Philosophy Department
Ethics
and Society
TR
3:30-4:45 PM
Albert
Piacente
Examines grounds for moral judgment and action in various
social contexts. Typical topics: public versus private good and duties;
individualism and cooperation; inequalities and justice; utilitarianism and
rights; regulation of sexual conduct, abortion, and family life; poverty and
wealth; racism and sexism; and war and capital punishment.
V83.0010-001
Central
Problems in Philosophy
MW
12:30-1:45
Mark
DeBellis
An
intensive introduction to central problems in philosophy. Topics may include
free will,
the
existence of God, skepticism and knowledge, and the mind-body problem.
V83.0021-001
History
of Modern Philosophy
MW
11:00-12:15 AM
Peter
Kung
This
is a survey of 17th and 18th century European metaphysics and
epistemology. We will read Descartes,
Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
Philosophy
in the Middle Ages
TR
11:00-12:15
Alfred
Ivry
Study of major
medieval philosophers, their issues, schools, and current philosophic
interests. Includes, among others, Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Duns
Scotus, and William of Ockham.
V83.0040-001
Ethics
Sharon
Street
An
examination of some central topics in moral philosophy. Among the
questions we will consider are: What reason is there to be moral?
Is pleasure the only ultimate good? What makes an action right or wrong,
and to what extent is this a matter of the action's consequences? What
role should the concept of virtue play in moral theorizing? Are there
such things as moral facts, and if so, how should we understand them? Is there
a single true morality, or is moral truth relative to culture or the
individual?
Readings will be drawn from both contemporary and historical sources.
V83.0050-001
Medical
Ethics
TR
11:00-12:15
William
Ruddick
The course will examine current topics and principles in
medical practice and research. Included
are: autonomy, paternalism, and
professionalism; hope, trust, and deception;
reproductive aid and abortion; clinical definitions of quality of life,
harm, and death; assisted suicide and euthanasia; clinical drug testing and peer review. No prerequisite.
V83.0060-001
Aesthetics
TR
3:30-4:45
Scott
Walden
This course will be devoted to philosophical issues relevant to the visual arts, with special emphasis placed on those raised by photography. We will examine various theories of depiction and various theories of art, and then explore the ways in which these theories intersect with issues such as photographic realism, photographic objectivity, and photographic meaning. We will also keep an eye on the larger issue of what limits there may be to philosophical investigation in these areas.
Readings will include works by Clive Bell, Gregory Currie, Arthur Danto, Jerry Fodor, Nelson Goodman, Paul Grice, Dominic Lopes, Patrick Maynard, Linda Nochlin, Barbara Savedoff, Roger Scruton, and Kendall Walton.
V83.0070-001
Logic
MW
3:30-4:45 PM
Scott
Walden
Introduces the techniques, results, and philosophical import of 20th century formal logic. Principal concepts include those of sentence, set, interpretation, validity, consistency, consequence, tautology, derivation, and completeness.
V83.0072-001
Advanced
Logic
TR
9:30-10:45
Rohit
Parikh
This course continues the development of Propositional and First Order logic. This will include syntax, semantics, proof theory and the Completeness result of Goedel. We will also try to give a less formal and more intuitive view of some other developments including the Goedel Incompleteness results, Craig’s interpolation theorem and the issue of Truth in formal theories.
V83.0076-001
Belief,
Truth & Knowledge
MW
9:30-10:45 AM
Roger
White
This
course is an inquiry into the nature of inquiry. We often seek answers to
questions—e.g., Who was responsible for the Sept 11 attacks? Will the Knicks
win tonight? 837+655=?—and take ourselves to know the answers, or have rational
opinions, or to have good evidence
for our views. Rather than answer these questions, we will step back and ask, What
is the nature of evidence? and, What it is to know something or to be rational?
In answering these questions, we will examine versions of, and responses to
Skepticism: that there is very little we can know or have reason to believe.
Philosophy
of Mind
TR
9:30-10:45
Christopher
Peacocke
What is involved in seeing an object, hearing and
understanding a friend’s utterance, or appreciating a piece of music? This
course will be concerned with the philosophical issues involved in addressing
these questions. Topics to be covered will, as time permits, be drawn from the
following: perception, sensation and representation; the emotions; action; the
self; action, awareness, and joint awareness; thought about the objective world
and thought about the mental world of other people; reasons and psychological
explanation; mental representation. Particular attention will be devoted to
issues of interdisciplinary interest; issues overlapping with the concerns of
psychology and the other cognitive sciences will be emphasized
throughout. Prerequisites: introductory logic; some background in the
philosophy of language is highly desirable.
V83.0085-001
Philosophy
of Language
MW
4:55-6:10
Gary
Ostertag
Examines various
philosophical and psychological approaches to language and meaning and their
consequences for traditional philosophical problems in metaphysics,
epistemology, and ethics. Discusses
primarily 20th Century authors including Russell, Wittgenstein, and Quine.
