Philosophy

This course examines the major philosophical texts and ideas of the Daoist tradition.

This course examines some major topics on the contemporary Anglo-American philosophy It focuses on the philosophy of the most important and influential Anglo-American thinker, Ludwig Wittgenstein. The topics include inference and behavior, agreement, the nature of mathematical and empirical language, concept formation and compulsion, convention and rule following, etc.

This course studies the work of young writers that at first sight seem to engage in the sort of genres we easily associate with the received practices and institutions of literature, and these young writers not only address the major issues and concerns in our society – racial injustice, class and gender inequalities, climate change, the rights of migrants and refugees, discrimination of LGBTQ+ people, domestic violence, sexual abuse, political violence, etc. – these are in fact at the core of their work. A closer look reveals that these young writers seem to break with the accepted boundaries between genres. To give one example: many of them challenge the binary between form and content, which too often has been broken down along racialized lines. The work of writers of color usually are more appreciated for its political activism rather than for its experimentation with form. The work of Claudia Rankine however shows a subtle combination of poetry, essay, and visual art, approaching race through form. Rankine is an exponent of the hybrid genre of the lyric essay. Other genre developments the course addresses are autofiction, spoken word, and relational theatre.

The debate between Enlightenment and Romanticism has an enduring impact on discussions of today in art, politics, science, human identity, and social values. The Western world is hardly understood without knowledge of these two decisive periods. This course is a systematical introduction to these two, formative, opposed intellectual traditions. First, a historical context is presented to the political and ideological ambitions of the Enlightenment (enlightened despotism, Voltaire at the court of Frederick the Great, censorship and the diffusion of the Enlightenment). Secondly, the opposed approach to "Nature" is introduced; the influence of Newton, the rise of modern science, the Encyclopédie vs. Romantic science (e.g. Goethe’s criticism on Newton’s Theory of Color) and the role of the arts in the new approach to nature (such as landscape painting and romantic poetry). Then, the changes in the visual arts illustrate continuity and discontinuity in cultural history (Romanticism and Neo-Classicism). In the fourth place, human subjectivity in the Enlightenment (based on Lockean psychology and Self-love) is confronted to new approaches to the romantic soul (the unconsciousness, irrationality, Weltschmerz). This is also discussed with an analysis of the classic movie DANGEROUS LIAISONS (Stephen Frears, 1988). Finally, discussions about morals and politics are presented (Rousseau, the Social Contract, the slogans of the French Revolution vs. Romantic values concerning the State and personal relationships like love and friendship, nationalism).

This course covers the concept of law and its sources, purpose, modes of approach, and methods of interpreting legal texts. It also discusses the theories of legal argumentation, the role of logic in law, and the major theories of legal positivism and American realism.

This course introduces students to various philosophical and sociological perspectives for analyzing and comparing welfare states. After defining the basic varieties of welfare states, the course explores how individuals interact with the welfare state and the role that politics, family, and the market have on the funding and distribution of welfare programs. To this end, students examine in depth several case studies from different countries. The course also incorporates philosophical justifications for each type of welfare state as well as any social justice implications.