UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
FALL - 1998 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS


PHIL. 001-001	INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY	SAMUELS        M W    2:00-3:00
               REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION
                                            
RECITATION 201				STAFF 	     F      2:00-3:00
RECITATION 202				STAFF 	     F     12:00-1:00
       
An introductory survey of some central philosophical issues, including:  Is 
there a God?  What is the relationship between the mind and the body?   Are 
free will and determinism incompatible?  Readings will be taken from both 
contemporary and historical sources.                                    
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION


PHIL. 001		INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY                                  
           
     SEMINAR 301			     STAFF         	T TH   9:00-10:30 
     SEMINAR 302				STAFF     	T TH 10:30-12:00
SEMINAR 303				STAFF     	T TH  1:30-3:00
	
ENROLLMENT RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN		

An introduction to such topics as our knowledge of the material world, the 
  relation of mind and body, the existence of God, the nature of morality. 
    GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION                            
      

PHIL. 002-001	ETHICS  					KUMAR          T TH 11:00-12:00
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

     RECITATION 201			     STAFF         F    11:00-12:00
     RECITATION 202				STAFF         F    11:00-12:00
WATU-RECITATION 203				STAFF         F     9:00-10:00
WATU-RECITATION 204			     STAFF         F     1:00-2:00
RECITATION 205				KUMAR         F     9:00-10:00 
                                                                           
   An investigation of some central philosophical questions about the nature 
of morality and its consent: Are moral judgments objective and justifiable? 
 Can moral disagreements be resolved rationally?  How are we to understand 
the idea of a good life, and what is the relationship between a good life and 
morality?  To what extent can we be held responsible for our conduct?  What 
is the ethical significance of death?  What do we owe to those less fortunate
than ourselves, and to future generations who have yet to be conceived?
Readings will be from both contemporary and historical sources, and will
concern both theoretical and practical issues.
WATU-FULFILLS 1/2 OF COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT
GENERAL REQUIREMENT I: SOCIETY


                                                                           
  
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PHIL. 003-001	HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY		KAHN		M W 11:00-12:00
               REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION			 
              
     RECITATION 201					STAFF	F   11:00-12:00
WATU-RECITATION 202					STAFF	F    1:00-2:00
                     
A survey of classical Greek approaches to questions about knowledge, the 
nature of the world, the soul, ethics and politics.  Will focus on 
Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle. 
WATU-FULFILLS 1/2 OF COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION


PHIL. 005-401	FORMAL LOGIC I				    WEINSTEIN	M W F 10:00-11:00
CROSS LISTED W/PHIL 505-401			                            

Systematic development of the formal systems of classical first order 
propositional and predicate logic, including identity, descriptions, 
definitions, and functional calculus.  Study of syntax and semantics of these 
systems with special regards to their consistency, completeness and decid-
ability.  Hands-on application of classical logic to translation and analysis 
of natural language arguments, scientific inferences, informal fallacies, and 
logical puzzles.  Special attention is being paid to the development of basic 
skills and techniques, used in formulating and assessing deductive arguments.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT IV: FORMAL REASONING & ANALYSIS


PHIL. 009-301	WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES		STAFF   	M W  3:00-4:30 
    -302	WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES		STAFF 	T TH	 9:00-10:30
    -303	WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES		STAFF   	T  TH 10:30-12:00
    -304	WRITING ABOUT MORAL ISSUES		RICKETTS	T TH 3:00-4:30 
  						
Discussion of several contemporary ethical topics such as limitations on 
freedom of expression, civil disobedience, affirmative action, privacy 
rights, treatment of animals, euthanasia, health care distribution, informed 
consent, and obligations to future generations.                     	
Readings from philosophical and non-philosophical sources. MAY NOT BE COUNTED
TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY MAJOR.
SECTIONS 301,302 & 303 ARE RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES
SECTION 304 IS RESTRICTED TO FRESHMEN ONLY
FULFILLS THE COLLEGE WRITING REQUIREMENT










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PHIL. 026-401	PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE AND TIME		DOMOTOR    M W F 1:00-2:00
CROSS LISTED W/HSSC 026-401		

