I don't know how exactly how many grains of sand are in this heap, but let's say 100,000. [more], Plato is one of the most important and influential thinkers in the history of the western tradition. [more], Is morality simply a matter of opinion? Our discussions will range over historical and contemporary works in the Western tradition. This theoretically oriented work will provide the background for subsequent examination of specific topics, which may include, among others: justice in health care financing and reform; justice in health care rationing and access to health care, with particular attention to the intersections of rationing criteria with gender, sexuality, race, disability, and age; justice in the procurement and allocation of organs for transplantation; obesity and personal responsibility for illness; and justice in medical research, including "double standards" for research conducted in low resource settings. The course will, I hope, provide the students an opportunity and the tools to intellectually examine deeply emotional and contentious issues. We ordinarily claim that sentences are true or false, but are there other entities whose truth and falsity explains the truth and falsity of sentences? His depiction of the trial and death of Socrates is one of the classics of western literature, and his views on ethics and politics continue to occupy a central place in our discussions 2400 years after they were written. How do our thoughts refer to objects? What if they are more fair? [more], Animals are and always have been part of human life. Our readings will come primarily from philosophy, but will be supplemented with material from anthropology, physics, psychology, and linguistics. [more], American Pragmatism left a deep legacy in contemporary epistemology and the philosophy of science, but it is--more often than not--a legacy difficult to disentangle from other intellectual influences. Later Wittgenstein is a controversial, polarizing figure; but serious reading of his work is invariably intellectually enriching and fertile. Why read the history of philosophy? Critical theory aims not merely to understand the "struggles and wishes of the age" as Marx one described it, but with emancipation from domination. One must grasp the meanings of the various parts of the sentence. 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. Or, must sensible properties be organized spatiotemporally? Our main goal will be to prove things about this logical system rather than to use this system to think about ordinary language arguments. 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. Cy Walsh was detained under mental health supervision after the Supreme Court found he was mentally incompetent when he stabbed his father to death in July 2015. To submit an obituary, please send it to Alumni Records, Williams College, 75 Park Street, Williamstown, MA 01267. We will also read more recent work by Foucault inspired scholars on topics such as the biopolitics of gender, the genealogy of terrorism, the informational person (how we become our data), and neoliberal subjects. Are there ethical considerations that should govern both film production and spectatorship? Taking this as our starting point, in this course we will examine a number of conceptual and ethical issues in the use and development of technologies related to human reproduction, drawing out their implications for such core concepts as "motherhood" and "parenthood," family and genetic relatedness, exploitation and commodification, and reproductive rights and society's interests in reproductive activities. [more], According to Aristotle the ultimate good is happiness---everything we desire we desire for the sake of happiness. We coordinate our lives through sounds from mouths, signs from hands, and squiggles on paper because somehow sounds, signs, and squiggles have, Why Obey the Law? "I can't tell you anything about the argument or the circumstances but as a result of that both Mr Walsh and his wife received the wounds," Superintendent Des Bray told reporters in Adelaide. arts education by nurturing in students the academic and civic virtues, and their related traits of character." This course argues that by reference to the historically specific modes of subjectivity and sociality that resulted from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Haitian Revolution, for instance, we can better understand and address long-standing questions in European Social Philosophy. [more], This course examines some of the central questions raised by the study of the consciousness: the place of intentionality, the role of emotions, the relation with the body, the nature of subjectivity, the scope of reflexivity, the nature of perceptual presence, etc. This theoretically oriented work will provide the background for subsequent examination of specific topics, which may include, among others: justice in health care financing and reform; justice in health care rationing and access to health care, with particular attention to the intersections of rationing criteria with gender, sexuality, race, disability, and age; justice in the procurement and allocation of organs for transplantation; obesity and personal responsibility for illness; and justice in medical research, including "double standards" for research conducted in low resource settings. as resources to be harvested, as testing grounds for science, and as religious sacrifice. If possible, we will arrange to see a live performance of a Greek tragedy. In some weeks, students will be asked to choose from a small set which case they would like to address; in others the case will be assigned. While you're debating whether to take this class, consider the following puzzle. Does the fact that our lives will end threaten their meaning? Perhaps even more so than on Friday night, the effect of Phil Walsh's death was felt at the MCG on Saturday afternoon. Save. Phil Walsh!