Philosophy

A historical introduction to philosophy since 1600, emphasizing close reading of classic texts, but including some attention to the scientific, religious, political, literary, and other context. Two lectures, one precept.

This course provides an introduction to symbolic logic, which studies the principles of valid reasoning from an abstract point of view--paying attention to the form of valid arguments rather than their subject matter. Covers the basic concepts of symbolic logic: validity, logical truth, truth-functional and quantificational inference, formal languages and formal systems, axiomatic and deductive proof procedures. Two lectures, one precept.

Can questions about what is right or wrong have real answers independent of any sort of divine authority? Are there moral principles that any rational person must recognize, or is morality essentially an expression of our feelings or a product of our culture? Are we morally required to do our part in making the world as good as it can be, or does morality give us permission to pursue our own peculiar enthusiasms and interests? What should we do about deception, unwanted pregnancies, and world hunger? This course will provide an overview of these and other issues in moral philosophy. Two lectures, one precept.

An introduction to some of the central questions of pure philosophy through their treatment by traditional and contemporary writers: Questions concerning mind and matter; causation and free will; space and time; meaning, truth, and reality; knowledge, perception, belief, and thought. Two lectures, one precept.

An inquiry into the form and function of concepts, laws, and theories, and into the character of explanation and prediction, in the natural and the social sciences; and an examination of some philosophical problems concerning scientific method and scientific knowledge. Two lectures, one precept.

Designed to introduce the student to the Greek contribution to the philosophical and scientific ideas of the Western world through study of works of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Lucretius in English translation. Topics in moral and political philosophy, as well as epistemology and metaphysics, will be included. Attention will be focused on the quality of the arguments presented by the philosophers. Two lectures, one precept.

An examination of the most influential theoretical, pragmatic, and moral arguments regarding the existence and nature of God (or the gods). Along the way, we consider debates about whether we can talk or think coherently about transcendent beings like God, and about whether religious experience, miracles, and the afterlife are really possible. Finally, we consider whether religious commitment might be rationally acceptable without proof or evidence, and whether the real-world fact of religious diversity has practical or philosophical implications. Course readings will be taken from both historical and contemporary sources.

This course introduces students to the field of African American Studies through an examination of the complex experiences, both past and present, of Americans of African descent. Through a multidisciplinary perspective, it reveals the complicated ways we come to know and live race in the United States. Students engage classic texts in the field. All of which are framed by a concern with epistemologies of resistance and of ignorance that offer insight into African American thought and practice. AAS Subfield: AACL

Readings in translation from pre-Socratic philosophers and from Plato's dialogues, to provide a broad history of Greek philosophy through Plato. Topics covered will include: Socrates' method of dialectic, his conceptions of moral virtue and human knowledge; Plato's theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and moral and political philosophy. Two lectures, one precept.

Aristotle's most important contributions in the areas of logic, scientific method, philosophy of nature, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and politics. Several of his major works will be read in translation. Aristotle's successors in the Greco-Roman period will be studied briefly. Two lectures, one precept.

A critical study of the metaphysical and epistemological doctrines of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Two lectures, one precept.

Readings in continental philosophy of the early modern period, with intensive study of the works of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Topics to be specially considered include: Knowledge, understanding, and sense-perception; existence and necessity; the nature of the self and its relation to the physical world. Two 90-minute classes.

Topics in Kant's Philosophy: Ethical Thought offers an introduction to Kant's central ethical doctrines. Topics will include Kant's moral psychology and the 'good will'; imperatives and maxims; formulations of the moral law; humanity as an end in itself; the radical evil in human nature; the deduction of morality; the doctrine of right and the doctrine of virtue. Two 90-minute seminars.

An examination of various issues raised in, and by, Nietzsche's writings. Apart from discussing views like the eternal recurrence, the overman, and the will to power, this course considers Nietzsche's ambiguous relationship with philosophy, the literary status of his work, and his influence on contemporary thought. Prerequisite: One philosophy course or equivalent preparation in the history of modern thought or literature. Two lectures, one precept.

A study of important ethical theories with special reference to the problem of the objectivity of morality and to the relation between moral reasoning and reasoning about other subjects. Two lectures, one precept.

A systematic study of problems and concepts connected with political institutions: Sovereignty, law, liberty, and political obligation. Topics may include representation, citizenship, power and authority, revolution, civil disobedience, totalitarianism, and legal and political rights. Two lectures, one precept.

This course will focus on the conditions for personal identity over time, with implications for the beginning and end of life. Students will investigate what it is rational to care about in survival or continued existence, and whether that should change if it is discovered either that there is no human soul, or there is no self or subject behind our various conscious acts. Two 90-minute classes.