This course provides an introduction to the philosophy and intellectual 
history of space-time and cosmological models from ancient to modern times, 
with special emphasis on paradigm shifts, leading to Einstein's theories of 
special and general relativity and cosmology.  Other topics include Big Bang, 
black holes, stellar structure, the metaphysics of substance, particles, 
fields and superstrings, unification and grand unification of modern physical 
theories.  No philosophy of physics background is presupposed.             
  GENERAL REQUIREMENT VII: SCIENCE STUDIES


PHIL. 050-401	INDIAN PHILOSOPHY				HALBFASS	 M W	 3:00-4:30
CROSS LISTED W/SARS 103-401 & AMES 103-401		

An introductory survey of the fundamentals of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, 
the main patterns of Western response to it and some basic questions on 
"comparative philosophy."
GENERAL REQUIREMENT II: HISTORY & TRADITION


PHIL.077-001   PHILOSOPHY OF LAW                  MOORE     M W 11:00-12:00
               REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR LECTURE AND RECITATION

               RECITATION 201                     STAFF      F   2:00-3:00
               RECITATION 202                     STAFF      F   9:00-10:00
               RECITATION 203                     STAFF      F 10:00-11:00
               RECITATION 204                     STAFF      F 11:00-12:00
               RECITATION 205                     STAFF      F 11:00-12:00
                                                                           
The course is divided into two parts.  The first part examines critically 
competing theories about the nature of human law.  These theories include 
natural law, legal positivism, legal skepticism, and interpretivism on the 
question of what law is.  Whether law obligates obedience by citizens and 
other legal actions is also considered.  The second part of the course 
examines the nature of values most closely related to law, the values of 
liberty and justice.  Liberty is distinguished from privacy, and the idea 
that a right to liberty limits permissible state action in a liberal 
society is examined in detail.  Three kinds of justice are distinguished-- 
distributive, corrective, and retributive--and the legal institutions 
appropriately realizing each are examined.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT I: SOCIETY
               









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PHIL. 080-001 AESTHETICS						BOWMAN	 M W 3:00-4:30
 		
Why do we spend good money on apparently useless things like pictures, 
movies and novel--i.e. representations of things, rather than useful things 
themselves?  Crudely put, this is the fundamental question of aesthetic 
theory.  We will discuss a variety of answers to this question as well as 
some other questions--like, what is a picture, anyway?--that have been 
given by philosophers in the last three centuries.  Readings will include 
works by David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant; Arthur 
Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche; and R.G. Collingwood, Arthur Danto, 
and Stanley Cavell.  Written work will include three short papers and a 
final examination.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT III: ARTS & LETTERS


PHIL. 234-301	PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION		     ROSS       M W 3:00-4:30
CROSS LISTED WITH RELS 204-301

Readings, discussions and papers: On the human condition, proofs for the 
existence of God, the problem of evil, relations of faith to reason, 
paganism/polytheism vs monotheism and pantheism, petitionary prayer, 
ecumenism and truth, awe and atheism.  Required, besides participation in 
class, are three short (3-5pp) papers, one longer paper (12-15pp) and a 
take-home final on the readings.


PHIL. 242-301	FREEDOM OF THE WILL 		KUMAR	T TH 3:00-4:30
                         
A discussion of various challenges to our self-understanding that arise 
from thinking about persons and their actions as part of the order of 
nature.  Questions to be considered include: what it is to be a free agent 
and what it meas to have a free will, the degree to which our beliefs about 
physical causality undermine our beliefs about agency, the nature and 
importance of moral responsibility, and the relationship between freedom 
and responsibility.  Readings are drawn from both historical and 
contemporary sources.
DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY            


PHIL. 243-301	METAPHYSICS AND SCIENCE		AKHUNDOV	T TH 4:30-6:00

A study of the evolution of the Metaphysical Conceptions from Ancient Greek 
Pre-Socratic Philosophy to Modern Science and the Philosophy of Science.   
  Topics will include ancient philosophy and science, the metaphysical 
implications of modern science, the positivist attack on metaphysics, and 
the status of science in a post-positivist era.                            
  DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION                                     
    PREREQUISITES: PHIL. 001, PHIL. 003, PHIL 004, OR PERMISSION OF 
INSTRUCTOR                                                                 
               




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PHIL. 254-301	THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL	     BOWMAN      T TH   1:30-3:00 
                                        
The members of the Frankfurt School has argued that the Enlightenment 
notion of rationality was transformed from a logic of human liberation into 
an instrument of domination.  In this course we shall trace this 
transformation by reading various texts in the Enlightenment tradition and 
works from the Frankfurt School, starting with Kant and Marx, and then 
studying in detail the views of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert 
Marcuse.

