Courses & Programs of Study

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Michael Kremer, Stu 224, 834-9884,

kremer@uchicago.edu

Program of Study

Philosophy covers a wide range of historical periods and fields. The B.A. program in philosophy is intended to acquaint students with some of the classic texts of the discipline and with the different areas of inquiry, as well as to train students in rigorous methods of argument. In addition to the standard major, the department offers two tracks. The intensive track option is for qualified students interested in small group discussions of major philosophical problems and texts. The option in philosophy and allied fields is designed for students who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary program involving philosophy and some other field. All three options are described in the next section.

The course offerings described include both 20000-level courses (normally restricted to College students) and 30000-level courses (open to graduate students and advanced College students). There is room for a good deal of flexibility in individual planning of programs. Most of the requirements allow some choice among options. Course prerequisites may be relaxed with the consent of the instructor, and College students may take 40000- and 50000-level courses (normally restricted to graduate students) under special circumstances. Students should work out their program under the guidance of the director of undergraduate studies.

Students in other fields of study may also complete a minor in philosophy. Information follows the description of the major.

Program Requirements

The Standard Major. The following basic requirements for the standard major in philosophy are intended to constitute a core philosophy curriculum and to provide some structure within an extremely varied collection of course offerings that changes from year to year.

Introduction: The History of Philosophy. The Department of Philosophy offers a three-quarter sequence in the history of philosophy (PHIL 25000, 26000, and 27000), which begins in the first quarter with ancient Greek philosophy and ends in the third quarter with nineteenth-century philosophy. Students are required to take two courses from this sequence (any two are acceptable) and are encouraged to take all three. Students are also encouraged to take these courses early in their program because they make an appropriate introduction to more advanced courses.

Elementary Logic (PHIL 20100). Students may elect to bypass PHIL 20100 for a more advanced course if they can satisfy the instructor that they are qualified to begin at a higher level.

Distribution. At least two courses in one of the following two fields and at least one course in the other field: (A) practical philosophy and (B) theoretical philosophy.

Courses that may be counted toward these requirements are marked in the course descriptions by bold letters in parentheses. Please note, however, that the letters have been changed since the course description list was compiled. Courses designated below as satisfying (old) field (A) now satisfy new field (A); courses designated below as satisfying (old) fields (B) or (C) now satisfy new field (B).

Other courses may not be used to meet field distribution requirements. NOTE: Roman numeral fields apply to graduate students.

Summary of Requirements:

Standard Major

2 from PHIL 25000, 26000, and 27000

1 PHIL 20100 or approved alternative course
in logic

3 one from field A and two from field B, or two from field A and one from field B

4 additional courses in philosophy*

* These courses should reflect offerings in the department.

The Intensive Track. The intensive track is designed to acquaint students with the problems and methods of philosophy in more depth than is possible for students in the standard major. It differs from the standard program mainly by offering the opportunity to meet in the following very small discussion groups that are open only to students in the intensive track:

a junior seminar in the Autumn Quarter of the third year (PHIL 29600),

a junior tutorial (PHIL 29200), and

a senior tutorial (PHIL 29300).

Intensive track students must also write a senior essay. The junior seminar and two tutorials replace two of the four additional courses in philosophy mentioned in the summary of requirements for the standard major. Students must take PHIL 29901 and 29902 (preparation for senior essay) during their fourth year.

Students interested in the intensive track should consult with the director of undergraduate studies before applying. Students must submit applications to the director of undergraduate studies by the middle of Spring Quarter of their second year.

Summary of Requirements:

Intensive Track

2 from PHIL 25000, 26000, and 27000

1 PHIL 20100 or approved alternative course in logic

3 one from field A and two from field B, or two from field A and one from field B

1 PHIL 29600 (junior seminar)

1 PHIL 29200 (junior tutorial)

1 PHIL 29300 (senior tutorial)

2 PHIL 29901 and 29902 (preparation for
senior essay)

2 additional courses in philosophy*

* These courses should reflect offerings in the department.

