Spring 2010

Undergraduate courses

2  Individual Morality & Social Justice. Kolodny. MWF 3-4, 2060 Valley.

We will survey the basic questions of moral and political philosophy, as well as some classic attempts to answer them. We will ask, among other things: What is the morally right thing for me to do? Why should I do it? Is there a fact of the matter what it is, or does it just depend on my feelings or upbringing? Why should I do what the government tells me to? Why should I tolerate alien moral beliefs and practices? We may read, among others: Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Mill, and Nietzsche.

3  Nature of Mind. Campbell. TuTh 2-3:30, 2060 Valley.

In this introductory course we will be looking at the relation of psychological states, such as desires or memories, to the physical world. There are five sections in the course: Foundations (Dualism, Behaviorism and Central-State Materialism), Functionalism, Consciousness, Intentionality, and Personal Identity. What is the mind? Are mental states, such as beliefs and desires, memories and hopes, characteristics of a non-physical substance, or are they configurations of the physical world? And if we think that mental states are entirely physical, should we think of them as relating to the ways in which a person tends to behave, or are they rather states of the person’s brain? Can a mental state be explained by its potential for causal relations with other mental states and with behavior? What is the relation between conscious experience and the brain? Is consciousness something over and above the ordinary biological functioning of the brain, or can it somehow be explained in biological terms? How can we explain our ability to think about the world? What is a person? These questions will be explored in the course of beginning to understand the nature of the mind.

11  Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Buchak. MWF 1-2, 2 LeConte.

This course addresses basic questions in the philosophy of religion, primarily from the Western philosophical tradition. For example, does God exist? Should we believe in God? Are there such things as souls, and if so, how do they interact with the physical body? How should a just God punish us for our moral wrongdoing? Is morality based on God’s commands? The course will deal primarily with contemporary readings, and material will be arranged topically, rather than historically. The course is divided into four sections: arguments for and against the existence of God, epistemology, metaphysics, and morality.

12A  Introduction to Logic. Fitelson. TuTh 12:30-2, 2040 Valley.

Logic is about reasoning, the difference between good and bad reasoning, and how to tell the difference between good and bad reasoning.

In this course, we will develop techniques for laying bare the structure of arguments (“reasonings”). This will enable us then to characterize, in some precise ways, the difference between good and bad reasoning, and to formulate rules of correct reasoning. These three things — a conception of structure of arguments, a precise characterization of good and bad arguments in terms of their structure, and a system of rules of correct reasoning — constitute a “system of logic.” We will actually consider several systems of logic. After all this, students should be in a better position to properly formulate and evaluate logical arguments.

The course will focus on deductively correct reasoning. That is, we will consider “good reasoning” to be reasoning in which the truth of the premises absolutely guarantees the truth of the conclusion (as in typical correct mathematical reasoning). This will briefly be put into perspective in relation to inductively good reasoning, in which the premises give significant, but not conclusive, support for a conclusion.

25B  Modern Philosophy. Ginsborg. MWF 11-12, 100 Lewis.

100  Philosophical Methods. Noë. F 2-4, 160 Dwinelle.

This course is restricted to Philosophy Majors.

110  Aesthetics. Noë. MWF 12-1, 220 Wheeler Hall.

116  Special Topics in Political Philosophy. Kolodny. MWF 2-3, 200 Wheeler.

This course will survey recent discussions of all or some of the following topics in political philosophy: affirmative action, abortion, free speech, toleration, multiculturalism, punishment, war, terrorism, taxation, money in politics, and democratic authority (that is, why, if at all, we should go along with the majority).

As taught this semester, Phil 116 satisfies the ethics requirement for the philosophy major.

125  Metaphysics. Lee. TuTh 12:30-2, 20 Barrows Hall.

This course will be a survey of some ongoing debates in metaphysics. Questions we will consider will include: Why does the universe exist? Is time’s passage an illusion? Is space a container and the world its contents? What is it for an object to exist at more than one time? Do other possible worlds exist?

