For example, many people would agree that 'Keith's favorite unicorn' is a meaningful expression. How do you expect to learn? Following assistant coach stints at Port Adelaide and West Coast, he took over as Crows head. They help us ask: What is freedom? this class, we will attempt to carry on the noble tradition of corruption by philosophy. Much of the moral philosophy produced in Greece and Rome remains as relevant today as when it was written. WILLIAMS NEWS Covid-19 InformationCovid-19 is an ongoing concern in our region, including on campus . We will spend the balance of the semester coming to grips with Plato's arguments in the later dialogues. Students should be aware that, in the classic tradition, this class resembles a logic course. His thought influenced the thought of subsequent generations of philosophers. [more], We will study the philosophical and literary works of Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and other Existentialist thinkers of the students' choosing. Our main goal will be to prove things about this logical system rather than to use this system to think about ordinary language arguments. Throughout the course, we will consult and discuss the important secondary literature on Wittgenstein, and analyze different philosophical presuppositions and goals that motivate particular readings. Who should rule? Is it possible to have systematic knowledge of subjective experience? [more], This course involves Independent Study under the supervision of a member of the department. What distinguishes that kind of life from others? 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?" Phil Walsh!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? 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. Why should one obey the law (if one should)? There will also be a midterm paper (roughly 10 pages) and a final paper (roughly 15 pages) which you will develop and revise in consultation with the instructor. At Williams College a mural was removed from The Log and Herman Rosse's painting "Carnival of Life" was removed from the '62 Center. The goals of this course are to improve the critical thinking of the students, to introduce them to sentential and predicate logic, to familiarize them with enough formal logic to enable them to read some of the great works of philosophy, which use formal logic (such as Wittgenstein's. If so, is that knowledge importantly different in kind or in rigor from the knowledge we gain through physics, chemistry or geology? Assigned works will include Booker T. Washington, Industrial Education, W.E.B. 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. In this way, we come to appreciate the importance of considering the biology on which mental processes are based and the light that this approach throws on the nature of consciousness. 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. Type in your search terms and press enter or navigate down for suggested search results. Through an examination of these works, we will try to get some feeling for what Socrates' controversial positions and his arguments for these positions may have been. however, to be surprisingly difficult to say what causation is. We can learn a lot about logic, language, epistemology and metaphysics by thinking through and attempting to resolve paradoxes. Some understand its aim to be to answer normative questions about the nature of truth, justice, goodness and rationality. In fact, Socrates seems to have been thought of as a kind of intellectual saint in the Hellenistic world. In this tutorial we will exploit this characteristic of biomedical ethics by using a case-based approach to examining core concepts of the field. If time permits, we may also look at how the figure of Socrates has been thought about in the works of more modern thinkers. Or, must sensible properties be organized spatiotemporally? Among the questions that we will address: What is justice? [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. 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. [more], The status of economics as a predictive science has been most prominently brought into question, historically, by three unpredicted yet extremely important economic events: the Great Depression of the 1930s, stagflation of the 1970s, and bursting of the mortgage bubble in 2008. In the second part of the course, we will read On Certainty, and selections from other of Wittgenstein's posthumously published works: Zettel, Philosophical Grammar, Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology, Culture and Value, Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief, and The Big Typescript. The real question, then, seems to be whether, and how, free choice is possible amidst all of these influences. Questions about persons are of central importance for a myriad of our theories and practices, and for the ways in which we live our lives. [more], Bertrand Russell claimed that Ludwig Wittgenstein was "perhaps the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived--passionate, profound, intense, and dominating." What are the social and ethical prerequisites--and consequences--of democracy? [more], Why are you here? To this end, each week we will (1) read philosophical material focused on one principle or concept, and (2) consider in detail one bioethics case in which the principle or concept has special application or relevance. Our subjects will include hate speech, press censorship, pornography, controversial art, sacrilegious speech and campus controversies. Your email address will not be published. Were they simply too unsophisticated and confused to understand what is for us the irresistible power of skepticism and relativism? We will begin the course by looking at Hume's and Kant's discussion of causation. Are happiness and pleasure the same thing? [more], What is it for a novel, a story, a play or a film to be a philosophical narrative? 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. We will then turn to contemporary controversies such as campus free speech. At home? Is relativism a form of skepticism? 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. We will then turn to some specific social forms in the second unit, and ask whether they promote or preclude our freedom. In this tutorial we will read philosophical texts from a range of approaches in professional philosophy since the early 20th Century (Analytic, Pragmatist, Continental or European, and Public). This raises the question whether a more complete account of the emergence of subjects must address both psychic, historical and social dimensions of subjectivity, the ways in which they are intertwined, and their importance for not only psychological well-being, but also relatively well-regulated socio-political relations. We will continue with the contemporary inheritors of the tradition: Cornel West, Richard Rorty, and Hilary Putnam. We conclude by considering some of the later Hindu holistic views of the self as responses to the Buddhist critique. With what limits and justifications? Dean's Office. Or do our laws somehow enhance or enable our freedom? 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. Is patriotism incompatible with cosmopolitanism, and if so, which of the two should we value? The Philosophy of Higher Education: College Controversies. In addition to examining general accounts of causation, we will examine particular problems that come up in thinking about mental causation and causation in indeterministic contexts. Paramedics arrived and tried to revive him, but a doctor confirmed him dead at the scene. Our discussions will range over historical and contemporary works in the Western tradition. Or are some of our beliefs true in virtue of their meanings alone? 