Philosophy at Colgate

http://departments.colgate.edu/philosophy/

Philosophy Majors Well-Prepared for Life

A 1997 New York Times article examined the issue of philosophy majors and their eventual careers; itconcluded, "For all the jokes about them, philosophy majors appear to do remarkably well" ("PhilosophersFind the Degree Pays Off in Life and in Work," Dec. 26, 1997). Philosophy majors often go on to graduateschool in other fields such as seminary, law, medicine or humanities disciplines (indeed, the New York

Times reports that philosophy majors are more likely than other majors to go on to graduate school ofsome sort). In addition to the intellectual history that is studied in philosophy, the methods of rationalanalysis and critical thinking are cultivated, and such skills are easily transferable to these other fields ofinquiry. A study by the National Institute of Education of standardized graduate test scores over severaldecades has borne out the claim that philosophy majors are among the very best prepared studentsentering graduate and professional schools. Of all undergraduates only philosophy majors performedsubstantially above average on all the tests surveyed (LSAT, GMAT, verbal and quantitative sections of theGRE).

Increasingly, other fields like business and computer science are seeing the advantages of hiringphilosophy majors (for example, see the New York Times Jan. 10, 1999 article, "To Beat the Market, Hirea Philosopher"). In his 1994 article "How to Get to the Top: Study Philosophy," Thomas Hurka cites astudy of philosophy majors in the business world of Canada. He notes that when philosophy majors arehired into managerial jobs, it is usually at a lower rung on the corporate ladder because they lack specifictechnical skills in finance or engineering. Once hired, however, they advance more rapidly than theircolleagues who possess business degrees only. Corporations report that the specific technical skillsbecome less and less important in the mid- and upper-level positions; there the requirements forsuccessful employees include the ability to formulate and solve problems, and to communicate—skills atwhich philosophy graduates excel. And, of course, there is always the career of being a professionalphilosopher—teaching others to love wisdom too.

T h e S t u d y o f P h i l o s o p h y

Philosophy is quite unlike any other field. Itis unique both in its methods and in thenature and breadth of its subject matter.Philosophy pursues questions in everydimension of human life, and its techniquesapply to problems in any field of study orendeavor. No brief definition expresses therichness and variety of philosophy. It may bedescribed in many ways. It is a reasonedpursuit of fundamental truths, a quest forunderstanding, a study of principles ofconduct. It seeks to establish standards ofevidence, to provide rational methods ofresolving conflicts, and to create techniquesfor evaluating ideas and arguments.Philosophy develops the capacity to see theworld from the perspective of otherindividuals and other cultures; it enhancesone's ability to perceive the relationshipsamong the various fields of study; and itdeepens one's sense of the meaning andvariety of human experience.

This short description of philosophy couldbe greatly expanded, but let us insteadillustrate some of the points. As thesystematic study of ideas and issues,philosophy may examine concepts and viewsdrawn from science, art, religion, politics, orany other realm. Philosophical appraisal ofideas and issues takes many forms, butphilosophical studies often focus on themeaning of an idea and on its basis,coherence, and relations to other ideas.Consider, for instance, democracy. What isit? What justifies it as a system ofgovernment? Can a democracy allow thepeople to vote away their own rights? Andhow is it related to political liberty? Considerhuman knowledge. What is its nature andextent? Must we always have evidence inorder to know? What can we know about thethoughts and feelings of others, or about thefuture? What kind of knowledge, if any, isfundamental? Similar kinds of questionsarise concerning art, morality, religion,science, and each of the major areas ofhuman activity. Philosophy explores all ofthem. It views them both microscopicallyand from the wide perspective of the largerconcerns of human existence.

Subfields of Philosophy

The broadest subfields of philosophy aremost commonly taken to be logic, ethics,metaphysics, epistemology and the historyof philosophy. Here is a brief sketch of each.