Proofs of some of the principal results regarding first-order languages (and the theories expressed in them): Church's undecidability theorem, the Lowenheim-Skolem Theorem, Gödel's theorems on the completeness of first-order logic and the incompleteness of arithmetic; because several of these concern the possibility of devising computational tests for semantic properties (logical validity, truth), an introduction to the theory of computability (Turing Machines/recursive functions); if time permits, some properties of second-order logic. Two 90-minute classes.

An exploration of central issues in epistemology. What is knowledge, and how is it related to belief, truth, evidence, probability, and certainty? Can we know the future, the distant past, or unobserved aspects of reality-and if so, how? When, if ever, is it reasonable to believe in the absence of evidence, or even contrary to the evidence? Topics include testimony, skepticism, bias and disagreement, and whether beliefs can wrong others. Readings focus on contemporary work, with some classic texts. Two 90-minute classes.

If we have any clear and distinct knowledge, then it's knowledge about mathematical facts. This knowledge is about abstract entities, and yet it plays a crucial role in our scientific endeavors. How is mathematical knowledge at all possible? What is it about the practice of mathematics that enables it to produce such apparently certain knowledge? We investigate the development of mathematical thought, focusing in particular on the early 20th century debates about the foundations of mathematics. We also consider issues emerging from the practice of mathematics. Two 90-minute classes.

Investigation of some of the following (or similar) topics: The mind-body problem, personal identity, the unity of consciousness, the unconscious, the problem of other minds, action, intention, and the will. Readings primarily from recent sources. Two lectures, one precept.

An examination of the nature of language through the study of such topics as truth, reference, meaning, linguistic structure, how language differs from other symbol systems, relations between thought and language and language and the world, the use of language, and the relevance of theories concerning these to selected philosophical issues. Two 90-minute classes.

We will examine a variety of topics across contemporary analytic metaphysics. What exists? Is there an objective distinction between past, present, and future? How do things persist across time? Are there natural and social kinds, and if so, how should they be understood? What is the nature of possibility and necessity? What is the nature of causation? Do we have free will? Two 90-minute seminars.

A detailed examination of different theories concerning how we should live our lives. Special emphasis will be placed on the conflict between consequentialist theories (e.g., utilitarianism) and nonconsequentialist theories (e.g., common sense morality). Two lectures, one precept.

A critical study of works of literature in conjunction with philosophical essays, concentrating on two or three philosophical themes, such as the will, self-identity, self-deception, freedom, and time. Two lectures, one precept.

Modern science is often characterized by a number of important properties: the use of experiments, the idea of laws of nature as governing the behavior of things in nature, the idea of natural science as intimately related to mathematics. Bacon pioneered the use of experiment, Descartes pioneered the idea of a mechanistic world, and Galileo pioneered the application of mathematics to natural philosophy. Using largely primary sources, in this class we will examine these three important figures, and the initial reception given to their ideas. Two lectures, one precept.

An examination of philosophical problems arising out of the scientific study of cognition. Possible topics include methodological issues in the cognitive sciences; the nature of theories of reasoning, perception, memory, and language; and the philosophical implications of such theories. Two lectures, one precept.

An introduction to axiomatic set theory, up to the proof of the consistency of the axiom of choice. Prerequisite: some previous study of logic or mathematical maturity. Two 80-minute classes.

Critical discussion of religious and antireligious interpretations of experience and the world, the grounds and nature of religious beliefs, and of a variety of theistic and atheistic arguments. Readings from contemporary analytical philosophy of religion, and from historical sources in the Western tradition. Two 90-minute seminars.

An examination of concepts involved in the interpretation and evaluation of works of art. Emphasis will be placed on sensuous quality, structure, and expression as aesthetic categories. Illustrative material from music, painting, and literature. T wo lectures, one precept.

A discussion of philosophical problems raised by modern physics. Topics will be chosen from the philosophy of relativity theory or, more often, quantum mechanics. Two lectures, one precept.

Detailed study of important concerns shared by some modern pre-Kantian philosophers of different schools. Topics may include identity and distinctness, the theory of ideas, substance, the mind/body problem, time, and causation. Philosophers may include Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes, Hume, or others. Two lectures, one precept.

Analysis of some representative 20th-century works drawn from the French and German traditions. The specific content of the course will vary from year to year, but in each case there will be some attempt to contrast differing philosophical approaches. Figures to be treated might include Sartre, Gadamer, Habermas, and Foucault. Two lectures, one precept.

The development of moral philosophy in Greece. Intensive study of the moral theories of such philosophers as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the early Stoics, and Sextus Empiricus. Two 80-minute classes.

