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SPRING 2010 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
PHIL 140: Intro to Philosophy. 9:00 MW, 3139 Wescoe. Professor Scott Jenkins
This course is an introduction to the central ideas and methods of Western philosophy. Readings will be drawn from recent work in philosophy and from historical sources such as Plato, Descartes, and Hume. The aim of the course is to appreciate and engage with questions such as the following: What is knowledge, and what can we know? How is the mind related to the body? Are we responsible for our actions in a deterministic world? What constitutes survival over time? Is morality objective or merely conventional? What should we care about?
Written requirements include a series of short papers and two exams. The required textbook is the fourth edition of Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings; Perry, Bratman, and Fischer (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2006.
PHIL 148: Reason and Argument. 12:00 MW, 3139 Wescoe. Instructor: Jennifer Kittlaus
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the theory and practice of logical analysis. Logic, as a discipline, is the science of arguments. Logic provides us with tools for evaluating others’ arguments as well as methods to help us construct our own arguments. Studying logic is valuable insofar as we encounter arguments every day. Logic is valuable not only to the attorney, whose job it is to construct a compelling case on behalf of her client, or the physician, whose job it is to consider her patient’s interests and determine the treatment that is best for her patient; logic is also valuable to the voter who wishes to make an informed decision regarding the candidates for whom she will vote and the consumer who is trying to decide which product best suits her needs. The need to think critically pervades practically every facet of our lives. As a result, the study of logic is considered to be an important part of every student’s education.
PHIL 161: Introduction to Ethics Honors, 9:30 TR, 3097 Wescoe. Professor John Bricke
We shall investigate two central philosophical problems. The first is that of the nature of morality. Is morality an objective matter? Is it simply a matter of individual, social, or cultural preference? Has it – does it hinge on – religious foundations? Is it a matter of rationality? What is the basis of moral significance or standing? The second concerns the structure and content of fundamental moral principles. Is there a single fundamental principle? Are there irreducibly many fundamental principles? What is the content of the fundamental principle(s)? If there are many such principles, how deal with conflict of principle?
In pursuing these questions, we shall read widely in classical (ancient and early modern) and contemporary philosophical writings (Plato and Aristotle; Hobbes, Hume, Kant, and Mill; Rawls, Gauthier, Nussbaum and other contemporary authors.)
Particular moral issues will, of course, come up at just about every point along the way. Towards the end of the semester, however, we shall focus on a number of concrete (and controversial) moral issues such as abortion, euthanasia, the obligations of the affluent, the treatment of animals, the treatment of the environment.
We shall stick to a format of discussion based on close, careful reading of the authors in question. Students will be required to prepare brief reaction papers (1-page, say) in advance of discussion for (roughly) half the class meetings. (These will not be graded but will be returned with instructor’s comments. These brief reaction papers will, it is hoped, contribute to informed and reflective discussion of the readings.) Grades will be based on completion of the reaction-paper assignment, on discussion, and on a set of three (perhaps four) written assignments.
The paperback text for the course is Steven Cahn and Peter Mackie (eds.), Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues. 4th edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
PHIL 500: Studies in Philosophy: The Ethics of Scientific Research, 11:00 T, 4011 Wescoe. Professor Ben Eggleston
This course will be a survey of the main ethical issues in scientific research. Topics to be covered include data integrity, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, institutional review boards, and protection of human and animal subjects. This course is cross-listed with BIOL 420. For more detailed and updated information regarding this course please see the website that the instructor has set up for this course at http://web.ku.edu/~utile/courses/esr1.
PHIL 582: Existentialism, 1:00 TR, 1007 Wescoe. Professor James Woelfel
A study of the main themes and some of the leading thinkers and writers of the existentialist movement. We will examine philosophical texts by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Beauvoir, fiction by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Sartre, and Camus, and Frankl's existential psychology. Requirements will probably include short papers and an end-of-term research paper.
Phil. 607: The Philosophy of Aristotle, 1:00 TR, 3097 Wescoe. Prof. Thomas Tuozzo
The extant works of Aristotle provide us with the first comprehensive philosophical system in the Western tradition. Aristotle’s positions in all the different areas of philosophy are unified by their use of a relatively small set of distinctively Aristotelian notions: matter and form; essence and accident; actuality and potentiality; activity and disposition; end and what is for the sake of the end; etc. Aristotle deploys these concepts with remarkable creativity to develop and argue for his positions in philosophy of nature, ontology, epistemology, psychology, ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of art. We shall work towards an understanding both of the particular positions Aristotle developed and of the resources, and possible limitations, of the way of thinking attested to by Aristotle’s distinctive concepts.
The first third of the course will cover Aristotle’s epistemology and the ontology of the natural world. The middle third of the course will be devoted to Aristotle’s study of the principles of being as such in his Metaphysics. The last third of the course will return to earth with a study of Aristotle’s ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of art (i.e., the Poetics).
There will be a mid-term and a non-cumulative final. Undergraduates will be expected to write two 4-6 page papers. Graduate students will be expected to write one such paper and another, somewhat longer one (10-12 pgs.).