• Logic is concerned to provide soundmethods for distinguishing good from badreasoning. It helps us assess how well ourpremises support our conclusions, to seewhat we are committed to accepting whenwe take a view, and to avoid adopting beliefsfor which we lack adequate reasons. Logicalso helps us to find arguments where wemight otherwise simply see a set of looselyrelated statements, to discover assumptionswe did not know we were making, and toformulate the minimum claims we mustestablish if we are to prove (or inductivelysupport) our point.

• Ethics takes up the meanings of our moralconcepts—such as right action, obligationand justice—and formulates principles toguide moral decisions, whether in private orpublic life. What are our moral obligationsto others? How can moral disagreements berationally settled? What rights must a justsociety accord its citizens? What constitutesa valid excuse for wrong-doing?

• Metaphysics seeks basic criteria fordetermining what sorts of things are real.Are there mental, physical, and abstractthings (such as numbers), for instance, or isthere just the physical and the spiritual, ormerely matter and energy? Are personshighly complex physical systems, or do theyhave properties not reducible to anythingphysical?

• Epistemology concerns the nature andscope of knowledge. What does it mean toknow (the truth), and what is the nature oftruth? What sorts of things can be known,and can we be justified in our beliefs aboutwhat goes beyond the evidence of oursenses, such as the inner lives of others orevents of the distant past? Is thereknowledge beyond the reach of science?What are the limits of self-knowledge?

• The History of Philosophy studies bothmajor philosophers and entire periods in thedevelopment of philosophy such as theAncient, Medieval, Modern, NineteenthCentury, and Twentieth Century periods. Itseeks to understand great figures, theirinfluence on others, and their importancefor contemporary issues. The history ofphilosophy in a single nation is oftenseparately studied, as in the case ofAmerican Philosophy. So are majormovements within a nation, such as BritishEmpiricism and German Idealism, as well asinternational movements with a substantialhistory, such as existentialism andphenomenology. The history of philosophynot only provides insight into the othersubfields of philosophy; it also reveals manyof the foundations of Western Civilization.

Special Fields of Philosophy

Many branches of philosophy have grownfrom the traditional core areas. What followsis a sketch of some of the major ones.

• Philosophy of Mind. This subfield hasemerged from metaphysical concerns withthe mind and mental phenomena. Thephilosophy of mind addresses not only thepossible relations of the mental to thephysical (for instance, to brain processes),but the many concepts having an essentialmental element: belief, desire, emotion,feeling, sensation, passion, will, personality,and others. A number of major questions inthe philosophy of mind cluster in the area ofaction theory: What differentiates actions,such as raising an arm, from mere bodymovements, such as the rising of an arm?Must mental elements, for exampleintentions and beliefs, enter into adequateexplanations of our actions, or can actionsbe explained by appeal to ordinary physicalevents? And what is required for our actionsto be free?

• Philosophy of Religion. Anothertraditional concern of metaphysics is tounderstand the concept of God, includingspecial attributes such as being all-knowing,being all-powerful, and being wholly good.Both metaphysics and epistemology havesought to assess the various grounds peoplehave offered to justify believing in God. Thephilosophy of religion treats these topics and

many related subjects, such as the relationbetween faith and reason, the nature ofreligious language, the relation of religionand morality, and the question of how a Godwho is wholly good could allow the existenceof evil.

• Philosophy of Science. This is probablythe largest subfield generated byepistemology. Philosophy of science isusually divided into philosophy of thenatural sciences and philosophy of the socialsciences. It has recently been dividedfurther, into philosophy of physics, biology,psychology, economics, and other sciences.Philosophy of science clarifies both the questfor scientific knowledge and the resultsyielded by that quest. It does this byexploring the logic of scientific evidence; thenature of scientific laws, explanations, andtheories; and the possible connectionsamong the various branches of science.How, for instance, is psychology related tobrain biology, and biology to chemistry? Andhow are the social sciences related to thenatural sciences.