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? Are there ethical considerations that should govern both film production and spectatorship? Whether the mind can be fully understood within a scientific framework has taken on an exciting urgency. 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. [more], This course will explore the themes of alienation, fetishism, ideology, dialectic, sociality, and freedom in the philosophical writings of G.W.F. Type in your search terms and press enter or navigate down for suggested search results. With what limits and justifications? (ii) You are reading. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. [more], Socrates was executed in 399 BCE on the charges of impiety and corruption of the youth of Athens. Existentialists investigate deeply irrational phenomena of human life, including anxiety, boredom, tragedy, despair, death, faith, sexuality, love, hate, sadism, masochism, and authenticity. Phil Williams / WTVF-TV: Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles didn't want you to see his college transcript! We will begin examining these questions by studying the history of controversies in American higher education, concentrating especially on debates about the curriculum. By the early 20th century, in the works of Freud, we encounter the idea of the intra-psychic features of subjects and the importance of understanding and regulating psychic forces both within and between subjects in order to adapt to the demands of living at any given time, born as we are both dependent upon and vulnerable to others. Is there a room for the notion of collective intention in filmmaking? As the music wails in the background, we will study the classic pragmatists: William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey. 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. What are space and time? More importantly, many of the thinkers that we will read in this class are simply excellent philosophers, and it is worthwhile for anyone interested in philosophical problems to read treatments of these problems by excellent philosophers. There will be a series of short response papers in which you provide a careful analysis of particular arguments in our texts. While students will not regularly be required to read the latter, any who want to pursue this legacy will be supported in doing so.) How did you develop your character? This course is an investigation into how language is used to express meaning, and how such expression can have real interpersonal and societal impact. But we also question the value of these tools based on first person approaches by relating them to the third person studies of the mind. Each book was chosen by and will be introduced by a professor from a different department, and then Professor of Philosophy Steve Gerrard will continue the discussion. Other topics could include: Zeno's paradoxes of motion and plurality, the liar's paradox, the surprise-exam paradox, paradoxes of material constitution, Newcomb's Problem , and the Prisoner's Dilemma. Is film a creation of a single artist - the director, the author - or is it a result of a loosely synchronized and not quite coherent collaboration of many different people, each guided by her or his particular vision? In pursuing the answers to these questions, we will discuss both classic and contemporary theories from philosophy and linguistics. The College Mission Statement says that "Williams seeks to provide the finest possible liberal arts education by nurturing in students the academic and civic virtues, and their related traits of character." 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. Supt Bray said the domestic incident was a tragedy. Must the freedom or fulfillment of some people require the subordination of others? Do our society's laws limit our freedom in order to make us safe? Second, we will engage in some current philosophical debates concerning the concept of freedom in metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy. (v) Either you are reading or you are a fish. Our discussions will range over historical and contemporary works in the Western tradition. The second portion of the course will use feminist philosophy to inform our understanding of the ways in which gender structures the individual's interactions with the health care system. More than this, Existentialists emphasize the subjective relation we bear to our belief systems, moral codes, and personal identities. Is a world with AI's overall better or worse for us? Others maintain that these questions will only yield to methods that incorporate our broader insight into the nature of the world including, perhaps, feminist thought or science. What is the nature of language? The picture that we find in the works of the tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides is markedly different. [more], The touchstone of our course will be Plato's Republic: the first and perhaps greatest utopia as well as perhaps the greatest work in political philosophy. The course will place special emphasis on developing students' intellectual skills in close, analytical reading; reconstructing and evaluating claims and reasons that support them; producing original ideas and arguments, orally and in writing; responding to the claims and arguments presented in texts and in class; and writing clear, polished, well-argued papers. After working through these arguments, we will reflect more generally on the proper roles of reason and faith in justifying religious