathematical content and philosophical significance of these results.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.
Prerequisite: Some knowledge of deductive logic.

Philosophy 145. Realism and Anti-Realism
Catalog Number: 0798
Richard G. Heck, Jr.
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 1. EXAM GROUP: 12
One sort of familiar metaphysical question concerns the mind-independence of various facets of reality. We will discuss how best to understand this sort of question and consider recent approaches to it. Our focus will be on ways of understanding the question in terms of the notion of truth. Readings will come from such authors as Davidson, Dummett, Putnam, Lewis, and Wright.

Philosophy 148. Philosophy of Mathematics
Catalog Number: 8341
Charles D. Parsons
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
Philosophical issues concerning mathematics, such as: its degree of certainty and necessity, its apparently a priori character, the existence and “nature” of basic mathematical objects (numbers, sets), the relation of mathematics and logic, whether classical logic can be called into question.
Prerequisite: Philosophy 140 or some background in mathematics.

Philosophy 149z. Philosophy of Science
Catalog Number: 9047
Peter Godfrey-Smith (Stanford University)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 14
Survey of 20th-century views on the nature of scientific knowledge. Topics include logical empiricism, Popper and “falsifiability,” induction and confirmation and their paradoxes, models of explanation, scientific realism, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend, and the relations between philosophy, history and sociology of science.

Philosophy 156. Philosophy of Mind
Catalog Number: 3677
Susanna Siegel
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An introductory course focusing on the development of the subject in the 20th century. Approaches to the mind-body problem, and proposed solutions to it including dualism, behaviorism, type- and token-identity theories and functionalism. Attention to how these theories bear on problems about consciousness, the representation by the mind of things in the world, and the causation of intentional action. Readings include texts by Armstrong, Block, Descartes, Lewis, Putnam, Shoemaker, and many others.

Philosophy 157x. Philosophy of Action
Catalog Number: 3473
Richard Moran
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 1. EXAM GROUP: 16
Problems in the philosophical understanding of human action. Topics include: the nature of intention and the intentional, explanation by reasons and by causes, the assumption of rationality and its limits (e.g., the irrationality of weakness of the will and self-deception), the role of self-knowledge in action, problems in the interpretation and description of action, and the place of the understanding of action vis-à-vis other ways of understanding the world.

Philosophy 159. Epistemology
Catalog Number: 4507
James Pryor
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
Central issues in contemporary epistemology such as: skeptical arguments that all we can really know are our own private thoughts and experiences; debates about whether knowledge always has to be based on secure foundations; questions about whether “knowledge” means the same in the philosophy classroom as it does in ordinary settings; the connections among knowledge, evidence, reliability, and good epistemic behavior.

*Philosophy 162. Social Construction: Proseminar
Catalog Number: 1927
K. Anthony Appiah
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
What is a social construct? In recent years, all sorts of things have been said to be “socially constructed,” among them atomic particles, genders, heterosexuality, homosexuals, multiple personality disorder, refugees. We shall explore some of these claims, trying to disentangle a variety of senses in which concepts and objects might be said to be socially constructed, and connecting these debates with classical philosophical debates between various forms of realism and idealism.

Philosophy 168. Kant’s Ethical Theory
Catalog Number: 8361
Christine M. Korsgaard
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
A study of Kant’s moral philosophy, based primarily on the Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals, the Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals.

Philosophy 171. Political Philosophy
Catalog Number: 2266
Michael Blake
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 1. EXAM GROUP: 6
A critical introduction to issues of state authority, justice, liberty and equality through readings of major works in political philosophy, including the writings of such theorists as Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Marx, and Rawls.

Philosophy 174. Recent Ethical Theory
Catalog Number: 5525
Christine M. Korsgaard
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 1.
We will study a selection of the major theories and trends in ethical theory of the last third of the 20th century.
Prerequisite: at least one course in philosophy, political theory, or moral reasoning

Philosophy 178. Equality and Democracy.
Catalog Number: 5407
Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr.
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
Contemporary theories and debates concerning economic and social equality and the kinds of equality involved in, or required by, democratic institutions.

