Easter
2002
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Note: All 100- and 200-level courses except Logic (Phil. 201) meet the general distribution requirement in Philosophy.
PHILOSOPHY 101: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY 101A: GOD, DEATH, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE (CONN) (e-syllabus)
An examination of the existence of God, the finality of death, and the meaning of life. We will begin the substantive portion of the class by examining the traditional, theistic conception of God, and some classical and contemporary versions of (and responses to) the most important arguments for and against the existence of God. We will subsequently take up the question of whether it is reasonable to hope for life after death, which will, in turn, require us to take up the mind-body problem, i.e., the problem of determining what the relationship is between us, our minds, and our bodies. And finally we will examine questions pertaining to the meaning of life (e.g., What, if anything, makes a life meaningful? Is there an objective fact as to whether is a given life is meaningful, or is this relative in some significant way? Is the meaning of life contingent upon the existence of God and an afterlife?). We will examine both theistic and nontheistic approaches to these sorts of questions. Since we will spend most of the semester reconstructing and evaluating the arguments of others, and advancing arguments of our own, this course will begin with an introduction to informal logic, which is intended to equip you with the analytical tools which are necessary for these activities.
PHILOSOPHY 101B: CLASSICAL THEORIES AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES (GARLAND)
We will study works by four influential thinkers in the history of Western thought and see how these theories can illuminate contemporary debates on civil disobedience, animal rights, environmental issues, and world hunger. Throughout the course, we will look at various films that have philosophical themes, such as "Being There," "Unforgiven," and "Wall Street." There will be two hour-exams, several short papers, a final exam, and weekly journals. There will also be several class debates.
This course will begin by examining a variety of perspectives on the nature of human existence. We will study philosophical and literary texts, as well as films that present rival accounts of what it means to be human. We will strive to understand the rationality of these diverse accounts and appreciate their distinctive insights into the meaning of human existence. Major authors we will read are Plato, Cornel West, Pascal, Phillip Yancey, Wendell Berry, Nietzsche and Thomas Moran. Students will be expected to think critically and to clarify and defend their own philosophical worldview. In the final weeks of the course we will investigate some specific contemporary social issues, applying the philosophical perspectives we have studied to some of the major cultural and social questions being debated in contemporary life. The issue we will investigate will be chosen by the class. Specific issues addressed in past semesters have been: consumerism, political correctness, feminism and affirmative action. Students will be expected to keep a weekly journal and write several short papers.
This course is concerned with reasoning--good and bad, correct and incorrect, valid and invalid. By learning to apply a few general rules of logic, students acquire competence in distinguishing between correct and incorrect reasoning. Most of the course is devoted to the logic used in everyday life and discourse, which was first formulated by Aristotle and later modified by Venn and Boole. Students are also given an introduction to modern symbolic logic. There will be daily homework assignments designed to show how the concepts of logic can be used to solve specific problems.
An introduction to revolutionary forms of thinking developed along with the rise of modern science and its distinctive set of philosophical problems. We will examine works by Rene Descartes, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, Thomas Reid and Immanuel Kant. The following themes will be most prominent: the nature of knowledge and perception, the existence and nature of God, the existence and nature of finite entities, the mind-body problem, and problem of personal identity. There will be several short papers, a presentation on a particular figure and problem, and a final take-home exam.
PHILOSOPHY 215. CHINESE PHILOSOPHY (PETERMAN)
An examination of philosophical texts of classical Chinese Philosophy. The primary emphasis of the course will be the rise of Confucianism and the critical responses to it. Texts will include: Confucius' Analects, I Ching, Mo Tzu, Tao te ching, and Chuang Tzu. Emphasis will be given to the cultural context of these texts and to the evaluation the worldview they articulate and to the relevance of Chinese thought as a philosophy of life for late Twentieth-Century Americans. Topics for discussion: the self, the relation of individual to community and family, the difference between a worldview based on tao and one based on Truth, and the foundation of moral beliefs and practices. There will be lectures, discussion, a presentation, two essays and daily writing. I will recommended but not require that students taking Philosophy 215 also enroll in Tai Chi in the Physical Education Department or sign up for Tai Chi at Optimum Health.
