CHAPEL HILL PHILOSOPHY

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Undergraduate Classes

Freshman Seminar (Phil 6F)

            Marc Lange

            David Reeve

Main Problems (Phil 20)

            Dorit Bar-On

            Nicoletta Orlandi

Introduction to Symbolic Logic (Phil 21)

            Thomas Hofweber

Introduction to Symbolic Logic – Honors (Phil 21H)

            John Roberts

Introduction to Ethics (Phil 22)

            William Lycan

            Elizabeth Foreman

Great Works (Phil 24)

            David Landy

Making Sense of Ourselves (Phil 26)

            David Reeve

Applied Ethics (Phil 30)

            Yolonda Wilson

Applied Ethics – Honors (Phil 30H)

            Douglas MacLean

Philosophy of Science (Phil 31)

            John Roberts

Philosophy of Religion (Phil 32)

            Dean Pettit

            Warren Nord

Bioethics (Phil 34)

            Elizabeth Foreman

            Douglas Long

Bioethics – Evening College (Phil 34)

            Justin Jeffrey

Social Ethics and Political Thought (Phil 37)

            Michael Resnik

            Simon May

Experience and Reality (Phil 38)

            Keith Simmons

            Dylan Sabo

Morality and Business (Phil 39)

            Amy Peikoff

Morality and Law (Phil 41)

            Amy Peikoff

Peace, War, and Defense (Phil 42/ Pwad 68/ Poli 68)

            Bernard Boxill

            Simon May

Philosophical Issues in Feminism (Phil 46/ Wmst 46)

            Ingra Schellenberg

Modern Philosophy (Phil 58)

            Ram Neta

Social and Economic Justice (Phil 66)

            Jan Boxill

Ethics and Economics (Phil 67)

           Justin Fisher

Environmental Ethics (Phil 68)

            Ty Raterman

Logic (Phil 71)

            Michael Resnik

Multiculturalism (Phil 80)

            Bernard Boxill

Free Will (Phil 80)

            Douglas Long

Symbolic Logic (Phil 101/ Ling 104)

            Thomas Hofweber

Modal Logic (Phil 111)

            Keith Simmons

Philosophy of Law (Phil 113)

            Michael Corrado

Philosophy of Mind (Phil 117)

            William Lycan

Philosophy of Biology (Phil 123)

            Marc Lange and Alex Rosenberg

Rationalism (Phil 153)

            Alan Nelson

Reason, Religion, and Reality in the Copernican Revolution: Freshman Seminar (Phil 6F)

Marc Lange

The arguments by which Galileo and his contemporaries defended the Copernican model of the solar system (with the Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun) puzzle philosophers even today as they struggle to understand the logic of testing scientific theories. Was Copernicanism genuinely well-supported by Galileo’s evidence? Or was the Church justified at the time in regarding Copernicanism as just one among many fairly successful techniques for predicting the night sky’s appearance? Could Galileo argue for his telescope’s reliability and use mere thought-experiments to defend Copernicanism? To grapple with these issues, we will explore some philosophical accounts of theory testing. Ultimately, we will gain a more nuanced conception of scientific reasoning and of how scientific revolutions occur.

This course meets Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Who was Socrates?: Freshman Seminar (Phil 6F)

David Reeve

Socrates is the quintessential philosopher – a man for all seasons, a foundational figure of the West. Yet, he was born and lived in a unique time and place – fifth century Athens. The aim of this course is to see Socrates in his historical context, so as to better understand his significance for his contemporaries and for us. The focus, however, will be on the large and perennial human questions that Socrates made his own: What is justice? How should we live? What educations should we give our children? What sort of society should we strive to provide for them and for ourselves? Each week we will read a part of one of the primary texts and discuss it carefully in class. These discussions will serve both as a testing-ground for ideas and as preparation for the writing assignments. The secondary texts will help explain the primary ones. By learning to talk and write in an engaging but disciplined way about books and ideas that are both exciting and significant, we will not only be finding out about Socrates but we will be taking up the Socratic challenge to live the examined life.

