PHIL 105 - Philosophical Questions

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

105-01a: Philosophical inquiry is guided by a number of interrelated questions. Employing a contemporary lens, this course examines some of the most central ones. Are there limits to what we are capable of knowing about the world around us? In particular, is it possible for us to know what other people really think and feel? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Is the mind really identical to the brain? Are moral values relative to social and historical contexts, or is it only beliefs about these values that are context-dependent? Are aesthetic values completely subjective? Is truth fully objective? What is truth, anyway? Is life meaningful? If so, what makes it meaningful? Mr. Winblad.

105-02a: What makes a question philosophical, as opposed to empirical, historical, or spiritual? We will seek to answer this question by looking at specific philosophical questions pertaining to personal identity, the existence and nature of God, the rationality of faith, freedom of the will and moral responsibility, and the ethics of killing and letting die. We will begin the course by looking at the philosophical questions arising out of the trial and death of Socrates, which will serve as the springboard for more modern philosophical works. The topics in this course will be quite abstract, and students will need to participate actively in class discussion to do well. Students will leave the course with an appreciation for the breadth and scope of philosophical thinking, and will learn to think and write arguments clearly. Mr. Lam.

105-51b: What is the significance of the different attitudes that we adopt towards other people, towards our surroundings, and towards ourselves? Trust, resentment, forgiveness, love, sentimentality, horror, irony, and awe can shape our lives in profound ways, but their roles are often puzzling. A close consideration of these attitudes serves as an introduction to some fundamental philosophical problems concerning the nature and limits of knowledge, morality, art, and truth. Ms. Church.

105-52b: Are you awake or dreaming? Could you be having the same conscious experiences either way? For that matter, what does it mean to be conscious? Could computers be conscious? Could your consciousness and memories be transferred into another body? Would the recipient of those memories become you? Are you just a bundle of experiences, or is there some underlying soul or chunk of brain that makes you who you are? Do you have a free will? We will approach these questions through classic writings by René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, John Locke, and David Hume, as well as responses to their arguments from the 20th and 21st centuries. Mr. Madva.

Two 75-minute periods.