Courses
To see a complete list of courses offered and their descriptions, visit the online course catalog.
The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at https://sis.jhu.edu/classes.
- AS.150.196 - Freshman Seminar: Being A Good Person
In this seminar we explore the virtue ethics tradition and its pursuit to figure out what it means to be a good person. We creatively read the canonical tradition as well as less familiar texts in race & gender studies as well as fiction.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.201 - Introduction to Greek Philosophy
A survey of the earlier phase of Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle will be discussed, as well as two groups of thinkers who preceded them, usually known as the pre-Socratics and the Sophists.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bett, Richard
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, W 2:00PM - 2:50PM
Status: Canceled - AS.150.111 - Philosophic Classics
The course introduces students to philosophy by critically examining selected texts in the Western philosophical tradition. Philosophers whose ideas will be examined include Plato, Descartes, Rousseau and Nietzsche.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Moyar, Dean
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.194 - Freshman Seminar: Skepticism Ancient and Modern
Can we gain knowledge of reality, or is everything a matter of opinion? Does it matter? Why do we want (or need) knowledge anyway? Questions like this have been the stock in trade of philosophical skeptics throughout the entire history of our Western philosophical tradition. This class will involve close readings of some classic works on the topic of skepticism with a view to understanding some of the main arguments for (and against) skepticism: how they work and how they may have changed over time. Readings include selections from Sextus Empiricus, Descartes, Hume and Wittgenstein.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Williams, Michael
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.150.136 - Philosophy & Science: An Introduction to Both
Philosophers and scientists raise important questions about the nature of the physical world, the mental world, the relationship between them, and the right methods to use in their investigations of these worlds. The answers they present are very different. Scientists are usually empiricists, and want to answer questions by experiment and observation. Philosophers don’t want to do this, but defend their views a priori. Why? Can both be right? Readings will present philosophical and scientific views about the world and our knowledge of it. They will include selections from major historical and contemporary figures in philosophy and science. The course has no prerequisites in philosophy or science.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.111 - Philosophic Classics
The course introduces students to philosophy by critically examining selected texts in the Western philosophical tradition. Philosophers whose ideas will be examined include Plato, Descartes, Rousseau and Nietzsche.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Moyar, Dean
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Status: Open - AS.150.201 - Introduction to Greek Philosophy
A survey of the earlier phase of Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle will be discussed, as well as two groups of thinkers who preceded them, usually known as the pre-Socratics and the Sophists.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bett, Richard
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Status: Canceled - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor:
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 2:00PM - 2:50PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.150.136 - Philosophy & Science: An Introduction to Both
Philosophers and scientists raise important questions about the nature of the physical world, the mental world, the relationship between them, and the right methods to use in their investigations of these worlds. The answers they present are very different. Scientists are usually empiricists, and want to answer questions by experiment and observation. Philosophers don’t want to do this, but defend their views a priori. Why? Can both be right? Readings will present philosophical and scientific views about the world and our knowledge of it. They will include selections from major historical and contemporary figures in philosophy and science. The course has no prerequisites in philosophy or science.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Open - AS.150.301 - Majors Seminar: Truth
A philosophical exploration of the nature of truth, looking at different theories of truth and related questions about science, morality, logic and rational disagreement.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.511 - Directed Study
Individual study of special topics, under regular supervision of a faculty member. Special permission is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Staff
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.481 - Hobbes' Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan is a masterpiece of modern political philosophy. This class is an in-depth study of that work.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: T 10:30AM - 1:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.483 - Evidence, Foundations of Probability, and Speculation
The course examines major theories about the meaning of evidence and probability, and in terms of these provides answers to the questions “What is a scientific speculation?” and “When, if at all, is speculating important or even legitimate in science?” No preview study of evidence or probability is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.434 - Formal Methods of Philosophy