This course meets on Wednesday at 2:00.

Main Problems (Phil 20)

Dorit Bar-On

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to philosophical thinking by studying some central problems that have occupied philosophers (for example: Do we have free will? What makes a person the same person over time? What is the relationship between mind and body?) We will examine and evaluate various alternative solutions to these problems. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the problems and concepts involved, rather than on advocating particular solutions to them.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 9:00 and requires enrollment in a recitation section.

Main Problems (Phil 20)
Nicoletta Orlandi

Aristotle famously said that philosophy begins in wonder, so we are going to start this class by asking some questions that philosophers are interested in. Among them, we will concentrate specifically on three and divide the class accordingly. The first is what is love? The second, what is knowledge? And the third, what is God? In trying to answer these questions we will read some of the best and most influential books ever written. The first is Plato's Symposium, concerning love. The second is Descarte's Meditations of First Philosophy, concerning knowledge. The third is Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, concerning God. This course has two main goals. One is to give students an opportunity to answer the difficult questions posed by philosophy, and to engage and critically evaluate other philosopher's answers to them. The other is the development and refinement of critical thinking through the recognition, reconstruction, and evaluation of arguments. Accordingly, some class time will be dedicated to an argument workshop where students will learn how to recognize and reconstruct arguments.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00.

Introduction to Symbolic Logic (Phil 21)

Thomas Hofweber

Symbolic logic is the study of certain precisely specified formal languages. In this course we will study these languages and their applications. Symbolic logic has proven to be extremely useful in a number of different disciplines. First, they are very helpful in the study of good and valid reasoning. We will use these formal languages to study valid and invalid forms of reasoning, and how to distinguish them. Secondly, symbolic logic is useful in the study of natural languages, and we will see some illustrative examples of this. Finally, symbolic logic is crucial for computer science and foundational issues in mathematics. Although these latter two areas quickly get into more advanced topics we will be able to discuss some highlights of these uses of logic.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 12:00 and requires enrollment in a recitation section.

Introduction to Symbolic Logic – Honors (Phil 21H)

John Roberts

How do humans use chains of reasoning to draw new conclusions from premises that they already accept? What makes some chains of reasoning cogent, and others fallacious? Symbolic logic is a discipline that aims to answer these questions. It uses formal methods of symbol-manipulation in order to model chains of reasoning and evaluate them. It has played key roles in the development of computer science, linguistics, the foundations of mathematics, and philosophy. This course will be a rigorous introduction to its basic principles and methods.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30.

Introduction to Ethics (Phil 22)

Bill Lycan

This course is an introduction to the elements of moral reasoning and deliberation. What sorts of factors should I consider in making a moral decision? We will examine some of the classic theories of moral right and wrong, such as Bentham and Mill’s Utilitarianism and Kant’s Categorical Imperative. Then we shall investigate a number of controversial moral issues, applying the classis theories and also seeing what they overlook. The special topics will be chosen by the students collectively, but may well include abortion, capital punishment, or euthanasia. Initially spaces in the course will be held for freshmen. After freshmen have had a chance to enroll, registration will be open to all.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 11:00 and requires enrollment in a recitation section.

Introduction to Ethics (Phil 22)

Elizabeth Foreman

This course is an introduction to the study of moral issues and philosophical questions concerning morality.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30.

Great Works (Phil 24)

David Landy

Are you tired of not wanting to have people over to your house because of all the space on your bookshelves devoted to romance novels and science fiction? Are you tired of your friends all thinking they're so smart just because they wear glasses and use big words? Then, this class is for you!

