Carleton College

PHIL 100. Evolution and Mind An introduction to issues in ethics and the philosophy of mind and language in the light of evolution theory. Central issues to be discussed include: the nature of evolution theory; the nature and evolution of language and cognition; the "nature versus nurture" debate; the nature and evolution of morality. 6 cr., AI, WR1, Fall—R. Elveton

PHIL 110. Mind, Matter, Consciousness According to a common view of the mind, mental states are nothing more than states of the brain. There are certain features of human intellection, subjective experience, and action which have prompted some philosophers to argue that human mental activity is not reducible to brain activity. Some have gone on to argue that the human mind is immaterial and capable of surviving the death of the body. We will examine variants of these views as well as objections to them, reading selections from such historical figures as Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes, and such contemporary philosophers as Churchland, Nagel, and Searle. 6 cr., HU; HI, Winter—A. Moltchanova

PHIL 110. Killing Although we tend not to think about it very often, killing is very much a part of our lives. We confront it whenever we eat an animal, talk about the wisdom of intervention in foreign conflicts, consider federal funding of abortion or ask whether people have the right to terminate their own lives. This course will explore killing in its various guises, with special focus on war, our relationship with animals, abortion and euthanasia. Students will be asked to consider various views on these matters while developing the skills to clearly state and defend, via philosophical argument, their own views. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Offered in alternate years. Fall—D. Groll

PHIL 110. Science, Faith, and Rationality This seminar will introduce the student to the study of philosophy through a consideration of various epistemic and metaphysical issues surrounding science and religion. What distinguishes scientific inquiry from other areas of inquiry: Its subject matter, its method of inquiry, or perhaps both? How does scientific belief differ from religious belief, in particular? Is the scientist committed to substantive metaphysical assumptions? If so, what role do these assumptions play in scientific investigation and how do they differ from religious dogma (if they do)? Our exploration of these questions will involve the consideration of both classic and contemporary philosophical texts. 6 cr., HU; HI, Fall—J. Decker

PHIL 110. Personal Identity This course is an introduction to philosophy through the topic of personal identity. What is a person? What is it that makes possible our continued existence through time? Is it a soul? Our bodies? Or is it a stream of memories connecting us to past events? We also examine the place of race in determining personal identity. Readings will be drawn from historical as well as contemporary sources. 6 cr., HU; HI, Winter,Spring—A. Curran

PHIL 110. Arguing About Politics This course introduces students to several classic texts in the history of political thought and provides them with an opportunity to interpret these texts critically by concentrating on argument analysis. Students will also learn to construct and effectively communicate their own arguments about foundational issues in politics. We will discuss justifications of democracy, the challenge of diverse citizenship, the role of deliberation in politics and related questions. We will read works by Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, de Tocqueville, Mill as well as some contemporary political theorists. 6 cr., HU; HI, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 210. Logic The study of formal logic has obvious and direct applicability to a wide variety of disciplines (including mathematics, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, and many others). Indeed, the study of formal logic helps us to develop the tools and know-how to think more clearly about arguments and logical relationships in general; and arguments and logical relationships form the backbone of any rational inquiry. In this course we will focus on propositional logic and predicate logic, and look at the relationship that these have to ordinary language and thought. 6 cr., ND; FSR, Winter—J. Decker

PHIL 211. Metaphysics The aim of metaphysics has traditionally been to identify the nature and structure of reality. The topics of this course are the topology of time, identity of things and individuals, causality, free will, and the referents of general terms. We will read a variety of classic and contemporary texts, which are organized topically. Prerequisite: any section of Philosophy 110. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 212. Epistemology Do you know that you're not just a brain, floating in a vat, receiving stimulations through electrodes? Or perhaps an immaterial soul being conned by a malicious demon? In this course, we will use these skeptical worries as a launching point for thinking about epistemological issues: What exactly is knowledge? Do we ever have it? If so, when, and how? We will approach these questions through an examination of theories of epistemic justification, including foundationalism, coherentism, internalism, externalism, and virtue epistemology. We will then consider some critiques of traditional epistemology, including feminist epistemology and naturalized epistemology. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Spring—J. Decker

PHIL 213. Ethics How should we live? What makes certain actions right and others wrong? And why should I care about morality? These questions are at the heart of the study of ethics. We begin by looking at particular ethical issues (abortion, poverty, killing in war) with special emphasis on what is involved in making a philosophical "argument" for our convictions on these matters. We then turn to foundational issues in ethics concerning which principle(s) determine(s) govern right and wrong action, before turning to the question of whether everyone has reason to be moral. Readings are drawn from a combination of contemporary and historical sources. Prerequisite: Any 100-level course in philosophy. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Fall—D. Groll

PHIL 220. Philosophy of Mind What is the relationship between the mind and the brain? Are they identical? Or is there mental "stuff" in addition to physical stuff? Or perhaps some physical stuff has irreducibly mental properties? These, and related questions, are explored by philosophers under the heading of "the mind-body problem." In this course, we will start with these questions, looking at classical and contemporary defenses of both materialism and dualism. This investigation will lead us to other important questions such as: What is the nature of mental representation, what is consciousness, and could a robot have conscious states and mental representations? 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Fall—J. Decker

PHIL 220. Consciousness and Subjectivity An exploration of recent theories of consciousness and the nature of the self, drawing upon phenomenological accounts (Husserl and Merleau-Ponty) and the recent work of Searle, Chalmers and Zahavi. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy. 6 cr., HU; HI, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 220. Film and the Emotions The evocation of emotions, of one kind or another, is central to our experience of watching films. We look at some central questions philosophers have raised about film and the emotions: 1) How can we be justified in having genuine emotions in response to characters in film when we know they do not exist? 2) How can we enjoy horror films in spite of the negative emotions that they elicit? Other topics include: identifying with characters in film; film and the manipulation of our emotions; and film music. Weekly film screenings are required in addition to the regular class meeting. Prerequisite: One previous course in philosophy or a CAMS 300-level course on film theory or permission of the instructor. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Winter—A. Curran

PHIL 232. Social and Political Philosophy: Justice and Politics What distinguishes just states from unjust states? Are some states so unjust that we are not obliged to comply with their laws? We will examine answers to these and related questions proposed by liberal, socialist, libertarian, communitarian, feminist and post-modern theories of political and social justice. The following are some of the authors we will read: Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Berlin, Lyotard, Nozick, Rawls, Habermas, Sandel, Seyla Benhabib, Jean Hampton, Charles Taylor, and Amy Gutmann. 6 cr., HU; SI, Fall—A. Moltchanova

PHIL 234. Aesthetics Various issues in aesthetics: the definition of art, the nature of the aesthetic, the description, interpretation, and evaluation of aesthetic objects. Readings will be drawn primarily from the works of philosophers and from case materials. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 242. Environmental Ethics What moral stance should we take toward the non-human part of our natural environment? How should we treat animals, for instance? Is there any justification for treating human beings with special consideration, or is this an objectionable form of speciesism? How should we treat other non-animal beings? What stance should we take toward the ecological system as a whole? In this class we will consider various ethical approaches in an attempt to raise the level of sophistication with which we can go about framing and supporting answers to these (and other similar) questions. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 250. Philosophy of Physics A study of the implications that our best current physical theories have for our understanding of the world, as well as the implications that our best philosophical theories have for our understanding of physical theory. We will focus primarily on relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Possible topics include: the nature of causality, the relativity of simultaneity, the twin paradox, hidden variables, the measurement problem, nonlocality, the relationship between quantum theory and relativity theory, and the very idea of scientific truth. 6 cr., HU; HI, Spring—J. Decker

PHIL 253. Philosophy of Cognitive Science A study of the central theories, methodological and philosophical issues and major competing paradigms regarding the nature of human cognition. Topics to be treated include: the nature of mental representations, intentionality, consciousness, the structure of language, nativism and externalism in the cognitive sciences, embodied cognition and the constitutive roles of culture and evolution in shaping cognitive processes. 6 cr., HU; HI, Not offered in 2010-2011.

PHIL 270. Ancient Greek Philosophy: Knowledge and Skepticism Is it possible to know anything for certain? A skeptic denies that we are ever justified in claiming to know something. This class examines the debates in ancient Greek philosophy regarding the nature and justification of knowledge. Is knowledge relative to the perceiver? Is it possible that knowledge can be found in a transcendental realm of abstract Forms? Or should knowledge be acquired by induction based on sense perception? Should we withhold our assent from everything that is less than certain? Readings from Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus. No prerequisites. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Spring—A. Curran

PHIL 272. Modern Philosophy An examination of the development of Western philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through the writings of Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. We focus on the impact of modern scientific thought on the philosophical tradition's understanding of the place of the human being in the world. Topics include: Is it possible to have knowledge of the world? What is the nature of reality? What is the human mind? Are we free? 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Winter—D. Groll

PHIL 274. Existentialism We will consider the emergence and development of major themes of existentialism in the works of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, as well as "classical" existentialists such as Heidegger, Sartre and De Beauvoir. We will discuss key issues put forward by the existentialist movement, such as "the question of being" and human historicity, freedom and responsibility and look at how different authors analyzed the nature and ambitions of the Self and diverse aspects of subjectivity. 6 cr., HU; HI, Winter—A. Moltchanova

PHIL 395. Samuel Beckett A seminar focusing on Beckett's novels and plays within the context of twentieth century postmodern philosophy and literary theory. 6 cr., ND; HI, Winter—R. Elveton, R. Weiner

PHIL 395. Freedom and Responsibility Are our actions entirely determined by our biological make-up and social circumstances or are they, at least sometimes, free? Do collectives have a life of their own? When can we hold agents responsible for their actions? What about collective actions, like waging a war? Are group intentions just aggregates of individual intentions? These and other questions concerning the constitution and actions of agents will be discussed in the context of classic readings on agency and free will and contemporary debates in social ontology. 6 cr., HU, WR; HI, WR2, Spring—A. Moltchanova

PHIL 395. Individuality and Autonomy In On Liberty, JS Mill defends the idea that people have the right to make decisions about their own lives on the grounds that there is something important about individuality or, to put it in slightly more philosophical terms, about being autonomous. But what exactly does it mean to be an individual? To be autonomous? And why think it is valuable given that people often make very poor decisions about their own lives? This course will explore these questions through a combination of historical and contemporary texts in the hopes of figuring out what it means to be autonomous and why it matters. Prerequisite: Two previous courses in philosophy. 6 cr., HU; HI, Spring—D. Groll

PHIL 399. Senior Thesis The planning, preparation, and completion of a philosophical paper under the direction of a member of the department and as part of a seminar group. 6 cr., ND; HI, Winter—D. Groll

PHIL 400. Integrative Exercise A colloquium in which seniors defend their senior theses and discuss the senior theses of others. 3 cr., S/NC, ND; NE, Fall,Spring—Staff