• Subfields of Ethics. From ethics, too,have come major subfields. PoliticalPhilosophy concerns the justification—andlimits—of governmental control ofindividuals; the meaning of equality beforethe law; the basis of economic freedom; andmany other problems concerninggovernment. It also examines the nature andpossible arguments for various competingforms of political organization, such aslaissez-faire capitalism, welfare democracy(capitalistic and socialistic), anarchism,communism, and fascism. SocialPhilosophy, often taught in combinationwith political philosophy (which it overlaps),treats moral problems with large-scale socialdimensions. Among these are the basis ofcompulsory education, the possible groundsfor preferential treatment of minorities, thejustice of taxation, and the appropriatelimits, if any, on free expression in the arts.The Philosophy of Law explores such topicsas what law is, what kinds of laws there are,how law is or should be related to morality,and what sorts of principles should governpunishment and criminal justice in general.Medical Ethics addresses many problemsarising in medical practice and medicalscience.

• Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics). This isone of the oldest subfields. It concerns thenature of art, including both the performingarts and painting, sculpture, and literature.Major questions in aesthetics include howartistic creations are to be interpreted andevaluated, and how the arts are related toone another, to natural beauty, and tomorality, religion, science, and otherimportant elements of human life.

• Philosophy of Language. This field hasclose ties to both epistemology andmetaphysics. It treats a broad spectrum ofquestions about language: the nature ofmeaning, the relations between words andthings, the various theories of languagelearning, and the distinction between literaland figurative uses of language. Sincelanguage is crucial in nearly all humanactivity, the philosophy of language canenhance our understanding both of otheracademic fields and of much of what weordinarily do.

The Uses of Philosophy

Much of what is learned in philosophy canbe applied in virtually any endeavor. This isboth because philosophy touches on somany subjects and, especially, because manyof its methods are usable in any field.

• General Problem Solving. The study ofphilosophy enhances, in a way no otheractivity does, one's problem-solvingcapacities. It helps one to analyze concepts,definitions, arguments and problems. Itcontributes to one's capacity to organizeideas and issues, to deal with questions ofvalue, and to extract what is essential frommasses of information. It helps one both todistinguish fine differences between viewsand to discover common ground betweenopposing positions. And it helps one tosynthesize a variety of views or perspectivesinto a unified whole.

• Communication Skills. Philosophy alsocontributes uniquely to the development ofexpressive and communicative powers. Itprovides some of the basic tools of self-expression—for instance, skills in presentingideas through well-constructed, systematicarguments—that other fields either do notuse, or use less extensively. It helps one to

express what is distinctive of one's view;enhances one's ability to explain difficultmaterial; and helps one to eliminateambiguities and vagueness from one'swriting and speech.

• Persuasive Powers. Philosophyprovides training in the construction of clearformulations, good arguments, and aptexamples. It thereby helps one develop theability to be convincing. One learns to buildand defend one's own views, to appreciatecompeting positions, and to indicateforcefully why one considers one's ownviews preferable to alternatives. Thesecapacities can be developed not only throughreading and writing in philosophy, but alsothrough the philosophical dialogue, in andoutside the classroom, that is so much a partof a thoroughgoing philosophical education.

• Writing Skills. Writing is taughtintensively in many philosophy courses, andmany regularly assigned philosophical textsare unexcelled as literary essays. Philosophyteaches interpretive writing through itsexamination of challenging texts,comparative writing through emphasis onfairness to alternative positions,argumentative writing through developingstudents' ability to establish their own views,and descriptive writing through detailedportrayal of concrete examples: the anchorsto which generalizations must be tied.Striker and technique, then, are emphasizedin philosophical writing. Originality is alsoencouraged, and students are generallyurged to use their imagination and developtheir own ideas.

From Philosophy: A Brief Guide forUndergraduates. Prepared for the AmericanPhilosophical Association's Committee on the Statusand Future of the Profession by Robert Audi (aColgate alumnus who is Professor of Philosophy atthe University of Notre Dame).

M a j o r s & M i n o r s

Major in Philosophy

A concentration in philosophy requires ninecourses in philosophy, ten if the philosophyconcentrator is a candidate for honors. Normallyno more than three of these courses may be at the200 level. Only one of the total number of coursesmay be an independent study.

