Roger Federer gets stumped by famous saying. We will consider the ways in which narrative fiction presents and engages its audience in philosophical reflections on personal identity, nature of the self, interpersonal relationships, memory, time, human existence, freedom, and the meaning in life. In addressing these substantive questions, we will also consider which methodological approach--if a single one can be privileged--we should adopt for examining emotions. Using resources from philosophy and linguistics, we will study various ways in which literal and non-literal uses of language influence our social lives. Or is it a supreme illusion, a dream-like escape, the domain in which the viewer's unconscious wishes are magically fulfilled? No one can have an adequate understanding of western intellectual history without some familiarity with the Greeks, and we might think that an understanding of our intellectual history can deepen our understanding of our own situation. We conclude by considering some of the later Hindu holistic views of the self as responses to the Buddhist critique. Stoicism and skepticism, however, are wildly divergent schools of thought. In this course, we will examine some central texts in ancient Greek and Roman moral philosophy. Later Wittgenstein is a controversial, polarizing figure; but serious reading of his work is invariably intellectually enriching and fertile. [more], Our goal will be to determine how far reason can justify belief in God. Phil, miss you and wish I had the chance to say goodbye. The picture that we find in the works of the tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides is markedly different. [more], Our focus in this class is going to be on the nature of causation. To do this we will explore topics that might traditionally be considered "women's issues" in healthcare, such as medicine and body image (e.g., cosmetic surgery, eating disorders), reproductive and genetic technologies, and research on women and their health care needs. [more], In this course, we will begin with an in-depth study of the theory of first-order logic. View Phil Walsh's email address (p*****@kw***.com) and phone number. Meredith Walsh called triple zero after the early-morning attack at the family's Adelaide home on July 3 last year and as she pleaded for help, she also called out to her husband, court documents show. We will read the Oresteia and Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Sophocles' Theban Cycle, and the Hippolytus, Bacchae and Philoctetes by Euripides. [more], At the beginning of the last century Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. The answer is not merely that they ask the question, "What gives meaning to a human life?" More particularly, it concerns itself with the difference between good and bad reasoning, between strong and weak arguments. However, few (haters gonna hate) would say that the expression has a referent. Epistemologists don't seem to think that Hume's account of human psychology, morality and taste can in any way illuminate his treatment of skepticism and natural belief, while moral philosophers often neglect Hume's conclusions about the limits of our knowledge in analyzing his conception of motivation, action, obligation and virtue. [more], The Williams College Mission statement says that "free inquiry requires open-mindedness, and commitment to community draws on concern for others". Wilfrid Sellars regarded as uncontroversial the view that it is "an attempt to see how things, in the broadest possible sense of the term, hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term." The first, shorter part will focus on the writings of the three classics of American pragmatism--Charles S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey--and analyze their reaction against traditional epistemology, as well as the positive philosophical ideas that they had to offer. Key ideas and concepts such as the death of god, the use and abuse of history, the eternal recurrence, will to power, and master and slave morality will be addressed. In school? The AFL abandoned the Crows' game against Geelong on Sunday, the club called the tragedy an unprecedented crisis and a family has been torn apart. What if they are biased, unbeknownst to us? In this course we'll examine several influential attempts to provide a rational foundation for morality, along with Nietzsche's wholesale rejection of these efforts. Understanding later Wittgenstein is thus vital for engaging in contemporary philosophy, but neither the interpretation nor the evaluation of his thought is straightforward or easy. While students will not regularly be required to read the latter, any who want to pursue this legacy will be supported in doing so.) Messing with People: The Ethics of Human Experimentation. Loyalty is frequently expected by family, friends and lovers, and demanded by institutions, religious, political and ethnic communities, as well as by the state. The first portion of the course will be devoted to considering general theories of justice as well as alternative conceptions of justice specifically within the health care context. It is, in fact, quite difficult to get through any course of study in the liberal arts without some familiarity with Plato. We will begin with an analysis of primary texts by Fanon and end by considering how Fanon has been interpreted by his contemporaries as well as activists and critical theorists writing today. Its probing and intimate reflections on the meaning of human life, the nature of God and mind, time and eternity, will and world, good and evil, love and sexuality have challenged every generation since Augustine's own. What makes an individual's life go well? In framing and answering these questions, we will discuss subjective experience (or phenomenology) of mental illness; holism vs. reductionism; functional, historical and structural explanations of psychopathology; theory formation, evidence, and the role of values in psychology and psychiatry; the diversity and disunity of psychotherapeutic approaches; relationship between knowers and the known; and relationship between theoretical knowledge in psychiatry and the practices of healing. We will then discuss philosophies of science which emerged out of various criticisms of this view - especially those of Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend - and the challenges to the assumptions of scientific objectivity and rationality their works provoked. By which methods should we pursue these questions? Is there a room for the notion of collective intention in filmmaking? What form of government best serves the people? At home? Among the questions that we will address: What is justice? and Rationalism concerns whether all our knowledge derives from experience, or any is innate. Our readings will include the relevant works of Plato, Sextus Empiricus, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Goodman, Elgin, Hacking, Krausz, Foot, and Williams, among others. As we proceed through the course, we will look at the way