Fall 2024 Courses

Last updated September 20, 2024

All course offerings can be confirmed on the Directory of Classes and are subject to change. Please check this page and the Directory of Classes for updates. Past course offerings can be found in the Courses dropdown menu.

*NOTES*

—MA and PhD students in the Department of Philosophy cannot count an undergraduate course towards their degree.

—All students must receive the instructor's permission to register for individual supervised research/independent study and quodlibetal study sections.

Undergraduate Lectures

PHIL UN1001 Introduction to Philosophy
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
F. Russell
MW 11:40am-12:55pm; 304 Barnard Hall
Section 002
C. Prodoehl
TR 2:40pm-3:55pm; 207 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Section 003
C. Bowman
MW 4:10pm-5:25pm; 203 Diana Center

PHIL UN2101 History of Philosophy I
T. Pincin
TR 4:10pm-5:25pm; 141 Uris Hall
Corequisites: PHIL V2111 Required Discussion Section (0 points). Exposition and analysis of the positions of the major philosophers from the pre-Socratics through Augustine. 

PHIL UN2110 Philosophy & Feminism
C. Mercer
TR 2:40pm-3:55pm; 833 Seeley W. Mudd Building
Is there an essential difference between women and men? How do questions about race conflict or overlap with those about gender? Is there a normal way of being queer? Introduction to philosophy and feminism through a critical discussion of these and other questions using historical and contemporary texts, art, and public lectures. Focus includes essentialism, difference, identity, knowledge, objectivity, and queerness.

PHIL UN2301 History of Philosophy III: Kant-Nietzsche
F. Neuhouser
TR 8:40am-9:55am; 405 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Prerequisites: None. Exposition and analysis of major texts and figures in European philosophy since Kant. Authors include Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Required discussion section (PHIL UN2311). Attendance in the first week of classes is mandatory.

PHIL UN2655 Cognitive Science and Philosophy
B. Fleig-Goldstein
TR 11:40am-12:55pm; 313 Fayerweather
This course will survey a number of topics at the intersection of cognitive science and philosophy. Potential topics include free will, consciousness, embodied cognition, artificial intelligence, neural networks, and the language of thought.

PHIL UN2685 Introduction to Philosophy of Language
K. Lewis
MW 2:40pm-3:55pm; 418 Barnard Hall
This course gives students an introduction to various topics in the Philosophy of Language. Required discussion section (PHIL UN2686).

PHIL UN3352 20th Century European Philosophy
T. Carman
MW 10:10am-11:25am; 302 Barnard Hall
Prerequisites: one prior philosophy course. Reading and discussion of selected texts by central figures in phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, and recent Continental philosophy. Authors may include Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Gadamer, Horkheimer, Adorno, Foucault, Bourdieu.

PHIL UN3353 European Social Philosophy
A. Honneth
TR 10:10am-11:25am; 326 Uris Hall
Prerequisites: one philosophy course. A survey of Eurpoean 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. Topic: The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School

PHIL UN3411 Symbolic Logic
T. Lando
MW 10:10am-11:25am; 417 International Affairs Building
Corequisites: PHILV3413 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 UN3601 Metaphysics
A. Varzi
MW 1:10pm-2:25pm; 702 Hamilton Hall
Corequisites: PHIL V3611 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 UN3701 Ethics
M. Moody-Adams
MW 1:10pm-2:25pm; 517 Hamilton Hall
Prerequisites: one course in philosophy. Corequisites: PHIL V3711 Required Discussion Section (0 points). This course is mainly an introduction to three influential approaches to normative ethics: utilitarianism, deontological views, and virtue ethics. We also consider the ethics of care, and selected topics in meta-ethics.

PHIL UN3751 Political Philosophy
F. Neuhouser
TR 1:10pm-2:25pm; 405 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Six major concepts of political philosophy including authority, rights, equality, justice, liberty and democracy are examined in three different ways. First the conceptual issues are analyzed through contemporary essays on these topics by authors like Peters, Hart, Williams, Berlin, Rawls and Schumpeter. Second the classical sources on these topics are discussed through readings from Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Marx, Plato, Mill and Rousseau. Third some attention is paid to relevant contexts of application of these concepts in political society, including such political movements as anarchism, international human rights, conservative, liberal, and Marxist economic policies as well as competing models of democracy.

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.

To register for a Majors Seminar, please complete this form. 

PHIL UN3912 Section 001
Angels, Demons, & Artificial Intelligence
D. Jagannathan
W 10:10am-12:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall

PHIL UN3912 Section 002 
Anger, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation in Ethics and Politics
M. Moody-Adams
T 2:10pm-4:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall
The course explores philosophical reflection on the role of anger, forgiveness, and reconciliation in public and private life.  Readings will be drawn from historical as well as contemporary sources, and from non-Western as well as Western traditions. 

