Heidegger's Contribution to Philosophy
Written between 1936 and 1938, published in German in 1989, Martin Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy is one of the most innovative and original texts in twentieth century Continental thought. Many Heidegger scholars now consider this to be his major text. We will highlight the renowned turn (Kehre) from the standpoint of Heidegger's unique readings of Hölderlin, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.
Kant's Moral Theory
This course will emphasize a close reading of Kant's major works on morality, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals, with some emphasis on the first and third Critiques, and Kant's relationships to major comtemporary philosophers, for example, Heidegger, Sartre, and Beauvoir. Some contemporary critics, selected by the class, will be discussed.
Foundations of Moral Philosophy
The main purpose of this course is to read and discuss classical texts in moral philosophy in order to articulate, understand, and criticize central ethical issues that form the theoretical background of many cases in applied contemporary ethics. There will be an overview of major ethical traditions with a concentration on the moral positions of Kant, utilitarian positions, and the ethics of care.
Islamic Philosophy
This course will introduce you to major philosophers from the classical period of Islamic thought, through their own writings. After a look at the historical background and the characteristics of various times and places, we will discuss primary sources, sampling works from such thinkers as Alkindi, Alfarabi, Avicenna, Algazel, and Averroes. We will give special attention, as did they, to the relation between philosophy and religion, to Islamic occasionalism, and to the nature of the soul.
Plato's Timaeus and Cratylus
Plato's Timaeus and Cratylus have been of great interest to contemporaries. The Timaeus seems extraordinarily to approach contemporary views of the universe both in content and as philosophy of science. The Cratylus deals with another contemporary theme, language and its origin.
Introduction to Phenomenology
The phenomenological method originated by Husserl will be explored. Possible topics may include intentionality, signs, and meaning.
Problems in Ethics
This course consists of a discussion of selected issues in ethics.
The Philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir
This class will concentrate on various selected contemporary interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir's philosophy, especially her position in The Second Sex. Other works of Beauvoir, including The Ethics of Ambiguity and some of her novels, will be discussed in relation to The Second Sex. Our primary purpose will be to articulate and understand Beauvoir's philosophy, to trace at least some of its origin in the history of philosophy (Kant, Hegel, Marx, Sartre), and to consider its importance for contemporary philosophy and contemporary feminism.
Philosophy of God
This course introduces students to selected traditional and contemporary texts and basic themes in types of religious experience, such as Babylonian, Greek, and Judeo-Christian. It delineates such questions as: What is the Holy? What is the status of arguments for the existence of God? Why is there human suffering if God is good and all-powerful?