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Undergraduate Classes

Freshman Seminar (Phil 6F)

            Jay F. Rosenberg

Honors Freshman Seminar (HNRS 006F)

            C.D.C. Reeve

Main Problems (Phil 20)

            Ram Neta

            Joshua Knobe

Introduction to Symbolic Logic (Phil 21)

            Mark Bauer

            Ted Parent

Introduction to Ethics (Phil 22)

            Bill Lycan

            Leonard Kahn

Great Works in Philosophy (Phil 24)

            Annabella Zagura

Making Sense of Ourselves (Phil 26)

            Megan Wallace

            Amy Glaser

Applied Ethics (Phil 30)

            Christopher Kelly

            Nicole Hassoun

Philosophy of Science - Honors (Phil 31)

            John Roberts

Philosophy of Religion (Phil 32)

            Warren Nord

Bioethics (Phil 34)

            Ty Raterman

            Nena Davis

Philosophy of Language (Phil 35)

            Dean Pettit

Social Ethics/Political Thought (Phil 37)

            Piers Turner

            Tom Hill (Honors)

Experience & Reality (Phil 38)

            Bryce Huebner

Morality and Business (Phil 39)

            Christopher Kelly

Morality and Law (Phil 41)

            Ariela Tubert

Peace, War, and Defense (Phil 42)

            Bernard Boxill      

Philosophy Issues/ Feminism (Phil 46)

            Ariela Tubert

Modern Philosophy (Phil 58)

            David Miller

Reference and Meaning (Phil 74)

            Dean Pettit

Topics - Honors (Phil 80)

            Bernard Boxill

Introduction PPE (Phil 84)

            Michael Munger and Alex Rosenberg

Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau (Phil 105)

            Gerald Gaus

Philosophy of Psychology (Phil 109)

            Joshua Knobe

Early Analytic (Phil 114)

            Ram Neta

Advanced Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (Phil 130)

            Geoff Brennan

 

          

 

 

Death as a Problem for Philosophy: Metaphysical and Ethical Issues (Phil 6F)

Jay F. Rosenberg

This course meets Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Honors Freshman Seminar (HNRS 006F)

C.D.C. Reeve

Through the careful study of three great books, Plato's Republic, St. Augustine's Confessions, and Descartes' Meditations we will explore some central philosophical problems about our natures, our moral values, our knowledge of the world, the freedom of our wills, and our (im)mortality.

This course meets on Thursday from 3:30-6.

Main Problems (Phil 20)

Ram Neta

Philosophy is the attempt to figure out what has value, and why. Is love something of value? How about freedom? Knowledge? Family? Faith? Friendship? Property? Civilization? Happiness? And, if these things have value, then what gives them value? In this course, we will read texts in which some important philosophers (Plato, Descartes, Hume,Rousseau) attempt to figure out the answers to these
questions. We will read what these philosophers had to say in order that we can then try to figure out
whether or not they were right.

This course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 11.

Main Problems (Phil 20)

Joshua Knobe

An introduction to philosophy that focuses on four central questions. What is the relationship between the mind and the body? If the universe is governed by exceptionless scientific laws, can our actions ever really be free? Is moral behavior simply a matter of obtaining the best possible consequences, or are there cases in which we should forsake the best consequences in favor of other concerns? In a world of persistent disagreement and occasional illusion, is it ever really possible for us to attain true knowledge? Readings will include both historical texts and contemporary discussions.

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

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Intro to Symbolic Logic: Sentential and Predicate Calculus (Phil 21)

Mark Bauer

Introduction to the theory of deductive reasoning.

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

Ted Parent

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 Tuesday and Thursday at 11.

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 classic 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..

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 12, and requires enrollment in a recitation section

Introduction to Ethics (Phil 22)

Leonard Kahn

How should I live my life? What should I do? What do I owe to others? What do I owe to myself? Why should I be moral? We will clarify and address these and related questions through a careful and critical reading of both classic (Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill) and contemporary (Elizabeth Anscombe, John Rawls, and Peter Singer among others) authors.

