Global Arc

We will examine a variety of topics across contemporary analytic metaphysics. What exists? Is there an objective distinction between past, present, and future? How do things persist across time? Are there natural and social kinds, and if so, how should they be understood? What is the nature of possibility and necessity? What is the nature of causation? Do we have free will? Two 90-minute seminars.

A detailed examination of different theories concerning how we should live our lives. Special emphasis will be placed on the conflict between consequentialist theories (e.g., utilitarianism) and nonconsequentialist theories (e.g., common sense morality). Two lectures, one precept.

A critical study of works of literature in conjunction with philosophical essays, concentrating on two or three philosophical themes, such as the will, self-identity, self-deception, freedom, and time. Two lectures, one precept.

Modern science is often characterized by a number of important properties: the use of experiments, the idea of laws of nature as governing the behavior of things in nature, the idea of natural science as intimately related to mathematics. Bacon pioneered the use of experiment, Descartes pioneered the idea of a mechanistic world, and Galileo pioneered the application of mathematics to natural philosophy. Using largely primary sources, in this class we will examine these three important figures, and the initial reception given to their ideas. Two lectures, one precept.

An examination of philosophical problems arising out of the scientific study of cognition. Possible topics include methodological issues in the cognitive sciences; the nature of theories of reasoning, perception, memory, and language; and the philosophical implications of such theories. Two lectures, one precept.

An introduction to axiomatic set theory, up to the proof of the consistency of the axiom of choice. Prerequisite: some previous study of logic or mathematical maturity. Two 80-minute classes.

Critical discussion of religious and antireligious interpretations of experience and the world, the grounds and nature of religious beliefs, and of a variety of theistic and atheistic arguments. Readings from contemporary analytical philosophy of religion, and from historical sources in the Western tradition. Two 90-minute seminars.

An examination of concepts involved in the interpretation and evaluation of works of art. Emphasis will be placed on sensuous quality, structure, and expression as aesthetic categories. Illustrative material from music, painting, and literature. T wo lectures, one precept.

A discussion of philosophical problems raised by modern physics. Topics will be chosen from the philosophy of relativity theory or, more often, quantum mechanics. Two lectures, one precept.

We will study the history of the concepts of mind, body, soul, and life in the early modern period. Relevant questions include: the notion of the soul as a principle of life, the distinction between life and death, the debate between materialism and dualism, the debate between mechanistic and vitalistic theories of life, the distinction between a unified self and a material aggregate, the moral status of souls and living organisms. The course will begin with a study of Descartes, both his debate with Aristotelian vitalism and with Hobbesian materialism. Figures to be examined also include: More, Cavendish, Conway, Leibniz, and La Mettrie.