As its title indicates, this class is an introduction to philosophy through some of its most outstanding representatives. We will be reading selections from Plato's Republic, Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, and Sartre's Being and Nothingness. We will work to find answers to suc questions as: What is the best way to live one's life? What is the source of ethical authority? What kind of access do we as human beings have to the world? What is the nature of the knowledge that we can thus achieve? While we may not be able to answer definitively all these questions by the end of the semester, we ought to be able to at least understand what would be involved in doing so.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Making Sense of Ourselves (Phil 26)

David Reeve

The focus of the course is a critical assessment of the attempts made by a series of influential thinkers to understand human beings, their lives, and – especially – their moral and political values. This is an introductory level course that complements our other introductory offerings which integrates politics, ethics, and metaphysics. Authors include: Plato, Aristotle, St. Matthew, Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud, Marx, and Rand.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 12:00 and requires enrollment in a recitation section.

Applied Ethics (Phil 30)

Yolonda Wilson

In this course we will explore how to apply ethical theory to moral issues. We will cover a range of topics including abortion, sexuality, reparations, and war theory. The primary text will be Contemporary Moral Problems (7th edition), edited by James E. White. I will supplement the text with other readings, and (where possible) music and film.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00.

Applied Ethics – Honors (Phil 30H)

Douglas MacLean

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the nature of ethical reasoning. It addresses questions like the following: Do ethical claims appeal to objective standards, or is any opinion as worthy as any other? What is the meaning of moral concepts like duty, rights, equality, or justice, and how should we apply these concepts in the context of reasoning and talking about moral controversies? We will attempt to answer these questions by examining contemporary moral issues and arguments. Examples of issues we may discuss include: Do we have an obligation to obey the law? Is affirmative action justified? Do animals have rights? Should abortion or physician-assisted suicide be tolerated? Under what conditions is war morally justified? Should the rich be taxed to help the poor?

Our aim in this course is neither to try to answer these questions definitively, nor to ensure that every position on these issues is presented and discussed. We are less concerned with the conclusions of arguments than with the soundness of the reasoning that supports the conclusions. We will be discussing controversial issues, and one goal is to understand why some moral questions are controversial while other questions (e.g., Is it all right to abandon one’s baby if she cries too much? Is it a good thing that people volunteer to help the needy?) are not controversial. In this way we hope to achieve a better understanding of the nature of ethical reasoning, ethical arguments, and the claims that morality makes on us.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Philosophy of Science (Phil 31)

John Roberts

Here are four somewhat skeptical questions one might ask about the natural sciences: 1) “The natural sciences purport to give us knowledge of parts of nature that we cannot observe – because they are too small, or because they are too far away, or for other reasons. But it also purports to base its conclusions on evidence acquired by observations. How can observations give us knowledge of that which we cannot observe?”, 2) “The natural sciences purport to give us knowledge that we can use to make predictions about the future. But all of its evidence comes from observations made in the past and present. How can evidence about the past and present tell us anything about what the future will hold?”, 3) “The natural sciences purport to offer explanations of why phenomena happen as they do. But can observation of what happens really give us knowledge of the reason why it happens? Do we not have to look somewhere else – maybe to religion or metaphysics – if we want to know why the world is the way it is?”, and 4) “Science purports to discover the laws of nature. But does nature really have laws? What does it even mean to say that nature is governed by laws? Literally speaking, laws are human institutions, so when scientists speak of nature being governed by laws, they must be speaking metaphorically – how should we understand what this metaphor is supposed to mean?” In this course we will probe these questions, consider a variety of possible answers to them, and examine whether and how these answers can be justified.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Philosophy of Religion (Phil 32)

Dean Pettit

A philosophical inquiry into the problems of religious experience and belief, as expressed in philosophic, religious, and literary documents from traditional and contemporary sources.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00.

Philosophy of Religion (Phil 32)

Warren Nord

A philosophical inquiry into the problems of religious experience and belief, as expressed in philosophic, religious, and literary documents from traditional and contemporary sources.
Texts: The Bible; Student Stores Course Pack
Topics to be covered: Nature, Science, and Religion; Religion, History, and Scripture; Religious Experience and Psychology; Pluralism and Postmodernism; Faith and Reason; Suffering, Good and Evil.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00.