Two courses must be in the history of philosophy,and normally one of these is ancient (PHIL 300,301, or 303) and the other is modern (PHIL 302,304). Students should plan to be done with oneor both of their history courses by the end of theirJunior Year.

At least one 400-level seminar in philosophy isalso required of all concentrators, and theProseminar (PHIL 480) is required of studentswho plan to write an honors thesis.

Logic I (PHIL 225), though not strictly requiredof all concentrators, is nevertheless stronglyrecommended-especially for studentscontemplating graduate work in philosophy.

Minor in Philosophy

A minor in philosophy consists of five courses inphilosophy. The structure of the minor can bespecially designed in consultation with astudent's adviser in philosophy, or it can have abasic structure of an introductory course (PHIL201, 213, 226), a course in the history ofphilosophy (PHIL 300, 301, 302, 303, 304), a400 level seminar, and two electives.

Honors in Philosophy

All candidates for honors in the Department ofPhilosophy and Religion are required to take theProseminar in Independent Writing andResearch (PHIL 480) in the Fall of their SeniorYear. At the end of the proseminar, the facultydirector, in consultation with other members ofthe department, will recommend certain studentsto rework their proseminar paper into an honorsthesis. Although the proseminar is required of allhonors candidates, it is by no means restricted tothem; concentrators who would like theexperience of doing guided independent work ina collaborative environment are encouraged toenroll.

St. Andrews Study Group

The St. Andrews Study Group provides a uniqueopportunity for a semester’s residential studyabroad in a fresh and exciting study environment,with a diverse student population, at adistinguished Scottish university. Students willretain a tie to the Colgate program through arequired course taught by the director. Thestudents’ other courses will be chosen from theSt. Andrews curriculum. Each student will earn afull semester’s credit towards his or her Colgatedegree.

This opportunity is open to Colgate students whoare particularly interested in philosophy orreligion. Although applicants are not required tobe concentrators in the Philosophy and ReligionDepartment, they should have had at least twocourses in the department and should becommitted to further study in philosophy orreligion.

The University of St. Andrews was founded in theearly 15th century and is Scotland’s firstuniversity. It has an outstanding philosophydepartment.

For more information about the St. AndrewsStudy group, please follow the link from ourwebpage.

F a c u l t y

Jerome BalmuthHarry Emerson Fosdick Professor of

Philosophyjbalmuth@colgate.edu

David McCabeAssociate Professor

PhD, Northwestern Universitydmccabe@colgate.edu

Maudemarie ClarkGeorge Carleton, Jr. Professor ofPhilosophy

PhD, University of Wisconsinmclark@colgate.edu

Ulrich MeyerAssociate ProfessorPhD, University of Cambridge

PhD, MITumeyer@colgate.edu

David DudrickAssociate Professor and Chair

PhD, University of Notre Dameddudrick@colgate.edu

Marilyn ThieChristian Johnson Endeavor Chair

in Liberal StudiesProfessor of Philosophy, Religion and

Women's Studies PhD, Georgetown University

mthie@colgate.edu

Jonathan JacobsRichard and Jane Head Professor ofPhilosophy

PhD, University of Pennsylvaniajjacobs@colgate.edu

Maura TumultyAssistant ProfessorPhD, University of Pittsburgh

mtumulty@colgate.edu

Jason KawallAssistant Professor

PhD, Brown Universityjkawall@colgate.edu

Edward WitherspoonAssociate Professor

PhD, University of Pittsburghewitherspoon@colgate.edu

Jacob KleinAssistant ProfessorPhD, Cornell University

Jean GetchonisDepartmental Assistantjgetchonis@colgate.edu

C o u r s e s

Phil 201 Introduction to PhilosophicalProblems. Readings and discussions are

organized around such classic problems ofphilosophy as the existence of God, free will and

determinism, the relation of mind and body,knowledge of the external world, the meaning of

“good” and moral action, etc.

Phil 202 Environmental Ethics. This course isan introduction to the field of environmental

ethics, with a focus on key figures, theories, andissues within the field. The course addresses

such questions as: what are our moralobligations (if any) toward non-human animals?