V83.0103-001
Topics
in Metaphysics and Epistemology
MW
2:00-3:15
Peter
Unger
Prerequisite:
Two course in Philosophy, including either V83.0076 or V83.0078.
What are basic concrete entities and, in concrete
reality, what other entities might there also be? Considering various answers to that question, we’ll explore
several longstanding issues in metaphysics, including the nature of physical
entities, the nature of mental entities, the main relations between the mental
and the physical, the similarities and differences between the spatial and the
temporal, the question of real choice, and problems of personal identity.
Far from being a series of lectures, the course is to
consist largely of discussions, initiated by the professor but heavily
involving the students. Since there
won’t be any attempt to impart a “body of metaphysical knowledge,” the won’t be
any exams. Instead, students must write
a couple of lucid short papers, each on a different issue discussed extensively
in class meetings.
V83.0102-001
Topics
in Ethics and Political Philosophy
William
Ruddick
Prerequisite: Two course in Philosophy, including either V83.0040, V83.0041,
V83.0045, or V83.0052.
The
course will focus on autonomy, paternalism, deception, self-deception
and trust in various spheres (personal, institutional, professional, and
political). Readings from past and
current philosophers. Two essays.
V83.0426-001
(same as V78.0425)
Jewish
Philosophy in the Medieval World
TR 3:30-4:45
Readings in
translation and analysis of representative selections from the writings of the
major Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages; emphasis on Halevi’s Kuzari and
Moses Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed. Special attention to the cultural
context in which these works were produced.
Students may count the following course as an elective course toward a
Philosophy major.
V61.0102-001
Undergraduate
Linguistics Seminar
Prof.
Paul Elbourne
Prerequisite:
permission of instructor
This seminar will investigate the nature of the semantic values of sentences through an examination of sentences that report beliefs and other psychological attitudes, such as `Galileo believed that the Earth moves' . Such examples have arguably proven to be problematic for all the traditional theories of the denotation of sentences, and have prompted the emergence of new theories designed specifically with them in mind, such as the relatively recent theory that the semantic value of a sentence is its Interpreted Logical Form, a syntactic representation with each node labeled with an interpretation.
We
will discuss classic and contemporary papers by philosophers and linguists.
Each registered student will be required to write a research paper and to make
a presentation on the topic of their paper towards the end of the semester. No
final examination.
The
following graduate courses are open to senior major with the instructor’s
permission:
G83.2223,
Epistemology (Boghossian), M 2-4
G83.2295,
Mind and Language Seminar (Field/Schiffer), M 5-6, T 4-7, 30882
G83.3004,
Topics in Metaphysics (Wright), TR 11-1, 31406
G83.2280,
Political Philosophy (Nagel), W 1-3, 31268
G83.1004,
Advanced Introduction to Ethics (Street), F 11-1, 31407
G83.2285,
Ethics: Selected Topics (Kamm) TBA, 31214
MAIN
BUILDING, 100 WASHINGTON SQUARE EAST, ROOM 503, NEW YORK, NY 10003-6688. (212)
998-8320. FAX: (212) 995-4179.
CHAIR
OF THE DEPARTMENT: Professor Boghossian
DIRECTOR
OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES: William Ruddick
DIRECTOR
OF GRADUATE STUDIES: Hartry Field
ADMINISTRATIVE
STAFF:
Debbie Bula, Anupum Mehrotra, Michael Balla
Philosophy
poses general questions about reality, knowledge, reasoning, language, and conduct.
The four main branches are metaphysics (What is the ultimate nature of reality?
What really exists and what is mere appearance?); epistemology (What, if
anything, can be known and how?); logic (What are the principles of correct
reasoning?); and ethics (What is moral value? And what moral values should we
adopt?). Other, more specific, branches of philosophy address questions
concerning the nature of art, law, medicine, politics, religion, and the
sciences.
Everyone
tends to have or assume answers to these questions. The aim of the department
is to enable students to identify, clarify, and assess these answers, both
ancient and modern. Philosophy prepares students for a more reflective life,
for advanced studies in the subject, as well as for professions that emphasize
analytic thinking and argumentation, such as law, business, and programming.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Major
A
major in philosophy requires nine 4-point V-level or G-level courses in the
department. These must include (1) Logic, V83.0070; (2) History of Ancient
Philosophy, V83.0020; or Advanced Greek Philosophy, V83.0023; (3) History of
Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; (4) Ethics, V83.0040; or Nature of Values,
V83.0041; or Political Philosophy, V83.0045; (5) Belief, Truth, and Knowledge,
V83.0076; or Metaphysics, V83.0078; (6) Minds and Machines, V83.0015; or
Philosophy of Mind, V83.0080; or Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and (7)
Topics in the History of Philosophy, V83.0101; or Topics in Ethics and
Political Philosophy, V83.0102; or Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology,
V83.0103; or Topics in Language and Mind, V83.0104. No credit toward the major
is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C.