Bioethics (Phil 34)

Elizabeth Foreman

The ethical basis of moral and legal problems generated, made accurate, or made acute by advances in biology and medicine, e.g., abortion, euthanasia, patient rights, experiments with human subjects, and genetic manipulation.

Phil 34 meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00.

Bioethics (Phil 34)

Douglas Long

In this course we will explore ethical questions that arise in the health care professions, concerning patients’ rights to information and to refuse treatment, confidentiality, informed consent, abortion, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, genetic screening, stem cell research, cloning, and experimentation with human subjects. Major ethical theories will be used as a framework for the discussion. We will read and discuss a variety of points of view on both the ethical and legal issues. Written work will include a midterm, two brief papers, and a final examination.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 12:00 and requires enrollment in a recitation section.

Bioethics (Phil 34 -- Evening College)

Justin Jeffrey

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 6:00.

Social Ethics and Political Thought (Phil 37)

Michael Resnik

This section will address the needs and interests of students in the Public Policy Analysis Program. Due to this we will discuss some statistical and economic approaches to public policy, and consequently, we will need to cover some simple mathematics. However, we will focus primarily upon philosophical questions pertaining to social planning, including the following: 1) How do we assess social policies or prospects – what makes one prospect better than another?, 2) If we assess them in terms of social costs and benefits, overall well-being, or intrinsic justice, then how do we measure these items?, 3) How much should the interest of the individual yield to the social good? Does the state have rights to an individual’s life, labor, or property? (The first part of the course will focus on questions 1 and 2, the second on question 3.) The last part of the course will treat philosophical questions that we might raise as citizens including: 4) Why should I belong to or join a state?, and 5) Why should I cooperate with it?

Texts: 1) Course-pack available at the Campus Book Store, and 2) John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:00.

Social and Political Philosophy: Democracy and the Popular Will (Phil 37)

Simon May

There is widespread disagreement that democracy is the best political system but far less agreement on just why democracy is special. This disagreement about the moral foundations of democracy generates disagreement about the nature and content of the democratic ideal, and hence about whether particular political arrangements are properly democratic. The course looks at different philosophical approaches to democracy, in particular the populist claim that democracy is important because it is a way to determine and express the Will of the People. We commence with an in-depth examination of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s social contract theory, and proceed to contemporary discussions of social choice theory, finance reform and free speech rights, different systems of representation and election, constitutionalism and judicial overview, and minority rights. Throughout the class, we will pay close attention to the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between the values of autonomy and equality. Additional authors include William Riker, Charles Beitz, Thomas Christiano, Jürgen Habermas, John Rawls, Gerry Mackie, Henry Richardson, Jeremy Waldron, and Joshua Cohen.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00.

Experience and Reality (Phil 38)

Keith Simmons

This course is an introduction to metaphysics and the philosophy of mind. We will study three metaphysical problems in some depth: the mind-body problem, identity over time, and personal identity. Here are some of the questions we will be discussing: Is your mind separate from your body and brain? Is it possible for you to survive your bodily death? What is the relation between your subjective experiences and the objective world? Since you are continually undergoing changes – physical and psychological – how can you remain the same person? Can physical science give a complete account of the world, you included? If not, why not?

Along the way, we will study a wide range of theories of mind, and competing accounts of personal identity. Many of the issues we will be discussing are hotly debated in current philosophy and cognitive science. One central aim of the course is to provide students with the intellectual tools to tackle controversies in contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of mind.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00.

Experience and Reality (Phil 38)

Dylan Sabo

In this course we'll explore issues concerning the nature of minds and their relation to the world of which they are a part. Some of the questions we'll consider include: what, fundamentally, are minds? How do minds represent the world? What is the nature of conscious expreience, and what gives rise to it? What are the prospects for a serious scientific study of mental phenomena, and what form should such a science take? We'll aim to take away from this class a better understanding of contemporary positions and debates in the philosophy of mind, and the prospects for developing theories for understanding mentality.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:00.