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

Great Works in Philosophy (Phil 24)

Annabella Zagura

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

Making Sense of Ourselves (Phil 26)

Megan Wallace

This is an introductory course designed to deal with fundamental philosophical questions that help us understand ourselves and the world around us. This section will be divided into four main topics: The Existence of God, Knowledge and Skepticism, Personal Identity, and Love. For more information, visit the course webpage here: http://www.unc.edu/~megw/Phil26S06.html

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

Amy Glaser

In this course we will attempt to make sense of ourselves by looking at the following two questions. Am I free? And how should I live? In considering the first question, we will be asking whether or not our freedom is threatened by our role as physical systems in a universe governed by the laws of physics. With respect to the second question, we will look at arguments for belief in
the existence of God, and we will consider whether we have obligations to act as God commands. We will then turn to alternative conceptions of what it means to be a good person, and consider which, if any, offer us a viable framework for making choices. Finally, in light of the theories we?ve covered, we will attempt to answer a concrete, applied moral question concerning ourobligations to others: what are our responsibilities to non-human animals?

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

Christopher Kelly

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.

Nicole Hassoun

The aim of the course is to provide students with an introduction to some issues in applied ethics. The course will cover topics in both national and international ethics. After an introduction to arguments and ethical theory, we will consider the extent and nature of our obligations to other humans and the natural world. For instance, two of the questions that we will focus on are "What obligations we have to the global poor?" and "What should we do to preserve the environment?" These questions are related. If we want to conserve the environment we must decide what we should we do with the poor people who live on the land we want to preserve. What should we do about controlling and providing for human populations? Can these issues be resolved and are some ways of resolving the issues morally wrong? Other topics we will consider include the moral status of animals, infants, and fetuses, the ethics of consumption, and the moral permissibility of medical testing on humans and other animals.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12.

John Roberts

This course will be an introduction to some of the central issues in general philosophy of science (as opposed to, say, philosophy of physics or philosophy of biology). The topics we consider will all be variations on a common theme: Science purports to give us a great deal of knowledge on the basis of a certain kind of evidence, but the knowledge it purports to give us goes far beyond that evidence. The evidence consists of a finite body of facts about observable phenomena that have actually occurred and have been observed. The knowledge science purports to deliver goes beyond this in at least four different ways: It concerns phenomena that have not yet been observed (which is why it is useful for making predictions); in some cases it concerns phenomena that are not directly observable (such as quarks, unconscious psychological states, selection pressure, electromagnetic fields); in many cases it concerns not only what phenomena occur, but also the explanation of why they occur; in many cases it concerns not only the phenomena that actually occur, but also the laws of nature which govern not only all actual phenomena but also all physically possible phenomena (e.g., it isnt just that nothing ever DOES go faster than the speed of light; nothing CAN go faster than the speed of light). What is the method whereby science is able to extend our knowledge beyond the actually observed phenomena in all these ways? Is it really possible to acquire justified beliefs that go beyond our evidence in these ways, and if so, how?

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 3:30.

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.

Ty Raterman

This course will be an introduction to ethical issues that arise within the health care professions, broadly construed. Specific topics mayinclude: doctor-facilitated hastening of death (an issue that was before the Supreme Court recently); animal and human experimentation; patients' right to information and the importance of informed consent; the refusal of treatment for oneself or one's children; cloning; stem cell research; genetic screening; and the monetization of the value of human life and health for the purposes of public policy decisions. Discussion will take place against the backdrop of important general moral theories, to which students will be introduced and gain familiarity throughout the semester. Students will be evaluated on the basis of an in-class exam,
several papers, and class participation.

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

Nena Davis

This course will review the ethical basis of moral and legal problems generated, made accurate, or made acute by advances in biology and medicine. Topics covered may include abortion, euthanasia, organ donation, patient rights, experiments with human and animal subjects, and genetic manipulation.

This course meets on Monday, Wednesday from 6-7:15.

