(file last updated: [8/10/1998 - 15:27:15])
The primary concern of philosophyis to explore ideas that are central to the ways we live and thatwe commonly use without much reflection, ideas such as truth andjustice, the notion of consciousness, and good and evil. In thecourse of our daily lives we take the ideas of time, language,knowledge, and our own identity for granted. Philosophy seeksto push our understanding of these ideas deeper. It is the systematicstudy of ideas that is fundamental to all the other disciplinestaught at the University--the sciences, social sciences, humanities,and the arts.
The skills philosophy helpsto develop--critical thinking, sound reasoning, enlightened useof one's imagination, and the capacity to analyze complex issues--areinvaluable in the study of any subject or the pursuit of any vocation.Philosophy is unavoidable: every thoughtful individual is grippedby philosophical questions and is guided by assumptions that thestudy of philosophy brings explicitly to light and puts into largerperspective.
To become a concentrator inphilosophy, students must take Introduction to Philosophy, a logiccourse, a course in the history of philosophy, and five additionalcourses. Four of the courses required for the degree in philosophymust be advanced and must also meet a distribution requirement.To be a candidate in honors, seniors must complete an Honors Thesis.For further information contact the undergraduate advising head.
Palle Yourgrau, Chair
Philosophy of language. Philosophyof mathematics. Philosophy of time. Greek philosophy.
Alan Berger
Logic. Philosophy of science.Philosophy of language.
Maud Chaplin
Ancient philosophy. Socialand political philosophy. History of ideas.
Robert Greenberg
Metaphysics. History of philosophy.Kant.
Eli Hirsch, UndergraduateAdvising Head
Metaphysics. Epistemology.Medical ethics.
Linda Hirshman
Political philosophy. Women'sstudies.
Jerry Samet
Philosophy of mind. Philosophyof psychology. Cognitive science. History of philosophy. Philosophyof science.
Andreas Teuber, Advisorto Minors
Political philosophy. Moralphilosophy. Aesthetics. Modern social theory. History of politicalthought.
David Wong
Ethics. Ethical theory. Comparativeethics. Chinese philosophy.
Philosophy courses consistof the following categories:
PHIL 1a (Introduction to Philosophy);Ethics/Political and Social Philosophy (courses numbered 10-34and 110-134); Language/Knowledge/Metaphysics (PHIL courses numbered35-59, 135-146, 191a and LING 130a); History (PHIL courses numbered60-84, 160-184 and AMST 186b); Logic (PHIL 5a, 6a, 7a, and 106b);PHIL 191a (Senior Seminar); PHIL 98a,b (Readings in Philosophy);and PHIL 99d (Senior Research).
Advanced courses are thosenumbered 99d and above. PHIL 98a,b is advanced only if specifiedby the instructor.
Courses counted toward theconcentration cannot be taken pass/fail.
Required of all candidates:Eight semester courses in philosophy (including PHIL andcross-listed courses), conforming to the following provisions:
A.At least four must be advanced courses. (Those numbered 99 andabove.)
B.PHIL 1a (Introduction to Philosophy) must be completed withinone year of declaring a philosophy concentration. (At the timeof declaring a concentration, students who have taken a USEM coursefocused primarily on philosophical texts, as well as others whoalready have a background in philosophy prior to coming to Brandeis,may petition the undergraduate advising head to have the PHIL1a requirement waived.) Please note that PHIL 28a also fulfillsthis requirement.
C.At least one must be a course in history.
D.At least one must be a course in logic.
E.At least one must be an advanced course in ethics/political andsocial philosophy.
F.At least one must be an advanced course in language/knowledge/metaphysics.
G.No more than one semester course in PHIL 98 and one semester in99 will count toward fulfilling the concentration requirements.
This department participatesin the European cultural studies concentration.
The minor has four "tracks";each track consists of five courses. Students are requiredto declare a minor by the beginning of their senior year. Prospectiveminors are encouraged to begin their course of study with PHIL1a. Students who have taken a USEM course focused primarily onphilosophical texts, as well as others who already have a backgroundin philosophy, may petition the minor advisor to have the PHIL1a requirement of tracks 2, 3, and 4 waived.
Courses counted toward theminor cannot be taken pass/fail.
A.One logic course: 5a, 6a, 106b.