  
PHIL. 325-301	SCIENTIFIC REALISM     		DOWNING     T TH   3:00-4:30  
                                     
An in-depth examination of one of the broadest and most actively debated 
questions within philosophy of science: Should scientific theories be 
understood as providing true (or approximately true) descriptions of the 
world?  If not, how should we understand the goals of science, and how 
should we explain its successes?  We will focus on the contemporary debate 
among realists, empiricists, and social constructivists, while also 
considering historical antecedents to this debate.
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY


PHIL. 331-301	EPISTEMOLOGY                  RICKETTS     T TH 10:30-12:00
                                       	                           
Study of contemporary approaches to skepticism about knowledge of material 
bodies.  Readings: Schlick, Moore, Austin, Wittgenstein, Putnam, Stroud, 
and others.  Students will write several brief papers (under 10 pages) for 
the course.                                                                
  PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY                                                   
                                                                           
      
PHIL. 361-301   ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS          MEYER S.     T TH 12:00-1:30 
                        	                            
A study of Aristotle's NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, which discusses happiness, moral 
and intellectual virtue, moral responsibility, the nature of practical 
reasoning, and the role of reason, emotion, and concern for others in the 
good life.                                                               
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY                                                     
  PREREQUISITE: PHILOSOPHY 003                                             
                                                                           
                                                    
PHIL. 409-401	PLATO'S DIALOGUES            KAHN         M     3:00-6:00   
  CROSS LISTED W/GREK 409-401
                                    
An introduction to reading Plato in Greek.  Selections from Gorgias, 
Protagoras, Symposium and Republic.                                        
  DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION





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PHIL. 430-301   PHILOSOPHY OF MIND      SAMUELS     T TH   10:30-12:00     
  
A survey of some central issues in contemporary philosophy of mind.  We 
will pay particular attention to recent attempts to solve the mind-body 
problem.  Contemporary theories of mental representation and the problems 
that consciousness poses for physicalist theories of the mind.             
       
                       
PHIL. 439-401   MAIMONIDES GUIDE        HARVEY        TH    3:00-6:00
CROSS LISTED W/RELS 113 & JWST 279

A close reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed.                     
                                                                           
      
PHIL. 466-301 KANT II-KANT'S MORAL      GUYER         T TH   1:30-3:00   
                 PHILOSOPHY    
                                                                           
 
What is human freedom?  How can we value freedom above all else, and yet 
submit ourselves to self-rule by moral law and even coercive political rule 
by public authority in the name of freedom?  These are the central 
questions of Kant's moral and philosophy and will be the focus of this 
course.  We will draw on the whole range of Kant's writings in practical 
philosophy, including the Lectures on Ethics given in the early 1780s, the 
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals of l785, the Critique of Practical 
Reason of 1788, the Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone of 1793, the 
Metaphysics of Morals of 1797, and other essays. While focussing on the 
main ideas, we will also pay attention to issues concerning the historical 
context and development of Kant's thought.  Texts for the course will be:  
Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, edited by Mary J. Gregor; Immanuel 
Kant, Lectures on Ethics, edited by J. B. Schneewind and Peter Heath; and 
Immanuel Kant, Religion and Rational Theology, edited by Allen Wood and 
George Di Giovanni.                             
Written work for the course will consist of one short paper and one full-
length term paper.
DISTRIBUTION I: SOCIETY                                                    
                                                                           
    
PHIL. 475-401	PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS,    WEINSTEIN     T TH   10:30-12:00
                           AND ECONOMICS   
CROSS LISTED W/PPE 475-401 
CAPSTONE SEMINAR                      