For better or for worse (and we think better), during the last century or so, philosophy has become infused with logic. Logic informs nearly every area of philosophy; it is part of our shared language and knowledge base. Vast segments of literature, especially in contemporary analytic philosophy, presuppose basic competence in logic and a familiarity with associated formal methods, particularly set theoretical. The standard philosophy curriculum should therefore guarantee a minimum level of logic literacy, thus enabling students to read the literature without it seeming like an impenetrable foreign tongue. This course is an introductory survey of the formal methods that a contemporary philosopher should be familiar with. It is not mathematically demanding in the way that more advanced courses in metalogic and specialized topics may be. The emphasis is on basic comprehension, not on mathematical virtuosity. Co-taught with AS.150.223 Formal Methods of Philosophy.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bledin, Justin
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.150.511 - Directed Study
Individual study of special topics, under regular supervision of a faculty member. Special permission is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.417 - Kant's 'Critique Of Pure Reason'
An examination of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, with emphasis on The Critique of Pure Reason.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.485 - Descartes and Spinoza
Descartes and Spinoza are two of the leading philosophers of the modern period. In the class we will study the works of both figures. Special attention will be assigned to Spinoza’s early works.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: W 10:00AM - 12:30PM
Status: Open - AS.150.463 - The Value of Humanity and Nature
We start by posing a question: who, or what, has standing in the moral community? First we consider an appealing answer--humanity--then we consider whether moral status extends to nonhuman animals and the environment. We will focus on the notion of being valuable, and how it relates to moral considerability. No background in philosophy is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Powell, Kevin Matthew
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: W 4:15PM - 6:45PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.420 - Mathematical Logic I
Mathematical Logic I (H,Q) is the first semester of a year long course. It introduces the two notions of validity and provability for both sentential logic and first-order predicate logic, showing in each case that there is a system of derivation such that any argument is valid if and only if the conclusion is provable from the premises. The result is non-trivial since validity is a semantic notion involving the preservation of truth, while a proof is a finite syntactic object whose correctness can be effectively decided. The goal of the course, however, is to learn how to formulate mathematical theories in first-order logic and to explore various of their properties (or lack thereof) such as completeness, decidability, axiomatizability, finite axiomatizability, and consistency. The course concludes with a brief introduction to model theory and the interpretability of one theory in another, which is the basis for relative consistency proofs in mathematics.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.433 - Philosophy of Space & Time
Is space an entity that exists independently of matter (substantivalism), or is it only an abstraction from spatial relations between bodies (relationism)? Is there a lapse of time even when nothing changes, or is time only a measure of motion? Are motion and rest contrary properties or states of a body, or are there only changes in the positions of bodies relative to one another? Philosophers and physicists have disputed these questions from antiquity to the present day. We survey the arguments and attempt to find a resolution. But there are further questions. What is the significance of incongruent counterparts (left hands vs. right hands)? Is there a fact of the matter as to the geometry of space (flat, hyperbolic or elliptical), or as to whether space-like separated events occur at the same time? What is the principle of relativity? Does Einstein’s theory have consequences for the substantivalist/relationist debate? What is the status of spacetime in current physics and cosmology? Why does time but not space have a “direction”? Are past, present and future objective features of reality, or are they merely “stubborn illusions”? Does time flow? If not, how do we account for our sense of the passage of time?
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.150.418 - Hermeneutics and Critrical Theory
An introduction to two of the most important and influential schools in twentieth-century German philosophy. This course examines the works of four leading representatives of these schools, i.e. Heidegger, Gadamer, Horkheimer, and Habermas.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 2:00PM - 2:50PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.150.223 - Formal Methods of Philosophy
For better or for worse (and we think better), during the last century or so, philosophy has become infused with logic. Logic informs nearly every area of philosophy; it is part of our shared language and knowledge base. Vast segments of literature, especially in contemporary analytic philosophy, presuppose basic competence in logic and a familiarity with associated formal methods, particularly set theoretical. The standard philosophy curriculum should therefore guarantee a minimum level of logic literacy, thus enabling students to read the literature without it seeming like an impenetrable foreign tongue. This course is an introductory survey of the formal methods that a contemporary philosopher should be familiar with. It is not mathematically demanding in the way that more advanced courses in metalogic and specialized topics may be. The emphasis is on basic comprehension, not on mathematical virtuosity.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bledin, Justin