Is it plausible to attribute rights or some otherform of moral consideration to such things as

species, ecosystems, or individual living things?Can we usefully distinguish between the natural

and the unnatural, and would such a distinctionhave any role to play in guiding our actions?

Does the non-human world have value onlyinsofar as it is useful to humans, or might there

be other values at stake? How ought we tobalance our responsibilities toward the rest of

the natural world with the requirements ofhumans and their communities? Are current

distributions of environmental burdens (andbenefits) across race, class, and nations just?

More broadly, students examine both howconsideration of environmental issues may lead

to change in conceptions of the good life forhumans, and how ethical thought can and

should influence our understanding of theenvironmental issues that we face. Discussion

throughout the course is focused through acritical examination of such theoretical

perspectives as deep ecology, social ecology,biocentric individualism, ecofeminism, and the

land ethic.

Phil 213 Ethics. What makes a good life good?What makes some actions right and others

wrong? Are there human rights that everyonehas? For what are we morally responsible? How

far do our moral responsibilities go? Are theregood answers to these questions, or is it all

relative? Some of the philosophers consideredare Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Bentham,

Mill, and some significant contemporarythinkers.

Phil 216 Existentialism. This course is

designed to introduce students to existentialistthought via an examination of its nineteenth-

century origins and twentieth-centurymanifestations. Among the authors to be

discussed are Kierkegaard, Nietzsche,Heidegger, Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, and Marcel.

Among the topics to be considered areexistence, freedom, subjectivity, and absurdity.

Phil 225 Logic I. Logic is the science of correctreasoning. It provides rigorous methods for

evaluating the validity of arguments. Thisintroductory course covers the basic concepts

and techniques of propositional logic and first-order predicate logic with identity, including

truth tables, proofs, and elementary modeltheory. This course is suitable for students in all

areas and is highly recommended for philosophyconcentrators.

Phil 226 Philosophy of Religion. This course

introduces students to complex counterpointbetween philosophical and religious thought in

the modern period. Attention is given both tophilosophical critiques of traditionally religious

notions of self, society, and cosmos and tophilosophical appropriations of formerly religious

agendas. Descartes, Pascal, Locke, Hume, andKant are among the classically modern figures

typically considered. Further attention is given tothe legacy of these modern figures for

contemporary reflection.

Phil 228 Philosophy of Science. This course isan introduction to the philosophy of science and

explores issues of general philosophical interestto the sciences, rather than those germane to

any particular discipline. The course focuses onthe rise and decline of logical positivism and the

status of its post-positivist descendants withparticular emphasis on the issues of scientific

laws, induction, theory confirmation and choice,falsificationism, reductionism, realism,

explanation, prediction, and problems relevantto the special sciences.

Phil 229 Philosophy of Law. This course

examines some central ideas of jurisprudenceand the philosophy of law. Readings concentrate

on general theories of law, justice, legal rights,liability, and legal responsibility, and on the

nature of judicial reasoning and legal principles.Some broader methodological questions

pertaining to causation and the law and therelation of law and morality are also discussed.

Phil 230 Aesthetics. Discussion of the classical

writings of philosophers on art and central ideasof aesthetics: form and content, expression,

taste, and standards of criticism are included inthis course. Readings include Plato, Aristotle,

Kant, Nietzsche, etc., as well as contemporaryessays.

Phil 300 Aristotle and His Successors. This

course is a study of Aristotle and thephilosophical traditions that followed. Students

examine epistemological questions raised byskepticism, stoicism, and Epicureanism.

Phil 301 Plato and His Predecessors. This

course is a critical study of the fundamental

questions of Greek philosophical thought raisedby the Presocratics and Plato. Prerequisite: PHIL

201 or permission of instructor.