Students
considering a major in philosophy are encouraged to begin with one of the
Intensive Introductory Courses, or with one of the following: History of
Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; Ethics,
V83.0040; or Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076. Logic, V83.0070, should be
taken as soon as possible.
JOINT MAJOR in Language and Mind
This
major, intended as an introduction to cognitive science, is administered by the
Departments of Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. Eleven courses are
required (four in linguistics, one in philosophy, five in psychology, and one
additional course) to be constituted as follows. The linguistics component
consists of Language, V61.0001; Grammatical Analysis, V61.0013; Introduction to
Cognitive Science, V61.0028; and one more course chosen from Computational
Models of Sentence Construction, V61.0024; Phonological Analysis, V61.0012; and
Introduction to Semantics, V61.0004. The philosophy component consists of one
course, chosen from Minds and Machines, V83.0015; Philosophy of Language,
V83.0085; and Logic, V83.0070. The psychology component consists of four
required courses: Introduction to Psychology, A89.0001; Statistics for the
Behavioral Sciences, V89.0010; The Psychology of Language, V89.0056; and
Cognition, V89.0029; in addition, one course, chosen from Seminar in Thinking,
V89.0026; Language Acquisition and Cognitive Development, V89.0300; and
Laboratory in Human Cognition, V89.0028. The eleventh course will be one of the
above-listed courses that has not already been chosen to satisfy the
departmental components.
MINOR
A
minor in philosophy requires four 4-point courses, at least three beyond the
A-level Introductory Courses. One course must be History of Ancient Philosophy,
V83.0020, or History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; one course each must come
from Group 2 (Ethics, Value, and Society) and Group 3 (Metaphysics,
Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic). No credit toward the minor is awarded
for a course with a grade lower than C.
INDEPENDENT STUDY
A
student may sign up for an independent study course if he or she obtains the
consent of a faculty member who approves the study project and agrees to serve
as adviser. The student must also obtain the approval of either the department
chair or the director of undergraduate studies. The student may take no more
than one such course in any given semester and no more than two such courses in
total, unless granted special permission by either the department chair or the
director of undergraduate studies.
HONORS PROGRAM
Honors
in philosophy will be awarded to majors who (1) have an overall grade point
average of 3.5 and an average in V- and G-level philosophy courses of 3.5, and
(2) successfully complete the honors program. This program, which is taken for
2 points in each of the student's last two semesters, is intended to provide an
intensive and rewarding culmination to the philosophy major. It involves
participation in an honors seminar and the writing of a senior thesis under the
supervision of a faculty adviser. Entry to the honors program requires a 3.0 average
overall and a 3.5 average in at least five V- or G-level philosophy courses (at
least one in each of the three Groups, plus one Topics course). The thesis must
be approved by the adviser and by a second faculty reader for honors to be
awarded.
Majors
interested in admission to the program should consult the director of
undergraduate studies toward the end of their junior year.
COURSE PREREQUISITES
The
department treats its course prerequisites seriously. Students not satisfying a
course's prerequisites are strongly advised to seek the permission of the
instructor beforehand.
WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy has a reputation for being otherworldly and impractical – some say, “philosophy butters no bread”, but it doesn’t really deserve this label. The purpose of philosophy is controversial, but at least one this it involves is the construction and evaluation of arguments. The study of philosophy is a training of expressing thoughts clearly and precisely, in defending one’s ideas and evaluating the positions of others. Quite simply, philosophy gives a training in thinking. And this is a skill valuable in any professional field.
Philosophy
has a special affinity with the legal profession in which arguments, and the
application of general rules to cases, play central roles. Many law schools recognize this connection
and are especially receptive to philosophy majors. But philosophical skills are valuable elsewhere as well. In business, you must formulate and clarify
problems, to analyze potential solutions, and to defend your approach in a
clear and rational way. All these
abilities are improved by exercising in philosophical argument. And finally, medical schools and
professionals place increasing importance on the ability to reflect in the ethical
issues that arise in their practice – and these are of course problems treated
in moral philosophy.
Some
of these practical beliefs seem reflected the exceptional performance by
philosophy majors on graduate admissions exams. They show that philosophy majors scored higer than any other
group on the verbal section of the GRE, and much higher than any other
humanities majors on the quantitative section.
Philosophy majors are second only to math majors on the GMAT, and
third only to math and economics majors on the LSAT. Of course, majors training in philosophy may
not be wholly responsible for these results – it may also be that brighter
students are entering the field to begin with.
But in either case, the report suggests you’re not stupid if you join
them.
But this still doesn’t touch on what surely remains the most reasons for studying philosophy. College years shouldn’t just be a professional training. They are a best chance to think about basic human questions – about personal and social values, about the nature of reality and yourselves. Studying philosophy can bring into view questions of lifelong relevance and interest. It can acquaint you with the issues in debates that will always recur, and can help you toward argued positions on such issues. In a very rare case, it might even help determine your direction through life.