Philosophy

This course asks whether the welfare state is justified, how extensive it should be, and what level of inequality and/or poverty is acceptable in a just society. Thus, the course examines the main theories of distributive or social justice in contemporary analytical political philosophy. Distributive justice is about the fair distribution of burdens and benefits in a society and some of the main approaches to this issue that we look at include liberal egalitarianism, libertarianism (left and right), luck egalitarianism, and relational egalitarianism and republicanism. The course also looks at some of the critiques, alternative approaches and applications of these theories, to areas like health and education.

This course examines the social and economic impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on ethical considerations, social justice, and both the opportunities and risks associated with AI technologies. Through hands-on, active learning exercises, participants use AI tools to complete practical tasks while developing hybrid critical thinking skills that integrate human judgment with generative AI. The course emphasizes responsible and effective AI use and is assessed through a combination of group projects and individual reflection.

The Zhuangzi 莊子 is an ancient text from the Warring States period (476 – 221 BC) of what is now China. Traditionally ascribed to a single author, Zhuang Zhou, it is now generally regarded as a compilation of many texts, spanning many decades but united by key themes. These themes raise challenges to some fundamental philosophical orthodoxies: the possibility of genuine knowledge, the existence of consistent identifiable standards in morality and reasoning, the power of language to successfully communicate thoughts, the stability of personal identity, even the ontological distinctness of things. This course covers key chapters of this radical and mysterious text and introduces students to some of the philosophical scholarship on it. All texts are read in annotated English translations, but consideration is given to the unique properties of the original language and the difficulties of accurate translation.

This course teaches critical thinking approaches, methods, and techniques for evaluating information and making sound decisions. It examines misinformation, common logical fallacies, and misleading uses of statistics and data visualization, using everyday examples to build practical analytical skills. Emphasis is placed on assessing the credibility and validity of information in an environment saturated with competing claims. By strengthening the ability to identify and challenge misinformation, the course highlights the importance of critical thinking for informed decision-making, scientific literacy, and the functioning of democratic societies.

The notion of risk is central to areas such as economics, finance, medicine, and law as well as branches of philosophy such as ethics and epistemology. It is also a prominent part of ordinary everyday decision making. Risk is standardly understood in a probabilistic way, on which the risk of a given outcome is connected with the probability that the outcome will occur. In some recent philosophical literature, however, the dominance of this probabilistic approach has been challenged, and certain non-probabilistic conceptions of risk have been proposed. This literature serves the starting point for this course, but students go on to consider a much broader range of literature, drawing upon sources in psychology, risk management and legal theory. Specific topics to be covered vary from year to year but may include the ethics of risk imposition, risk-taking in extreme sport, the legal distinction between attacks and endangerments, and whether there is such a thing as a "de minimis risk" - a risk that is so small that it can be rationally ignored.

This course is an introduction to critical thinking and the analysis of argument. It examines arguments drawn from diverse sources including journalism, advertising, science, medicine, history, economics, and politics. It also will grapple with scepticism, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and fallacies.

This course explores the history of social and political thought, focusing on an alternating set of formative texts and their authors. Global early modernity and the Age of Discovery saw the rise of various imperial powers, within and beyond Europe, as well as rapid economic transformation. The onset of modernity and the Age of Enlightenment further strengthened the secular state and witnessed the sustained critique of inherited political and moral ideas. These developments spawned new works of political, moral, and social philosophy that often became famous in their own day and have intrigued intellectual historians and philosophers ever since. The main purpose of this module is to investigate selected texts in order to ascertain their conceptual significance, but also to attempt to understand the historical circumstances in which they were born, and which they themselves influenced. 

This seminar explores Plato’s views on akrasia and its reception in the Platonic tradition, especially by Plotinus. The exploration begins with a close reading and discussion of several key passages in Plato’s dialogues before moving on to equally careful readings of key passages in the later tradition. Students discuss various versions of akrasia (synchronic, diachronic, knowledge-based, belief-based, etc.) and some views found in the secondary literature. No knowledge of Ancient Greek is required, but at times the Greek text is discussed in a manner accessible to all.

This course covers the history of western philosophy from the Greek era to the present and changes in debates and concepts of major philosophers.

This course critically examines aesthetics from a historical perspective, focusing on the theory of both Plato and Aristotle. The course explores topics of aesthetics and form; aesthetics as a historical discipline, and aesthetics as a normative discipline. It then compares and contrasts Platonic aesthetics to Aristotelian poetics.