Phil 302 Modern Philosophy. This historicaland critical reading of classic philosophical

thought from the sixteenth to nineteenthcenturies works with original texts of Bacon,

Hobbes, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Leibniz,Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

Phil 303 Medieval Philosophy. The focus of

this course in the history of philosophy is on theLatin West, roughly the period that stretches

from the break in relations between Western andEastern halves of the Roman Empire to the

emergence of the medieval University of Paris.To get some sense of the transition between

classical and medieval philosophy, we prefaceour look at early medieval philosophy with a

reading of Plato’s Symposium, a dialogue thatsets up philosophy as the driving force of the

soul’s education and not simply as one of itssubject matters. The fate of that conception of

philosophy, as it is shaped by medieval theismand the institutions that support it, is what

preoccupies students for the rest of the term.Throughout the inquiry into medieval philosophy,

students use gender as a fundamental categoryof analysis. Attention to the gendering of

philosophical notions (e.g., pregnant soul, virilereason) allows us to test the border between

philosophy and what is often taken to bephilosophy’s complement: mysticism.

Phil 304 Kant and Nineteenth-Century

Philosophy. This course studies Kant and somemajor developments in nineteenth-century

continental philosophy that stem from thetransformations and criticisms of Kant’s

philosophy. Readings are from Kant, Hegel,Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer. Issues explored

include the possibility of knowing things inthemselves, the status of religion and science,

the basis of morality, and the relationshipbetween the individual and community.

Phil 306 Recent Continental Philosophy.

This course is a study of some of the majormovements in recent continental philosophy.

Among the movements to be considered arephenomenology, existentialism, philosophical

hermeneutics, poststructuralism, andpostmodernism. Among the thinkers to be

considered are Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer,Sartre, Foucault, and Derrida. Movements and

thinkers may vary from year to year.

Phil 314 Central Concepts in Social andPolitical Philosophy. A variety of critical

concepts—including (but not limited to)democracy, human rights, the good life, equality,

and liberty — figure prominently in the work ofvirtually all important political philosophers. This

course explores both the various ways in which

political philosophers have understood these

concepts and the arguments they have offeredfor their relative value.

Phil 315 International Ethics. In this course

students explore some of the pressing moralissues that arise in the international context,

with special focus on problems relating to theidea of development as a goal for communities.

Among the questions explored are: What are theduties of richer nations to poorer ones? What

sorts of policies are required given the respectowed to human rights? How should we balance

the goal of economic development with respectfor indigenous and local cultures? How should

we think about and measure human well-being?And what does justice require in those nations

trying to move forward in the wake of atrocitiescommitted by previous governments?

Phil 316 American Philosophy. This historical

and critical study of philosophy in the UnitedStates through 1940 emphasizes classical

pragmatism as well as other philosophicalmovements, e.g., idealism, process philosophy,

and feminist theory. Central to this course is therole of philosophy and the philosopher in

addressing contemporary social problems (e.g.,peace, war, and civil disobedience; race

relations; social and economic disparities)historically and today. Primary themes include

the meaning and practice of democracy, socialresponsibility and personal identity, community,

and theories of meaning and truth.

Phil 317 Politics, Consent, and Legitimacy.Social contract theories have been vastly

influential in justifying the extent of the state’spower and the obligations that citizens have

both to the state and to one another. This courseexamines the success of contract theories in

resolving these issues and considers in depththe legitimacy of the assumptions grounding

such theories. Students read works by majorpolitical philosophers, both past (including

Hobbes, Rousseau, and Hegel) and present(John Rawls, Charles Taylor).

Phil 319 Philosophy of Psychology. This

course investigates topics that lie at thecrossroads of philosophy and psychology. The

current topic is Emotions. Students readclassical and contemporary philosophical

accounts of the emotions and recent work bypsychologists concerning the basis and function

of emotions. Questions addressed in the courseinclude: What exactly is an emotion, and how

should we go about answering that question?Are emotions the same as feelings? Is a

cognitive component essential to emotions?Have philosophers displayed a prejudice against

emotions by treating them either as forces overwhich we have no control or by overstressing

the cognitive component? What do emotionscontribute to human life? Are they harmful,

hurtful, both? Should we stress reason over

emotion or emotion over reason? How are

emotions related to objectivity or the lackthereof? How much control do we have over our

emotions, and can we change them? How areemotions related to character and values? Is

there such a thing as “emotional intelligence”?Do different views of emotions involve different

views of human nature? Do different views ofemotions suggest different approaches to

psychotherapy?