128  Philosophy of Science. Roush. MWF 3-4, 220 Wheeler Hall.

This is a course in general philosophy of science. We study five topics of central importance where formal probabilistic approaches have brought progress. We ask: What makes something a scientific explanation?, What is required for observations to confirm (support) a hypothesis?, Is simplicity a guide to truth?, What is special about predicting novel data as opposed to accommodation of old data?, and Does the success of science give us reason to believe its theories are true? Topics covered include the problem of induction, some paradoxes of confirmation, and the advantages and disadvantages of Bayesianism. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy.

132  Philosophy of Mind. Searle. TuTh 9:30-11, 50 Birge.

The single most important question in philosophy and in intellectual life generally at the present time is this: How, if at all, can we reconcile a certain conception that we have of ourselves as conscious, free, rational, ethical, language using, social and political human beings in a world consisting entirely of mindless, meaningless physical particles? This course is directed to the most essential part of that question, the nature of the human mind. What is consciousness and how can it be caused by brain processes? How does it function causally in our behavior? How do we represent reality to ourselves in our mental processes? What is the nature of perception, memory, knowledge and action? Do we have free will? Does the existence of unconscious mental processes threaten our free will? Can cognitive science extend our understanding of ourselves as human beings? Are our brains really just digital computers? How exactly do our mental processes underlie society and our construction of social institutions, such as money, property, marriage and governments? This course will be concerned with these and other such fundamental questions in the foundations of philosophy, cognitive science and psychology.

140A  Intermediate Logic. Warren. MWF 12-1, 100 Wheeler.

146  Philosophy of Mathematics. Mancosu. TuTh 9:30-11, 210 Wheeler.

The course is an introduction to the classics of philosophy of mathematics with emphasis on the debates on the foundations of mathematics. Topics to be covered: infinitist theorems in seventeenth century mathematics; the foundations of the Leibnizian differential calculus and Berkeley’s ‘Analyst’; Kant on pure intuition in arithmetic and geometry; the arithmetization of analysis (Bolzano, Dedekind); Frege’s logicism; the emergence of Cantorian set theory; Zermelo’s axiomatization of set theory; Hilbert’s program; Russell’s logicism; Brouwer’s intuitionism; Gödel’s incompleteness theorems. Prerequisites: Phil 12A (or equivalent) and another course in philosophy

161  Aristotle. Frede. MWF 10-11, 213 Wheeler.

The course provides a study of the main areas of Aristotle’s works in the fields of logic, meta-physics, natural science, psychology and ethics/politics. It will end with a brief overview of his poetics and rhetoric. Aristotle was not only the first philosopher who systematized the dif-ferent disciplines of philosophy, but also worked out their basic principles and method. The course’s main concern will therefore be a proper understanding of the interconnection between the principles, method and the results of Aristotle’s thought. Given the wide scope of his in-terests, the course will have to confine itself to a selective study of his works. Since these works are hard to access because of their terse style, the readings will focus in the main on an analysis of selected texts taken from (ed.) Richard McKeon, The Basic Works of Aristotle. Requirements: Three 5 page papers, one final paper.

176  Hume. Stroud. TuTh 11-12:30, 20 Barrows Hall.

A four unit course on the philosophy of David Hume (1711–1776), dealing as thoroughly as possible in the time available with many of the central issues of his major works. Students will be expected to read carefully, to discuss, and to write clearly and perceptively about those works and the problems they raise. No specific prerequisites; completion of at least Philosophy 25B is strongly advised. The richer one’s background in philosophy and the more one reads and thinks and discusses with others, the more one will get from the course. A large body of secondary literature and commentary can be helpful, but the emphasis throughout will be on the words and ideas of Hume himself.

Lectures will discuss primarily but not exclusively the following topics: Introduction-the science of human nature; Operations of the mind: the theory of impressions and ideas; The idea of causation and its source in experience; Belief and the sources of beliefs about the unobserved; The idea of necessary connection; The continued and distinct existence of objects; The self: the idea of personal identity; Paradox, sceptical despair and its cure; Action and its source in feeling or passion; Freedom and necessity; Morality and its sources: not derived from reason; Feeling, sentiment, and sympathy as the basis of morality; The origin and rationale of justice as an ‘artificial virtue’; The origin of government and the source of political obligation; The human point or goal of philosophy.