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.150.491 - American Philosophy: Pragmatism
Studies of major figures in the history of American philosophy beginning with the 19th century. The course focuses on the development of pragmatism in the work Peirce, James and Dewey. Other philosophers, such as Royce and Mead, may also be studied.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Williams, Michael
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.464 - Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
This course will be a close reading of G.W.F. Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Some of the main topics for discussion will be the relation of law and morality, the dependence of the political philosophy on Hegel's Logic, and the relation of individual and social conceptions of freedom.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Moyar, Dean
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: M 2:30PM - 5:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.340 - The Philosophy of Psychology
This course will explore a range of philosophical issues in cognitive psychology. Topics include the nature of psychological explanation, the computational theory of mind, the relationship between psychology and neuroscience, consciousness, intentionality, nativism/empiricism, and mental architecture. This course is intended for both philosophy students and any student interested in the mind-brain sciences.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Gunderson, Palmer Jon
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.511 - Directed Study
Individual study of special topics, under regular supervision of a faculty member. Special permission is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.511 - Directed Study
Individual study of special topics, under regular supervision of a faculty member. Special permission is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.214.479 - Dante Visits the Afterlife: The Divine Comedy
Dante’s Divina commedia is the greatest long poem of the Middle Ages; some say the greatest poem of all time. We will study the Commedia critically to find: (1) What it reveals about the worldview of late-medieval Europe; (2) how it works as poetry; (3) its relation to the intellectual cultures of pagan antiquity and Latin (Catholic) Christianity; (4) its presentation of political and social issues; (5) its influence on intellectual history, in Italy and elsewhere; (6) the challenges it presents to modern readers and translators; (7) what it reveals about Dante’s understanding of cosmology, world history and culture. We will read and discuss the Commedia in English, but students will be expected to familiarize themselves with key Italian terms and concepts. Students taking section 02 (for 4 credits) will spend an additional hour working in Italian at a time to be mutually decided upon by students and professor.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Stephens, Walter E
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Open - AS.150.511 - Directed Study
Individual study of special topics, under regular supervision of a faculty member. Special permission is required.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.551 - Honors Project
See departmental major adviser.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Staff
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.300.309 - The Contemporary Philosophical Novel
What can literature offer to philosophical reflection? Can literature address experiences that evade theoretical philosophy? Or, does fictional writing conflict with rigorous philosophical inquiry? The long-standing separation of philosophy and literature begins when Plato bans poetry and tragedy from the ideal city in the Republic. This seminar focuses on nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers that challenge the predisposition against literature through different attempts to write the “philosophical novel.” In this seminar, we will take seriously the philosophical stakes of literary texts, and investigate how and why literature offers a unique perspective for philosophical reflection. We will read texts by Plato, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Iris Murdoch, and David Foster-Wallace.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Levi, Jacob Ezra
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.219 - Intro to Bioethics
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
Status: Reserved Open - AS.300.315 - Philosophical Conceptions of the Infinite
What is the infinite? Can we comprehend it? Can we experience it? In this course we will explore various ways in which philosophers in the western tradition have answered questions such as these. In the first half of the semester, we will examine theoretical treatments of the infinite that inform how we understand the fabric of our world, from the ordinary objects around us to more sublime concepts of God, space, time, and mathematics. In the second half, we will turn to arguments in aesthetics and ethics that reveal an interplay between infinity and finitude occurring before our very eyes. Philosophers we will cover include Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Russell, Levinas, and Arendt. Throughout, we will ask such fundamental questions as, what is the starting point of philosophy? what is its methodology? what can it achieve in terms of knowledge? and in terms of practice?