Phil. 638: Philosophy of Language, 9:30 TR, 4011 Wescoe. Professor Teresa Robertson
“When [the three lectures that Kripke gave under the general title 'Naming and Necessity' were published] they stood analytic philosophy on its ear. Everybody was either furious, or exhilarated, or thoroughly perplexed. No one was indifferent” (from the London Review of Books). Even now, these lectures, which were given nearly forty years ago, provide the starting place for much current work in the philosophy of language and related areas of metaphysics. Consequently, these lectures will in a sense be the core of the course. In the first part of the course, we will review in some depth the classical theories of meaning and reference given by Mill, Frege, and Russell. These are well worth studying in their own right, and they provide essential background for understanding Kripke’s lectures. The next part of the course will concentrate on Naming and Necessity, though there will be supplementary readings from Donnellan, Salmon, and Soames. Although Kripke does not himself go so far as to endorse Millianism, Naming and Necessity made Millianism seem quite plausible. In the last part of the course, we will look at defenses of Millianism in the face of the major objections to it—objections that stem from propositional attitude puzzles and problems about (at least apparently) non-referring names.
PHIL 672: History of Ethics, 1:00 TR, 4011 Wescoe. Professor John Bricke
History of Ethics for Spring 2010 will be an in-depth examination, interpretive and critical – and comparative - of four central texts in the history of ethics: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics; Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature (Book 3); Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals; and J. S. Mill’s Utilitarianism. Through lecture and discussion we shall attempt to secure a grip on the (multiple) problems the four philosophers address, their responses/proposed solutions to those problems (their theories), and their arguments in support of their theories. And we shall be concerned, throughout, with critical assessment of the theories and supporting arguments (as also of the characterizations of the problems).
There will be three essay-style exams (one on Aristotle, one on Hume, one on both Kant and Mill). (Possible topics for examination essays will be provided in advance.) A relatively brief (8-10pp) independent interpretive/critical paper will also be due towards the end of the semester.
PHIL 677: Medical Ethics: Professional Responsibilities, 11:00 MWF, 1007 Wescoe. Professor Don Marquis
This course is concerned with issues in the ethics of medicine OTHER THAN life and death issues. If you want to take a medical ethics course in which life and death issues are thoroughly discussed, you should take Philosophy 676, Medical Ethics: Life and Death Issues. In Philosophy 677, after a three or four week introduction to some general approaches to ethics, we shall discuss issues such as informed consent, whether medical paternalism is ever justified, the duty to be honest with patients, the duty of confidentiality, whether or not there is a right to health care, issues in the ethics of medical research, genetic engineering, whether selling kidneys is a good idea, and whether medical care should be rationed.
There will be four exams, including a final examination, and a term paper. You must discuss your topic with me before you write on it.
The required anthology for this course is Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, edited by Bonnie Steinbock, John Arras and Alex John London (McGraw-Hill) 7th. Ed.
PHIL 800: Graduate Tutorial, 2:30 F, 3097 Wescoe. Professor Ben Eggleston
The purpose of this course, as stated in KU’s graduate catalog, is to provide “[i]ntensive supervised training in the techniques of research.” The main priorities will be to develop the ability to write about philosophical issues and texts. This activity obviously requires, in normal practice, the ability to read and analyze philosophical texts, so we will work on that a lot, too. This course is open only to first-year graduate students in Philosophy, and is required of all of them. For more detailed and updated information regarding this course please see the website that the instructor has set up for this course at http://web.ku.edu/~utile/courses/tutorial2.
PHIL 884: Topics in Law and Philosophy: Rights. 3:45 T, 107 Green Hall. Professor Derrick Darby
The language of rights is ubiquitous in law and philosophy. Is this a good thing? How should we account for the nature and source of rights? This seminar will afford students an occasion to ponder these pressing questions. We shall proceed by examining three recent books on rights. In On Human Rights (Oxford 2009), James Griffin defends a traditional way of thinking about rights, namely, as claims we possess merely in virtue of our humanity, which serve an indispensable role in morality, law, and global politics. In Rights, Race, and Recognition (Cambridge 2009), Derrick Darby argues for rethinking the source and value of rights in view of the legacy of race and racism, and invites us to view all rights—including moral and human rights—as social constructions rather than as gifts of nature. And in Rejecting Rights (Cambridge 2009), Soni Bedu argues for rejecting rights altogether on account of their being inimical to liberty and democratic debate. The seminar paper and class presentations will provide opportunities to weigh in on this current debate over whether we should retain, rethink, or reject rights.
PHIL 886: Topics in Applied Ethics. Killing and Abortion. 2:30-4:30 M, 3097 Wescoe,
Professor Don Marquis
We shall investigate the following question: Is there an account of the wrongness of killing all those we all believe it is seriously wrong to kill that respects reproductive freedom and that is not arbitrarily restricted?
After briefly discussing some classic papers on the wrongness of killing, we shall examine recent work on this issue by authors such as Mary Anne Warren, Jeff McMahan, David DeGrazia, Peter Singer, Michael Tooley, Bernard Gert, Dean Stretton, David Boonin, and Liz Harman. All of these philosophers offer an account of the wrongness of killing they believe to be the basis for an affirmative answer to the above question.
Each student will be asked to sign up to give a presentation on a particular date. Nine days before the date of one’s presentation, the student will submit to me an outline of her presentation on one page, front and back. I shall critique it, and return it a week before the presentation asking for corrections, if any. We shall discuss the critique. The point of this procedure is to avoid wasting the time of other members of the class on presentations that could be improved.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the classic papers on this issue. On the first day of class you should already be familiar with classic papers on this issue by Michael Tooley (or Peter Singer), Mary Anne Warren, Judy Thomson, and me.
There will be a final analytical paper and a final examination.
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