Philosophy and Allied Fields. This variant of the major is intended for students who wish to create a coherent interdisciplinary program involving philosophy and some other field of study. Examples of recent programs devised by students electing this track are philosophy and mathematics, philosophy and biology, and philosophy and economics. Students in this program must meet the first three of the basic requirements for the standard major (a total of six courses) and take six additional courses that together constitute a coherent program; at least one of these six additional courses must be in the Department of Philosophy. Students must receive approval for the specific courses they choose to be used as the allied fields courses. Admission to philosophy and allied fields requires an application to the director of undergraduate studies, which should be made by the middle of Spring Quarter of their second year. To apply, students must submit both a statement of purpose that explains why they want to enter and a sample program of courses, and they must have the agreement of a member of the Department of Philosophy to serve as their sponsor in the program. Students interested in this program should consult with the director of undergraduate studies before applying.

Summary of Requirements:

Philosophy and Allied Fields

2 from PHIL 25000, 26000, and 27000

1 PHIL 20100 or approved alternative course
in logic

3 one from field A and two from field B, or two from field A and one from field B

6 additional courses, at least one of which must be

__ in the Department of Philosophy

The Senior Essay. The senior essay is one of the requirements for students who have been admitted to the intensive track. Students who are not in the intensive track but who wish to write a senior essay should apply to do so by early in Spring Quarter of their third year. Application forms are available in the departmental office; completed forms should be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies. Students are advised to formulate plans for their senior essays in consultation with a faculty adviser and the director of undergraduate studies.

After a proposal is approved, students should register for PHIL 29901 in Autumn (or Winter) Quarter and for PHIL 29902 in Winter (or Spring) Quarter of their fourth year. (These two courses are among the requirements for the Intensive Track. For the standard major and for allied fields, both courses must be taken; however, only one will be counted toward program requirements.)

Grading. All courses for all tracks must be taken for a quality grade.

Honors. The main requirement for honors is a senior essay of distinction. A GPA in the major of 3.25 or higher is also typically required.

Transfer Students. Requirements for students transferring to the University of Chicago are the same as for other students. Up to (but typically no more than) three courses from another institution may be counted toward major requirements. All such courses must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

Advising. Questions concerning program plans, honors, or any other matters should be directed to the director of undergraduate studies. All students planning to graduate in Spring Quarter must have their programs approved by the director of undergraduate studies at the beginning of the previous Autumn Quarter.

Minor Program in Philosophy

The minor program in philosophy provides a basic introduction to some central figures and themes in both the history of philosophy and in current philosophical controversies. The minor requires six courses: students must take: either two courses from the history of philosophy sequence and one course from field A or field B, along with three additional courses in philosophy; or one course from the history of philosophy sequence and one course from each of fields A and B, along with three additional courses in philosophy.

No courses in the minor can be double counted with the student’s major(s) or with other minors; nor can they be counted toward general education requirements. They must be taken for quality grades and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses offered by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. A maximum of two courses from another institution may be counted toward minor requirements with approval from the director of undergraduate studies.

Students who elect the minor program should meet with the director of undergraduate studies before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the program. The approval of the director of undergraduate studies for the minor should be submitted to the student’s College adviser, on a form obtained from the College adviser, no later than the end of the student’s third year.

The following groups of courses would comprise a minor in philosophy:

2 from PHIL 25000, 26000, and 27000

1 from either field A or field B

3 additional courses in philosophy

1 from PHIL 25000, 26000, or 27000

1 from field A

1 from field B

3 additional courses in philosophy

Faculty

J. Beere, J. Bridges, D. Brudney, T. Cohen, J. Conant, A. Davidson, D. Finkelstein,
M. Forster, M. Green, J. Haugeland, M. Kremer, C. Larmore, G. Lear, J. Lear,
M. Nussbaum, R. Pippin, R. Richards, J. Stern, C. Vogler, W. Wimsatt

Courses: Philosophy (phil)

Boldface letters in parentheses refer to the areas noted in the preceding Summary of Requirements section.

