Philosophy

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Daniel Brudney, G-B 504, 702-7546,

dbrudney@midway.uchicago.edu

Secretary for Undergraduate Philosophy: Evada L. Waller, Cl 17, 702-8513,

e-waller@uchicago.edu

Program of Study

Philosophy covers a wide range of historical periods and fields. The Bachelor of Arts program with concentration in philosophy is intended to acquaint students with some of the classic texts of the discipline and with the different areas of inquiry, and to train them in rigorous methods of argument. In addition to its standard concentration program, the department offers two sub-concentration options. The intensive concentration 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 200-level courses, normally restricted to College students, and 300-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 under special circumstances College students may take 400- and 500-level courses, normally restricted to graduate students. (These courses are listed in the quarterly Time Schedules.) Students should work out their programs under the guidance of the director of undergraduate studies.

Program Requirements

The Standard Concentration. There are four basic requirements for the standard concentration in philosophy. They 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.

1. Introduction: The History of Philosophy. The Department of Philosophy offers a three-quarter sequence in the history of philosophy (Philosophy 250, 260, and 270), which begins in the first quarter with ancient Greek philosophy and ends in the third quarter with nineteenth-century philosophy. Students concentrating in philosophy must take two courses from this sequence (any two are acceptable) and are encouraged to take all three. Students are also encouraged to do so early in the program because these courses make an appropriate introduction to more advanced courses.

2. Elementary Logic (Philosophy 300). Students may elect to bypass this for a more advanced course if they can satisfy the instructor that they are qualified to begin at a higher level.

3. Field Distribution. At least one course in each of the three following fields: (I) value theory (including ethics, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics); (II) philosophy of science and mathematics; and (III) metaphysics and epistemology. Courses that may be counted toward these requirements are marked by the appropriate numerals in the course descriptions. Other courses may not be used to satisfy field distribution requirements.

4. Ten Graded Courses. Philosophy concentrators must take ten graded courses within the department, distributed so as to meet the preceding three requirements.

Summary of Requirements

Standard Concentration

2 from Philos 250, 260, and 270

1 Philos 300 or approved alternative course

in logic

3 one each from fields I, II, and III

4 additional courses in philosophy

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

a junior seminar in the autumn quarter of the junior year

(Philosophy 295),

a junior tutorial (Philosophy 292), and

a senior tutorial (Philosophy 293).

In addition, students in the intensive track must 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 concentration. The requirements for the intensive concentration are:

Summary of Requirements:

Intensive Concentration

2 from Philos 250, 260, and 270

1 Philos 300 or approved alternative

course in logic

3 one each from fields I, II, and III

1 Philos 295 (junior seminar)

1 Philos 292 (junior tutorial)

1 Philos 293 (senior tutorial)

2 Philos 297 and Philos 298 (preparation for senior essay)

2 additional courses in philosophy

13

Admission to the intensive track requires an application to the undergraduate program committee, which should be made by the middle of the spring quarter of a student's sophomore year. Students interested in the program should consult with the director of undergraduate studies before applying.

Philosophy and Allied Fields. This variant of the concentration is intended for students who wish to create a coherent interdisciplinary program involving philosophy and some other field of study. Students in this program must satisfy the first three of the basic requirements for the standard concentration (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 undergraduate program committee, which should be made by the middle of the spring quarter of a student's sophomore 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 Philos 250, 260, and 270

1 Philos 300 or approved alternative

course in logic

3 one each from fields I, II, and III

6 additional courses, at least one of which

must be in the Philosophy Department

12

The Senior Essay. This essay is written by all students in the intensive concentration, and by other students whose application to write the essay is approved by the undergraduate program committee. The senior essay is one of the requirements for students who have been admitted to the intensive concentration. Students who are not in the intensive concentration but who wish to write a senior essay, should apply to do so by early in the third quarter of their junior 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 essays in consultation with a faculty adviser and the director of undergraduate studies.

After a proposal is approved, a student should preregister for Philosophy 297 in the autumn quarter and for Philosophy 298 in the spring (or winter) quarter of his or her senior year. (These two courses are among the requirements for the Intensive Concentration. For the Standard Concentration and for Allied Fields, these courses together count for one elective course.)

Honors. The main requirement for honors is a senior essay of distinction; a grade point average of 3.0 or better is also usually required. General philosophy course work, including performance in the Senior Seminar, is also taken into consideration.

Transfer Students. Requirements for students transferring to the University of Chicago are the same as for other students, with the stipulation that at least seven of the ten courses required for the concentration must be taken in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago.

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 1998 must have their programs approved by the director of undergraduate studies at the beginning of autumn quarter 1997.

