Philosophy Department
V83.0015-001
Minds
and Machines
TR
3:30-4:45
Elizabeth
Vlahos
An intensive introduction to the discipline of philosophy, by way of study of conceptual issues in cognitive science, focusing on the conflict between computational and biological approaches to the mind. Topics covered include whether a machine could think, the reduction of the mind to the brain, connectionism and neural nets, mental representation, and whether consciousness can be explained materialistically.
History
of Ancient Philosophy
V83.0020-001
TR
2-3:15
Masahiro
Yamada
Examination of the major figures and
movements in Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle.
V83.0021-001
History
of Modern Philosophy
MW
11:00-12:15 AM
Wayne
Waxman
In this course, we will read excerpts from the key
metaphysical and epistemological texts of the greatest thinkers of what is
often called philosophy’s Golden Age: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke,
Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
V83.0039-001
Recent
Continental Philosophy
TR
9:30-10:45
John
Richardson
V83.0040-001
Ethics
In this course, we will examine 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?
V83.0050-001
Medical Ethics
TR 11-12:15
William Ruddick
Examines moral issues in medical practice and research. Topics include euthanasia and quality of life; deception, hope, and paternalism; malpractice and unpredictability; patient rights, virtues, and vices; animal, fetal, and clinical research; criteria for rationing medical care; ethical principles, professional codes, and case analysis.
No prerequisites, but preference is given to juniors and seniors.
V83.0102-001
Topics
in Ethics and Political Philosophy
TR 11-12:15
Peter Unger
Prerequisite: Two course in Philosophy, including either
V83.0040, V83.0041, V83.0045, or V83.0052.
The course will revolve around two central questions in basic ethics, with related discussion of several topics in applied ethics. The first central question is, what is it that determines the moral status of a particular being? If we can save one human baby or else two elephants, in a world with plenty of each, what is it about the human baby that determines it's she alone that we should save, rather than both elephants, each (suppose) mentally more advanced than she? And, here's the second central question: Is there a morally significant distinction, even anywhere in the neighborhood of the (probably insignificant) distinction between causing and letting happen - between killing and letting die, for instance, and, for another instance, between inflicting pain and letting pain happen?
On the second question, I'll unconfidently argue that there really isn't any important distinction. And, so, it's terribly wrong to for us to allow distant little children, in the poorest regions, to suffer and die young. But, now turning back to the first question, there's this: If we can't find good reason to accord the human babies enormously higher moral status than almost all other mammals, will we then be required, on pain of behaving very badly, to provide them also, all over the world, with whatever aid they need to flourish? For many centuries, that may be enormously costly. So, there'll be important interplay between our two central questions. Our discussion of these questions will have implications for issues of discrimination, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and other "hot topics" in applied ethics.
Far from being a series of lectures, the course should consist mainly of lively discussion with, and among, its students, where the students think hard about ethical issues. Since there won't be an attempt to impart a "body of ethical knowledge," there won't be any exams. But, students must write two lucid short papers, or possibly three, each on a different issue discussed in class.
V83.0070-001
Logic
MW
2-3:15 PM
Peter
Graham
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.
V83.0074-001
Modal
Logic
TR
2-3:15
Kit
Fine
Modal logic is the logic of necessity and
possibility and other such notions. In recent times, the framework of possible
worlds has provided a valuable tool for investigating the formal properties of
these notions. This course provides an introduction to the basic concepts,
methods, and results of modal logic, with an emphasis on its application to
such other fields as philosophy, linguistics, and computer science.
V83.0076-001
Belief,
Truth & Knowledge
MW
9:30-10:45
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.
V83.0085-001
Philosophy
of Language
MW
12:30-1:45
Ray
Buchanan
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.
V83.0098-001
Philosophy of Mathematics
MW 2-3:15
Joshua Schechter
This seminar will provide an
introduction to central topics in the philosophy of mathematics. We will
discuss the nature of mathematical objects: Are they mental constructions, do
they inhabit some Platonic realm, or are there no mathematical objects at all?
We will also discuss the status of our knowledge of mathematics. The course
will have two parts. In the first part, we will consider several historically
influential views of mathematics, such as Formalism, Intuitionism, and Logicism. In the second part of the course, we will
consider contemporary views of mathematics. This part of the course will be
structured around the question of how our knowledge of mathematics ought to be
explained. Views to be explored include Fictionalism,
Neo-logicism, Plenitudinous
Platonism, and Structuralism.
V83.0103-001
Topics
in Metaphysics and Epistemology
MW
4:55-6:10
Nico Silins
Prerequisite:
Two course in Philosophy, including either V83.0076 or V83.0078.
This course will focus on the metaphysics of human
persons. The human organism where you are could continue to live as a
human vegetable, without any psychology. But could you outlive any
changes in your psychology, however extreme? If not, what is the
relation between you and the human organism where you are? We will
address these and other questions about human persons in connection with much
more general questions about the metaphysics of objects which exist in space
and time.
V78.0424
Cross listed as: V83.0127
Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise and Its
Aftermath
MW 11-12:15
Dr. Yitzhak Melamed
The course is an in-depth
study of Spinoza's main political work, the Theological-Political Treatise.
Among the topics to be discussed are: prophecy and prophets, miracles and laws
of nature, Spinoza and biblical criticism, Spinoza's view of the Jewish Law,
Spinoza's Political Theory, and the influence of the book on the Enlightenment.
V88.0722
Cross listed as: V83.0123
MW 12:30-1:45
This course introduces undergraduate students to the thought of seven major
philosophers, beginning with an intensive study of the Confucian
Analects. Following this, we read the works of Confucius' followers (Mo
Tzu, Mencius, and Hsun Tzu)
and their Daoist and Legalist adversaries (Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Han Fei
Tzu. These thinkers from the pre-imperial period (ca. 500BC to the
unification of
V27.0700
Cross listed as: V83.0122
Greek Thinkers
Philip Mitsis
MW 11-12:15
DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDIES:
Professor John Richardson Spring Office Hours: M 10-11; TH 12:30-1:30
503c
Email: jr8@nyu.edu
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF:
Debbie Bula: db7@nyu.edu ; 998-8325
Anupum Mehrotra: aqm4735@nyu.edu ; 998-8320
Michael Balla: michael.balla@nyu.edu ; 998-8320
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR:
A
major in philosophy requires nine 4-point courses in the department, with
numbers higher than V83.0009 (so that Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics
& Society do not count).
These nine courses must include (1) Logic, V83.0070; (2) History of
Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; (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.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINOR:
A minor in philosophy requires four 4-point courses, at least three beyond the 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.
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.
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 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 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 that 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, analyze potential solutions, and 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 on 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 in the exceptional performance by
philosophy majors on graduate admissions exams.
They show that philosophy majors scored higher 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, training in
philosophy majors 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 remain the most important 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.