The following courses are designed for College students.

20000. Introduction to Philosophy of Science (=CHSS 33300, HIPS 20100) This course focuses on classic twentieth-century debates about central questions of philosophy of science. How do the procedures of modern science test theories (i.e., what is the "scientific method") or (this may or may not be the same thing) what is rational empirical testing in general? At what do such procedures aim? What makes them successful and/or leads to scientific progress? How (if at all) does modern science differ from other kinds of disciplines (e.g., pseudo-science, religion, philosophy)? Winter. (B)

20100/30000. Elementary Logic. (=CHSS 33500, HIPS 20700, MAPH 38000) Course not for field credit. This course introduces the concepts and principles of symbolic logic: valid and invalid argument, logical relations among sentences and their basis in structural features of those sentences, formal languages and their use in analyzing statements and arguments of ordinary discourse (especially the analysis of reasoning involving truth-functions and quantifiers), and systems for logical deduction. Throughout, we are attentive to both general normative principles of valid reasoning and the application of these principles to particular problems. Time permitting, the course ends with a brief consideration of set theory. J. Bridges. Autumn.

20701/30701. German Romanticism: Science, Philosophy, and Literature. (=CHSS 42400, GRMN 47000, HIPS 26801, HIST 25401/35401) This lecture/discussion course investigates the formation of the idea of Romantic literature, philosophy, and science during the age of Goethe. We discuss the works of Kant (especially second part of third Critique), Fichte (Wissenschaftslehre), Schelling (philosophy of nature), the Schlegel brothers (fragments and aesthetics), Novalis (Hymns to the Night), Schleiermacher (Speeches on Religion), Schiller (On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry), and Goethe (Werther, poetry, and biology). R. Richards. Winter. (V)

21000. Introduction to Ethics. (=HIPS 21000, ISHU 29200) This course covers two broad questions about ethics, drawing on contemporary and classical readings. First, what does morality require? What kinds of acts are right and wrong? To what extent can we think systematically about that kind of question? Second, what is the status of morality? Moral beliefs seem to be subjective in a way that more straightforwardly factual beliefs are not. What, exactly, is the difference between these two kinds of beliefs? How should we think and argue about morality if there does seem to be a subjective element to it? What should we think and do when confronted with a society whose members have very different moral beliefs than our own? M. Green. Spring. (A)

21010/31010. Metaethics. PQ: One prior course in ethics. Why be moral? What sort of account can we give of the bases of ethical judgments? In this course, we read, write, and think about foundational accounts of ethics. We consider arguments to the effect that anyone who acts unethically thereby sins against reason, that a proper understanding of the human being as such shows that ethical life belongs to our nature, that rational agents or reasonable people will be bound by ethical or moral principles as those guides for conduct that might inform a social contract, and that anyone with his wits about him will be drawn toward ethical conduct as a matter of basic temperament. Over the course of our work, we also encounter many arguments that none of these approaches suffices to provide a substantive foundation for ethics. C. Vogler. Spring. (I) (A)

21400. Happiness. (=GNDR 25200, HUMA 24900, PLSC 22700) From Plato to the present, notions of happiness have been at the core of heated debates in ethics and politics. Is happiness the ultimate good for human beings (the essence of the good life), or does morality somehow precede it? Can happiness be achieved by all human beings or only by a fortunate few? These are some of the questions that this course engages, with the help of both classic and contemporary texts from philosophy, literature, and the social sciences. This course includes various video presentations and other materials stressing visual culture. B. Schultz. Spring.

