Philosophy

What is good reasoning? The course answers this question by studying the mechanics of reasoning. Students learn what an argument is, what the difference between validity and soundness is, and what it means to say that an argument is valid in virtue of its form. Students are introduced to various strategies and pitfalls in reasoning. In addition, to hone analytical skills, students are given arguments—drawn from philosophy and other areas—to unpack and evaluate. 

It has been one of the fundamental assumptions of the philosophy of mind that there is a basic similarity between information processing in computers and in human cognition. This similarity is thought to allow to use one type of information processing as a model for the other type: Human cognition is thought to provide standards for the ascription of consciousness to artificial systems in the Turing Test, conversely, Deep Neural Networks are thought to provide insight into information processing in human cognition. Recent developments in scientific research and in computer technology, however, have cast severe doubt on this assumption. After a quick look back at the original assumption, the seminar will discuss more recent papers discussing both the use of artificial systems as models for human cognition and the use of human cognition for the attribution of higher cognitive abilities to artificial systems like large language models. The seminar aims at specifying criteria that can help to distinguish between valid and invalid inferences from one system to the other.

This course investigates some of the deep and puzzling philosophical issues arising from mathematics. Some are metaphysical and semantic: What is mathematics about? Are there such things as mathematical objects (numbers, functions, sets, etc), and if so, do they exist in the same way as more familiar entities such as tables and chairs? Others are epistemological: How do we obtain mathematical knowledge? Does it arise from pure reason alone, or does the empirical world play a role? Students examine a number of influential views, including logicism, constructivism, platonism, fictionalism, and structuralism. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This course deals with some of Aristotle’s most influential ideas. Students begin with one of his ethical works, the NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, and then move on to his metaphysics in the CATEGORIES. Students then look at Aristotle’s ideas about nature, causation, the infinite, place, and self-motion in his PHYSICS. Throughout the course, students consider questions of interpretation, try to understand how Aristotle’s ideas fit together and engage with his views and arguments critically.

The course will be conducted in the form of seminar. We will interpret and discuss one of the most important classic texts of moral philosophy resp. philosophical ethics, Critique ofPractical Reason

by Immanuel Kant, in which he rejects all hitherto representative moral principles, such as the desire for happiness (eudaimonia), the will of God (theonomy) and the moral sense. They are replaced by the radically new principle, autonomy, namely the self-legislating of the will. In this way the key

concept of the modern time, the freedom, receives a philosophical foundation.

These sessions will follow the order of the actual sequence of the original text. There will be 13 sessions in total.

This course is mainly designed for graduate students, while it is also open to advanced undergraduate students. Students and docents from other universities are also welcomed. We are looking forward to having students and docents who already have some preliminary knowledge of Kant’s philosophy and are eager to broaden and deepen their comprehension.

It is advisable to read through the entire Critique of Practical Reason, at least cursorily, before the beginning of the course.

This course is designed to introduce students to the main currents of Chinese ancient spiritual traditions, tracing into literary and philosophical texts the inner experience that they carry and interpret. Pondering over a selection of relevant excerpts, the students will navigate throughout Taoist, Confucian, Legist and early Buddhist traditions. Students will be able to understand and compare the structure of the spiritual world as suggested by various schools, mystics and authors, and to approach the journeys that have been undertaken into the inner world. The goal of the course is also to provide students with skills in comparative textural and cultural studies, by drawing their attention to the lived experience that lies behind major texts of Chinese culture.

An Introduction to Philosophy This course aims at being an introduction to the way of philosophical thinking through a close reading of Plato’s Republic and other classical philosophical texts. The course will introduce the students to the major topics, problems, concepts and approaches of philosophy by following the lead of Socrates to examine the ways of life. In addition, the course will provide a preliminary training of reading, arguing and writing in the philosophical way. Introduction: philosophy as a way of life Republic I: Justice, the failure of the definition Republic II: The founding of a just city? Republic III: Education of the Guardians Republic IV: From city to Soul Republic V:　Three Waves Republic VI: the way to philosophy Republic VII: the ladder of learnings Republic VIII: degenerate cities Republic IX: Tyrant Republic X: the Myth of Er Mencius I: Justice and advantages Mencius II: Beyond Altruism and Egoism Mencius III: Ataraxia Mencius IV: Natural Goodness Great Learning

The course is structured around four core texts, each of which relates to the "ontological argument" for the existence of God.  These texts are: Anselm, PROSLOGION; Descartes, MEDITATIONS (selection); Spinoza, ETHICS, Part I; and Kant, RELIGION WITHIN THE LIMITS OF REASON ALONE (selection).  The "ontological argument" provides a guiding thread for reflection on how these four philosophers approach religious faith philosophically, and for critical discussion of conceptions of enlightenment and modernity used to characterize developments in European philosophy from Descartes onwards.  Particular attention is paid to ideas of illumination or enlightenment within each core text, through a consideration of literary features such as metaphor alongside rational arguments.