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Winter 2003
This information effective for Winter 2003. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Philosophy
[PHIL-009] [PHIL-021] [PHIL-080G] [PHIL-088A] [PHIL-091] [PHIL-112] [PHIL-123/224] [PHIL-133/233] [PHIL-140] [PHIL-170] [PHIL-190J/290J]
9.
Introduction to Logic
Instructor:
S. Chung
Course Description:
Logic is the study of arguments, and one aim of this course is to give students the tools necessary to assess the correctness of arguments. An argument is a collection of premises that are supposed to support or give reasons for accepting the conclusion of the argument. An argument is logically correct if the premises support the conclusion, and an argument is logically incorrect if the premises do not provide support for the conclusion. We will be primarily interested in developing the ability to distinguish logically correct from logically incorrect arguments. In order to do this, we will study both the science of logic, and how this science is to be applied in determining whether arguments are logically correct or not.
Along with the science of logic and its application, we will also discuss philosophical problems of logic as they arise. Even though the science of logic is well developed, there are many unsolved problems in the philosophy of logic. As the logic necessary for understanding these problems is learned, some of the philosophical problems will be introduced.
This course is a beginning course in logic, and there are no prerequisites.
Evaluations will be based upon exams, homework, and class participation.
21.
Wilderness Studies
MW
5:00 p.m.–6:45 p.m.
Stevenson 150
Call No. 38744
Instructor: J. Doris
Course Description:
The North American land mass, like other places around the globe, has far fewer wild places, and far fewer wild things, than it did even one hundred years ago. Philosophy 21, Wilderness Studies, is in the business of asking what this means, and what should be done about it. Perhaps Edward Abbey overstated things when he wrote that if the "psychiatric refuge" of the wilderness is gone, "the madness becomes universal." Perhaps not. I agree with Abbey that the wilderness issue—and the issue of wilderness desecration—is not, at bottom, a technological or scientific issue, but an ethical or—and I use the word without apology—a spiritual issue. Our relationship with those few places—in the land and in our hearts—that remain wild involves, like other relationships, as many questions of feeling as questions of doing and believing. It is these questions that the class, which will be primarily based in group discussion, will be trying to answer.
80G. Bioethics in the 21st Century: Science, Business, and Society (Also offered as Chemistry 80G)
Instructors:
E. Suckiel & D. Deamer
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to present and analyze ethical and social issues related to recent and widely influential advances in scientific research and biotechnology. It is designed to be of interest to students from all disciplines at UCSC. Guest speakers, distinguished experts in their fields, will join the instructors to consider the major ethical questions that have arisen from research in genetics, medicine, and the industries supported by this knowledge. This includes issues such as the ethics of animal experimentation, the morality of genetically modified crops, the promise and dangers of the human genome project, and the appropriate use of medical technologies.
Underlying our discussions will be an exploration of ways to articulate an appropriate conception of human beings and their place in the wider environment in which they live.
Required
Textbook (at Bay Tree Bookstore):
Tom Beauchamp and LeRoy Walters: Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 6th edition.
88A.
Applied Ethics from a Kantian Point of View, 1 credit (Freshman
Discovery Seminar)
TH 2 p.m.–4
p.m., Stevenson 230
Call No. 38598
Instructor: J. Tannenbaum
Course Description:
PHIL 88A is part of a group of courses called Freshman Discovery Seminars. Priority is given to freshman, but others may enroll if there is space. Students interested in applied ethics, regardless of their year, might find the class sufficiently interesting. The course counts toward workload requirements but not major requirements.
Kantian moral theory places a special emphasis on respect for rational nature. Traditionally, respecting rational nature is understood as treating others, or oneself, not merely as a means but rather as an end. To gain insight into these important Kantian notions, we will read three papers by leading contemporary Kantians, namely Onora O'Neill, Thomas Hill, Jr., and Thomas Nagel. In particular, we will look at the notions of treating others as a mere means and an end as it is employed in debates about world hunger, affirmative action, and war.
Reading
list for PHIL 88A:
- O'Neill, Onora: "The Moral Perplexities of Famine and World Hunger," in Matters of Life and Death: New Introductory Essays in Moral Philosophy. Edited by T. Regan. Random House, 1986.
- Hill, Thomas: "The Message of Affirmative Action" in Reassessing Civil Rights, edited by E. Paul and F. Miller and J. Paul. Blackwell, 1991.
- Nagel, Thomas: "War and Massacre," in Mortal Questions. Cambridge University Press, 1979.
The class will meet every other week for two hours. The course is one unit. Students are required to read the assigned work and come to the class meetings ready to discuss the reading assignment. These are the only assignments. The class is taken on a pass/no pass basis.
91.
Ancient Greek Philosophy
Instructor:
G. Brahm
Course Description:
This course will selectively survey the thought of the three best-known figures in Ancient Greek philosophy: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. We will consider some of their views on central issues in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics, as those issues are framed in "Analytic Philosophy." Often, the ancients' concerns are quite familiar, and we should not be shy about engaging them in light of contemporary philosophical preoccupations. But we should also remember that in addition to having sharp disagreements with one another (some of which we will attempt to illuminate), Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle are products of a very different culture; if we are to understand them, we must pay close attention to what they actually say, as opposed to what we might expect them to say. Here, this will involve repeated close readings of their works in English translation. A central aim, in addition to doing some philosophy of our own, will be to learn something about the exegesis of historical texts as practiced in "Analytic" philosophy departments.
112.
American Philosophy
Instructor:
E. Suckiel
Course Description:
A study of the classical American pragmatists: C.S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey—with emphasis on their metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion. Special attention will be paid to issues of religious belief and the justification of faith, particularly, how these play out in the philosophies of James and Dewey.
123
/ 224. Philosophy of Language (also
offered as Linguistics 123)
Instructor:
C. O'Callaghan
Course Description:
"Orange" is meaningful, "flurg" isn't; "Earth"' refers to something, "Santa Claus" doesn't; "Lava is hot" is true, "Bears are bald" isn't. But why? This course will be an advanced introduction to contemporary issues in the philosophy of language. We will discuss the work of Frege, Russell, Kripke, Lewis, Putnam, and others in the course of investigating the natures of reference, meaning, and truth. We will address questions such as what is it for a sign or a bit of language to be meaningful, or for it to represent or identify something? What is it for a statement to be truthful? What makes a bunch of words into a language? Can you believe Superman flies, but Clark Kent doesn't?
For more information, including preliminary syllabi for undergraduate and graduate versions, go to http://people.ucsc.edu/~cjo/teaching/language/language.html
133
/ 233. Philosophy of Mind
Instructor:
J. Ellis
Course Description:
This course will provide an introduction to two central debates in contemporary philosophy of mind: The Problem of Consciousness and the Externalism-Internalism Controversy. Conscious experience and neurophysiological activity in the brain are clearly intimately related, but precisely what is that relation? Is it one of identity? Causation? Correlation? What are computational models of mental phenomena, and are they correct? Could two creatures be physically identical ("molecule for molecule") and yet have different thoughts? In our travels through the contemporary literature, we shall meet with such far-away places and strange creatures as Twin Earth, Inverted Earth, Swampman, superspartans, zombies, bats, brains in vats, Martians, colorblind scientists, and more.
140. History of Ethics
Note: Draft Syllabus
Winter 2003
Instructor:
Julie Tannenbaum
Office: Cowell A105
Phone: (831) 459-5045
E-mail: tannenba@ucsc.edu
Course Description:
Aristotle and Immanuel Kant are arguably two of the most influential philosophers in western philosophy. In this course we will focus on their most famous ethical works: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. In particular, we will discuss and compare each philosopher's view of moral action and moral motivation. Traditionally, Aristotle and Kant are thought to offer opposing views of moral action and moral agents. We will closely compare their ethical views and the arguments for these views in an effort to determine whether this traditional characterization is accurate.
Anyone taking this class should already have taken at least one philosophy course— preferably, but not necessarily, a course in ethics.
The goals of the course are:
- to come away with an understanding of Aristotle and Kant's ethical theories,
- to develop some appreciation of the complexity of problems in this area of philosophical inquiry, and
- to hone your philosophical skills of argumentation, clear and precise statement, critical thinking, and effective writing.
More than
likely the assignments will be:
First paper (20% of total grade)
Second paper (35% of total grade)
Final paper (35% of total grade)
Participation (10% of total grade)
170.
The Interpretation of Religion
Instructor:
R. Goff
Course Description:
Study of modern and recent philosophical efforts to justify, criticize, and interpret religious utterance, claim, and practice. Topics will include arguments in defense of theism, appeals to religious experience, hermeneutic theory and its uses for religious texts, and problems about generic theories of religion.
Sources include Hume, Kant, Feuerbach, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Ricoeur, Levinas, and others.
Two exams, two papers—the second paper requiring outside reading.
190J
/ 290J. Hume’s Ethics
Instructor:
D. Guevara
Course Description:
A careful study of any one of the main moral theories in the history of philosophy, with some emphasis on the relation to contemporary moral philosophy. This year's topic is Hume's moral philosophy. Enrollment limited to 20. Enrollment restricted to senior philosophy majors or permission of the instructor.