Seminar in Modern Philosophy
AS.150.603 (01)

German-style colloquium for graduate students working in the history of modern philosophy. We will read newly-published work, invite speakers, and have presentations by advanced graduate students. First- and second-year students may register for a grade. Advanced graduate students in history of modern should audit/present.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate
• Days/Times: Th 1:00PM - 3:00PM
• Instructor: Kosch, Michelle, Moyar, Dean
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/15
• PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN

Formal Logic
AS.150.632 (01)

"An introduction to symbolic logic and probability. In the first two parts of the course we study formal ways of determining whether a conclusion of an argument follows from its premises. Included are truth-functional logic and predicate logic. In the third part we study the basic rules of probability, and learn how to make probability calculations and decisions in life." Co-listed with AS.150.118 (for undergraduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate
• Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
• Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/3
• PosTag(s): n/a

Seminar on Ancient Greek Ethics
AS.150.642 (01)

The seminar will focus on the ethical system of the Stoics. Stoic ethics is notorious for a number of apparently extreme assertions, such as “Virtue is the only good”, “Virtue is sufficient for happiness”, and “The wise man is happy on the rack”. Yet the system had a wide following, over several centuries, in both the Greek and Roman worlds; and its devotees (including at least one Roman emperor, and a close adviser to another) were certainly not all fanatics. We will attempt to make sense of this ethical outlook, with particular focus on the relations among virtue, wisdom and happiness.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate
• Days/Times: M 4:00PM - 6:00PM
• Instructor: Bett, Richard
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Recent Works in Skepticism
AS.150.675 (01)

We all take it for granted that perceptual experience yields knowledge of the world around us. But in his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes presents new and puzzling thought experiments. He asks whether there is any way to be sure that, when he tales himself to be experiencing things in the world around him, he is not dreaming. From there, he goes on to imagines an Evil Demon with the power to manipulate the total course of his (Descartes’s) experience, so that what he naturally takes to be experience of the world around him is really a kind of perpetual dream: a simulation or virtual reality, as we might say today. Descartes’s problem, which has made its way into popular culture through films like those in the "Matrix" series, remains a source of philosophical puzzlement. While no one believes that skeptical hypotheses like Demon or computer deception are true, it is not easy to say how we can exclude them. Given that the deception is systematic, it seems that any 'evidence' I cite could itself be part of the simulation. So how do I (or could I) know (for sure) that I’m not the victim of the Deceiver or the Matrix? We shall examine some of the latest attempts to respond to Descartes’s challenge. Does the “How could I know?” question admit of a theoretical answer. Is the question itself somehow ill-posed? Can we answer it without making significant concessions to skepticism? What can we learn about knowledge (or the concept of knowledge) by coming to understand how skepticism arises and how it goes wrong (if it does)? Readings from contemporary sources.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate
• Days/Times: W 4:00PM - 6:00PM
• Instructor: Williams, Michael
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 13/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (01)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Pickard, Hanna
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (02)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Forster, Eckart
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (03)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Gross, Steven
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (04)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Moyar, Dean
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (05)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (06)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (07)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bok, Hilary
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (08)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bett, Richard
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (09)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Williams, Michael
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (10)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bledin, Justin
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (11)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (12)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (13)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Independent Study
AS.150.810 (14)

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Phillips, Ian B
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (01)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Pickard, Hanna
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (02)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Forster, Eckart
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (03)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Gross, Steven
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (04)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Moyar, Dean
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (05)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (06)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (07)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bok, Hilary
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (08)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bett, Richard
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (09)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Williams, Michael
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (10)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bledin, Justin
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (11)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (12)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (13)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Directed Study
AS.150.812 (14)

Please see AS.150.810 for section number to use when registering.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate Independent Academic Work
• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Phillips, Ian B
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

READINGS AND SKILLS IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY II
AS.150.823 (01)

This course provides skills training for a successful career in philosophy, through engagement with cutting-edge contemporary work across a wide-range of areas of philosophy. As a class, we will choose accessible articles of general interest recently published in top journals. Each student will be responsible for presenting one of these articles to the class and leading discussion, with guidance from the instructors. All students will be required to carefully and closely read each paper for each class, and come prepared to discuss it in depth. The aim of this part of the course is to learn how to read and analyze articles, present work, and engage in constructive philosophical discussion. After presenting the paper, each presenter will be required to write a short reply to it, in the style of the relevant journal. As a class, we will then engage in a mock review process, crafting anonymous referee reports, revising replies in the light of these, and discussing these as editors. The aim of this part of the course is to gain knowledge and skills relevant to writing philosophy and successful publication. The course is open to 1st and 2nd year graduate students. It will meet every other week in both the fall and the spring semesters; each semester is worth 2 credits and students are required to enroll in both. Grading will be based predominantly on participation and effort. Upper-year graduate students may audit the course by permission of the instructors, conditional on their commitment to attend and engage as full members of the class; if student numbers are high, priority with respect to presentations will be given to 1st and 2nd year students.

• Credits: 0.00
• Level: Graduate
• Days/Times: W 9:00AM - 11:00AM
• Instructor: Phillips, Ian B, Pickard, Hanna
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/15
• PosTag(s): n/a