An exploration of various kinds of relativism: cultural, conceptual, epistemic, and moral, considering what structure if any different relativisms have in common, and whether relativism in any of the domains mentioned is plausible. One three-hour seminar.

An introduction to classics of philosophical analysis from the first half of the 20th century. Topics include early paradigms of Moore and Russell, logical atomism in Russell and early Wittgenstein, and logical positivism. Changes are traced both in metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical views and in analysis as a philosophical method. Two lectures, one precept.

An introduction to modal, intuitionistic, and other extensions of and alternatives to classical logic, with consideration of philosophical motivations and applications. Prerequisite: PHI 201 or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute classes.

Designed to introduce advanced students to empirical results in the psychology of group-based bias, to analyze these results along several philosophically important dimensions. We will discuss approaches to the semantics of generic statements, such as 'dogs bark', and consider whether these approaches extend to linguistic expressions of stereotypes, such as 'women are nurturing.' We will explore the psychological nature of stereotypes, as informed by both empirical findings and philosophical insights. The students will consider the epistemic import of stereotypes. Finally, we will consider several ethical views of stereotypes.

A study of the fundamental questions of political theory as framed in context of the institutions and writings of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers from the classical period into late antiquity and the spread of Christianity in Rome. We will canvass the meaning of justice in Plato's "Republic", the definition of the citizen in Aristotle's "Politics", to Cicero's reflections on the purpose of a commonwealth, and Augustine's challenge to those reflections and to the primacy of political life at all in light of divine purposes. Through classic texts, we explore basic questions of constitutional ethics and politics. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

A study of the intellectual foundations of the modern democratic state. Topics include the meaning and justification of democracy, the rationality of voting, political representation, property rights, civil disobedience, and education. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This seminar will focus on the philosophy of moral agency and responsibility, blame and punishment. It will examine how human interactions are permeated by evaluative understandings of agency and responsibility, and whether such evaluative understandings are well grounded. It will consider what implications this has for inter-personal relations, as well as for social institutions such as criminal justice. We will approach these issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective, examining how philosophical, scientific and institutional considerations can be brought into useful contact with one another. One 3-hour seminar.

An introduction to the free will problem and its implications for ethics and the law.

Conceptual and moral problems in the foundations of law. Topics may include: morality and criminal justice; the justification of punishment; moral and economic problems in private law (torts and contracts); fundamental rights and constitutional interpretation. Two lectures, one precept.

The course will challenge students to examine their life from an ethical perspective. Should altruism guide our life? What is effective altruism? Should we share our wealth with people who will otherwise die from poverty-related causes? How should we live and act in an era in which human activity is changing the planet's climate? What ethical considerations are raised by eating meat and other animal products? We will also consider the Supreme Court's decision on abortion. Students will be encouraged to question their ethical beliefs and explore how reason and argument can play a role in everyday ethical decision-making.

The ancients were fascinated by dreams and debated a variety of views about the nature, origin, and function of dreams. Are dreams divine messages about the future, our souls' indications of impending diseases, or just distorted versions of earlier thoughts? Do dreams have meaning and if so, how can we understand them? We will explore ancient approaches to dreams and their enigmas in literature and philosophy, medical texts, and religious practices. Although our focus will be on Greek and Roman texts, we will also pay attention to earlier Near Eastern sources as well as modern dream theories from Freud to scientific dream research.

Philosophy juniors participate in a junior seminar where groups of 6-7 students meet weekly with a faculty member to discuss readings selected by the instructor. At the end of the semester, each student writes a final paper of at least 5,000 words on a topic related to the seminar. Final grades are based on the final paper (75%) and in-class participation/assignments (25%), which may include shorter papers and/or oral presentations.

Spring semester junior independent work consists of writing a junior paper, an essay on a philosophical topic, normally amounting to at least 5,000 words, under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

The philosophy department senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students undertake a substantial project of philosophical research under the supervision of a Princeton faculty member. Skills to be developed over the course of the senior thesis project include: How to manage time on a year-long project, how to locate tractable specific questions within a larger philosophical subject area, how to summarize effectively the current state of debate on an issue, how to situate a specific philosophical question in a larger context, and how to better write in a way that exhibits virtues including clarity, accuracy, and thoroughness.

The philosophy department senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students undertake a substantial project of philosophical research under the supervision of a Princeton faculty member. Skills to be developed over the course of the senior thesis project include: How to manage time on a year-long project, how to locate tractable specific questions within a larger philosophical subject area, how to summarize effectively the current state of debate on an issue, how to situate a specific philosophical question in a larger context, and how to better write in a way that exhibits virtues including clarity, accuracy, and thoroughness.