Course requirements: Three lectures per week; Participation in one discussion section per week; Four five-page papers on selected topics; Final examination.

183  Schopenhauer & Nietzsche. Kaiser. TuTh 12:30-2, TBA.

A systematic comparative study of the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, with particular attention to the attitudes toward art and life of the two philosophers. Topics to be discussed include the nature of the will and the self; the problem of nihilism; the role of art, music, and aesthetic experience; and the psychology of value. Readings will include substantial excerpts from Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation and central texts by Nietzsche from the different phases of his philosophy. The course will be offered as a seminar with limited enrollment. Students will be required to participate actively in seminar discussions and to write a longer term paper.

Enrollment is limited to 15 participants and is by application only. Preference will be given to philosophy majors. You should send an email to the instructor at kuk@berkeley.edu with a brief description detailing your interest in this seminar and your background in philosophy (including a list of philosophy courses you have already taken) by November 9th. Those accepted will be notified by email shortly thereafter and will be given the course enrollment code that is needed to register for the course.

189  Special Topics in Recent European Philosophy. Dreyfus. TuTh 2-3:30, 213 Wheeler.

Philosophy 189: The Phenomenology of Action

This course will consider what the phenomenological tradition has contributed to the philosophical understanding of action. We will focus on the basic structures of everyday practical activity, various states of absorption, mastery, and breakdown, and the role and limitations of intentional content and practical reasoning. Readings mainly from Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, McDowell, and Dreyfus, with attention to related neo-Aristotelian and neo-Kantian views, time permitting. Prerequisite: one upper-division course in phenomenology or ethics, or permission of the instructor.

Graduate seminars

290-1  Graduate Seminar. Buchak. W 4-6, 234 Moses Hall.

290-2  Graduate Seminar. Fitelson. Tu 2-4, 2523 Tolman Hall.

290-3  Graduate Seminar. Lee. W 5-7, 235 Dwinelle.

290-4  Graduate Seminar. MacFarlane/Yalcin. Tu 6-8, 234 Moses Hall.

290-5  Graduate Seminar: Probability as Constraint and Representation. Roush. Th 2-4, 234 Moses Hall.

This is a course about the use of probability in epistemology. Probability imports assumptions about and imposes constraints on any subject matter you use it to describe. Some of these constraints are well-known, but their implications are not always known or observed. In others it is an open question how much leeway probability allows. We discuss the fate of holism, foundationalism, introspective access, self-knowledge, and objects of belief under a probabilistic description. We consider the consequences of the globality of the P function and of extreme probabilities. Cases that are illuminating include the preface “paradox,” evidential support, re-calibration, justified belief, and the epistemology of logic. We discuss artifacts of representation and how to think about idealization in philosophy.

290-6  Graduate Seminar. Searle. Tu 2-4, 234 Moses Hall.

290-7  Graduate Seminar. Stroud. Tu 4-6, 234 Moses Hall.

290-8  Graduate Seminar: Practical Knowledge: Recent Work on Agency and Action. Wallace. M 2-4, 234 Moses Hall.

There has recently been a striking resurgence of interest in the approaches of Anscombe and Aristotle to issues of agency, action, and practical norms. In this seminar we will look at some recent work in this vein. A central issue will be the explanation of what Anscombe called practical knowledge: our non-observational knowledge of what we are doing when we act. Other topics will include the character of action as a (teleological) process; the relation of intentions to action; the structure of practical justification; and the source of the norms to which action is answerable. We will start by reading Michael Thompson’s Life and Action, and then move on to look at work by Sebastian Rödl, Kieran Setiya, David Velleman, Richard Moran, Doug Lavin (among others). Participants are strongly encouraged to (re-)read Anscombe’s Intention before the seminar begins.

290-9  Graduate Seminar. Warren. TBA, TBA.

290-10  Collaborative Research Seminar: Humanisitic and Empirical Studies in Moral Psychology. Wallace. TBA, TBA.

For information on this seminar please see:

http://townsendcenter.berkeley.edu/crs_moral_psychology.shtml

A Class Entry Code will be required for enrollment in this seminar.

295  Dissertation Seminar. Kolodny. TBA, TBA.