Dean Pettit

This course is a philosophical introduction to current theorizing about language. A central theme of the course is that our ordinary way of thinking about language – as a human invention, like the automobile or the telegraph – is fundamentally mistaken. Evidence suggests that language is a capacity of the human mind/brain, like the visual system or the limbic system, and is no more a human invention than the visual system is. We will survey some of the key areas in the study of language – syntax, semantics, pragmatics, language development, and psycholinguistics – with an eye to philosophical issues that arise about the nature of language, the science of language, knowledge and meaning. This course will be of particular interest to students in philosophy, linguistics, psychology and cognitive science. However, no previous familiarity with these areas will be presupposed by this course.

This course meets on Tuesday at 12:30.

Piers Turner

This course will address aspects of the history and justification of political and social thought, with special attention to Hobbes to Rawls. Of particular concern will be how to publicly justify social rules in a pluralistic society, the concept of toleration, and their importance to understanding the
liberal tradition.

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

Social Ethics/Political Thought (Phil 37- Honors)

Tom Hill

An examination of classic texts in modern political philosophy, including selections from Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Mill, and Rawls. Among the questions are these: What is justice? What are the source and limits of rights to liberty and property ? When, if ever, is revolution justified? What are the grounds for thinking that democracy preferable to other forms of government?

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday 11.

Experience and Reality (Phil 38)

Bryce Huebner

.Somebody told me once that a mind is a terrible thing to taste. I wonder
whether this is true. The problem is: i don't know what a mind is...

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of mind. We'll start by trying to figure out what minds are. Most philosophers and psychologists think that minds just are brains; we'll try to figure out whether they're right. Second, we'll turn to the question: how do we know that other
people have minds. We'll then turn to a particular class of mental states--the emotions--and we'll try to figure out what sorts of states they are. Finally, we'll return to questions about the nature of mind and we'll examine an argument for the claim that some of your thoughts aren't inside your head.

Hopefully, along the way, we'll decide whether a mind really is a terrible thing to taste!

This course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 2.

Morality and Business (Phil 39)

Christopher Kelly

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This course meets on Tuesday, and Thursday from 6.

Ariela Tubert

This course will be concerned with the relationship between law and morality. We will attempt to understand the concepts of “law” and “morality” and the similarities and differences between the two. We will be concerned with questions like the following: What is the connection between law and morality? Is it morally wrong to break the law? If so, why? Is sometimes breaking the law morally permissible or even morally required? Should morality be legally enforced? To what extent, if at all, should legal decisions be influenced by moral beliefs? What are the relationships between legal, constitutional, moral, and political rights? How can legal punishment be morally justified? While we pursue answers to these questions we will look at some actual court cases and discuss specific issues like hate speech, homosexuality, and capital punishment, among others.

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

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 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 Monday and Wednesday at 10:00.

Philosophy Issues/ Feminism (Phil 46)

Ariela Tubert

This course will introduce students to some of the major traditions in feminist theory through the study of a number of philosophical issues related to feminism. We will start by discussing some metaphysical issues concerning gender: What is it to be a woman? Is there an essence of womanhood that goes beyond some physical characteristics? Is “woman” a purely natural category or is it to some extent socially constructed? Next, we will be concerned with epistemological issues that arise from feminism: Do women see the world differently from men? What kind of implications does this have for scientific and philosophical knowledge? Are there specifically female ways of thinking or reasoning? If so, to what extent is it marginalized? Finally, we will be concerned with ethical issues related to feminism: Granted that women have an equal right to flourish as men do, is women’s flourishing different from men’s? Are there specifically gendered roles for women and men? To what extent are we culturally biased when we think that women in other cultures are oppressed? To what extent does respect for other cultures require that we respect how women are treated within it?

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

David Miller

This course is an introduction to a number of the major themes and figures of 17th and 18th century European philosophy. We will discuss the central problems of this period and the philosophical principles of its leading thinkers. Although the course will try to survey the historical and philosophical landscape, our focus will be on the metaphysics and epistemology (and their limitations) found in the philosophy of Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

This course will meet on Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Reference and Meaning (Phil 74)

Dean Pettit

Language is a physical phenomenon, constituted by certain sounds we make, marks we make paper, and so on. Yet what sets language apart from other physical phenomena is that it has meaning. Moreover, that language has meaning seems to be essential to its utility: it is because language has meaning that it represents the world and can be used to communicate about the world. But what is it about language that makes it meaningful? Three ideas have been central to philosophical thinking about meaning. The first idea is that---at least for certain words---the meaning of a word is the object it refers to (e.g., the name `Bill Clinton' refers to a certain former president). The second idea is that the meaning of a sentence consists in its truth conditions, the way the world would have to be for the sentence to be true. A third related idea is that the meanings of certain kinds of words is not some object it refers to, but something more abstract: the role it plays in determining the truth value of a sentence. Much of the course will examine the development of these three basic ideas about meaning.