B.Three of the following: Contemporary Analytic Philosophy,Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy ofSocial Science, Philosophical Problems of Space and Time, Philosophyof Psychology, Topics in Logic, Philosophy of Language, Topicsin the Philosophy of Language, Mathematical Logic, a PHIL 98aor b, or a PHIL 191a in this area.
C.One free elective in philosophy (from among the PHIL andcross-listed offerings).
D.Two of the above must be advanced courses.
A.Introduction to Philosophy.
B.Three courses selected in ethics/political and social philosophy(a PHIL 98a,b or a PHIL 191a in this area may also count).
C.One free elective in philosophy (from among the PHIL andcross-listed offerings).
D.Two of the above must be advanced courses.
A.Introduction to Philosophy.
B.Three of the following: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind,Innate Knowledge, Philosophy of Psychology, Personal Identity,Topics in the Philosophy of Language, Contemporary Analytic Philosophy,Philosophy of Language, Theory of Knowledge, a PHIL 98a or b,or a PHIL 191a in this area.
C.One free elective in philosophy (from among the PHIL andcross-listed offerings).
D.Two of the above must be advanced courses.
A.Introduction to Philosophy
B.Four electives in philosophy, three of which originatein the philosophy department. (Approval of the student's programby the minor advisor is required.)
C.Two of the above must be advanced courses.
PHIL 1a Introduction toPhilosophy
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Enrollment varies accordingto instructor. Students may also fulfill the concentration requirementfor PHIL 1a with PHIL 28a.
A general course presentingthe problems of philosophy, especially in the areas of metaphysics,epistemology, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Textswill include works of selected philosophers of various historicalperiods from antiquity to the present. Usually offered every semester.
Messrs. Greenberg, Hirsch,and Teuber
PHIL 5a Introduction toLogic
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A study of the most basic formsof reasoning and their linguistic expression. Provides an introductionto the traditional theory of syllogism relations, contemporarysymbolic logic, and the nature of scientific reasoning. Usuallyoffered every fourth year. Last offered in the fall of 1994.
Mr. Hirsch
PHIL 6a Introduction toSymbolic Logic
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Symbolic logic provides conceptsand formal techniques that elucidate deductive reasoning. Topicsinclude truth functions and quantifiers, validity, and formalsystems. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Berger and Samet
PHIL 13a Art and Utopia
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Enrollment limited to 50.
A survey of some of the majorphilosophical texts dealing specifically with the relation betweenthe beautiful and the good. Starting with Plato's notorious callfor the censorship of art, will we examine the role of art andaesthetic experience in private and public life and in societyas a whole. Usually offered every third year. Last offered inthe spring of 1995.
Staff
PHIL 17a Introduction toEthics
[ cl40 hum]
Explores the basic conceptsand theories of ethical philosophy. What makes a life good? Whatare our moral obligations to other people? Applications of ethicalphilosophy to various concrete questions will be considered. Usuallyoffered every year.
Mr. Wong
PHIL 19a Human Rights
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Enrollment limited to 100.
Examines international humanrights policies and the moral and political issues to which theygive rise. Includes civilians' wartime rights, the role of humanrights in foreign policy, and the responsibility of individualsand states to alleviate world hunger and famine. Usually offeredin even years.
Mr. Teuber
PHIL 20a Social and PoliticalPhilosophy: Democracy and Disobedience
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Investigates some central questionsof social and political philosophy. Topics include the originsof legitimate political authority, the duties owed by citizensto governments, and by governments to citizens; the right to rebellion,individual rights, the limits of legitimate political authority,the relationship between citizenship and individual freedom, andthe ends which political institutions ought to pursue. Usuallyoffered in odd years.
Ms. Chaplin
PHIL 22b Philosophy of Law
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Examines the nature of criminalresponsibility, causation in the law, negligence and liability,omission and the duty to rescue, and the nature and limits oflaw. Also, is the law more or less like chess or poker, cookingrecipes, or the Ten Commandments? Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Teuber
PHIL 23b Biomedical Ethics
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Enrollment limited to 50.
An examination of ethical issuesthat arise in a biomedical context, such as the issues of abortion,euthanasia, eugenics, lying to patients, and the right to healthcare. The relevance of ethical theory to such issues will be considered.Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Hirsch
PHIL 24a Philosophy of Religion
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An introduction to the majorphilosophical problems of religion. The existence of God, "God-talk,"evil and suffering, mystical experiences, life after death, freewill and determinism, the relation of religion to morality. Usuallyoffered every year.
