Winter 2015: Introduction to Philosophy

M/W/F, C 2033 12-12:50 10:30-11:45 Syllabus Office Hours: M/W/F 11:00-11:55 AA 3012 What is philosophy? Does one need training to become a philosopher? What is the relationship between the philosopher and the culture surrounding him/her? In this class, we will read a number of different thinkers in relation to these basic, though far from easy, questions. We will begin […]

PHIL 3920: Phenomenology

READING ASSIGNMENTS: Note well: the dates for readings might change as we move along. Attendance in the course will ensure that you know when assignments are due. Texts not available in the bookstore will be supplied by links on the course web site. Also, students are expected to review all resources posted for the different […]

PHIL 6000/7000: Foucault and Derrida Genealogy/Deconstruction and the Fate of the Death Penalty

SYLLABUS Description and Objectives This course will examine extensively two sets of writings: those around Foucault and his genealogies of power in (mostly) the first half of the 1970s, and writings in and surrounding Derrida’s lecture course on the death penalty in 1999-2000. (Note well: many of these lectures courses, both by Derrida and Foucault, […]

Fall 2013, Introduction to Philosophy

Tuesday, Thursday, A 2071 10:30-11:45 Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 11:50-2:30 AA 3012 SYLLABUS Books ordered: Republic of Plato, ISBN 0465069347, Basic Books Augustine, Confessions, ISBN 0199537828, Oxford University Press Spinoza, Ethics, ISBN 0872201309, Hacket Leibniz, Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays, ISBN 0872201325, Hacket Smolin, The Rebirth of Time, ISBN: 9780547511726, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Reading Schedule and […]

Continental Philosophies of Time–Fall 2013

Meeting Time: 7:00 to 9:30 pm (except on nights when there is a public lecture downtown); Kiefte Room Tuesday, September 10 Course Introduction; History of the Philosophy of Time Adrian Bardon, A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time, ch. 1 (Michael Austin) Aristotle’s Physics, Book II (selections; concentrate on Sections 1-3); Book IV (read chapters 10-11) Recommended: Paul […]

Winter 2013: PHL 4623, Derrida and Metaphysics

Weds, 7-9:50 pm (A 3081) Office Hours: M/W: 12-2:00 Books Ordered: Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I am (Fordham U.P. ) 082322791X Derrida, Margins of Philosophy (Chicago) 978-0226143262 Recommended overall (I have not ordered them, since various online merchants sell these for cheaper than our bookstore): Benoît Peeters, Jacques Derrida: A Biography (Polity, 2012) *Please note that […]

Winter 2013: PHL 2500, Contemporary Issues

M/W 10:30 to 11:50 (EN 2007) Office Hours: M/W: 12-2:00 Books Ordered: Plato, Timaeus (Penguin, ISBN: 978-0140455045) Sean Carroll, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time (Penguin, ISBN: 978-0452296541) Elaine Scarry, Thinking in an Emergency (Norton Publishing, IBSN: 978-0393340587) READING SCHEDULE Jan. 7 Introduction to the Course Jan. 9 Plato’s Timaeus (17a-31b) Recommended: “Plato’s […]

Fall 2012, Phil 2230-001: MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Reading Schedule and Resources SYLLABUS Office Hours: M/W 12:00-2:00pm Topic: Introduction to Ethics Reading Schedule Wed, 9/5 The Bible: “Love of God and Neighbor” Fri, 9/7 intro to course. Mon, 9/10 Joyce Hertzler, “The Golden Rule and Society” and Paul Ricoeur, “The Golden […]

Fall 2012, PHL 1200: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Reading Schedule and Resources Class Time: M/W 10:30-11:50 Am Office Hours: M/W 12:00-2:00pm Books Ordered: Plato, The Republic, ISBN-10: 0465069347 (Basic Books) Plotinus, Enneads, 014044520X (Penguin) Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, ISBN 0-87220-192-9 (Hackett) Spinoza, Ethics, ISBN 0140435719 (Penguin) SCHEDULE: Topic: Plato and the Perennial Questions Resources: 1. BBC In Our Times: Socrates 2. Philosophy Bites, “Edward […]