Philosophy 188 (formerly Philosophy 189). Philosophy and Literature.
Catalog Number: 6252
Richard Moran
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 14
Questions connected to the understanding and criticism of literature. Topics include: literature and the philosophical understanding of language, meaning and authorial intention, metaphor and figurative language, the role of emotion, literary understanding and knowledge. Writers to be discussed may include Plato, Cavell, Barthes, Nehamas, Davidson, Foucault, Valery.

Cross-listed Courses

[Afro-American Studies 125. Philosophical Problems of Race and Racism]
Greek 110r. Plato’s Protagoras
[History of Science 106. History of Ancient Science]
History of Science 107. History of Medieval Science
Islamic Civilizations 145 (formerly Arabic 145). Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Latin 107. Lucretius: On the Nature of Things
Latin 119. Cicero: De re publica
Mathematics 141. Introduction to Mathematical Logic
Mathematics 142. Recursion Theory
[Mathematics 143 (formerly Mathematics 143r). Set Theory]

Primarily for Graduates

*Philosophy 206. Aristotle’s Ethics: Seminar
Catalog Number: 2566
Gisela Striker
Half course (spring term). M., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
A close study of selected passages from Aristotle’s Ethics, focusing on his treatment of practical reasoning and practical wisdom.

*Philosophy 222. Locke and Leibniz: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5974
Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
A close study of the main metaphysical and epistemological doctrines of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, together with Leibniz’s systematic criticisms of these doctrines as set out in his New Essays Concerning Human Understanding.

*Philosophy 229. Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: Seminar
Catalog Number: 8062
Charles D. Parsons
Half course (fall term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Topic for 2000-01: the Transcendental Dialectic.

*Philosophy 241. Wittgenstein’s Tractatus: Seminar
Catalog Number: 3229
Warren Goldfarb
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8

*Philosophy 245. Demonstratives: Seminar
Catalog Number: 2142
Susanna Siegel
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An examination of demonstrative reference and of related mental states. Topics to include formal theories of demonstrative reference; proposals about what Fregean Senses of demonstratives might be; arguments that there are no such things.

*Philosophy 247. Philosophy of Language: Seminar
Catalog Number: 8402
Richard G. Heck, Jr.
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Recent work on linguistic knowledge and its relation to linguistic competence, with reference to syntax and to semantics. Readings from Chomsky, Dummett, Higginbotham, and Soames.

*Philosophy 249. Philosophy of Biology: Seminar
Catalog Number: 0779
Peter Godfrey-Smith (Stanford University)
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Problems involving causation and explanation in genetics. Topics include: genetic determinism, heritability, and the concepts of “genetic information” and “genetic coding.” How do the various causal, statistical, and semantic concepts used in genetics relate to each other?

*Philosophy 253. A Priori Knowledge: Seminar
Catalog Number: 1420
James Pryor
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Recent work on a priori knowledge: what it is and whether we have any. Issues include: Quine’s hostility to the a priori, new forms of rationalism, Kripke and the contingent a priori, Putnam’s a priori argument that he is not a brain in a vat.

*Philosophy 256. Philosophy of Mind: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5325
Richard G. Heck, Jr.
Half course (spring term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Recent work on concepts, concept-possession, and psychosemantics, taking Peacocke (A Study of Concepts) and Fodor (Concepts) to represent relevant poles.

*Philosophy 271. Political Philosophy: Seminar
Catalog Number: 2639
Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. and Amartya Sen (Trinity College, Cambridge)
Half course (spring term). W., 3:30–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
Some recent work in political philosophy, with emphasis on theories of justice.

*Philosophy 273. Philosophy of Law: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5677
Michael Blake
Half course (fall term). M., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Historical and contemporary approaches to the questions of jurisprudence. Topics include: the nature of law and of legal interpretation, the role of judges, and the relationship of moral norms to legal norms.

*Philosophy 299hf. Individual Supervision
Catalog Number: 8076
Charles D. Parsons and members of the Department
Half course (throughout the year). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of candidates for the A.M. or Ph.D. in Philosophy. Consult the Department’s Supplement to the General Announcement for details.