Faculty

MURAT AYDEDE, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and the College

DANIEL BRUDNEY, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and the College

TED COHEN, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Philosophy

ARNOLD I. DAVIDSON, Professor, Department of Philosophy, the Divinity School, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science, and the College

MICHAEL FORSTER, Professor, Department of Philosophy and the College; Chairman, Department of Philosophy

DANIEL GARBER, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science, and the College

JONATHAN LEAR, Professor, Committee on Social Thought and the College; Associate Member, Department of Philosophy

DAVID MALAMENT, David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science, and the College; Chairman, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science

IAN B. MUELLER, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science, and the College

MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM, Professor, the Law School, the Divinity School, and the College; Associate Member, Department of Philosophy

ROBERT B. PIPPIN, Professor, Committee on Social Thought and the College; Associate Member, Department of Philosophy

ROBERT J. RICHARDS, Professor, Departments of History, Philosophy, and Psychology, Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science, and the College; Director, Program in History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine (HiPSS)

HOWARD STEIN, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science

JOSEF STERN, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, and the College

WILLIAM TAIT, Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy

CANDACE VOGLER, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

WILLIAM WIMSATT, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on the Conceptual Foundations of Science and Evolutionary Biology, Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine, and the College

Courses

The following courses are designed for College students.

210. Introduction to Ethics (=GS Hum 292, HiPSS 210, Philos 210). The major portion of this course consists of an examination of the most influential types of ethical theory. After studying these theories, we turn to their practical applications. Special attention is given to the implications of different theories for ethical problems in medicine. A. Davidson. Autumn. (I)

216. Recent Political Philosophy: The Old Rawls and the New. The concern of the course is to understand the history of English-language political philosophy from John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971) to his Political Liberalism (1993), with an eye toward the field's next conceptual turn. We begin with A Theory of Justice and then move on to look at the libertarian challenge from Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia and the communitarian challenge from Michael Sandel's Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. We then read Rawls's Political Liberalism, and Jürgen Habermas's Between Facts and Norms, in which an alternative procedural basis for the legitimacy of the state is developed. D. Brudney. Summer. (I)

234. Philosophy of Mind and Science Fiction (=GS Hum 293, HiPSS 254, Philos 234). Could computers be conscious? Might they be affected by changes in size or time scale, hardware, development, social, cultural, or ecological factors? Does our form of life constrain our ability to visualize or detect alternative forms of order, life, or mentality, or to interpret them correctly? How does the assumption of consciousness affect how we study and relate to other beings? This course examines issues in philosophy of mind raised by recent progress in biology, psychology, and simulations of life and intelligence, with readings from philosophy, the relevant sciences, and science fiction. W. Wimsatt. Winter. (III)

235. Philosophy of Mind (=HiPSS 204, Philos 235). We take up the so-called mind-body problem (the problem of the ontological status of the mind and its relation to the body), focusing mostly on the twentieth-century contribution to the debate. We examine doctrines such as behaviorism, identity theory, and functionalism (and their variations) through the original writings of their main proponents and critiques. M. Aydede. Spring. (III)

250. History of Philosophy I: Ancient Philosophy. PQ: Common Core humanities sequence. A study of some major texts and problems of the classical period. Authors are selected from the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and later Greek and Roman philosophers of the period. M. Forster, I. Mueller. Summer, Autumn.

260. History of Philosophy II: Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy. PQ: Common Core humanities sequence; Philos 250 helpful. This course surveys the history of philosophy from the late medievals to Hume. D. Garber. Winter.

270. History of Philosophy III: Kant and the Nineteenth Century. PQ: Common Core humanities sequence. This course studies a number of important moral and political philosophers of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, and others may be read. D. Brudney. Spring.

292-1-2. Junior Tutorial I, II. PQ: Open only to juniors who have been admitted to the intensive concentration program. Staff. Autumn, Winter.

293-1-2. Senior Tutorial I-II. PQ: Open only to seniors who have been admitted to the intensive concentration program. Staff. Autumn, Winter.

295. Junior Seminar. PQ: Open only to juniors who have been admitted to the intensive concentration program. Close reading and discussion, with weekly papers and presentations, of classical texts and contemporary papers on a central topic such as free will, self-knowledge, or the problem of evil. J. Stern. Autumn.

297. The Senior Essay. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies. Students hoping to write a senior essay must register for this course in the autumn quarter of the senior year and for Philos 298 in the spring (or winter) quarter of the senior year. D. Brudney. Autumn.

298. The Senior Seminar. Students hoping to write a senior essay must register for this course in the spring (or winter) quarter of the senior year and for Philos 297 in the autumn quarter of the senior year. D. Brudney. Winter, Spring.

299. Reading Course. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

The following courses are designed for College students and graduate students.

