Past Courses

Fall 2023

Undergraduate Lectures

PHIL UN1001 Introduction to Philosophy (at Barnard College)
Survey of some of the central problems, key figures, and great works in both traditional and contemporary philosophy. Topics and texts will vary with instructor and semester.

Section 001
C. Prodoehl
TR 2:40pm-3:55pm; 324 Milbank

Section 002
C. Van Dyke
MW 10:10am-11:25am; 307 Milbank

Section 003
T. Carman
MW 8:40am-9:55am; 202 Milbank

PHIL UN1010 Methods & Problems of Philosophical Thought
J. McDonald
TR 1:10 PM-2:25 PM; Uris 331

A critical introduction to philosophical problems, ideas and methods.

PHIL UN2101 History of Philosophy I
D. Jagnnathan
TR 2:40pm-3:55pm; Uris 142

Corequisites: PHIL UN2111. Required Discussion Section (0 points). An exposition and analysis of the positions of the major philosophers from the pre-Socratics through Augustine. 

PHIL UN3353 European Social Philosophy 
A. Honneth
TR 10:10am-11:25am; Uris 141

Prerequisites: one philosophy course. A survey of European social philosophy from the 18th to the 20th century, with special attention to theories of capitalism and the normative concepts (freedom, alienation, human flourishing) that inform them. Also: the relationship between civil society and the state.

PHIL UN3411 Symbolic Logic
T. Lando
MW 10:10am-11:25am; Uris 301

Corequisites: PHILUN3413. Required Discussion Section (0 points). Advanced introduction to classical sentential and predicate logic. No previous acquaintance with logic is required; nonetheless a willingness to master technicalities and to work at a certain level of abstraction is desirable.

PHIL UN3551 Philosophy of Science
D. Albert
MW 6:10pm-7:25pm; Philosophy 716

Philosophical problems within science and about the nature of scientific knowledge in the 17th-20th centuries. Sample problems: causation and scientific explanation; induction and real kinds; verification and falsification; models, analogies and simulations; the historical origins of the modern sciences; scientific revolutions; reductionism and supervenience; differences between physics, biology and the social sciences; the nature of life; cultural evolution; human nature; philosophical issues in cosmology.

PHIL UN3601 Metaphysics
J. Clarke Doane
TR 6:10pm-7:25pm; Fayerweather 313

Corequisites: PHIL UN3611. Required Discussion Section (0 points). Systematic treatment of some major topics in metaphysics (e.g. modality, causation, identity through time, particulars and universals). Readings from contemporary authors.

PHIL UN3651 Philosophy of Mind
M. Fusco
TR 11:40am-12:55pm; Hamilton 702

PHIL UN3716 Advanced Topics in Ethics
C. Rovane
MW 2:40pm-3:55pm;
Kraft 5AB 

Undergraduate Seminars 

PHIL UN3871 If I Were You: Identity, Essence, Limits
M. Botti
W 12:10pm-2:00pm; Lerner - Satow Room

This course will be devoted to the topic of being other than oneself and the metaphysical debate surrounding questions like: What does the possibility of being different from who we are amount to? What does it mean to be someone else? How different from ourselves can we be? Students will be offered analytical and philosophical tools that will help them to rigorously formulate those and related questions, and to think through the nature of modal variation and its boundaries. In the final weeks of the semester, we will explore the application of those theoretical tools to relevant themes in metaphysics of gender. Throughout the seminar, students will be encouraged to think of the implications of our discussion for related debates in philosophy, especially in the epistemology of the modal and counterfactual claims at issue. This course will be most suitable for students who have some background in analytical metaphysics, e.g. Philosophy 3601, “Metaphysics."
 

Majors Seminar

Required of senior majors, but also open to junior majors, and junior and senior concentrators who have taken at least four philosophy courses. This exploration will typically involve writing a substantial research paper. Capped at 20 students with preference to philosophy majors.

PHIL UN3912 Section 001 
Dissent, Protest, Disobedience 

M. Moody-Adams
M 4:10pm-6:00pm; Philosophy 716

PHIL UN3912 Section 002
Classical Indian Philosophy 

A. Aitken
W 4:10pm-6:00pm; Philosophy 716

 

Bridge Lectures

PHIL GU4055 Aesthetics: Modern Survey
L. Goehr
M 6:10pm-8:00pm; Northwest Corner 602

PHIL GU4431 Introduction to Set Theory
T. Lando
MW 10:10am-11:25am; Hamilton 303

PHIL GU4561 Probability and Decision Theory
J. Collins
R 10:10am-12:00pm; Philosophy 716

Examines interpretations and applications of the calculus of probability including applications as a measure of degree of belief, degree of confirmation, relative frequency, a theoretical property of systems, and other notions of objective probability or chance. Attention to epistemological questions such as Hume's problem of induction, Goodman's problem of projectability, and the paradox of confirmation.

Bridge Seminars 

PHIL GU4740 Islamic Philosophy
S. B. Diagne
T 4:10pm-6:00pm; Mathematics 417

 

Graduate Lectures

PHIL GU5415 Symbolic Logic
T. Lando
MW 10:10am-11:25am; Uris 301

Advanced introduction to classical sentential and predicate logic. No previous acquaintance with logic is required; nonetheless a willingness to master technicalities and to work at a certain level of abstraction is desirable. Note: Due to significant overlap, students may receive credit for only one of the following three courses: PHIL UN3411, UN3415, GR5415.

Graduate Seminars 

PHIL GR6880 Proseminar (*Required of all first-year Ph.D. in Philosophy candidates.)
J. Clarke Doane
W 6:10pm-8:00pm; Hamilton 406

Each faculty member addresses the proseminar in order to acquaint students with the interests and areas of expertise on the faculty. Through discussion and the dissemination of readings the student learns about possible areas of doctoral research.

PHIL GR9525 Heidegger's Being and Time
T. Carman
W 2:10-4pm; Philosophy 716

PHIL GR9525 Topics in the Philosophy of Language
M. Fusco
F 12:10pm-2:00pm; Philosophy 716

PHIL GR9576 Philosophy of Space and Time
D. Albert
M 12:10pm-2:00pm; Philosophy 716

PHIL GR9658 Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Mind
C. Peacocke
R 2:10pm-4:00pm; Philosophy 716

The first third of this Seminar will introduce a framework and theory for addressing the nature of intentional content, and apply it to such classical issues as the structure of justification, the a priori, and logical inference. The remainder of the Seminar will apply the theory to develop an account of intentional content in the perception of music. I will use the resulting account to explain the significance and interest of music, musical communication, the mental representation of music, and the relation of music to other art forms, especially poetry.

PHIL GR9982 Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art II
A. Honneth
T 6:10pm-8:00pm; Philosophy 716

Spring 2023

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Fall 2020 Philosophy Courses

Spring 2021 Philosophy Courses

Fall 2018 Philosophy Courses

Spring 2019 Philosophy Courses