Prof. Robert Crease

Can AI make better people than humans are? Philosophers have been examining what it is to be human for millennia, each time capturing different aspects of what it is to be a person. Different ideas of human selfhood appear in Plato, the Bible, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and other thinkers. Different sides of selfhood show up when human beings become artists, scientists, friends, and more. Today it seems that AI does selfhood even better than we do. Does it? By the end of the semester, you’ll know.

Prof. Timothly Jaeger

An introduction to philosophy through readings and discussion on topics such as human identity, human understanding, and human values.

An introduction to pivotal theories of the Western philosophic tradition. Readings are drawn from ancient Greek, medieval, and modern classics of philosophy. Topics may include philosophic theories of politics, morality, logic, metaphysics, knowledge, anthropology, art, and religion.

Prof. Maxaie Belmont

An Introduction to philosophy through readings and discussion on topics such as human cognition, memory, behavior, and identity. This course introduces key concepts about the nature of the human mind in Western Philosophy. The course will be conducted two-fold: a reading of dialogues from ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s Republic, Book 8 - 10, then select readings from the history of philosophy that coincide with the dialogues. The major topics to be covered will be beliefs, motivations, desires, and delusions, all united in one question: Why do any of those things matter to us, to you?

Prof. Dilara Sengul

An introduction to philosophy through the analysis of one or more aspects of contemporary life such as technology, war, international relations, families and friendships, or race, class and gender. A variety of texts are used.

An introduction to philosophy through inquiry into the formation, justification, and evaluation of moral judgments. Students are introduced to the major theories and problems of ethics, such as utilitarianism, Kant’s categorical imperative, ethical relativism, egoism, and classical conceptions of the good and virtue. Against this background students engage in discussions of contemporary moral issues.

An introduction to philosophy through inquiry into the formation, justification, and evaluation of moral judgments. Students are introduced to the major theories and problems of ethics, such as utilitarianism, Kant’s categorical imperative, ethical relativism, egoism, and classical conceptions of the good and virtue. Against this background students engage in discussions of contemporary moral issues.

Prof. Alexander Hufford

Our tumultuous world of today is a direct product of both ancient and modern political thought and action. In particular, revolutions of past centuries (like those in England, America, and France) were all inspired by a blend of ancient and modern political thought. For this reason, understanding aspects of contemporary political situations calls for a critical engagement with the foundational texts of Western political theory. In this course, we will read and analyze selections from Aristotle’s Politics, John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract. Students will gain a solid foundation in ancient political theory and discuss relations between political theory and historical events, namely, Locke’s connection to the English Glorious Revolution of 1688 and Rousseau’s connection to the French Revolution of 1789. We will engage with these texts and ideas in the interest of gaining insight into the historical origins of contemporary political debates.

Prof. Gary Mar

Today influencers compete to monopolize, and monetize, our attention and time. One way to guard against undue influence is to equip our minds with an antidote, the skills of logical and critical reasoning. This course attempts to impart these skills, and to inculcate the habit, of critical thinking through a series of modules: creative problem solving, the art of deductive logic, the rhetorical and ethical principles of effective advocacy, the laws of probability for distinguishing pseudo-scientific fallacies from scientific theory testing.

Prof. G Menillo

This course will introduce students to the liberal arts of logic, grammar, and rhetoric, considered to be the three basic branches of knowledge acquisition and exercise since the Middle Ages. Learning how to read, comprehend, and communicate well is the threefold purpose of the course. (No use of electronic devices in the classroom.)

Prof. Michael Barr

Students can expect this course to focus around several topics in formal and informal logic, including but not limited to formal rules of inference, first order predicate logic, Russell's Paradox and Gödel's first and second Incompleteness Theorems.

Prof. Jennifer Carter

The principal aim of this course is to help a student acquire the skills of thinking, reading, and writing critically. The student develops a sensitivity to language and argumentation that is applicable to a wide range of situations and subject matters. Material is intended for freshmen and sophomores.

Prof. Jennifer Carter

The principal aim of this course is to help a student acquire the skills of thinking, reading, and writing critically. The student develops a sensitivity to language and argumentation that is applicable to a wide range of situations and subject matters. Material is intended for freshmen and sophomores.

An introduction to the historical and comparative study of the various arts in relation to the philosophical ideas that prevailed at the same time. At least four significantly different historical periods of intense creative activity - such as ancient Greece, the Renaissance, the 18th or 19th century in the West, ancient China, T’ang or Sung dynasty China, Heian or Muromachi period Japan, and the contemporary age - are studied in terms of the interconnections between philosophical theorizing and artistic practice.

Prof. Jennifer Carter

Investigates the history as well as the present and potential future impact of technology and artifacts not only on material human life but also on the human experience of the world. It addresses ethical questions concerning the uses and abuses of technology as well as asking such questions as whether technology is neutral and merely instrumental or should be seen as having a more profound impact on human life.

Prof. William Perez-Porras - STAS

Computers, robots, AIs, and other forms of machinery challenge conventions about what is natural and artificial, conscious and non-conscious, good and evil. In this course we will address and question these conventions guided by three monsters: cyborgs, golems, and titans. Why monsters? They are both fascinating and frightening, they live between normal and paranormal worlds, and they are strange and somehow familiar. In short, monsters resist binary thinking; they are experts in occupying an intermediate position where conventional oppositions blur and destabilize. This is precisely the philosophical position that we must inhabit when thinking about modern technology. Through the cyborg, we will question the limits between the body and the machine, and the organic and the inorganic. The golem will help us to approach the gap between words and meaning, and intelligence and sentience. As for the titans, cyclopes will lead us to a discussion on how power employs technology, Prometheus will show us how technology is in itself power, and finally Cronus will open for us the question concerning the future of our world and experience.

Prof. Tara Mastrelli

The United States turns 250 this year. And honestly? It’s not looking great. The questions at the center of this course aren’t tucked safely in the past. They’re in the news, in the courts, in the arguments you may already be having. This course is about where those arguments came from, and what’s really at stake. In this course we will critically engage with the philosophical ideas of the founding of the United States of America. We will study the political and moral ideas that shaped the founders’ understanding of human nature, justice, and rights, examining how these ideas influenced the founding of U.S. institutions. We will also analyze debates and critical perspectives that challenged the glaring contradictions between the purported ideals (i.e. equality, freedom, etc.) and the lived experience of those who were legally, practically, and violently excluded from said ideals (i.e. enslaved Black people, Indigenous peoples, and women). Ultimately, we will ask together (and each student will answer for themselves) whether the promise of American life was ever meant to—or perhaps more importantly, can now—be realized by all.

Prof. Viviane Magno Robeiro

This course introduces modern philosophy by examining its main disagreements and clashes with ancient and medieval traditions, emphasizing the radical nature of its ideas. For this, the student will be introduced to the theoretical revolutions in metaphysics, the theory of knowledge, and political philosophy. Expect to read the major thinkers of the period, such as Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Locke, and Kant, as well as selected texts by women and Latin-American philosophers that reinforce the radicality of the universal and modern activity of thought.

Prof. Robert Crease

This is an especially dangerous moment in human history. The Earth can no longer be treated as an inert background stage for our actions. Human and natural powers are now intertwined in an unprecedented way. Knowing those powers and how to manipulate them is critical to the existence and survival of our world. This course is about the systematic process behind that knowing. It analyzes the history of that process, its various features – experiment, theory, discovery, evidence, objectivity – and why that process is important for a democracy.