Spring 2010 Courses

Phil 1101 Introduction to Philosophy (4 cr; HUM)

Mark Collier
MWF 11:45-12:50 (Imholte 113)
MWF 1:00-2:05 (Imholte 101)

How should we live our lives? What happens after death? What is the relationship between the mind and body? Does God exist? In this course, we will examine classical works that address these “big questions” about human life and our place in the universe. Authors include: Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Lucretius, Descartes, and Hume. We will also seek to develop your philosophical writing, reading, and speaking skills.

Phil 2112 Professional Ethics (4 cr; E/CR)

Dan Demetriou
Tu/Th 4:00-5:40 (IH 114)

This course will concentrate on business ethics, and is designed to equip the student with some tools for tackling the ethical issues raised by doing business and working in the business world.  Specific questions we will explore include:
• Economic systems: What are some common justifications for, and criticisms of, capitalism?
• Corporate responsibility: What are some moral responsibilities of multinational businesses operating in countries with weak, corrupt, or immoral laws?  What steps can a business take to squelch competition?  Should companies be “patriotic”?  What counts as “exploitation” in, say, the case of sweatshop workers?
• Consumer ethics: What constitutes immoral practices in marketing?  What implicit agreements hold between consumers and businesses?  What changes (if any) must a business make as a result of consumer abuse or misuse of its products? What responsibilities does a company have not to mislead consumers, or to educate consumers?  Is it wrong for a company to pander to a segment, especially when that pandering reinforces a negative stereotype?
• Environmental and animal concerns: Do businesses have an obligation to make costly choices in order to preserve the environment, even when no law forces them to?  Do they have such obligations when there is good reason to expect the environmental damage will be done anyway, by a competitor?  What measures must businesses take to alleviate animal suffering?
• Workplace: In what sort of circumstances is a hiring or firing practice immorally discriminatory?  What sort of moral obligations (if any) do companies have to accommodate various challenges involved with family life, such as child care and maternity or paternity leave?  What sort of sexual conduct should be curbed in the workplace?
• Employees: Under what circumstances must you “whistleblow”?  What are some forms of conflicts of interest, and what strategies are there for avoiding them?  When do gifts become bribes or kickbacks?  What are your obligations when dealing with partners who won’t deal with people of a particular race or sex?  Is it wrong to hold meetings at strip-clubs?

Phil 2141 Analytic Feminism (4 cr; HUM)

Pieranna Garavaso
Tu/Th 2:00-3:40 (Sci 2200)

This is an introductory course to the analytical discussion of various forms of social discrimination, such as sexism, classism, and racism, which are widely discussed in feminist writings.  In order to discuss "analytically" these issues, students will learn to define concepts clearly and to support their claims with well developed reasons. To understand what I mean by "an analytic approach to feminist issues" you may find it useful to read Ann E. Cudd's Analytic Feminism.
My main goal is to help the students develop and refine their reasoning skills, especially when applied to controversial and often hotly debated issues. I am interested in discussing questions such as these: What is feminism? What defines a theory or a political movement as feminist? Can we talk of women as 'women' and at the same time take into account other salient socially defined features like the race or class of these individuals? Do mothers as caretakers have a special opposition to war and a special perspective on peace? Does the gender of a person affect what constitutes personal identity? Does it affect our perception of ourselves? Is there any special connection between women and nature, women and animals? What is the so-called ethics of care? What does it mean to say that it is a type of ethics which women understand better? And is this claim true?

Readings:Our text book will be Feminism. Issues and Arguments by Jennifer Saul; we will also read articles on reserve at the library.

Requirements: (tentative, depending on class size) Two essays exams, first and final draft of term paper, class presentation of the first draft of the term paper, short response papers, attendance, and class participation.

Phil 3131 Philosophy of Law (4 cr; SS)

Dan Demetriou
Tu/Th 12:00-1:40 (IH 112)

Laws, their effects, and their enforcement shape our lives: they limit what we can do and yet they provide us with certain freedoms; they protect us from various harms, and yet they themselves threaten us with harms.  So what are these remarkable things, Laws?  What must something be to be a law?  What is the relationship between legal laws and morality?  In what circumstances (if any) should law enforce morality?  In what circumstances (if any) do we have a moral obligation to disobey a law?  Should the laws merely prohibit people from harming each other, or should they also improve us, or even protect us “from ourselves”?  Should people be punished when they didn’t break the law, but merely tried to or intended to?  Should the same crime be punished with more or less severity, based on the effects of its violation?  In what circumstances are people responsible for their crimes?  What justifies punishment—the practice of intentionally harming offenders—anyway?  Do any theories justifying punishment succeed in justifying the intuitively proper amount of punishment for all and only offenders?

Phil 3171 History of Modern Philosophy (4 cr; HIST)

Mark Collier
M,W 3:30-5:10 (IH 101)

The Scientific Revolution caused a serious crisis in modern thought.  It called into question a number of traditional assumptions about the nature of the universe, the relationship between God and the world, and the possibility of human knowledge.  It required us to rethink, in other words, our basic conception of things.  Philosophers were at the frontlines of this endeavor.  We will consider the visions of modernity offered by a diverse and brilliant group of thinkers, including Montaigne, Galileo, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Reid, and Kant. 

Phil 4131 Personal Identity (4 cr; HUM)

Pieranna Garavaso
Tu/Th 10:00-11:40 (IH 217)

This is a course focused on a family of questions connected with personal identity.  What makes me the same person I was a year ago and the one I will be tomorrow? What are the necessary and sufficient conditions to be a person? What are the conditions to be the same person over time? How useful or legitimate is the use of science fiction thought experiments like those portrayed in films such as The Matrix or Freaky Friday? Is there a coherent philosophical notion of the self?  What role do social context and the individual play in the construction of a self?  How is the self affected by violence?  How important is the body for the identity of a person?

Readings: Our textbook will be Harold Noonan’s Personal Identity, but I am hoping to read excerpts from several other books including Eric Olson’s The Human Animal, Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons, Susan Brison, Aftermath. Violence and the Remaking of a Self, Bernard Williams’ Problem of the Self, Kathleen Wilkes’ Real People, and articles on reserve at the library.

Requirements: (tentative, depending on class size): I would like to run this class as a seminar with some lecturing but with much time devoted to discussion of the readings led by students.  There will probably be take home exams and a longer term paper with a class presentation of its first draft; usual attendance and participation. 

Phil 4901. Senior Philosophical Defense