Morality and Business (Phil 39)

Amy Peikoff

In light of the contemporary treatment of Big Business in the media and the culture, one might think a course entitled "Morality and Business" to be a contradiction in terms. What is the moral status of business? Is it a moral activity, to be revered? An immoral activity, to be tolerated as a necessary evil? Or is business as such simply amoral? If business is either immoral or amoral, does this mean that companies have duties to their employees, commmunities, and the environment? We will begin the course by examining this issue against the backdrop of historical and contemporary ethical theories such as Aristotelianism, Kantianism, Utilitarianism, and Objectivism. We will then proceed to explore specific implications of morality for the conduct of business: Who should run a business, i.e., who should have a "say" in making important policy decisions? Should executives alone make these decisions? Or should the company's employees - or even non-employee members of the community - be allowed to vote? How do moral issues apply to the day-to-day running of a business? Can a scrupulously honest C.E.O. nevertheless turn a huge profit in today's world? How might justice apply to business? Is its practice profitable? Is pragmatism a prerequisite for the successful businessman? Does the virtue of integrity - which requires adherence to moral principles - have any practical value for business? What about pride? Is it a proper business virtue, or simply hype?

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00.

Morality and Law (Phil 41)

Amy Peikoff

Is law based on morality? Are rights moral issues, or merely legal conventions? If law is something dependent of morality, by what standard(s) can one evaluate or interpret it? Do we have an obligation to obey the law? In this course we will begin by examining historical and contemporary answers to these foundational issues. We will then look at a few specific legal issues for which morality seems to have important implications, including liability in tort law and punishment in criminal law.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00.

Peace, War, and Defense (Phil 42/ Pwad 68/ Poli 68)

Bernard Boxill

The course will introduce students to some of the moral issues of war and peace. For example: Can war ever be morally justified? Can pacifism be morally justified? Can terrorism ever be morally justified? Can intervention ever be morally justified? Is there a moral duty to seek peace? Is the idea of a national interest a moral notion? What is Just War Theory, and what are its moral presuppositions? What are the moral rights of prisoners of war? Can it ever be morally justified to target civilians in a war? Who has the moral and legal right to declare war? What are causes of war? What are the moral presuppositions of Realism and Liberalism in international affairs? Do the moral presuppositions of functioning democracies help to explain their alleged tendency not to fight one another? What are the ethical responsibilities of multinational corporations? What is the relation between global distributive justice and peace?

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00.

Peace, War, and Defense (Phil 42/ Pwad 68/ Poli 68)

Simon May

We live in a world where human rights have a great deal of ideological currency, yet where the worst forms of human rights violations continue to occur. The course focuses on understanding the concept of human rights and the role this concept plays in assessing the morality of different forms of mass violence. Particular questions include the nature and justification human rights, state sovereignty and the morality of humanitarian military intervention, genocide, Just War Theory, pacifism and the right of rebellion against unjust states, and the particular problem of Holocaust denial. We will also look at some approaches to conflict resolution and the tension between retributive and reconciliatory responses to human rights violations. Particular cases include: Armenia, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, Bosnia, Rwanda, South Africa, Kosovo, and Iraq. Authors include: Michael Walzer, John Rawls, Judith Shklar, Richard Rorty, Michael Ignatieff, Henry Shue, Frantz Fanon, Primo Levi, Nelson Mandela, Alison Des Forges, Samantha Powers, and others.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00.

Philosophical Issues in Feminism (Phil 46/ Wmst 46)

Ingra Schellenberg

This course is a survey of feminist perspectives on topics such as the meaning of oppression, sexism and racism, sex-roles and stereotypes, ideals of female beauty, women in the workplace, pornography, and rape.

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30.

Modern Philosophy (Phil 58)

Ram Neta

Since the seventeenth century, many philosophers have been interested in understanding how we can achieve knowledge of things that exist outside our own minds. Why did philosophers become interested in this project? How did they pursue it? What can we learn from their efforts? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:00.

Social and Economic Justice (Phil 66)