Cross-listed Courses

[*Arabic 249r. Arabic Philosophical Texts: Seminar]
Classics 261. Plato on Poetry and Moral Education: Seminar
Classics 264. Technê in Greek Culture: Seminar
*History of Science 206r. Ancient Science: Seminar
*History of Science 207r. Medieval Science: Seminar
*History of Science 298r. The Establishment of Medieval Latin Scientific and Philosophical Texts: Seminar
Mathematics 245. Proof Theory

Graduate Courses of Reading and Research

*Philosophy 300a. Colloquium
Catalog Number: 5615
Charles D. Parsons 2298
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
An intensive study—in small, informal seminars—of selected problems in contemporary philosophy.
Note: Open only to first-year graduate students in the Department.

*Philosophy 300b. Colloquium
Catalog Number: 6280
Richard Moran 1786
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Continuation of Philosophy 300a.

*Philosophy 303. Colloquium: Dissertation Presentations
Catalog Number: 1089
Richard Moran 1786 and Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (on leave fall term)
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.

*Philosophy 305. Individual Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 4462
K. Anthony Appiah 3067, Michael Blake 1471, Peter Godfrey-Smith (Stanford University) 3338, Warren Goldfarb 4499, Richard G. Heck, Jr. 2993 (on leave spring term), Christine M. Korsgaard 2994, Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California) 3367, Richard Moran 1786, Charles D. Parsons 2298, James Pryor 2190, Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (on leave fall term), Susanna Siegel 2441, Gisela Striker 2271 (on leave spring term), and Raphael Graham Woolf 2488
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.

*Philosophy 310. Research Seminars
Catalog Number: 4465
K. Anthony Appiah 3067, Michael Blake 1471, Peter Godfrey-Smith (Stanford University) 3338, Warren Goldfarb 4499, Richard G. Heck, Jr. 2993 (on leave spring term), Christine M. Korsgaard 2994, Edwin William McCann (University of Southern California) 3367, Richard Moran 1786, Charles D. Parsons 2298, James Pryor 2190, Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (on leave fall term), Susanna Siegel 2441, Gisela Striker 2271 (on leave spring term), and Raphael Graham Woolf 2488
Small seminars on specialized topics, to be arranged when practicable by these members of the Department in consultation with graduate students who are suitably prepared. When topics of such seminars are decided far enough in advance, the seminars will be listed individually with numbers from 311 through 398.

*Philosophy 311. Workshop on Moral and Political Philosophy
Catalog Number: 5370
Michael Blake 1471, Christine M. Korsgaard 2994, and Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (spring term only)
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
A forum for the presentation and discussion of work in progress by students and faculty working in the areas of moral and political philosophy. Open only to graduate students in the Philosophy Department and by special invitation of the instructors.
Note: Meets approximately every two weeks throughout the year.

*Philosophy 333. Preparation for the Topical Examination
Catalog Number: 1967
K. Anthony Appiah 3067, Melissa Barry 3037 (on leave 2000-01), Michael Blake 1471, Warren Goldfarb 4499, Richard G. Heck, Jr. 2993 (on leave spring term), Christine M. Korsgaard 2994, Richard Moran 1786, Robert Nozick 2999 (on leave 2000-01), Charles D. Parsons 2298, James Pryor 2190, Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (on leave fall term), Susanna Siegel 2441, Alison Simmons 1300 (on leave spring term), Gisela Striker 2271 (on leave spring term), and Raphael Graham Woolf 2488
Required in both fall and spring terms of all third-year graduate students in the Department.

*Philosophy 399. Direction of Doctoral Dissertations
Catalog Number: 3283
K. Anthony Appiah 3067, Melissa Barry 3037 (on leave 2000-01), Michael Blake 1471, Stanley Cavell 2087, Warren Goldfarb 4499, Richard G. Heck, Jr. 2993 (on leave spring term), Christine M. Korsgaard 2994, Richard Moran 1786, Robert Nozick 2999 (on leave 2000-01), Charles D. Parsons 2298, James Pryor 2190, Hilary Putnam 2838, Thomas M. Scanlon, Jr. 7986 (on leave fall term), Susanna Siegel 2441, Alison Simmons 1300 (on leave spring term), Gisela Striker 2271 (on leave spring term), and Raphael Graham Woolf 2488