Philosophy

This seminar seeks to provide an overview of the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. It starts by looking at Schopenhauer’s central work – The World as Will and Representation (1819), touching upon each of the central themes found therein: epistemology, ontology, aesthetics, and ethics. Subsequently, we will partially mirror the themes covered in studying Schopenhauer, this time providing Nietzsche’s take on these. We will approach Nietzsche’s work initially by looking at his On the Genealogy of Morality (1887) – one of his clearest and most systematically argued work. We will find that this not only provides insight on morality but will provide a good foundation for exploring Nietzsche on topics such as art, truth or the will to power. The final part of the seminar will be student driven. Three alternative options have been prepared, covering either A. Nietzsche on Knowledge, Causality and Truth; B. Nietzsche on Art; or C. Nietzsche on Nihilism and The Will to Power. Students will be asked to make a joint decision as to which one of these three topics they will choose for us to cover. This way, in addition to the topic of morality we will be able to cover in some detail Nietzsche’s take on one of the other topics that we explored at the beginning of the seminar from Schopenhauer’s perspective.

Depression is a painful existential situation that seems to be quite widespread in our contemporary capitalist, ultra-individualistic societies. Recent and current interrelated crises, as for example the financial crisis, the climate crisis and the threat of a global war, seem to have exacerbated the phenomenon. But what does it mean exactly to be depressed, or to live with depression? How could we better conceive of it: as mental and bodily disorder, condition, disposition, mode of experience, habit, …? What kind of relations – to oneself, to fellow human beings, and to the world – does depression foster and is fed by? If one agrees to consider it as a pathology, is it just an individual or also a social, collective pathology? What does constitute its ‘pathological’ (i.e. ‘wrong’) character? Does depression also entail ‘positive’ aspects? This course follows various paths for developing a critical philosophy of depression, an undertaking that finds itself, in the current philosophical landscape, at its outset. Note that the preposition “of” has a double meaning: on the one hand, we will study and articulate philosophical, conceptual and also nonconceptual tools for understanding what depression is; on the other hand, we will explore the cognitive (and affective) resources that the depressive experience disclose and unleash, what their epistemological, ethical and political values can be. The seminar aims at addressing and discussing the topic by drawing upon a vast range of theoretical and literary resources, from psychoanalysis to philosophy, from sociology to literature.

This seminar introduces the concept of epistemic injustice, when one is wronged in their capacity as a knower. The class starts by introducing the foundations for epistemic injustice as long described in feminist and critical race theory documents and continues by discussing three different interpretations. Then, newer concepts, such as testimonial smothering, wilful hermeneutical ignorance, gaslighting, and epistemic exploitation, are considered before conducting application case studies.

This course considers how we understand and explain the difference between things with minds and things without. This is the central question of the metaphysics of mind. Increasingly, philosophers who engage with this question aim to give a naturalist account of the mind: one that fits into the picture of the world offered to us by the sciences. But many features of the mind – including, in particular, conscious experience – fit uneasily into this naturalistic world view. This course familiarizes students with the key debates in this area.

This course focuses on three German-language thinkers of global influence: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. Students encounter some of the main ideas of each thinker, including the understanding of history as class struggle (Marx), the philosophy of language and the death of God (Nietzsche), and the idea of the unconscious (Freud). Further thinkers working in these traditions (for example: Rosa Luxemburg, Sarah Kofman, Herbert Marcuse, Melanie Klein, Erich Fromm) may also be considered. German studies students study the German-language texts in the original language.

This course introduces some of the key themes and concepts common to ancient Chinese philosophy and Greek philosophy, such as nature, wisdom, and knowledge, have often been discussed and studied in their own terms. We wish to bring the two traditions of thought together and see what happens when one meets her doppelganger.

We examine and compare some important themes and concepts common to both ancient Chinese philosophy and Greek philosophy. We will discuss in turn “saint and sage”, “knowing and ignorance”, “nature”, and “change”. Each week’s class consists of two lecture sessions (one Chinese and one Greek) and a subsequent discussion session.

This course explores key topics in moral and political philosophy. Students consider some of the key questions at the center of these disciplines. 

This course considers the thoughts and way of life during the Edo period, focusing on the ideas of the samurai. The course provides an opportunity for students to improve their Japanese reading ability by reading classical Japanese literature.

This course will provide a high-level introduction to Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism by focusing on the doctrines of four pivotal philosophers in that era, namely, the Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi), Zhu Xi, and Wang Yangming. Apart from discourses on their theories of metaphysics, moral cultivation, and human nature, their viewpoints will also be constantly put into comparative perspective in order to further examine the uniqueness of their philosophical reasoning.

This course introduces students to the core philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and ethics concepts needed to build better technology and reason about its impact on the economy, civil society, and government.