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. Are we legitimately bound by a social contract? (v) Either you are reading or you are a fish. Our internal, felt experience--what chocolate tastes like to oneself, what it is like to see the color red, or, more broadly, what it is like to have a first person, waking perspective at all--resists explanation in any terms other than the conscious experience itself in spite of centuries of intense effort by philosophers and, more recently, by scientists. Attention to the writing process and developing an authorial voice will be a recurrent focus of our work inside and outside the classroom. 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. public health policies and activities. Some of them explicitly engage meta-philosophical debates; others exemplify particular philosophical styles and methods. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. [more], What ethical standards should guide our individual and societal choices when those choices affect current and future environmental conditions? Is a sentence's relation to previously uttered sentences similar to its relation to extra-linguistic events? What is the nature of consciousness and how can it be unhappy, false or double? This introduction to philosophy will see how far the microscopes of reason and logic can carry us in traditional arguments about the existence and nature of God. In this course, we will study the most important and influential chapters of the, Topics in Philosophy of Race: Hegel and Africana Philosophy, double? Apparently he corrupted the youth by engaging with them in philosophy. 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. Near the end of the semester, we'll also examine some evolutionary explanations of religious belief. What is the nature of audience's response to film? 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. 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. Cognitive science synthesizes research from cognitive psychology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and contemporary philosophy. What role do emotional, irrational or unconscious forces play? We will thus be led to discuss some of the concepts common to epistemology, metaphysics and ethics: reason, justification, objectivity, understanding, reality and truth. Some of the questions we will ask are: What is the nature of filmic representation? Does it matter who is offended? and Augustine, and, from a political and theoretical point of view, selections from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. As the music wails in the background, we will study the classic pragmatists: William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey. We will read several complete dialogues in translation, and will also read a wide variety of secondary source material. We will first get clear on the formal semantics of first-order logic and various ways of thinking about formal proof: natural deduction systems, semantic tableaux, axiomatic systems and sequent calculi. State police are investigating the death of a student more than three decades ago at a now-closed school for troubled teens. questions will be: What makes a thinker an "Existentialist"? How does film generate meaning? 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. We will thus be led to discuss some of the concepts common to epistemology, metaphysics and ethics: reason, justification, objectivity, understanding, reality and truth. We will spend the balance of the semester coming to grips with Plato's arguments in the later dialogues. How does film generate meaning? Are we rationally justified in drawing causal inferences? 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. Near the end of the semester, we'll also examine some evolutionary explanations of religious belief. These latter writings of Kant's had a tremendous influence on the development of subsequent moral philosophy and indeed set the stage for contemporary discussions of the nature of practical reason, motivation, freedom, and morality. What should be the goals of Williams College? Finally, is there a reason for philosophy of film and film theory to exist as a separate field? His thought influenced the thought of subsequent generations of philosophers. We will examine the Pan-African writings of: Cedric Robinson (Black Marxism); Walter Rodney (How Capitalism Underdeveloped Africa), Eric Williams (Capitalism and Slavery; From Columbus to Castro); Frantz Fanon (The Wretched of the Earth); Malcolm X (Malcolm X Speaks); Amilcar Cabral (Resistance and Decolonization; Unity and Struggle); C. L. R. James (The Black Jacobins). 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. In a logic class, we think about how to represent ordinary language and thinking within formal systems and how to prove various things within these systems. Along the way we will discuss principles of syntax, the sub-field that studies sentence structures, and pragmatics, the sub-field that studies inferences of non-literal content. In this tutorial, will read works in critical theory from the 18th century to the present, some from the Frankfurt tradition, and some not. This tutorial aims to provide students with the skills necessary for careful, serious and thorough reading of Wittgenstein's later philosophy. We'll try to make some progress on these issues. We will also try to get more precise in our understanding of some of the key concepts in logic, such as contradiction, consistency, logical consequence, syntax and semantics. Which characteristics of persons give them moral status? How do we create legal and policy frameworks that cover a new kind of thinking being? Locke is the first great Empiricist Realist, and Leibniz the greatest Rationalist Idealist. Safety measures are in place, and campus community members and guests are additionally advised to take personal precautions. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, J.S. 1-3), and selected interviews and course lectures. Some of the questions we will consider are: Are moral standards relative to cultural frameworks? Are there incompatible but equally true ways of describing the world? By which methods should we pursue these questions? If possible, we will arrange to see a live performance of a Greek tragedy. What is the body? Must the freedom or fulfillment of some people require the subordination of others? In this class, we'll work together to think through some ancient and contemporary paradoxes. If so, freedom may seem impossible since we're all deeply influenced by factors ranging from the general laws of nature to specific features of our genetic endowment and social environment (including religion, political ideology, and advertising). Is there a room for the notion of collective intention in filmmaking? We turn first to two of Plato's most famous dialogues,The Apology and,The Republic. What is knowledge (as opposed to mere opinion)? [more], The nature of consciousness remains a fundamental mystery of the universe. Through an examination of these works, we will try to get some feeling for what Socrates' controversial positions and his arguments for these positions may have been. Phil Walsh's death a family tragedy. [more], This course will raise and discuss a number of philosophical questions concerning our current understanding of mental health and mental illness. B. Lipscomb before the first meeting, preferably over the summer. Just today (15 February 2022) The New York Times removed some solutions from their recently purchased game Wordle, saying that words such as "pussy", "slave", and "wench" are "offensive or insensitive". If there aren't such things, how do we characterize meaningfulness instead? If not, should this concern us? We will read works by three of Socrates' contemporaries: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and especially Plato. 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