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Host, Alexander Stoltzfus
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.214.479 - Dante Visits the Afterlife: The Divine Comedy
Dante’s Divina commedia is the greatest long poem of the Middle Ages; some say the greatest poem of all time. We will study the Commedia critically to find: (1) What it reveals about the worldview of late-medieval Europe; (2) how it works as poetry; (3) its relation to the intellectual cultures of pagan antiquity and Latin (Catholic) Christianity; (4) its presentation of political and social issues; (5) its influence on intellectual history, in Italy and elsewhere; (6) the challenges it presents to modern readers and translators; (7) what it reveals about Dante’s understanding of cosmology, world history and culture. We will read and discuss the Commedia in English, but students will be expected to familiarize themselves with key Italian terms and concepts. Students taking section 02 (for 4 credits) will spend an additional hour working in Italian at a time to be mutually decided upon by students and professor.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Stephens, Walter E
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.213.374 - Existentialism in Literature and Philosophy
This course explores the themes of existentialism, including the meaning of existence, the nature of the self, authenticity and inauthenticity, the inescapability of death, the experience of time, anxiety, freedom and responsibility to others, in literary and philosophical works. It will be examined why these philosophical ideas often seem to demand literary expression, or bear a close relation to literary works. Readings may include writings by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Heidegger, Rilke, Kafka, Simmel, Jaspers, Buber, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.211.265 - Panorama of German Thought
This course explores the rich terrain of German literature and philosophical thought, from the Enlightenment to today. At each meeting, we will investigate canonical texts of the German intellectual tradition, with an eye to establishing their well-deserved place in wider, global discourses. In this way, we will learn to think critically with these important literary and philosophical texts from German-speaking lands as a means of viewing and appreciating the full panorama of German thought. Authors discussed may include Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Hegel, Kleist, Heine, Fontane, Nietzsche, Freud, Kafka, Heidegger, Mann and Bernhard. Readings and discussion will be in English. German is appreciated but not required. Students have the option of an additional hour of German discussion (to be scheduled at a mutually agreed time) and doing all the assignments in German for German-language credit (3+1) towards the major or minor. Students interested in that option should register for section 2.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Dornbach, Marton
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 4:30PM - 5:45PM
Status: Open - AS.211.265 - Panorama of German Thought
This course explores the rich terrain of German literature and philosophical thought, from the Enlightenment to today. At each meeting, we will investigate canonical texts of the German intellectual tradition, with an eye to establishing their well-deserved place in wider, global discourses. In this way, we will learn to think critically with these important literary and philosophical texts from German-speaking lands as a means of viewing and appreciating the full panorama of German thought. Authors discussed may include Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Hegel, Kleist, Heine, Fontane, Nietzsche, Freud, Kafka, Heidegger, Mann and Bernhard. Readings and discussion will be in English. German is appreciated but not required. Students have the option of an additional hour of German discussion (to be scheduled at a mutually agreed time) and doing all the assignments in German for German-language credit (3+1) towards the major or minor. Students interested in that option should register for section 2.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Dornbach, Marton
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings: TTh 4:30PM - 5:45PM
Status: Open - AS.150.551 - Honors Project
See departmental major adviser.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.551 - Honors Project
See departmental major adviser.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.551 - Honors Project
See departmental major adviser.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.551 - Honors Project
See departmental major adviser.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Fall 2019
Meetings:
Status: Approval Required - AS.150.237 - Foundations of Modern Political Philosophy
This course is an introduction to modern political philosophy through an intensive study of the classic texts. The focus will be on the nature and limits of political authority under modern social conditions. Authors included are Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Mill.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Moyar, Dean
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Open - AS.150.220 - Introduction to Moral Philosophy
The class will serve as a high level introduction to moral philosophy. No background in philosophy is required. We examine three classic theories in normative ethics (virtue ethics, Kantian moral philosophy, and consequentialism), and challenges to those theories. We also cover topics in meta-ethics (with a focus on reasons and values).
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Open - AS.150.220 - Introduction to Moral Philosophy
The class will serve as a high level introduction to moral philosophy. No background in philosophy is required. We examine three classic theories in normative ethics (virtue ethics, Kantian moral philosophy, and consequentialism), and challenges to those theories. We also cover topics in meta-ethics (with a focus on reasons and values).
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Open - AS.150.118 - Introduction to Formal Logic
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.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.130 - Dystopian Dreams - Utopian Ideals
In this course, we will be exploring foundational questions of philosophy through classic utopias and pop cultural dystopias.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Englert, Alexander Tilghman
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.118 - Introduction to Formal Logic
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.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.237 - Foundations of Modern Political Philosophy
This course is an introduction to modern political philosophy through an intensive study of the classic texts. The focus will be on the nature and limits of political authority under modern social conditions. Authors included are Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Mill.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Moyar, Dean
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 1:00PM - 1:50PM
Status: Open - AS.150.205 - Intro Hist of Mod Philos
An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Williams, Michael
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.205 - Introduction to the History of Modern Philosophy
An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Williams, Michael
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.260 - Introduction to Metaphysics
Metaphysics addresses fundamental questions about the nature and structure of reality. This course will offer an introduction to metaphysics, and a survey of metaphysical debates about topics including time, causation, personal identity, God and free will.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.260 - Introduction to Metaphysics
Metaphysics addresses fundamental questions about the nature and structure of reality. This course will offer an introduction to metaphysics, and a survey of metaphysical debates about topics including time, causation, personal identity, God and free will.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Status: Open - AS.150.300 - Prometheus Editorial Workshop
Prometheus is an international undergraduate philosophy journal published by students at Johns Hopkins University. The purpose of the journal is to promote philosophic discourse of the highest standard by offering students an opportunity to engage in open discussion, participate in the production and publication of an academic journal, and establish a community of aspiring philosophers. Students enrolled in this workshop will act as the staff readers for the journal. For more information, please visit www.prometheus-journal.com. Prerequisite: MUST have taken one philosophy course.
