Embodiment and Consciousness: A Cross-Cultural Exploration. We will then examine how these notions may be exploited in the consideration of various long-standing issues in the theory of literary interpretation. By which methods should we pursue these questions? + Discussion: UPI, New York Post, . The goals of this course are to improve the critical thinking of the students, to introduce them to sentential and predicate logic, to familiarize them with enough formal logic to enable them to read some of the great works of philosophy, which use formal logic (such as Wittgenstein's Tractatus), and to examine some of the connections between logic and philosophy. [more], What is it for a novel, a story, a play or a film to be a philosophical narrative? to the structure of arguments for and against relativism, as well as to the philosophical motivations and perceived consequences of its endorsement or rejection. Or are some of our beliefs true in virtue of their meanings alone? God bless you! Conversation is dynamic--the back and forth exchange of information is a process that grows and adapts to the surrounding context. More importantly, many of the thinkers that we will read in this class are simply excellent philosophers, and it is worthwhile for anyone interested in philosophical problems to read treatments of these problems by excellent philosophers. Each identified the limits, whether historical or innate, of our human capacity to know ourselves and our world, and to live harmoniously with others. An example might be helpful. After several weeks on the Republic we will turn to Shakespeare's last play: The Tempest. [more], Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, one of the greatest books in the history of philosophy, still exerts a considerable influence on contemporary epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of action, ethics and moral psychology. The seminar will fall into two unequal parts. About 3,000 people flocked to an Adelaide Crows training session as the emotional aftermath to the death of coach Phil Walsh continues. [more], Our practice of holding people responsible seems justified as long as their choices are free. Our study will definitely include Frege, Russell, Quine, Searle, and Kripke. Can we know anything through reason alone? Is there a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation? New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. pp 307-323. Those positions remain extreme, but the challenge that consciousness poses is dramatic. We'll also work on writing lucid prose that displays precisely the logical structure of arguments, engages in focused critique of these arguments, and forcefully presents arguments of our own. Throughout the course, our focus will be on three broad issues: Hume's conception of theoretical rationality, his conception of practical rationality, and his views about the role and relevance of non-rational (on some readings, irrational) elements in a good life of a wise person. It turns out, however, to be surprisingly difficult to say what causation is. Safety measures are in place, and campus community members and guests are additionally advised to take personal precautions. Introduction to Critical Theory: The Enlightenment and Its Critics. Updated July 4, 2015 1.41am first published July 3, 2015 3.55pm. Authors will include: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. We will focus particularly on how subjects are positioned in relation to his writings on power and knowledge with particular attention to the later so-called ethical writings in the years before his untimely death in 1984. The course will use a case-based approach to examine these issues, and so in most weeks we will (1) read philosophical articles focused on a key concept or set of arguments central to the issue, and (2) consider in detail one morally complex case in which the concept or arguments have special application or relevance. Further, even where there is agreement as to the proper way of answering epistemological questions, there is a stunning variety of possible answers to each question. As we proceed through the course, we will look at the way in which each thinker characterizes happiness, virtue and the relation between the two. [more], This course is an introduction to philosophy through three major themes: The nature of the universe, the existence of gods, and the mind/body problem. For example, many people would agree that 'Keith's favorite unicorn' is a meaningful expression. For example, we commonly attribute to Plato a theory of the Forms on the basis of his claims in the so-called "middle dialogues" (mainly Republic, Phaedo, and Symposium). According to the other, every class was well-populated, potentially by different groups. Does it matter who is offended? Walsh, 55, died from multiple stab wounds at the scene despite attempts by ambulance officers to revive him.His son was arrested after police were called to a domestic dispute at the home in Somerton Park at 2am ACST on Friday. In this course, we will survey the ethics of public health through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, investigating concepts and arguments that are central to the ethics of public health research and practice. Our main goal will be to prove things about this logical system rather than to use this system to think about ordinary language arguments. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Some philosophers have wondered, however, whether the notion of an alternative logic is even coherent. The AFL abandoned the Crows' game against Geelong on Sunday, the club called the tragedy an unprecedented crisis and a family has been torn apart. modernity and of politics offered by such thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Mill, and Freud. He had also worked at the Eagles for 5 years and was close A lesson from the tragic death of Phil Walsh Read More Science is only "true" for some people, agnosticism is the only alternative to foolish superstition, and moral relativism and, consequently, nihilism are obvious. This course will offer a selective overview of the debates that characterized philosophy of film since the early 20th century. This site was launched in Spring of 2020, and includes death notifications beginning January 1, 2020. Beyond this common ground, however, epistemologists are much divided. Must the freedom or fulfillment of some people require the subordination of others? 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. Just today (15 February 2022) The New York Times removed some solutions from their recently purchased game Wordle, saying that words such as "pussy", "slave", and "wench" are "offensive or insensitive". We will start by situating Hume's project within the historical tradition in which he thought and against which Treatise was directed. Always asking what practical difference would it make, our authors investigate the central questions and disputes of philosophy, from epistemology and metaphysics to ethics and religion. Or might it be that our skepticism and relativism are the result of our own laziness and failure? What is the body? It will be very helpful, though not absolutely necessary, for you to have some familiarity with logic and some experience in reading philosophy. Stoicism and skepticism, however, are wildly divergent schools of thought. Should we value other things (say justice or passionate commitment and curiosity) over happiness? While looking at film as art, as document, as experiment and as entertainment, we will always keep in sight specific theoretical assumptions that underlie different understandings of film, and different critical approaches to the medium. Other topics could include: Zeno's paradoxes of motion and plurality, the liar's paradox, the surprise-exam paradox, paradoxes of material constitution, Newcomb's Problem , and the Prisoner's Dilemma. How should we think about the boundaries and methods of theorizing about film? 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. We will try to determine what is the scope and nature of an adequate theory of emotions, what are the desiderata for such a theory, and what should count as evidence in its favor. Does film accurately capture reality, as no other art does? Are we rationally justified in drawing causal inferences? We will continue with J. S. Mill's Utilitarianism and Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, considering these books as works in the philosophy of education. It is a paradox, because I started with seemingly true statements and used valid reasoning to arrive at contradictory conclusions. Our texts will include Gottlob Frege, The Foundations of Arithmetic, Bertrand Russell, Principles of Mathematics, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The seminar will be structured around a close, critically engaged reading of the Confessions (in English translation) and will give attention to its historical context and significance as well as to its philosophical and theological ideas. Aristotle sets out to study being qua being, or what is insofar as it is. Cognitive science synthesizes research from cognitive psychology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and contemporary philosophy. Is it possible to have systematic knowledge of subjective experience? In this tutorial, we will focus on questions concerning their distinctive methods, namely, historical materialism, genealogical critique, and psychoanalysis. Although it has influenced both analytic and continental philosophy, pragmatism is a powerful third philosophical movement. Is relativism a form of skepticism? 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?" Who should rule? Finally, we will examine some of Aristotle's works on metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, considering some of the ways Aristotle's thought responds to that of predecessors. Cy Walsh was detained under mental health supervision after the Supreme Court found he was mentally incompetent when he stabbed his father to death in July 2015. The aim of this course is to explore and evaluate a number of rival conceptions of persons and personal identity over time. As the music wails in the background, we will study the classic pragmatists: William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey. [2] [3] He is the host of The Matt Walsh Show podcast and is a columnist for The Daily Wire. Although we will attempt to engage the readings on their own terms, we will also ask how the vast differences between the ancient world and our own undercut or enhance the texts' ability to illuminate the dilemmas of political life for us. Does it advance our thinking and increase our knowledge of the world? In school? Hence, being with others, being dependent on others, is regarded as a key structuring feature of human existence. We will focus on particular topics, examples of which are the following: normative critique, capitalism, authoritarianism, mass culture, enlightenment and reason, progress, violence, the domination of nature, white supremacy, patriarchy and colonialism. When, if ever, is paternalistic interference by the state into the lives of its citizens justified? If not, should this concern us? 