Philosophy

The understanding we have of our nature as reasoning beings is a fascinating topic which has captivated thinkers for thousands of years. In this course we will chart its history and focus on the developments in the recent past.

This course examines the nature of moral judgments, and how they are related to motivation, truth, and objectivity. It ask the question do moral judgments always accompany motivation to act in a certain way, how can moral judgments be true or false, and is morality relative or absolute? 

In this course students gain a deeper understanding of equality in moral and political thought. The first part of the course focuses on the idea of moral equality. What grounds all human beings’ equal moral status? What does it even mean to say that all human beings are morally equal? The second part of the course focuses on the idea of political equality. Specifically, it considers what the equal status of all citizens implies about how we should distribute power and make political decisions. Does a commitment to the equality of all citizens commit us to democratic rule? If the political decisions made in Community A significantly affect the members of Community B, should the members of Community B have a (democratic?) say in Community A’s decision? 

This course covers well-being, a key issue in practical philosophy. Topics that might be covered include theories of well-being (hedonism, desire theories, objective theories, hybrid theories); the relation between momentary and lifetime well-being; particular prudential goods (achievement, friendship etc.); disability and well-being; the nature and badness of pain; prudential reasons; the well-being of children and nonhuman animals.

This course examines the central concerns of Plato’s philosophy. It focuses on Plato’s early and middle dialogues in which the enigmatic character of Socrates is central. It addresses Plato’s teachings on the role of philosophy in the life of the individual, the relation between knowledge and virtue, and his contribution to questions about the nature of love and desire. 

This course explores the history of aesthetics and art theory. It focus on the link between art and thought, as well as some of the fundamental theoretical problems in art today and their potential resolutions.

This course explores the main lines of Latin American philosophical thought of the 20th century, starting with the problem of identity and the phenomenon of populism. In the first part of the course, it discusses the main debates of Latin American thought since the mid-20th century. In the second part, it analyzes the work of some of the most distinguished Latin American philosophers of recent decades. 

Many current philosophical discussions, both in practical and theoretical philosophy, center around the explanation of normativity. This course focuses primarily on practical normativity, starting with the crucial concept of a normative reason and then look into a number of different topics, e.g. values and reasons; reasons for attitudes and the wrong kind of reasons; and normative powers and voluntary obligations.

This course discusses the place of philosophical anthropology in the whole of philosophy. It analyzes the differences and relations between philosophical anthropology and positive anthropologies. This course examines different ways of conceiving philosophical anthropology, both historically and systematically, and its basic themes. It also explores theoretical and practical dimensions of philosophical anthropology and connections between this field and the philosophy of action and culture.

This course examines the basic nature of reasoning, and also focuses on fallacies which by their very nature obstruct good reasoning. In this respect, emphasis will be laid upon understanding the logical structure of argumentation which is important in recognizing the influence of emotional and rhetorical persuasion in everyday discourse and reasoning as well as in formal situations such as media presentations, political discussions, advertisements, general academic writings, etc.