PHILOSOPHY 226. FAITH IN PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE (PETERS)
We will examine selected literary texts and critical essays of Flannery O'Connor, C.S. Lewis, and Wendell Berry, works which explore the meaning of religious faith in human life. In the course of this exploration, we will consider the different ways in which story, poetry and philosophy raise profound religious and philosophical questions and seek to give us insights about the proper role of faith in human life. We will give special attention to the vision of the grotesque in O’Connor, the importance of myth and fantasy in Lewis, and the place of agrarian poetry and short-story in Berry. This class will be conducted as a seminar with occasional presentations by students. Students will be required to write a weekly journal and a several medium-length essays.
PHILOSOPHY 300. ECOLOGY AND ETHICS (PETERS AND HASKELL)
This course falls into three parts: 1. We will read, analyze and discuss a variety of texts that have attempted to integrate ethical and scientific approaches to the environment. Our discussions will consider the nature of scientific and ethical arguments, the meaning and limits of objectivity, and the relationship between pragmatism and idealism in both ethics and science. At the end of this part of the course you should have developed a framework for the careful dissection and evaluation of both scientific and ethical arguments. You will also have an appreciation for the special challenges presented by producing an argument or vision that rests on solid ethical and scientific foundations. 2. We will analyze and debate arguments from selected environmental disputes. This analysis will emphasize the application of the framework developed in the first part of the course. This part of the course will involve student debates. 3. Student research projects on environmental issues. These projects will:
• review and interpret the scientific literature relevant to the issue;
• review and evaluate ethical arguments relevant to the issue;
• examine the relationship between science and ethics as they pertain to this issue;
• interview some protagonists;
• produce a thoughtful and integrated written analysis and oral presentation on this issue.
PHILOSOPHY 319. NINETEENTH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY (GARLAND)
This course will cover the major thinkers and movements in the nineteenth century from Immanuel Kant to William James. We will first look at Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics as an example of the type of Enlightenment thought against which many nineteenth-century thinkers are reacting. Then we will consider Hegel's attempt to replace Kant's dualistic framework with a dynamic and organic view of the development of history and philosophy. Some main themes in the course will be reason versus will and feeling, individual freedom versus participation in a community, and religion versus irreligion. Class will be conducted as a seminar which combines lecture and discussion, and students will present reports from time to time.
PHILOSOPHY 320. TWENTIETH-CENTURY ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY (CONN)
An introduction to Twentieth-Century analytic philosophy and its characteristic attempt to dissolve heretofore intractable problems and debates in metaphysics and epistemology through an examination of linguistic meaning and the use of language. After reading classical texts by such philosophers as Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, A. J. Ayer, J. L. Austin, G. E. Moore, and Gilbert Ryle, we will turn to more recent works by such philosophers as W. V. O. Quine, Saul Kripke, Hilary Putnam and Richard Rorty. Philosophical movements and schools of thought to be examined will include the following: logical atomism, logical positivism, ordinary language philosophy, phenomenalism, direct and indirect realism, and metaphysical realism and anti-realism.
PHILOSOPHY 451. SENIOR TUTORIAL (PETERMAN)
In this tutorial, senior philosophy majors will undertake to publish a fourth volume of our undergraduate electronic philosophical journal, Interlocutor: The Sewanee Undergraduate Philosophical Review and work on independent senior projects that will attempt to meet criteria of submission to the journal. In the course of the semester, students will review submissions when appropriate, report on their individual research, present early versions of their essays, and comment on the work of their fellow students. The tutorial will conclude with each senior presenting in public a summary of the result of his or her research and with a presentation of the second volume of the journal.