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). While students will not regularly be required to read the latter, any who want to pursue this legacy will be supported in doing so.) Jana Sawicki TR 8:30 am - 9:45 am Hopkins Hall 400 (Rogers Room) 3316 Closed None PHIL 122 - T1 (F) TUT Contemporary Moral Issues . Background readings include sources rooted in traditional modes of bioethical analysis as well as those incorporating feminist approaches. But is the best conclusion we can come to with respect to our intellectual endeavors that skepticism always carries the day and that nothing at all is true? If there are such things--we'll call them propositions--what are they like? Phil Walsh. In addition to key concepts of death, dying, and terminal illness, we will develop and refine notions of medical futility, paternalism and autonomy, particularly within the context of advance directives and surrogate decision making. 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. Unsurprisingly, philosophers have proffered a variety of answers to these questions, prompting one philosopher to remark, half-jokingly, that "there are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers." We will then turn to some specific social forms in the second unit, and ask whether they promote or preclude our freedom. Cy Walsh has asked a court to let him back into the community without supervision, almost six years to the day after killing his father and Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh. And, Existentialists express their thought in philosophical treatises as often as in literary works. those issues in and of themselves, and to consider the ways in which selected classical and contemporary moral theories characterize and address those moral dimensions. Finally, we will consider how the concept of freedom is applied in contemporary social contexts, such as speech, religion, voting, and sexuality and gender. In this course, we will spend the first third of the semester attempting to understand the metaphysics and epistemology in Plato's middle dialogues. more broadly, what it is like to have a first person, waking perspective at all--resists explanation in any terms other than the conscious experience itself in spite of centuries of intense effort by philosophers and, more recently, by scientists. [more], Put simply, metaphilosophy is reflection on the nature of philosophy: Can it be defined? some of the Hindu views about the self and the mind and consider their ethical implications. In this tutorial we'll closely examine a series of contemporary and historical cases of human experimentation (roughly, one case per week) with an eye toward elucidating the moral norms that ought to govern human subjects research. Do we have any control over our emotions? of thinking, categorizing, and knowing, we can easily imagine that he might now be questioning different aspects of our contemporary "present" than the ones standardly associated with his name, namely, panopticons and surveillance, discipline, criminalization, the biopolitics of health, the normal and the abnormal, etc. 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. Last offered Fall 2017 . use tab and shift-tab to navigate once expanded, Covid-19 is an ongoing concern in our region, including on campus. Are we ever justified in having more concern, and doing more, for our friends, family, community or nation? Is film a creation of a single artist - the director, the author - or is it a result of a loosely synchronized and not quite coherent collaboration of many different people, each guided by her or his particular vision? Our focus will be on recent influential work in this area. How should moral equality be understood, and what is its foundation? We will examine a variety of philosophical and scientific theories of emotion, as well as some issues concerning normative aspects of emotions: the role of emotions in a good life, and the concept of emotional maturity. What role do emotional, irrational or unconscious forces play? What does it mean to be "philosophical" or to think "theoretically" about politics? How can we reconcile this faith with the persistence of domination today? But how often do we ask: What is freedom? A deranged young man who stabbed his AFL coach father to death during a psychotic episode will be allowed to leave a mental asylum after just six years.. Phil Walsh, 55, was head coach of the . Phil Williams / WTVF-TV: Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles didn't want you to see his college transcript! In this way we come to realize that far from being the irrational foil of "the West," Indian tradition is a rich resource for thinking through some of the central questions that have challenged philosophers in both traditions. In confronting these difficult questions, we do not proceed purely theoretically but consider the contributions of various observation-based traditions, from Buddhist psychology and meditative practices to phenomenology to neurosciences. Frederick Rudolph, Williams College 1793-1993: Three Eras, Three Cultures, Michael S . In this way, we come to appreciate the importance of considering the biology on which mental processes are based and the light that this approach throws on the nature of consciousness. This is part of a full-year thesis (493-494). "Don't die," she said. We turn first to two of Plato's most famous dialogues, Philosophical Approaches to Contemporary Moral Issues. The real question, then, seems to be whether, and how, free choice is possible amidst all of these influences. We all examine the virtues and vices of good arguments in both informal and formal systems. A number of things follow from this happy assumption. What do we mean when we talk about racial capitalism? We will also study contemporary philosophers who have written on education, such as Martha Nussbaum and Cornel West. We will see how a focus on language affects our understanding of many traditional philosophical questions, ranging from epistemology and metaphysics to aesthetics and ethics. 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