Mr. Hirsch
PHIL 28a Western PhilosophicalTraditions Including Men and Women
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Fulfills the PHIL 1a requirementfor the concentration.
Examines the feminist debatewithin the three main western philosophies: virtue, ethics, liberalism,and utilitarianism. We read the original philosophers (Aristotle,Mill, etc.), the feminist critics of the philosophers, and thewriters seeking to reconcile the two. Usually offered in evenyears.
Ms. Hirshman
PHIL 35a Philosophy of Science
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Philosophers in the 20th centuryhave often taken scientific activity to be the ideal source ofour knowledge about the world. We will discuss the problems involvedin the analysis of the principles and methods of scientific activity,with an eye to assessing this claim. Usually offered in odd years.
Messrs. Berger and Hirsch
PHIL 37a Philosophy of Language
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Theories of meaning, reference,and methodological issues in accounts of language and translation.Readings from contemporary sources. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Berger
PHIL 38b Philosophy of Mathematics
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Enrollment limited to 20.Satisfies Option 3a of the University Studies requirement in scienceand mathematics.
We will examine basic issuesin the philosophy of mathematics through a close study of GottlobFrege's Foundations of Arithmetic and a collection of contemporarywritings. Questions taken up include: What is a number? Whereinlies the basis of mathematical truth? Topics include logicism,formalism, and intuitionism. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Berger and Yourgrau
PHIL 39b Philosophy of Mind
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Enrollment limited to 30.
Topics include the mind-bodyrelation, the emotions, identity and consciousness, knowledgeof one's own mind and other minds, reductionism, philosophicalimplications of recent work in neuroscience, cognitive science,and artificial intelligence. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Samet
PHIL 66b Contemporary AnalyticPhilosophy
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Covers major figures and schoolsof philosophy in the 20th century. A basically historical treatmentof this period, stressing its continuity with the modern period.Emphasis on the role of logic and language in solving philosophicalproblems, such as the possibility of doing metaphysics, and whetherthere are a priori, necessary, or analytic truths. Usuallyoffered every year.
Messrs. Berger and Greenberg
PHIL 71a Medieval Philosophy
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Examines the period from Augustineto William of Occam and considers the nature of humans in thephilosophies of Averooes, Maimonides, and Aquinas. Brief preparatorystudy of relevant background in Plato and Aristotle.
Staff
PHIL 74b Foundations ofAmerican Pragmatism
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Introduction to American instrumentalismas a philosophical movement and cultural force. Special attentionto pragmatic imprints on law and science across the 20th century.Recurring critical debates over ethical relativism, religiousskepticism, legal activism, and the cult of scientific and professionalexpertise. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Gaskins
PHIL 78a Existentialism
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Enrollment limited to 50.
An analysis of existentialphilosophy with special attention to the works of Kierkegaardand Nietzsche. Other existential philosophers will be studied.Usually offered in odd years.
Staff
PHIL 98a Readings in Philosophy
Signature of the instructorrequired.
Readings, reports, and discussionson assigned topics. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
PHIL 98b Readings in Philosophy
Signature of the instructorrequired.
Readings, reports, and discussionson assigned topics. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
PHIL 99d Senior Research
Signature of the instructorrequired.
The course is normally a two-semestersequence. It is open to seniors who are candidates for degreeswith honors in philosophy and involves the preparation and writingof a thesis, under the direction of a member of the faculty. Usuallyoffered every year.
Staff
PHIL 106b Mathematical Logic
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20. Satisfies Option 3a of the University Studies requirementin science and mathematics.
Covers in detail several ofthe following proofs: the Gödel Incompleteness Results, Tarski'sUndefinability of Truth Theorem, Church's Theorem on the Undecidabilityof Predicate Logic and Elementary Recursive Function Theory. Usuallyoffered every year.
Mr. Berger
PHIL 112b Philosophy andPublic Policy
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
The course examines the casethat can be made for and against distributing certain goods andservices on an open market as the result of free exchange, orthrough public mechanisms of planning and control. For examples,the arguments for and against public funding of the arts, firedepartments, patents, zoning laws, and national health care. Usuallyoffered in even years.
Mr. Teuber
PHIL 113b Aesthetics: Painting,Photography, and Film
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Enrollment limited to 20.
Explores representation inpainting, photography, and film by studying painters Rembrandt,Velasquez, and Vermeer, as well as later works by Manet, Degas,Cézanne, and Picasso; photographers Ansel Adams, DorotheaLange, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, and DianeArbus; and filmmakers Renoir and Hitchcock. Usually offered ineven years.
