Description
This course covers a selection of central problems in ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology.
Readings: i. course pack, ii. online readings. The online readings are from Early Modern Texts (EM), Gutenberg Project and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP). All Gutenberg Project works are in the public domain. Books and articles from EM and SEP are free to use for non-commercial purposes. The course bibliography is available here.
Lectures
[*] readings are required
| Methodology: What is Philosophy and How to do it. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Art, Rhetoric and Religion |  | [*] Sophocles. Antigone Film: Antigone (1961) |
| Science and Pseudo-Science | | SEP. Scientific Method SEP. Science and Pseudo-Science |
| Philosophy: Definition | | [*] Plato. Apology [*] G. Belic. Definition and Analysis |
| Philosophy: Argument | | [*] G. Belic. Argumentation Bertrand Russell. 1912. The Value of Philosophy from Problems of Philosophy |
| Ethics: What should we do? How should we live? | ||
| Relativism | | [*] James and Stuart Rachels. "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" Bernard Mandeville. 1714. Fable of the Bees Gilbert Harman. 1975. Moral Relativism Defended Joel Feinberg. 1978. "Psychological Egoism" |
| Utilitarianism | | [*] Vsauce. The Trolley Problem in Real Life [*] John Stuart Mill. 1861. Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham. 1789. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation |
| Deontology | | [*] Immanuel Kant. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals [*] David Velleman. Reading Kant's Groundwork |
| Virtue Ethics | | [*] Aristotle (384-22 BCE). Nicomachean Ethics: Books I and II [*] Elizabeth M. Anscombe. 1958. Modern Moral Philosophy |
| Famine Relief | | [*] Peter Singer. 1972. Famine, Affluence and Morality [*] Onora O'Neill. 1980. "Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Ethics" |
| Animal Welfare | | [*] Peter Singer. 1989. "All Animals Are Equal Peter Singer" In Animal Rights and Human Obligations pp. 215-226 Will Kymlicka. Membership Rights for Animals SEP: The Moral Status of Animals |
| Political Philosophy: What is a just state or society? | ||
| Libertarianism | | [*] Robert Nozick. 1974. Anarchy, State Utopia (excerpts) [*] Milton Friedman. TAKE IT TO THE LIMITS: Milton Friedman on Libertarianism. Hoover Institution SEP. Libertarianism SEP. Robert Nozick's Political Philosophy SEP. Neo-Liberalism |
| Socialism | | [*] Karl Marx. 1848. Communist Manifesto SEP. Socialism |
| Liberalism | | [*] John Rawls. 1971. A Theory of Justice (excerpts) SEP. Liberalism |
| Freewill and Causal Determinism: Do we ever act freely or make choices? | ||
| Freewill Libertarianism | | [*] C. A. Cambpell. 1938. In Defence of Freewill |
| Hard-Determinism | | [*] D'Holbach. 1770. XI. Of the System of Man's Free Agency from The System of Nature Blatchford. 1908. Not Guilty |
| Compatibilism | | [*] Ayer, A.J. 1972. Freedom and Necessity in Philosophical Essays Harry Frankfurt. 1969. "Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility," Journal of Philosophy, 46: 829-839. |
| Philosophy of Mind: What is a mind and mental phenomena? | ||
| Dualism | | [*] Rene Descartes. 1641. Meditations [*] Richard Swineburne. 2009. Substance Dualism, Faith and Philosophy SEP. Dualism |
| Behaviorism and Innatism | | [*] B. F. Skinner. 1957. Verbal Behavior (excerpts) [*] Noam Chomsky. 1967. Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior in Language 35:1 |
| Identity Theory | | [*] J. J. C. Smart. 1959. Sensations and Brain Processes, Philosophical Review, 68: 141–156. |
| Functionalism | | [*] Ned Block. 1980. What is Functionalism? SEP. Functionalism |
| Can Computers Think? | | [*] Alan Turing. 1950. Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Mind, 59(236): 433-60. [*] John Searle. 1980. Minds, Brains and Programs, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3: 417-57. Nick Bolstrom. Future Progress in Artificial Intelligence: A Survey of Expert Opinion Nick Bolstrom. 2016. Ethical Issues in Artificial Intelligence Nick Bolstrom. 2011. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence |
| Philosophy of Religion: Does God Exist? | ||
| Ontological Argument for God | | [*] Saint Anselm. 1078. Proslogion [*] Gaunilo. 10??. On Behalf of the Fool Immanuel Kant. 1781. Existence is not a predicate from Critique of Pure Reason - The Dialectic |
| Cosmological Argument for God | | [*] Saint Thomas Aquinas. 1273. Summa Theologica |
| Design Argument for God | | [*] William Paley. 1802. Natural Theology [*] David Hume. 1779. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Roger Penrose. On Universe Fine-Tuning Leonard Suskind. Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life and Mind? SEP. Fine-Tuning Argument SEP. Teleological Arguments |
| Pragmatic Argument for God | | [*] Blaise Pascal. 1660. Pensees SEP. Pascal's Wager |
| The Logical Problem of Evil | | [*] J. L. Mackie. 1955. Evil and Omnipotence |
| The Inductive Problem of Evil | | [*] David Hume. 1779. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion SEP. The Problem of Evil |
| Epistemology | ||
| Skepticism | | [*] William Clifford. 1846. Ethics of Belief [*] William James. 1896. The Will to Believe Sextus Empiricus. ~100AD. Outlines of Skepticism. |
| External World Skepticism | | [*] Rene Descartes. 1641. Meditations I, II Nick Bolstrom. 2003. Are you living in a computer simulation?. More here |
| The Problem of Induction | | [*] David Hume. 1740. A Treatise of Human Nature: Abstract David Hume. 1748. Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding |
| Innate Knowledge or "Tabular Rasa" | | [*] Plato. ~400BCE. Meno [*] John Locke. 1689. Essay on Human Understanding - Book I |
| A priori Knowledge | | [*] Bertrand Russell. 1912. Chapter VII and VIII. Problems of Philosophy [*] A. J. Ayer. 1936. A priori. Language, Truth and Logic |
| Metaphysics | ||
| Realism | | [*] Bertrand Russell. 1912. Appearance and Reality from Problems of Philosophy [*] John Locke. 1689. Essay on Human Understanding: Book II, Book IV |
| Idealism | | [*] George Berkeley. 1710. The Principles of Human Knowledge (excerpts) |
| Truth | | [*] Bertand Russell. 1912. Truth in Problems of Philosophy William James. 1909. VIII. The Pragmatist Account of Truth in The Meaning of Truth |