in which each thinker characterizes happiness, virtue and the relation between the two. In this tutorial, will read works in critical theory from the 18th century to the present, some from the Frankfurt tradition, and some not. Fanon ushered in the decolonial turn in critical theory, a move calling on those both within and outside of Europe to challenge the coloniality of the age and to forge a new vision of politics in the postcolonial period. What are the social and ethical prerequisites--and consequences--of democracy? Or is it a supreme illusion, a dream-like escape, the domain in which the viewer's unconscious wishes are magically fulfilled? Other philosophers and literary theorists have used some of their ideas recently to throw light on the nature of textual meaning and the interpretation of literary texts. Are there ethical considerations that should govern both film production and spectatorship? From there it is a natural transition to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Finally, we will analyze the current debate about cognitive credentials of science and about proper approaches to the study of science, which came to be known as "the science wars." Thus, Plato described the philosopher as "the one who beholds all Time and all Being." If possible, we will arrange to see a live performance of a Greek tragedy. In order to hit the ground running, students will be expected to read The Women Are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics by Benjamin J. Ms. Sydney Walsh-Wilcox '83 P'23 (Sibling) Ms. Jenny Walsh Singer '99 (Sibling) . The tragedians emphasize the ways in which the cosmos and our role in it resists any attempt to be understood, and emphasize the ways in which the success or failure of our lives often turns on things completely beyond our control. But three grains isn't enough for a heap. Finally, there are those who do not think philosophy can contribute much at all to answering such questions and others who question its claims to universality given its associations with colonialism, racism, sexism, etc. Logicians and mathematicians have done a good deal of work developing extensions of and alternatives to classical logic. What is the nature of audience's response to film? Are we justified in believing in God? However, few (haters gonna hate) would say that the expression has a referent. Readings will be drawn from recent work in the Frankfurt School and poststructuralist traditions of critical theory as well as anti-racist, anti-colonial, feminist and queer theories that draw upon them. They help us ask: What is freedom? Our main goal in this course is to work our way through Aristotle's text which can be extremely daunting, and to reconstruct his central positions and his arguments for these positions. And please refer to Class Notes for further information . Other philosophers and literary theorists have used some of their ideas recently to throw light on the nature of textual meaning and the interpretation of literary texts. We will discuss the importance of specific genre conventions and broader contextual matters to the interpretation of literary texts (along the lines suggested by Quentin Skinner); the possibility of using intention to rule out mistaken and arrive at acceptable interpretations, if not a single correct interpretation (a possibility denied by such relativists as Stanley Fish); the use and meaning of metaphors; and the host of questions surrounding the intentional fallacy (the alleged result of invoking authorial intention to determine textual meaning). Some of them explicitly engage meta-philosophical debates; others exemplify particular philosophical styles and methods. Near the end of the semester, we'll also examine some evolutionary explanations of religious belief. public health policies and activities. The first portion of the course will be devoted to developing and understanding four moral principles which have come to be accepted as canonical: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Rather than seeing philosophy as an esoteric discipline, the pragmatic philosophers (with the possible exception of Peirce) see philosophy as integral to our culture and see themselves as public intellectuals. If so, is that knowledge importantly different in kind or in rigor from the knowledge we gain through physics, chemistry or geology? Is there a difference between being offended and being harmed? The issue of prediction was also raised by economist Donald McCloskey who, in 1988, asked his fellow economists, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" We will examine a variety of philosophical and scientific theories of emotion, as well as some issues concerning normative aspects of emotions: the role of emotions in a good life, and the concept of emotional maturity. [more], The late 20th Century philosopher Richard Rorty characterized the present age as "post-Nietzschean." We will then turn to some specific social forms in the second unit, and ask whether they promote or preclude our freedom. The first portion of the course will be devoted to considering general theories of justice as well as alternative conceptions of justice specifically within the health care context. Of course, this question cannot really be answered, nor is there any value in trying to answer it, and any "answer" will only be "true" for you. While social justice and distributive justice are deeply intertwined in the health care context and we will discuss both, we will focus primarily on the concept of distributive justice. What are other models for understanding moral objectivity? We then consider a range of Buddhist critiques of these views, focusing more particularly on the Madhyamaka, which radicalizes the critique of the self into a global anti-realist and skeptical stance. In addition to key concepts of death, dying, and terminal illness, we will develop and refine notions of medical futility, paternalism and autonomy, particularly within the context of advance directives and surrogate decision making. Is happiness an emotional or mental state or is it a social construct? Throughout the course, our focus will be on the best theoretical and practical knowledge we now have to diagnose, explain, and alleviate mental illness. Our texts will include Gottlob Frege. Who is equal? We will read works by three of Socrates' contemporaries: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and especially Plato. Why can't argumentative prose--philosophers' preferred form of expression--clearly say, and moreover prove, what literature, theatre and film illustrate, show and display? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? We will begin the course by looking briefly at some of the Presocratic philosophers active in the Mediterranean world of the seventh through fifth centuries BCE, and some of the sophists active in the fifth century. The philosophical study of what we do in language, and how we understand one another, is called pragmatics; within the analytic tradition, the main philosophical contributions to the study of pragmatics in language came from Peirce, Wittgenstein, Austen, Grice and Searle. Walsh, 55, died from multiple stab wounds at the scene despite attempts by ambulance officers to revive him.His son was arrested after police were called to a domestic dispute at the home in Somerton Park at 2am ACST on Friday. [more], This course is a survey of 17th- and 18th-century European philosophy, with a focus on metaphysics and epistemology. Are we rationally justified in drawing causal inferences? We will look at relativism with respect to reason and truth in general as well as with respect to science, religion, and morality. We shall first explore the salient features of the pragmatic approaches to language, paying special attention to Austin's notion of illocutionary force and Grice's notion of non-natural meaning. In this tutorial we'll closely examine a series of contemporary and historical cases of human experimentation (roughly, one case per week) with an eye toward elucidating the moral norms that ought to govern human subjects research. Some of the questions which we will discuss are: What is a person? No one can have an adequate understanding of western intellectual history without some familiarity with the Greeks, and we might think that an understanding of our intellectual history can deepen our understanding of our own situation. Mental Health and Illness: Philosophical Considerations. Or, must sensible properties be organized spatiotemporally? I don't know why, she just does. In this course, we will examine some central texts in ancient Greek and Roman moral philosophy. (ii) You are reading. [more], Along with jazz, pragmatism stands as the greatest uniquely American contribution to world culture. What is the nature of language? This seminar will try to establish, with as much accuracy as the subject allows, what are the central tenets of American Pragmatism, how they have shaped contemporary epistemology and the philosophy of science, and finally, to what extent are pragmatist approaches to human knowledge philosophically sound and fruitful. [more], This course will examine central questions in normative ethics, including the following: Which features of actions are morally important and why (e.g., their motive, their intrinsic nature, or their consequences)? make requests, establish rules, utilize power, issue protests, and much more. Finally, we will consider how the concept of freedom is applied in contemporary social contexts, such as speech, religion, voting, and sexuality and gender. Tamanika T. Steward. We conclude by considering the relation between first and third person studies of the mind, focusing on the concept of the embodied mind as a fruitful bridge between these different traditions. In this tutorial, we will investigate the nature of skepticism and the varieties of relativism it encourages. How does our experience justify our beliefs? What is the basis on which current psychiatric diagnostic manuals are organized? Right? We'll try to make some progress on these issues. B. Lipscomb before the first meeting, preferably over the summer. We will pay special attention to the structure of arguments for and against relativism, as well as to the philosophical motivations and perceived consequences of its endorsement or rejection. Conceptions of person are equally important in science (especially in psychology), law, and the arts. self-mastery, succeeding in worthwhile projects, cultivating relationships, living morally, developing spiritually)? Topics will include: What can we know through our senses? We coordinate our lives through sounds from mouths, signs from hands, and squiggles on paper because somehow sounds, signs, and squiggles have meanings. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Our readings will come primarily from philosophy, but will be supplemented with material from anthropology, physics, psychology, and linguistics. At home? In this way we come to realize that far from being the irrational foil of "the West," Indian tradition is a rich resource for thinking through some of the central questions that have challenged philosophers in both traditions. Is it possible to have systematic knowledge of subjective experience? Consequently, many philosophers deeply influenced by pragmatism do not recognize the fact, while, on the other hand, some self-proclaimed pragmatists of our days can hardly be seen as continuing the tradition to which they pledge allegiance. In addition we'll also look at feminist analyses of topics that traditionally have not been regarded as "gendered," such as resource allocation and end of life issues. [more], The last line of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus famously reads: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." In this tutorial, we will investigate the nature of skepticism and the varieties of relativism it encourages. Some of the questions that we will discuss are: What is psychopathology and what are its causes? What form of government best serves the people? How is it different from science? To do this, we will need to become familiar with key ethical theories; think deeply about such concepts as privacy, paternalism and autonomy, exploitation, cost-benefit analysis and justice; and compare the function of these concepts in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with the way they work in responses to other public health concerns. However, in his philosophically more sophisticated and notoriously difficult later dialogues (such as the Parmenides, Philebus, Sophist and Statesman), Plato engages in radical criticism and revision of his earlier views. How important are honor, money, love, work, friendship and our connections to others to our happiness? What distinguishes that kind of life from others? In our attempts to make headway in answering such daunting questions, we investigate recent debates in critical theory concerning subjection and resistance, intersubjective recognition and redistribution, social pathologies and the idea of a political unconscious. [more], Through lectures, discussions, close readings and assigned writings, we will consider a variety of philosophical questions about the nature of persons, and personal identity through time. This course is an investigation into how language is used to express meaning, and how such expression can have real interpersonal and societal impact. For example, many people would agree that 'Keith's favorite unicorn' is a meaningful expression. Cognitive science synthesizes research from cognitive psychology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and contemporary philosophy. In the second part of the course, we will turn to the fundamental questions concerning the status and structure of logic. These questions are typically asked within a framework where the overarching goal is attaining truth and avoiding falsity. Required fields are marked *. Black Marxism: Political Theory and Anti-Colonialism, What Philosophy Is: It's Methods, Aims and Values. 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