PHIL 106 - Philosophical & Contemporary Issues Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2018/19a: Philosophies of (Non-)Violence. This course examines different 19th, 20th, and 21st century philosophical views, understandings, and critiques of violence. Violence, which seems timeless and ubiquitous, takes on specific forms and arises in particular historical and social circumstances. Such ubiquity alongside specificity and timelessness, in conjunction with historical particularity, demands philosophical interpretation. Aspects of violence examined include psychical, physical, systemic from the perspective of individuals, social groups, and nations. Specific cases of violence examined are civil disobedience, sexism and sexual violence, racism and racial violence, colonialism, torture and modern warfare, and capitalism. Questions we address are: What is violence and what forms does it take, what are the critiques of violence (and thus the reasons given for non-violence), and what are the reasons given for, or reasons given in defense of, violence? Osman Nemli.
Topic for 2018/19b: Bioethics and Biopolitics. (Same as STS 106 ) This course examines bioethics and biopolitics: the medical concerns of individuals and societies, technological development in the bio-medical fields, and ethical and political frameworks to address those concerns and developments. The first half of the course addresses particular case studies in bioethics, including: informed consent, public health issues, abortion, killing and letting die, voluntary euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, brain death, and organ and resource allocation. The second half of the course looks at biopolitics, the so-called ‘right to death’ and ‘power over life’ in societies. This second half concerns itself with the theoretical underpinnings of the practical bioethical case studies: who has, or what groups and institutions have, access to certain medical care, what are the conditions for certain ethical modes of behavior, and what do we mean when we speak of aiming for a healthy or the best society. Biopolitics inquires into the ways in which bioethics can become ‘eugenics with a human face’, and how to respond. Osman Nemli.
Topic for 2018/19b: Sexual Ethics: Pleasure, Danger, Desire, & Justice. (Same as WMST 106 ) In this course we explore the ethics of sex and sexuality. We consider both moral issues— inquiries into what is or is not morally permissible and why— and ethical issues— inquiries into how sexuality pertains to our existence, identities, and personal and communal flourishing. Questions include: What is sex? Are sex and sexuality ethically significant components of our ways of life? What renders a sexual activity immoral? Is being sexually normal the same as being morally good? What is consent? Are the erotic, the sexual, and the romantic necessarily conjoined? What is the relationship between sexual misconduct, harm, and conditions of injustice— and, conversely, what might be the relationship between sexual mutuality, care, and justice? Our work throughout the semester is in both theoretical and applied ethics, and readings span the philosophical literature on autonomy, care, consent, justice, work, subjectivity, and embodiment. Oli Stephano.
Two 75-minute periods.
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