21404/31404. Well-Ordered Societies. This course examines several modern attempts to sketch an ideal society. Texts include More, Utopia; Rousseau, On the Social Contract; and Rawls, A Theory of Justice. D. Brudney. Winter. (I) (A)

21500. The Meaning of Life. (=PLSC 20900) This course explores the nature of the most basic question we may ask ourselves: How should we lead our lives? What sort of question is this? What is involved in reflecting, not simply upon whether this action is right or that trait is admirable, but upon what a life should be like as a whole? Do we discover the meaning of life, or do we create it for ourselves? Is only the reflective life worth living? Topics also include conversion, life-plans, and fear of death. Readings are from Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Nietzsche, Berlin, I. Murdoch, S. Hampshire, Rawls, B. Williams, and T. Nagel. C. Larmore. Autumn. (I) (A)

21700/31600. Human Rights I: Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. (=HIST 29301/39301, HMRT 20100/30100, INRE 31600, ISHU 28700/38700, LAWS 41200, MAPH 40000) This course addresses the following questions. First, what is a right? How are legal rights different from moral rights? What does it mean to say that someone has a right? How distinctive are rights (are they simply equivalent to duties)? Second, what is the relationship between rights and duties? How should rights be compared with bringing about the best overall results? Is there an important difference between so-called civil and political rights, on the one hand, and social and economic rights, on the other? Third, what is the best way to respond to moral disagreement? Is moral relativism a coherent response to diversity? Is there a connection between moral relativism and tolerance? Do we need a foundation for human rights? M. Green. Autumn. (I) (A)

21900/31300. Aesthetics of Hume and Kant. (=ISHU 21800/31800) PQ: Prior knowledge of Hume's Treatise and Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is useful but not required. The theory of taste and one main line in modern philosophy of art begins with these authors. Principal readings are Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste" and "Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion," and much of Kant's Critique of Judgment. T. Cohen. Spring. (V)

22210. Boundaries, Modules, and Levels. (=BPRO 22200, HIPS 20601) PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This course investigates conceptual problems arising in the attempt to analyze the structure of complex systems in a variety of biological, psychological, social, and technological contexts, and how the answers may vary with how the boundaries are drawn. We confront descriptive, critical, and normative puzzles arising from questions such as the following: Is a society just a collection of people, an organized collection of people, or something more? Can a corporation have rights and responsibilities? Can groups have identities? Why are minds in the head, or are they? And are genes the bearers of heredity? W. Wimsatt, J. Haugeland. Winter. (B)

22500/32500. Biological and Cultural Evolution. (=BIOS 29286, BPRO 23900, CHSS 37900, HIPS 23900, LING 11100, NCDV 27400,) PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing or consent of instructor. Core background in evolution and genetics strongly recommended. This course draws on readings and examples from linguistics, evolutionary genetics, and the history and philosophy of science. We elaborate theory to understand and model cultural evolution, as well as to explore analogies, differences, and relations to biological evolution. We also consider basic biological, cultural, and linguistic topics and case studies from an evolutionary perspective. Time is spent both on what we do know, and on determining what we don't. W. Wimsatt, S. Mufwene. Winter. (II) (B)

23001/33110. Reasons and Reasoning. What is a reason; and what is it to recognize, assess, or be moved by one? In addressing these questions, we grapple with several core issues in epistemology and philosophy of mind. Topics include: theoretical vs. practical reason, the relationship between the explanatory and justificatory dimensions of reasons, first- and third-personal perspectives on psychological explanation, the role of perceptual experience in providing reasons for belief, the nature of inference, and contextualism about justification. Among many others, authors read include Brandom, Davidson, Fogelin, McDowell, Peacocke, Jay Wallace, and Michael Williams. J. Bridges. Winter. (III) (C)

23505/33505 Identity and the Individuation of Indiscernibles. Can two things (such as bodies, events, moments, or thoughts) have precisely the same qualities? If so, what makes them different from each other? The course studies various theories of individuation in the early modern period and in contemporary metaphysics. Readings include texts by Aristotle, Thomas, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Clarke, Newton, Kant, Maimon. Russell, Max Black, Ayer, Ian Hacking, Robert Adams, and Michael Della Rocca. Y. Melamed. Autumn.