Mr. Teuber
PHIL 114b Topics in EthicalTheory
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
Is morality something we havereasons to obey regardless of our interests and desires, or dothe reasons grow out of our interests and desires? Is the morallife always a personally satisfying life? Is morality a socialinvention or is it more deeply rooted in the nature of things?The course will address such questions. Usually offered in oddyears.
Mr. Wong
PHIL 116a Seminar in PoliticalPhilosophy: Privacy
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Prerequisite: One coursein ethics/social and political philosophy or signature of theinstructor.
Privacy has assumed an increasinglycentral role in contemporary social and political thought, butthere is still no clear agreement on what it is, or if indeedit exists independently at all. We consider such questions asto whether or not there is a right to privacy, its derivationand value and its relationship to other values such as freedomand autonomy. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Chaplin
PHIL 118a Topics in thePhilosophy of Literature
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Signature of the instructorrequired.
Usually offered in even years.
Staff
PHIL 119b Chinese Philosophy
(Formerly PHIL 67a)
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy. Enrollment limited to 35.
Focuses on the ancient philosophiesof Confucianism, Taoism, and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. The aim willbe to identify the concerns and ways of thinking that are distinctiveof each philosophy. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Wong
PHIL 121a Politics, Philosophy,and the Legal Regulation of Sexuality
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Prerequisite: Introductoryphilosophy or political theory. Enrollment limited to 20.
Treating the sexual exchangeas a proper subject for politics, we will read traditional philosopherslike Tocqueville and Mill, as well as laws and court opinionsin an effort to understand how sex is regulated in America asa political matter. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Hirshman
PHIL 122a Classical PoliticalTheory
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Scrutinizes the conceptualfoundations and textual sources of classical Western politicalphilosophy. Studies a number of cardinal themes--including: humannature and collective existence, justice and necessity, nature(phusis) and law/convention (nomos), types of regimesand their transformations, and classical philosophies of history.Traces these themes throughout the texts in their proper chronologicalorder. Special one-time offering. Will be offered in the fallof 1998.
Mr. Makridis
PHIL 135a Theory of Knowledge
(Formerly PHIL 36a)
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy. This course may not be repeated for credit by studentswho have taken PHIL 36a in previous years.
An investigation into the nature,sources, and extent of human knowledge, with emphasis on the problemof justifying our beliefs about the existence and character ofthe external world. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hirsch
PHIL 136a Personal Identity
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy. Enrollment limited to 20.
An examination of some majorissues involved in the question of personal identity. What amI? What are the conditions of self-identity? How does the identityof the self relate to the identity of a physical object? Is identityan illusion? Usually offered in even years.
Messrs. Hirsch and Greenberg
PHIL 137a Innate Knowledge
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15.
Analyzes contemporary debateas well as the main positions in the history of philosophy bearingon recent research in linguistics and the cognitive sciences.Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Samet
PHIL 138a Metaphysics
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy. Enrollment limited to 20.
Metaphysics is an attempt todescribe in a very general way the nature of reality and how peoplefit into the scheme of things. Selected topics of metaphysics,such as necessity, free will, causality, temporal passage, andidentity. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Hirsch, Greenberg,and Yourgrau
PHIL 139b Topics in Logic
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Previous course in introductorylogic advised. Enrollment limited to 20.
Topics may vary from year toyear and the course may be repeated for credit. We will concentrateon the following: Is logic an a priori or empirical science?Does it make sense to say that we can revise or adopt our logic?Is logic true by conventional rules of language? Usually offeredevery year.
Messrs. Berger and Yourgrau
PHIL 140a Logic and Language
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Prerequisites: One course in logic orthe permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 20.
Covers basic problems and puzzles regardingreference and identity-- topics that dominate issues in philosophyof language today. Topics include puzzles about belief, necessity,substitutivity of identity statements, and formal semantics forparts of language and modal notions. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Berger
PHIL 141b Topics in Philosophyand Cognitive Science
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
Explores the various ways inwhich philosophical ideas are reflected in and illuminate psychologicaltheorizing and also examines the implications of recent work inpsychology for traditional philosophical concerns. Topics differfrom year to year. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Samet
PHIL 142b The SubjectivePoint of View
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
We explore the relation betweenthe variable and the constant in experience--a relation embracedby what we as subjects bring to our experience--our subjectivepoint of view of the world. We address the question of how ourexperience, with its inherent subjectivity, variable and constant,can provide us with knowledge of reality. Usually offered in oddyears.