This course will be an advanced survey of some of the central topics in the philosophy of language. Among the topics covered in this course are meaning, reference, truth, definite descriptions, demonstratives, and the pragmatics of communication.

This course will meet on Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30.

Bernard Boxill

This course will focus on the nature of sympathy and fear and their place in moral and political philosophy. We'll start with some classic discussions, for example, that of Thomas Hobbes on fear and that of David Hume and Adam Smith on sympathy. Then we take up some contemporary treatments, beginning with Judith Shklar's "The Liberalism of Fear," and Jacob Levy's The Multiculturalism of Fear.

This course will meet on Wednesday from 2:00-4:30.

Introduction PPE (Phil 84)

Michael Munger and Alex Rosenberg

This course will integrate and examine the relationship between philosophical and political theories of the state and economic distribution. The course is designed as the gateway course for the Philosophy, Politics and Econmics program, by introducing students to the subjects and techniques used to analyze problems in the disciplines.

This course falls into two rather distinct parts. The first occupying the period up to Spring break will be concerned with the prisoners’ dilemma (both in its two-person and more socially relevant n-person variants). The second part will be concerned with distributive justice emphasizing the similarities and differences between the philosophical, economic, and political approaches to this issue.

For half the semester the course will meet at Duke University and for half it will meet at UNC.

This course meets on Monday and Wednesday at 4:25-5:40.

Gerald Gaus

The theme of this course will be the social contract: we will consider Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau and stretch the period to include Kant, the last great Enlightenment contract theorist. This is a mixed undergrad/grad course: I’ll start the first half of each class with things I want to say, and then we’ll have something more seminar-like for the second half.

Readings will concentrate on primary works with some secondary material; the primary reading will be Hobbes’ Leviathan, Locke’s Second Treatise, Rousseau’s Social Contract as well as First and Second Discourses, and Kant’s Metaphysical Elements of Justice. We shall also consider interpretations by Jean Hampton, David Gauthier and others.

Assessment will be: class participation 20%, short paper 20%, term paper 60%.

This course will meet on Wednesday at 6:30-9.

Philosophy of Psychology (Phil 109)

Joshua Knobe

An investigation into some of the central questions in contemporary moral psychology. Are moral judgments based on reasoning or on emotion? Do we have an innate faculty of moral judgment, or is
our capacity for moral judgment entirely learned? How do people ordinarily determine whether or not an agent is morally responsible for a given behavior? The emphasis will be on ways in which experimental results from cognitive science can shed light on fundamental philosophical issues.

This course will meet on Tuesday at 12:30-3.

Ram Neta

Analytic philosophy began with two innovations. One was Frege's development of the predicate calculus. The other was Moore's refutation of idealism. This course will focus on the second of those two innovations, and examine the philosophical problem that it provoked -- the problem of understanding how the mind can come to know the external world. We will read G.E. Moore, Bertrand Russell, A.J. Ayer, Rudolf Carnap, and H.H. Price.

This course will meet on Wednesday from 6-8:30.

Geoffrey Brennan

Working to integrate the approaches of philosophy, political science, and economics it will address foundational issues related to: Taxation, Human Nature, Globalization, and Time and Decision making.

As with the PPE Gateway course, it will meet for half the semester at UNC and for the other half at Duke. Seniors who would like to get the minor can ask permission to waive the Gateway Course requirement and, as long as they have the barious other distribuiton requirements satisfied, take this Capstone course and receive a minor. For information about the PPE minor go to: philosophy.unc.edu/ppe