Phil 320 Issues in Twentieth-CenturyAmerican Philosophy. This course seeks to

bring students inside some of the problems andmethods that lie at the heart of post-war

American philosophy. What is the structure ofknowledge? Is all knowledge scientific

knowledge? What determines the meanings ofthe words in which we express knowledge

claims? Do speakers of radically differentlanguages have radically different experiences of

the world? What is experience, and how is itrelated to knowledge? The course places these

questions in their historical context andexamines a range of responses to them.

Readings are drawn from Sellars, Quine,Davidson, Putnam, and Rorty.

Phil 321 Philosophy of Literature. The

literary creator wields the power of language toconstruct fictions that unfold a completeness of

experience enviable to objectivists andrelativists alike. Literature shapes what

philosophers long for: a glance at a truth soprofound that regardless of how much it

challenges or aligns itself with perceptualexperience, it is capable of provoking the soul’s

assent. The power of literature, therefore,supersedes the power of logical argumentation.

Yet, what is it that the reader of literature comesto know? What reality does the reader

experience? To what does the reader assent?This course considers these questions and

examines the validity of the traditionalboundaries that have sought to separate

literature from philosophy, fiction from truth.Through the reading of critical and fictional

texts, students wrestle with the problem ofknowledge as this problem is enacted in the

linguistic commitment to beauty andcompleteness embodied in the narratives of

Edgar Allan Poe, Julio Cortazar, Jorge LuisBorges, Franz Kafka, and Italo Calvino.

325 Logic II. This course covers a selection of

advanced topics in logic: computability, Turingmachines, soundness and completeness

theorems, undecidability of predicate logic,Skolem-Löweheim theorems, nonstandard

models, and Gödel’s incompleteness theorems.

Phil 333 Topics in Environmental Philosopy.This course involves a critical examination of

selected fundamental issues and theories inenvironmental philosophy. Precise issues and

themes vary from year to year, but may include:

sustainability and moral obligations to future

generations, the nature of the good life forhumans (might it require ever-growing

consumption?), the status of environmentalvalues (are they objective in some sense? are

they mere expressions of human preferences?),recent work in environmental ethics theories

including deep ecology, social ecology, andecofeminism, the moral and metaphysical status

of human modifications to the world, includingenvironmental restoration and genetic

engineering, and aesthetics of the natural world.An emphasis is placed on exploring the

connections between philosophical theory andenvironmental policy and practice.

Phil 335 Contemporary Epistemology. This

course examines contemporary theories of howknowledge claims are to be justified, and it also

examines how these theories respond toskeptical challenges. This involves detailing

fundamental strategies of epistemic justificationsuch as foundationalism, coherentism, and

naturalism. The course also inquires into whatmakes a body of beliefs a structure of

knowledge and considers how the interpretationof rationality is related to these questions of

justification. Prerequisite: one course inphilosophy or permission of instructor.

Phil 340 Metaphysics. A systematic study of

central issues involved in theorizing about realityat the most general level. Is the world a world of

substances or a world of events? What is thenature of causation? Do concepts and

statements refer to the world as it is in itself, oris such a notion idle or incoherent? How are

such things as possibility and necessity and lawsof nature to be understood? The topics are

handled in a way that stresses the historicalpersistence of the debates over these issues but

focuses on recent and contemporary discussionsof the topics.

Phil 341 Philosophy of Mind. This course

focuses on classical and contemporary issues inthe philosophy of mind and cognitive science.

Issues addressed include mind-body dualism ofvarious types, materialism, eliminativism, modes

of psychological explanation (fold psychology,behaviorism, functionalism, eliminativism), the

language of thought hypothesis, the natures ofconsciousness, intelligence, and intentionality, as

well as the possibility of artificial intelligence andits implications for our view of ourselves.