Credits: 1.00
Instructor: Kaczmarek, Maegan Elizabeth
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 7:00PM - 8:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.455 - Ethics And Animals
Are there moral constraints on our treatment of animals? If so, what are they, and how might they be justified?
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bok, Hilary
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.401 - Greek Philosophy: Plato and His Predecessors
A study of pre-Socratic philosophers, especially those to whom Plato reacted; also an examination of major dialogues of Plato with emphasis upon his principal theses and characteristic methods.Cross-listed with Classics.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bett, Richard
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.150.307 - Plato's Phaedrus
This is a reading course. Together we will do a close reading of one of Plato's masterpieces, the Phaedrus. We will also use this text to address general questions of interpretation, such as how to approach a philosophical classic, how to discern its underlying idea, etc.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: W 10:00AM - 12:30PM
Status: Open - AS.150.330 - Decisions, Games & Social Choice
We investigate rational decision making at the individual and group level. In the first section of the course on decision theory, we consider how a single rational agent will act in a choice situation given her knowledge, or lack thereof, about the world and her particular risk profile. In the second section on game theory, we explore different kinds of competitive and cooperative strategic interactions between agents, and we define different kinds of solutions, or equilibria, of these games. We also apply game theory to the study of morality, convention, and the social contract. In the final section of the course on social choice theory, we turn to group decision making with a focus on the impossibility results of Arrow and Sen.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bledin, Justin
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.356 - Political Philosophy and Public Health Ethics
In 2015, Rand Paul generated controversy by insisting that parents should have complete discretion over whether to vaccinate their children. When pressed to come up with a defense for this policy, Paul replied, "The state doesn't own your children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom and public health." His rationale for his policy proposal and the responses to it hint at several fundamental questions about the role of the State as it pertains to producing health, as well as more practically oriented questions concerning policy. In this seminar, we will consider both sorts of questions. We will consider the merits of and objections to various policies such as cigarette bans, mandatory seatbelt or helmet laws for motorists, taxes for sugary beverages, and prohibitions of the private sale of organs. We will also ask more philosophical questions: When discussing public health, what constitutes 'the public’? And how should we connect public health and policy measures to salient concepts such as legitimacy, justice, coercion, manipulation, paternalism, autonomy, liberty, privacy, and parental rights? In asking these questions, both at the level of policy and more philosophically, we will engage with a variety of political theories, including various strands of feminism, anarchism, libertarianism, perfectionism, critical race theory, leftist theories, broadly consequentialist theories, and public reason liberalism. Must have some background in philosophy or bioethics.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bernstein, Justin
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: M 5:00PM - 7:30PM
Status: Closed - AS.150.436 - Philosophy of Gender
In this class we will examine philosophical questions about gender, and about the intersections between gender and other social categories including race, class and sexuality. We will focus specifically on questions about the metaphysics of gender and other social categories.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
Status: Open - AS.150.552 - Honors Project
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor:
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.512 - Directed Study
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.512 - Directed Study
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.552 - Honors Project
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.512 - Directed Study
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.552 - Honors Project
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.552 - Honors Project
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Forster, Eckart
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.194.401 - Themes in Medieval Islamic Thought
This seminar examines medieval Muslim thinkers who addressed themes at the intersection of theology, philosophy, science, and ethics: the definition of the nature of God’s attributes, His uniqueness, transcendence and omnipotence; human freewill and the limits of human knowledge; the nature of the world; and the relationship among reason, religion, and science. The course will look at how these and other crucial themes were addressed by major medieval philosophers and philosophical schools not only in Islam, but also in Judaism and Christianity, and highlight similarities and differences among the three major monotheistic faiths.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Ferrario, Gabriele