PHIL UN3912 Section 003
Philosophy of Language
M. Fusco
T 6:10pm-8:00pm; 201A Philosophy Hall

******************************************

PHIL BC4050
F. Russell
W 4:10pm-6:00pm; 307 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Intensive study of a philosophical issue or topic, or of a philosopher, group of philosophers, or philosophical school or movement. Open only to Barnard senior philosophy majors.

4000-level courses are open to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students.

4000-Level Seminars

PHIL GU4353 Later Heidegger
T. Carman
W 2:10pm-4:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall

PHIL GU4424 Modal Logic
T. Lando
MW 1:10pm-2:25pm; 516 Hamilton Hall

PHIL GU4651 Probability & Decision Theory
J. Collins
R 12:10pm-2:00pm; 602 Northwest Corner Building
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 epistimological questions such as Hume's problem of induction, Goodman's problem of projectibility, and the paradox of confirmation.

PHIL GU4602 Philosophical Texts in Greek
W. Mann
W 6:10pm-8:00pm; 317 Hamilton Hall
Text: Aristotle's Metaphysics. Careful reading and translation of a major philosophical text in ancient Greek to be chosen by the course participants in consultation with the instructor. Special attention is to be paid to the linguistic and conceptual problems of translating ancient Greek philosophical texts. Prerequisite: equivalent of at least two years of study of ancient Greek at university level.

Graduate Lectures

PHIL GR5415 Symbolic Logic
T. Lando
MW 10:10am-11:25am; 417 International Affairs Building
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 GR6050 Methods and Problems
M. Fusco
M 2:10pm-4:00pm; 302 Fayerweather
Theoretical Philosophy. This class covers classic readings in contemporary philosophy, selections from historical authors that bear on today’s debates, and influential recent contributions in a range of subfields such as metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of cognitive science. This course is restricted to MA students in Philosophy only.

PHIL GR6880 1st Year Proseminar in Philosophy
J. Clarke-Doane
M 6:10pm-8:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall

PHIL GR9110 Metaethics
A. Bilgrami
T 6:10pm-8:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall
Topic: Intentionality, normativity, rule-following, and self-knowledge. What is realism and how does it relate to objectivity? In this course, we will consider a range of answers, with special attention to problems of value. We will begin by clarifying the nature of realism about a subject matter and arguments that might support it. We will then look at limitations of realism per se, and the need to supplement it with a distinct notion of objectivity. Next, we will consider arguments that “realist objectivism”, while attractive, is an untenable package. This will lead us to discuss anti-objectivist forms of realism and their deflationary methodological ramifications. Finally, we will look at the prospects for objectivity without realism, particularly in the evaluative case. We will conclude by sketching a neo-pragmatist metaphilosophical outlook.

PHIL GR9180 Topics in Moral Philosophy
Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. At least one foundational course in moral philosophy is recommended as background for this course. In this seminar we will take up several questions about moral understanding and insight. Questions we will consider include: Can trusting moral testimony ever be rational or right? Are the reasons to be cautions about relying on moral testimony moral reasons or epistemic reasons (or both)? What assumptions about moral knowledge do critics and defenders of moral testimony make? How does moral knowledge differ, if it does, from moral understanding? Is there such a thing as moral expertise? Is there any reason to think that moral expertise is more problematic than other kinds of expertise? Can emotions inform us about value? Under what conditions, if any, can emotions contribute to our understanding of value? Under what conditions are emotions impediments to moral knowledge or understanding? Can fictions help us gain moral insight? Can pictures ever be legitimate tools of moral persuasion?
Section 001
K. Vogt
M 2:10pm-4:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall
Approaches to Applied Ethics
Section 002
A. Honneth
W 4:10pm-6:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall
Nietzsche - The Genealogy of Morals

PHIL GR9521 Topics in Theory of Knowledge
J. Collins
R 6:10pm-8:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall
Causal Decision Theory

PHIL GR9642 Practical Reason
J. Clarke-Doane
W 6:10pm-8:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall

PHIL GR9670 Topics in Early Modern Philosophy
C. Mercer
W 2:10pm-4:00pm; 507 Lewisohn Hall
The Woman Question

PHIL GR9985 Proposal Preparation Seminar
K. Vogt
M 10:10am-12:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall

PHIL GR9991 Job Placement Seminar
L. Goehr
M 6:10pm-8:00pm; 716 Philosophy Hall