Competing approaches to these and other issuesare explored with an emphasis on their

interconnectedness. Authors read includeDescartes, Dennett, Scarle, Fodor, Churchland,

Block, Jackson, Putnam, Kim, and others.

Phil 360 Philosophy and Feminisms. Thisstudy of primary feminist, womanist, mujerista

analyses from a variety of political andphilosophical frameworks gives special attention

to the categories of difference and other(s), as

these have affected marginalized people. Topics

explored include interconnections amongoppressions (e.g., race, class, gender, ethnicity,

sexual orientation, age), violence againstwomen in relation to other forms of violence

(e.g., militarism, contemporary colonization, andrape of the earth), barriers separating women

and embodiment.

Phil 405 Major Figures in Philosophy. Thiscourse studies the thought of a central figure in

the history of philosophy. A different thinker isthe subject of the seminar in different years.

The seminar is primarily for concentrators inphilosophy.

Phil 411 Wittgenstein. This seminar is a

detailed study of the thought of LudwigWittgenstein, one of the most important

philosophers of the twentieth century. Thiscourse first examines his early work in relation

to problems about the nature of logic andlanguage raised by Gottlob Frege and Bertrand

Russell, then it uses Wittgenstein’s later work toexplore the nature of meaning and the concept

of mind. Throughout, this course attempts toarticulate the character and purpose of

philosophical inquiry.

Phil 414 Philosophy of Religion. The seminarin the philosophy of religion has a contemporary

focus and broadly concerns itself with theinterplay between philosophical inquiry, religious

reflection, political vision, and moral psychology.The precise theme of the seminar varies from

year to year. Recent history has taken theseminar into the question of patriarchy, the

phenomenon of radical evil, guilt andforgiveness, and the persistence and place of

myth in philosophy.

Phil 417 Advanced Topics in Philosophy.The choice of a central philosophical problem to

study varies from year to year. The seminar isprimarily for concentrators in philosophy and

requires permission of the instructor.

Phil 419 Contemporary Moral Theory. Thiscourse focuses on questions about the status of

moral value (whether it is objective orsubjective, and in what sense) and questions

about the respective roles of reason andsensibility in moral judgment and moral

motivation. The central concern of the course ishow best to understand and explain the

metaphysics, epistemology, and semantics ofmoral value. Is there moral knowledge? Are

values grounded in feeling or desire? Are theremoral facts? The course explores the basic

character of moral judgment and morallanguage, with special attention to

developments during recent decades. Theseminar is primarily for concentrators in

philosophy.

Phil 446 Philosophy and Faith. The course

explores the complex relations among

God/spirituality, world/politics, andself/embodiment. Central to understanding their

meaning and connections are underlyingphilosophies/world views, the nature and

practice of faiths and theologies. Included arereadings from classical theologians, nineteenth-

and twentieth-century philosophers of religion,and contemporary liberation spiritualities from

the United States (focusing on race and/orgender), Latin America, and other cultures.

Throughout the course students are encouragedto examine the readings — and themselves and

their world — to ascertain the interrelationshipsamong spiritualities, politics, and embodied

selfhood.

Phil 480 Proseminar. This seminar is intendedto coordinate and facilitate senior independent

work in a collaborative environment. Studentsare expected to propose, research, and develop

a project of writing and independent study ineither philosophy, religion, or philosophy and

religion. Weekly meetings will largely be devotedto presentation and critique of research at

various stages of development. The finalexercise of the seminar is the completed project.

Candidates for honors are required to take theseminar, and their projects become the basis for

their respective honors theses. Students whoare not pursuing honors, but who are interested

in doing an extended research project, are bothfree and encouraged to take the seminar.

!

Contact Information

Website

departments.colgate.edu/philosophy/

Chair Prof. David Dudrick

Office Jean Getchonisjgetchonis@colgate.edu

Phone (315) 228-7681Fax (315) 228-7998

Address Philosophy DepartmentColgate UniversityHamilton, NY 13346