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 1:30PM - 3:50PM
Status: Open - AS.213.423 - Reflections on Modernity
Taught in English. Reflections on Modernity takes up the problems conflicts, and possibilities of modernity in aesthetic, literary, and philosophical texts. Questions about the modern self, our relationship to nature, to urban experience, to history and language, and the role of the artist and writer in reflecting on modern life. Texts include works by such authors as Kant, Nietzsche, Baudelaire, Weber, Rilke, Hofmannsthal, Simmel, Heidegger, Habermas, Foucault.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.225.328 - The Existential Drama: Philosophy and Theatre of the Absurd
Existentialism, a powerful movement in modern drama and theatre, has had a profound influence on contemporary political thought, ethics, and psychology, and has transformed our very notion of how to stage a play. Selected readings and lectures on the philosophy of Kierkegaard, Nietszche, Camus and Sartre -- and discussion of works for the stage by Sartre, Ionesco, Genet, Beckett, Albee, Pinter, Athol Fugard (with Nkani & Nshone), Heiner Müller and the late plays of Caryl Churchill. Opportunities for projects on Dürrenmatt, Frisch, Havel, Witkiewicz, and Mrozek.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Martin, Joseph H
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Status: Open - AS.150.424 - Liberalism
In Liberalism, we will first survey major texts, From Hobbes though Rawls, that define the liberal tradition in modernity; we then turn to more contemporary issues to measure the virtues as well as the limits of liberal societies.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Canceled - AS.150.413 - The Philosophy of Afrofuturism II
Afrofuturism II explores the intersection of race, philosophy, and the political significance of black sci-fi and fantasy. In this course we will focus on two broad areas - multimedia representations of race in sci-fi and fantasy, and Afrofuturist sagas built to stand alongside classics like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Canceled - AS.150.512 - Directed Study
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor:
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.512 - Directed Study
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.552 - Honors Project
Sec. 01 - Staff Sec. 02 - Forster Sec. 03 - Gross Sec. 04 - Moyar Sec. 05 - Rynasiewicz Sec. 06 - Lebron Sec. 07 - Bok Sec. 08 - Bett Sec. 09 - Williams (Michael) Sec. 10 - Bledin Sec. 11 - Achinstein Sec. 12 - Melamed Sec. 13 - Taylor
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings:
Status: Closed - AS.150.473 - Classics of Analytic Philosophy
A reading of some of the classic philosophical works in 20th Century Analytic Philosophy, beginning with G. Frege and ending with V.O. Quine.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Williams, Michael
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.150.404 - The Idea of Power
The Idea of Power surveys seminal texts in the history of political thought on the nature, promise, and dangers of political and social power; it also critically engages contemporary texts on race and gender power relations
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.459 - Counterfactual Reasoning, Normative & Descriptive Aspects
Counterfactual reasoning is reasoning about what would be the case if things had been other than they are: If it had been sunny and so I didn't run into that store for cover from the rain, maybe I would never have met my future partner! How ought one to reason counterfactually? How do people in fact do it? Counterfactual reasoning might seem like a narrow topic, but it is of fundamental importance to both scientific and everyday inquiry, where it is intimately connected to the use of imagination, planning for the future, assessment of and learning from the past, providing explanations, understanding fictions, and constructing experiments. This course will explore both normative and empirical aspects of counterfactual reasoning, drawing upon readings in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. An overarching goal of this course is to arrive at a better understanding of counterfactuality that is informed by research across these different disciplines.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Bledin, Justin, Gross, Steven
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: F 10:00AM - 12:30PM
Status: Open - AS.150.458 - The Biggest Hits in Philosophy of Science (20th and 21st Centuries)
Readings from Duhem, Carnap, Hempel, Popper, Quine, Kuhn, Feyerabend, van Fraassen, and others who got us where we are in the field today. Quine said: Philosophy of science is philosophy enough. Is it?
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
Term: Spring 2019
Meetings: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open