Philosophy

In the wake of the logical revolution at the end of the 19th century, a number of philosophers well-versed in formal logic turned their attention to the project of understanding human languages, not just logical ones. Others argued for a different approach, claiming that the tools of logic are either insufficient or just the wrong sort of thing to help us understand the nuances of human language use. This course introduces students to these two broad strands of philosophical thinking about language. Students cover how each strand arose, developed, and eventually intertwined with the other. Then, drawing on the tools of both, students study a range of interesting linguistic phenomena—from foundational notions like meaning and communication to more complex and recalcitrant notions like slurring and silencing.

Metaphysics is one of the central areas of philosophy. Historically, it has been referred to as the study of ”being qua being” and as ”first philosophy'” but has also been rejected as mere speculation or nonsense. Today, one might say that metaphysics is the systematic reflection on certain fundamental structures of reality and our place in it. The seminar introduces students to contemporary (analytic) metaphysics, focusing on a selection of six topics: free will; possibilities and possible worlds; laws of nature; ontology or ”what there is”; properties, universals and realism; and the aims and possibility of metaphysics. The course reads and discusses classic texts from the 20th century as well as some very recent work. Each topic is addressed by two texts which take opposing stances, thus giving students an idea of the central debates. Many (but not all) texts are taken from Helen Beebee + Julian Dodd, ”READING METAPHYSICS: SELECTED TEXTS WITH INTERACTIVE COMMENTARY,” Blackwell 2007.

This course talks about the formation of the universe, and then discusses what is life and what is man. The course explores the origin of life, growth, continuity, evolution, progress and significance, and technological impact on humans and the environment, ideal society, human future and personal life and death, spiritual liberation and social responsibility.