23700/33700. Philosophical Introduction to Psychoanalysis. (=FNDL 22615) Although this course has a seminar format, central ideas of psychoanalysis are explained. They include the unconscious, sexuality, fantasy, transference, psychological structure, and neurosis. We examine these ideas in the context of a philosophical inquiry into questions of how they relate to traditional concerns with happiness and freedom. Readings include texts by Freud and other psychoanalytic writers, along with some contemporary work in moral psychology. J. Lear. Winter.

23810/33810. Psychoanalysis and Moral Psychology. This course introduces central ideas of psychoanalysis (e.g., the unconscious, fantasy, transference) in the context of a philosophical inquiry into questions of how these ideas relate to traditional concerns with happiness and freedom. Readings include texts by Plato, Freud, and other psychoanalytic writers, along with some contemporary work in moral psychology. J. Lear. Spring.

23900/33900. Austin. (=ISHU 23700/33700) Our readings are in the works of J. L. Austin, mainly How to Do Things with Words, and essays related to those lectures. If time permits, we consider later developments in the works of Grice and Cavell, among others. T. Cohen. Autumn. (III) (C)

24601/34601. Analytic Philosophy. Philosophy in the English language in the twentieth century has been dominated by questions of the "analysis of language," meaning, and logic. We survey the history of the analytic tradition, focusing as much on questions of philosophical method, fundamental presuppositions, and the nature of philosophical activity as on the specific philosophical issues that we discuss. M. Kremer. Spring. (III) (C)

24800. Foucault and The History of Sexuality. (=GNDR 24900, HIPS 24300) PQ: Prior philosophy course or consent of instructor. This course centers on a close reading of the first volume of Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality, with some attention to his writings on the history of ancient conceptualizations of sex. How should a history of sexuality take into account scientific theories, social relations of power, and different experiences of the self? We discuss the contrasting descriptions and conceptions of sexual behavior before and after the emergence of a science of sexuality. Other writers influenced by and critical of Foucault are also discussed. A. Davidson. Autumn. (I) (A)

25000. History of Philosophy I: Ancient Philosophy. (=ANST 23200, CLCV 22600) PQ: Completion of the general education requirement in humanities. This course is an examination of ancient Greek philosophical texts that are foundational for Western philosophy, especially the work of Plato and Aristotle. Topics include the nature and possibility of knowledge and its role in human life, the nature of the soul, virtue, happiness, and the human good. G. Lear. Autumn.

25110. Maimonides and Hume on Religion. (=JWSC 26100, RLST 25110) This course studies in alternation chapters from Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed and David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, two major philosophical works with literary forms that are at least as important as their contents. Topics include human knowledge of the existence and nature of God, anthropomorphism and idolatry, religious language, and the problem of evil. We may also read other short works by these two authors on related themes. J. Stern. Winter.

25704. Plato's Republic. (=CLCV 23510, FNDL 21703, HIPS 20101) We read the entirety of Plato's Republic, as well as a little secondary literature. The goal is to follow the argument of the Republic in a sustained way, from the opening disputes about the definition of justice, through the foundation of a city in speech and the nature of philosophy, to the criticism of poetry and the concluding myth. Throughout, we attempt to see how Socrates appeals to his interlocutors (and, by extension, to us) on the basis of reasons; that is, we consider whether he gives us good reasons for the views he espouses. J. Beere. Winter.

25901/39501. Topics in Contemporary European Thought. (=CMLT 25700/35700, DVPR 32600) This course is a study of selected authors and texts that have played a significant role in contemporary European thought. We pay special attention to questions of aesthetics, ethics, and politics. A. Davidson. Winter. (I) (A)

26000. History of Philosophy II: Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy. (=HIPS 26000) PQ: Completion of the general education requirement in humanities required; PHIL 25000 helpful. This course introduces the metaphysical thought of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Primary topics include the concept of substance, the mind-body problem, the part-whole relation, the principle of sufficient reason, causation, time, skepticism, the nature and existence of God, free will. Readings include texts by Suarez, Descartes, Spinoza, Malebranche, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Y. Melamed. Winter.