300. Elementary Logic (=CFS 335, HiPSS 207, Philos 300). This course is an introduction to formal logic. Formal languages for sentential and predicate logic are introduced, together with the semantics for these languages (that is, the notions of "interpretation," "truth," and "validity"). The relation of these languages to ordinary English is discussed (that is, the logical structure of English), and techniques for determining the validity of arguments are explained. Time permitting, the course ends with an informal discussion of more advanced topics in logic: in particular, the Church undecidability theorem and the Gödel incompleteness theorem and their relevance to issues in the philosophy of mathematics. T. Cohen. Summer, Autumn.

308. Proof Theory (=CFS 357, Philos 308). PQ: Philos 396 or equivalent. We investigate the two strands of proof theory arising from Gentzen's "investigations into logical deduction" and "the consistency of elementary number theory": (1) The Sequence Calculus, includes the general Cut-elimination Theorem, "consistency proofs" for systems of arithmetic and set theory and the "provable ordinals" of these theories; and (2) Natural Deduction, includes the general theory of types, and normalization of proofs and uniqueness of normal form. W. Tait. Winter. (II)

312. Kant's Ethics (=Fndmtl 247, Philos 312). PQ: At least one prior philosophy course required; Philos 210 recommended. In this course we read Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals alongside related passages from his critical and popular or pragmatic works with an eye toward understanding Kant's moral philosophy. We pay some attention to recent scholarly and critical work on Kant's moral philosophy. C. Vogler. Winter. (I or III)

313. Aesthetics and Theory of Criticism (=COVA 251, GS Hum 305, Philos 313). This course is an introduction to problems in the philosophy of art with both traditional and contemporary texts. Topics include the definition of art, representation, expression, metaphor, and taste. T. Cohen. Spring. (I)

315. Philosophy, Literature, and Film (=GS Hum 309, Philos 315). The course begins with a study of two sophisticated oral theories, Hume's and Kant's, and then relates this to current work in moral philosophy. With this study as background, the course then turns to some short novels (including ones by Melville, Conrad, and Achebe), and to some films (including ones by Coppola, Polanski, and Hitchcock) to investigate how moral issues are dealt with in these works of art. T. Cohen. Summer. (I)

316. Human Rights I. This first course in a three-quarter sequence provides an historical overview of the institutional and legal formation of a modern human rights regime. Specific topics include the link between modern human rights and the rise of the nation-state, the evolution of international agreements and forced migration. A. Gewirth, M. Nussbaum, C. Vogler. Autumn. (I)

319. Marx and Social Philosophy (=GS Hum 304, Philos 319). PQ: Prior philosophy course. In this course, we read substantial portions of Capital, Volume 1, concentrating on Marx's account of the social relations of production and how they inform social life. We focus on his account of the role of the "so-called primitive accumulation of capital," and read subsequent Marxist work on colonization and ideology. C. Vogler. Autumn. (I)

320. Philosophy of Science (=CFS 333, HiPSS 220, Philos 320). This lecture/discussion course introduces contemporary philosophy of science with a survey format. Topics include explanation, confirmation and the nature of evidence, theory development, the structure of experiment, and issues concerning theory interpretation, such as realism/antirealism debates. Where possible, these issues are illustrated through actual historical episodes. In effect, students are introduced to both the "content" and the "methods" of modern philosophy of science. A. Woody. Winter.

323. Freud and the Mind I: Making Meaning (=GS Hum 367, Philos 323, SocTh 397). PQ: Advanced standing. This course is an introduction to the psychoanalytic account of how humans make meanings of which they are not aware, but influence how they live. Readings from Studies on Hysteria, The Interpretation of Dreams, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, and four case histories. J. Lear. Autumn. (II)

324. Freud and the Mind II: Psyche in Society (=GS Hum 368, Philos 324, SocTh 398). PQ: Philos 323 or consent of instructor. An investigation of how social and cultural forces contribute to the formation of psychic structure and how the psyche emerges and functions in a social environment. Readings from The Ego and the Id, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Totem and Taboo, Civilization and its Discontents, and Moses and Monotheism. J. Lear. Winter. (II)

326. Darwin's Romantic Biology (=CFS 385, Fndmtl 235, Hist 250/350, HiPSS 258, Philos 326). Lack of recognition of the impact of the Romantic Movement on the development of Darwin's thought abetted the usual (but arguably incorrect) assumption that his theory eviscerated nature of moral and aesthetic value, and rendered man but another machine grinding out self-advantage. We read Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle and Origin of Species, as well as some parts of the Descent of Man. R. Richards. Autumn.

