Global Arc

This course focusing primarily on the Confucian tradition. Roughly half of the course will be spent on classical Chinese Philosophy from Confucius through to Hanfeizi. The second half of the course will begin with a very brief look at Chinese Buddhism, and go on to discuss in detail the development of Song and Ming Dynasty Neo-Confucianism. Students will acquire a basic knowledge of standard philosophical tools (how to reconstruct an argument from a text, how to assess the validity and soundness of an argument). They will also gain a working knowledge of the ideas of some of China's greatest philosophical thinkers.

An accessible introduction for all students to recent results by logicians, computer scientists, psychologists, engineers, and statisticians concerning the nature and limits of learning. Topics include truth and underdetermination, induction, computability, language learning, pattern recognition, neural networks, and the role of simplicity in theory choice. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

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Introduction to clinical and public health ethics. Topics within clinical ethics include: abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and hospital triage. We then explore the ethics of public health, tying the discussion to current political debates. For example, we will ask whether there is a universal right to healthcare. The course ends by examining issues that could potentially arise out of future biomedical and artificial intelligence technologies. During the semester, students can also expect to gain a background in the fundamentals of ethical theory.

Readings in translation from pre-Socratic philosophers and from Plato's dialogues, to provide a broad history of Greek philosophy through Plato. Topics covered will include: Socrates's method of dialectic, his conceptions of moral virtue and human knowledge; Plato's theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and moral and political philosophy. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Aristotle's most important contributions in the areas of logic, scientific method, philosophy of nature, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and politics. Several of his major works will be read in translation. Aristotle's successors in the Greco-Roman period will be studied briefly. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

A critical study of the metaphysical and epistemological doctrines of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Readings in continental philosophy of the early modern period, with intensive study of the works of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Topics to be specially considered include: knowledge, understanding, and sense-perception; existence and necessity; the nature of the self and its relation to the physical world. Two 90-minute classes.

Analysis of the Critique of Pure Reason, with some attention to other aspects of Kant's philosophy, such as his views on ethics, aesthetics, and teleological judgment. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This course consists of a close reading of Plato's Republic. We will be assessing its contribution to philosophy in the areas of Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Mathematics, and Aesthetics