26401. The Philosophy of Socrates. (=FNDL 33200) We read selected texts by Plato to gain a sense of the method of argument used by Socrates as well as his conception of philosophy. J. Lear. Autumn.

27000. History of Philosophy III: Kant and the Nineteenth Century. PQ: Completion of the general education requirement in humanities. This course studies a number of important philosophers of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Writers may include Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Marx, Mill, and Nietzsche. M. Forster. Spring.

27010/37010. Empiricists. This course is a general introduction to the philosophical work of the following British Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, and/or Hume. Autumn. (V)

27700/37700. Kant. This course is a general introduction to the most important work of Kant, especially the Critique of Pure Reason. J. Beere. Winter. (V)

28201/33001. Hegel's Phenomenology. (=GRMN 33200, SCTH 38001) The goal of this course is to give a general introduction to what is arguably Hegel's most exciting work. We begin by spending some time discussing the overall project of the work, especially as articulated in the preface and introduction. We then examine some of the most important sections of the work (e.g., "Sense-certainty" and "Lordship and Bondage") in more detail. M. Forster. Spring. (V) (C)

28500/38500. Darwin's Origin of Species. (=CHSS 38400, FNDL 23500, HIPS 28400, HIST 25303/35303) This lecture/discussion course traces the development of Darwin's theory of evolution through the early stages (just after the Beagle voyage) to his Origin of Species. The principal focus of the course is on the Origin of Species, especially its several editions and the debates concerning the theory of evolution by natural selection. We also assess the logical and rhetorical structure of Darwin's argument; and we consider the status of the contemporary alternative to Darwin's theory, namely, "intelligent design." R. Richards. Autumn. (II) (B)

29400/39600. Intermediate Logic I. (=CHSS 33600, HIPS 20500) PQ: Consent of instructor. This is a course in the science of logic. It presupposes a knowledge of the use of truth-functions and quantifiers as tools: such as the art of logic. Our principal task is to study these tools in a systematic way. We cover the central theorems about first-order logic with identity: completeness, compactness, and Löwenheim-Skolem theorems. We introduce set theoretic and mathematical apparatus as required. We also study the topic of definition in more detail than is customary in such courses, culminating with a proof of Beth's theorem on implicit and explicit definitions. M. Kremer. Spring. (II) (B)

29600. Junior Seminar: Hedonism. PQ: Open only to third-year students who have been admitted to the intensive track program. Hedonism (the view that pleasure is the human good) is an extremely attractive theory. Plato offers some of the most nuanced arguments against hedonism and also, through Socrates' interlocutors, some of its most eloquent defenses. We examine these arguments as a way to discover the nature of pleasure and its role in a life worth choosing. We end with an examination of epicurean hedonism with a view to determining how well it accounts for the value of friendship and moral virtue. Topics for this small, discussion-oriented seminar vary. G. Lear. Autumn.

29700. Reading Course. PQ: Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29901. Senior Seminar I. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies. Required of fourth-year students who are writing a senior essay. This seminar meets during Winter and Spring Quarters; however, students register for it in either Autumn or Winter Quarter. NOTE: Students may not register for both PHIL 29901 and 29902 in the same quarter. Staff, Autumn; M. Kremer, Winter.

29902. Senior Seminar II. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies. Required of fourth-year students who are writing a senior essay. This seminar meets during Winter and Spring Quarters; however, students register for it in either Autumn or Winter Quarter. NOTE: Students may not register for both PHIL 29901 and 29902 in the same quarter. Staff, Winter; M. Kremer, Spring.