327. Philosophy of Biology (=CFS 376, HiPSS 227, Philos 327). This course considers reductionism as a regulative assumption in evolutionary biology. After a philosophical and methodological introduction on reductionism and the nature of model building, we consider a variety of modern approaches to modeling and explaining the evolution of organisms, including reductionistic and nonreductionistic population genetic approaches, quantitative genetics, nongenetic phenotypic optimization models, and various developmental models. W. Wimsatt. Spring. (II)

329. Philosophy of the Social Sciences (=CFS 377, HiPSS 223, Philos 329). This course covers philosophical issues in the social sciences. Topics include the interaction of factual, methodological, and valuational issues: the IQ debate, cultural evolution and functionalism in the social sciences, models of rationality and the relation between normative and descriptive theories of behavior, social adaptations and levels of selection, cultural and conceptual relativity, evolutionary epistemology, and heuristics and the strategy of modeling complex systems. W. Wimsatt. Spring. (II)

333. Philosophy of Language. PQ: Prior elementary formal logic or other philosophy course or equivalent highly recommended. This course is an introduction to the philosophy of language through a close study of a number of competing accounts of the nature of human knowledge of the syntax and semantics of natural language. Readings selected from among the writings of Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Chomsky, Dummett, and Kripke. J. Stern. Autumn. (III)

334. Knowledge of the Other. J-L. Marion. Spring.

347. Problems Around Wittgenstein. This course is a study of Wittgenstein's Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief, Culture and Value, Remarks on Frazer's "Golden Bough," "Big Typescript" on "Philosophy," and related texts against the background of his later philosophy. A central part of this course consists of reading recent American and European commentators who take themselves to be defending and practicing a Wittgensteinian conception of philosophy. Authors may include O. K. Bouwsma, Jacques Bouveresse, Stanley Cavell, Cora Diamond, Aldo Gargani, Hilary Putnam, and Rush Rhees. A. Davidson. Autumn. (III)

352. The Conceptual Development of Physics I (=CFS 311, HiPSS 252, Philos 352). PQ: Some physics and mathematics recommended. May not be taken individually without consent of instructor. This first course of a three-quarter sequence treats the development of some of the fundamental concepts and principles of physics. Considerable attention is paid to the history of the subject, but the central motive for this attention is one that can be described as "methodological" or "epistemological." The historical scope of the sequence extends from ancient science (Babylonian and Greek astronomy) to topics in late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century physics. Highlights include the development of classical (Newtonian) dynamics and gravitational theory, the wave theory of light, and Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field. H. Stein. Autumn. (II or IV)

362. The Conceptual Development of Physics II (=CFS 312, HiPSS 262, Philos 362). PQ: Philos 352 or consent of instructor. H. Stein. Winter. (II or IV)

370. The British Empiricists (=CFS 387, HiPSS 270, Philos 370). A study of the major works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, with emphasis on the Cartesian roots of empiricism, the priority it gives to epistemological concerns, the influence of Newton, and the relations of the empiricist program to skepticism. H. Stein. Autumn. (IV)

380. Kant and Nineteenth-Century German Philosophy. We read representative works by Kant, Herder, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Marx, and Nietzsche. Our thematic focus includes Kant's transcendental idealism and its motivation; Herder's philosophies of language, mind, and history; Hegel's diagnosis of and cure for the ills of modern culture, responses to skepticism, views on the social nature of meaning and truth, and intellectual historicism, Schleiermacher's theory of conceptual change, interpretation, and translation; Marx's critique of religion and general theory of ideology; and Nietzsche's critiques of religion and of modern morality. M. Forster. Spring, Summer.

382. The Conceptual Development of Physics III (=CFS 313, HiPSS 282, Philos 382). PQ: Philos 362. H. Stein. Spring. (II or IV)

386. Goethe: Literature and Science (=CFS 392, German 380, Hist 251/351, HiPSS 268, Philos 386). PQ: German language helpful. This class examines the development of Goethe's though, emphasizing the integration of his literary and scientific ideas. Among the works read are Werther, aesthetic essays, Journey to Italy, Faust, morphological essays, Theories of Colors, Wilhelm Meister, and poetry. R. Richards. Winter.

396. Intermediate Logic I: Introduction to Model Theory (=CFS 336, HiPSS 205, Philos 396). PQ: Philos 300. May be taken individually. This course develops the basic elements of first-order logic leading to a detailed proof of the Gödel Incompleteness theorem (for an appropriate formal derivation system) and its offshoots, the Löwenstein-Skolem and compactness theorems. It goes on to explore several elementary topics in model theory (for example, nonstandard models of arithmetic). D. Malament. Winter. (II)

397. Intermediate Logic II: Undecidability and Incompleteness (=CFS 336, HiPSS 209, Philos 397). PQ: Philos 396. This course develops basic elements of recursive function theory and formal first-order number theory, leading to detailed proofs of the Church undecidability theorem, the Gödel-Rosser incompleteness theorem, and Tarski's theorem on the indefinability of arithmetic truth. Other topics include Löb's theorem, Gödel's second incompleteness theorem (on consistency proofs), and second-order logic. D. Malament. Spring. (II)