Mr. Greenberg
PHIL 143a Consciousnessand Self
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The origins of our conceptof consciousness can be found among the fundamental ideas of modernphilosophy, tied to the concept of self. This connection willbe the subject matter of this course. Usually offered in evenyears.
Mr. Greenberg
PHIL 144a PhilosophicalProblems of Space and Time
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
This course will examine andcompare the Aristotelian, Galilean-Newtonian, and relativisticnotions of space and time. We will learn about Galilean transformations,Lorentz transformations, and how to read Minkowski space-timediagrams. We shall discuss the Leibnitz and Clarke debate andthen examine what the status of Euclidean geometry is in lightof relativity theory and the philosophical problem of conventionalismin geometry. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Berger
PHIL 145b Topics in thePhilosophy of Language
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Previous course in introductorylogic advised.
Topics may vary from year toyear and course may be repeated for credit. Topics include therelationship between the language we speak and our view of reality,the sense in which language may structure reality, and the possibilityof a radically different kind of language than those we actuallyspeak. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Berger
PHIL 146a Idea of God
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
Engages in a philosophicalinvestigation, not of religion as an institution, but of the veryidea of God. We will study the distinction between human beingand divine being and will address the issue of the relation ofGod's essence to His existence. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Yourgrau
PHIL 161a Plato
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
An introduction to Plato'sthought through an intensive reading of several major dialogues.Usually offered every year.
Mr. Yourgrau
PHIL 162b Aristotle
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 25.
An introduction to Aristotle'sphilosophy through an intensive reading of selected texts. Usuallyoffered in odd years.
Mr. Yourgrau
PHIL 166b Berkeley
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
An investigation of the philosophicalcontributions of George Berkeley and an analysis of his primarywritings, with attention to the contemporary evaluation of histhought. Usually offered every fourth year. Last offered in thespring of 1994.
Staff
PHIL 168a Kant
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor.
An attempt to understand andevaluate the main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason,the subjectivity of space and time, the nature of consciousness,and the objectivity of the concepts of substance and causality.Usually offered every year.
Mr. Greenberg
PHIL 170a Special Topicsin History of Philosophy: Descartes's Meditations
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
A close reading of Descartes'sMeditations, one of the cornerstones of modern philosophy.We also consider responses of Descartes's contemporaries to thiswork and Descartes's replies, and contemporary discussions andinterpretations. Usually offered every third year. Will be offeredin the fall of 1998.
Mr. Samet
PHIL 172b Spinoza
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
An intensive study of Spinoza'smajor works, striving to understand the meaning and basis of hisclaims that the universe and God are but a single substance, amongother topics. Usually offered every third year. Last offered inthe fall of 1993.
Mr. Wong
PHIL 174a Hume
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Prerequisite: One coursein philosophy or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limitedto 20.
A very close reading of Hume'sshort classic Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, whichattempts to distill the key elements of Hume's Empiricism andmake his philosophy accessible to a general audience. Topics include:the nature of thought, skepticism and the possibility of knowledge,free will, the credibility of miracles, and the prospects fora life hereafter. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Samet
PHIL 178b Major Figuresin the Christian Faith: Simone Weil
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Prerequisite: PHIL 1a.
Presents the important theologicalcontributions of the major thinkers of the Western Church coveringthe modern period. Usually offered every fourth year. Will beoffered in the fall of 1998.
Mr. Yourgrau
PHIL 179b Nietzsche
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Enrollment limited to 25.
We chart Nietzsche's fatefulplace in the history of Western philosophy. We examine his revolutionaryquestioning of traditional ontology and epistemology, and we scrutinizethe interaction between his psychological deconstruction and hispolitical philosophy of aristocratic radicalism. We also cultivatesensitivity to the dangers of distortion and misappropriation,which Nietzsche's writings so readily invite.
Staff
PHIL 191a Senior Seminar
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May be repeated for credit.
This seminar is given on arotating basis by members of the department. Its purpose is toallow students to work at an advanced level. Special topics inphilosophy vary from year to year.
Staff
Greek and Roman Ethics: FromPlato to the Stoics
Seminar in the History of Ideas:Case Studies
Semantics: The Structure ofConcepts