belief. [more], What social and political arrangements are most conducive to fostering human well-being and the common good? We will begin by examining the general concepts of health and disease, and then apply them to human psychology. Our readings will include the relevant works of Plato, Sextus Empiricus, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Goodman, Elgin, Hacking, Krausz, Foot, and Williams, among others. We will examine several different approaches in depth, including realism, constructivism, expressivism, and skepticism. [more], Along with jazz, pragmatism stands as the greatest uniquely American contribution to world culture. Williams relatives. To what extent do these myriad force relations limit, enable, or deform our participation as political citizens, and our capacity to transform and improve them? Both stances face severe difficulties. What are some of the necessary conditions for democracy? We will then turn to some specific social forms in the second unit, and ask whether they promote or preclude our freedom. How does our experience justify our beliefs? What sorts of things can be true or false? : On Justice and Freedom in Western Political Philosophy. On the sports field? Most sessions will pair readings about key concepts with specific cases that raise complex ethical issues, including the concept of moral standing and, e.g., people who do not yet exist, non-human individuals, species, and complex living systems; the concept of moral responsibility and complicity in environmentally damaging practices; the legitimacy of cost-benefit analysis as an environmental policy tool; and the valuation of human lives. [more], Freedom is widely held as one of our fundamental values. The seminar will fall into two unequal parts. Do we have any control over our emotions? 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. Does freedom require leading (or avoiding) a political life? and includes death notifications beginning January 1, 2020. . It seems like there is still a heap of sand in my backyard. In this course, we will examine some central texts in ancient Greek and Roman moral philosophy. PHIL 227 LEC Death and Dying. Must they inhere in substances? What is the nature of audience's response to film? Pascal's wager is a different approach: it argues that even though proof of the existence of God is unavailable, you will maximize your expected utility be believing. Authors will include: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. justice or passionate commitment and curiosity) over happiness? In this tutorial you will read from a selection of Foucault's texts (books, lectures, interviews) in order to acquire a firm grasp of his method of "critique" and his way of looking at the interconnections between forms of power and the knowledge associated with particular disciplines. Each questioned the emancipatory effect of reason and freedom as well as idealist accounts of moral progress in human history. We will read Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in seeking answers to these questions. Some challenges we face are broad and about the future, though perhaps not the far future. Do particular case histories offer good explanations of psychopathology? [more], Philosophy is often described as thinking about thinking: variously conceived inquiries into the nature, scope and limits of human reasoning have always been at its heart. We will start by situating Hume's project within the historical tradition in which he thought and against which Treatise was directed. Do we have any control over our emotions? If time permits, we may also look at how the figure of Socrates has been thought about in the works of more modern thinkers. If not, should this concern us? Some of the questions that we will discuss are: What is psychopathology and what are its causes? We use language to communicate meanings in order to accomplish a variety of goals: to convey information, make requests, establish rules, utilize power, issue protests, and much more. There will be a series of short response papers in which you provide a careful analysis of particular arguments in our texts. Hopkins Hall. Supt Bray said the domestic incident was a tragedy. [more], In this course, we follow the Indian philosophical conversation concerning the self and the nature of consciousness, particularly as they are found in its various Yogic traditions. We begin by examining some of the central concepts of Buddhist psychology, its treatment of the mind as a selfless stream of consciousness, its examination of the variety of mental factors and its accounts of the relation between cognition and affects. Just today (15 February 2022). We will see how a focus on language affects our understanding of many traditional philosophical questions, ranging from epistemology and metaphysics to aesthetics and ethics. In this course, we will study the most important and influential chapters of the Critique with the help of some secondary literature. What is the proper 'geography'--classification and analysis--of our emotions, and what is their relation to our somatic states, feelings, beliefs, judgments, evaluations and actions? God bless you! This introduction will be of use to students interested in language from a variety of perspectives, including philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science. Are there metaphysical and ideological assumptions in contemporary psychiatry, and if so, could and should they be avoided? Berkeley, Hume, and linguistics type in your search terms and press enter or navigate down for search! Grains of sand in my backyard impiety and corruption of the questions that we in... 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