A discussion of important areas of common interest in philosophy, politics, 
and economics, including the model of rational choice, explanation in the 
social sciences, the role of government in a constitutional democracy, and 
efficiency and justice in the distribution of resources.  Readings will be 
taken from contemporary sources.
PHILOSOPHY MAJORS ONLY




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PPE.  475-401	PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS,    WEINSTEIN     T TH   10:30-12:00   
                             AND ECONOMICS                      
CROSS LISTED W/PHIL. 475-401
CAPSTONE SEMINAR
                      
A discussion of important areas of common interest in philosophy, politics, 
and economics, including the model of rational choice, explanation in the 
social sciences, the role of government in a constitutional democracy, and 
efficiency and justice in the distribution of resources.  Readings will be 
taken from contemporary sources.
SENIOR PPE MAJORS ONLY


PPE. 475-402	PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS,    BARON         M W F   11:00-12:00 
            AND ECONOMICS
CROSS LISTED W/PSYC. 475-402     
                            
Utilitarianism and Public Policy. The Philosophy of utilitarianism, 
intended as a basis for government, holds that government should try to 
increase total good (or, looking at it from the other side, decrease total 
bad).  Modern governments try to do this in several ways: economic theory 
itself is partly utilitarian; some forms of cost-benefit analysis are more 
explicitly utilitarian; and some citizens and politicians adopt this as 
their own goal.  Two impediments stand in the way of this program: 1., the 
difficulty of measuring utility; and, 2., the existence of powerful non-
utilitarian intuitions about fairness, agency, and political participation 
itself.  This seminar will first introduce some relevant utilitarian theory 
and some psychological research on utility measurement and moral 
intuitions, and it will then discuss attempts to apply utilitarianism to 
public policy, with particular emphasis on health care and environmental 
issues.  Possible topics (somewhat up to the class) include health-care 
rationing, Superfund and risk regulation in general, fisheries regulation, 
the Food and Drug Administration's policies for new drugs, population 
policy, active euthanasia, and global warming (international equity issues, 
and the Geritol solution).  Students will write several brief papers about 
the reading and one longer seminar paper on one policy issue.

                                                                           
PHIL. 505-401	FORMAL LOGIC I			WEINSTEIN     M W F   10:00-11:00
CROSS LISTED W/PHIL. 005-401			
    
Systematic development of the formal systems of classical first order 
propositional and predicate logic, including identity, descriptions, 
definitions, and functional calculus.  Study of syntax and semantics of 
these systems with special regards to their consistency, completeness and 
decidability.  Hands-on application of classical logic to translation and 
analysis of natural language arguments, scientific inferences, informal 
fallacies, and logical puzzles.  Special attention is being paid to the 
development of basic skills and techniques, used in formulating and 
assessing deductive arguments.								
UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION	




PHIL. 525-401	PHILOSOPHY, BIOLOGY      CAPLAN/MAGNUS     W   3:00-6:00    
                             AND MEDICINE
CROSS LISTED W/HSSC 527-401
       
This course will examine some of the conceptual foundations of key areas in 
biology and medicine.  We will explore such issues as: is medicine a 
science; concepts of health and disease; the autonomy of biology; the 
nature of explanation in biology and medicine; and reductionism in biology 
and medicine.  The goals and methods of research in the health sciences 
will be critically examined.
UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
                                                                           
  
PHIL. 568-301	HEGEL'S METAPHYSICS			HORSTMANN		M   3:00-6:00
                                                            W   2:00-3:00

The aim of this course is to discuss the metaphysical foundations of 
Hegel's philosophy and to find out in which ways these foundations 
contribute to the organization of his system.  The seminar will focus 
primarily on Hegel's claim that reason is the only reality and on topics 
related to that claim.  Topics which should be dealt with include (1) Hegel 
and his idealistic predecessors (mainly Kant), (2) Hegel's conception of 
philosophy, (3) the development of the system, (4) the introduction into 
the system (Phenomenology of Spirit), (5) Hegel's criticism of traditional 
metaphysics, (6) the role of subjectivity in Hegel's system.  Other topics 
may be added.          
One paper of about 15 pages is required.  Due at the end of the semester.
DISTRIBUTION II: HISTORY & TRADITION
UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION