Catalogue 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Philosophy Department
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Chair: Barry Lam;
Professors: Giovanna Borradori, Uma Narayan, Bryan Van Norden;
Associate Professors: Jamie Kellyab, Barry Lam, Christopher C. Raymond, Jeffrey Seidmanab;
Assistant Professors: Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa, Osman Nemli;
Visiting Assistant Professor: Matt Moss;
Adjunct Assistant Professor: L. K. Gustin Law.
ab On leave 2020/21
Philosophy as a discipline reflects both speculatively and critically on the world, our actions, and our claims to knowledge. It pays special attention to questions and problems that other fields neglect or may be unable to resolve. The Department of Philosophy offers a variety of courses of study that not only introduce students to the great philosophical achievements of the past and present but also aim to teach them how to think, write, and speak philosophically themselves.
Philosophy Major Advisors: The Faculty
Analytic Philosophy Correlate Sequence Advisers: Barry Lam, Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Comparative Philosophy Correlate Sequence Adviser: Bryan Van Norden.
Continental Philosophy Correlate Sequence Advisers: Giovanna Borradori, Osman Nemli
Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy Correlate Sequence Advisers: Jamie Kelly, Uma Narayan and Jeffrey Seidman.
History of Philosophy Correlate Sequence Adviser: Christopher Raymond.
Major
Correlate Sequences in Philosophy
The philosophy department offers six different correlate sequences. In each sequence a total of five units is required. Students may petition to count an appropriate PHIL 280.
Correlate sequences may be designed for other subfields in philosophy; for example, philosophy and gender, philosophy of science, and classical philosophy. However, students must obtain approval from the department for any correlate or alternative correlate sequence prior to the beginning of their senior year.
Philosophy: I. Introductory
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PHIL 101 - History of Western Philosophy: Ancient Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
a.This course provides an introduction to philosophy in the ancient Mediterranean world, from early Greek cosmology to Roman Stoicism. Our focus will be on competing views of eudaimonia, or happiness—the ultimate goal of a human life—and how philosophy helps one achieve it. Readings include Plato’s Socratic dialogues, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the letters of Epicurus, and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Christopher Raymond.
b: In the ancient world, where knowledge of the workings of the natural world was limited, philosophy served many indispensable roles. Philosophy provided ways to inquire about the workings of the natural world, the correct manner to acquire and apply knowledge, the source and content of sociopolitical, moral, and spiritual obligations, and the purpose of a human life. Philosophy also served as a primary vehicle for educating the next generation and disseminating important ideas. This introductory survey course examines the philosophical thought of some of ancient Western thinkers, including some of the pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as discuss their influence on and relation to concurrent and later Jewish, Roman, and Christian thinkers. This course includes discussions of the role of women in the ancient Western world and their contributions to philosophy. Students learn to engage with ancient texts as living texts, with connections to the modern world, as well as how to identify, dissect, and construct philosophical arguments with precision, clarity, and fairness to opponents. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 102 - History of Western Philosophy: Modern Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Descartes inaugurated modern philosophy by turning philosophical attention away from questions about what the world is like and directing it onto the question: how is it possible for us to know what the world is like? He made this question urgent by offering arguments that suggest that we cannot know what the world is like – arguments suggesting that there is an unbridgeable gap between the mind and the material world. We carefully examine the ways in which Descartes himself, Hume, and, finally, Kant, seek to answer these arguments and bridge the gap that Descartes’ arguments open up. We see how their various approaches to this task shape and are shaped by their conceptions of the human mind, the material world, the relation of the mind to the human body, and the nature of the self. Matthew Moss.
PHIL 101 is not a prerequisite for the course.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 103 - History of Western Philosophy: Medieval Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as MRST 103 ) This course surveys roughly one thousand years of philosophical activity in the Middle Ages, encompassing the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. Key authors include Augustine, Boethius, Ibn-Sīnā (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas. Christopher Raymond.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 104 - Tragedy and Philosophy: Ancient and Modern Perspectives Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Since Greek antiquity, philosophers have puzzled over the meaning, value, and purpose of tragedy. This course will trace their conversation from ancient Athens (Plato and Aristotle) to German Romanticism (Schopenhauer and Nietzsche) to the present (Stanley Cavell and Martha Nussbaum). Along the way we study several plays that have inspired the philosophical imagination, including works by Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare, and Edward Albee. Students learn to write carefully argued analyses of challenging texts, and to reflect on broader issues of literary interpretation, canonization and genre, and the ethical significance of art. If appropriate, the class will attend a theatrical performance, a film screening, or a live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. Christopher Raymond.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 105 - Philosophical Questions Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2020/21a: Life, Death, and Justice. In this course, we study some of the hidden or unquestioned philosophical assumptions that underlie much of our lives and social practices, particularly those surrounding justice and injustice. We begin with the early dialogues of Plato discussing the philosophical themes surrounding the trial and death of Socrates. From Plato, we turn to a contemporary dialogue on the nature of personhood. We then turn to the role that mortality plays in bringing meaning to our lives. In the second half of the course, we investigate the philosophical assumptions surrounding our practices of crime and punishment. The issues include whether humans have free will, whether moral and criminal responsibility depends on freedom of the will, and whether it is possible to create a social world in which wrongdoing is not punished morally or legally. The central goal of the course is to teach you to a) think about issues clearly and methodically, b) formulate and challenge a philosophical idea and argument, and c) submit your ideas to extensive critique. This course is multimedia, including readings, podcasts, and film. Barry Lam.
Topic for 2020/21a: In this course we read several classical philosophical works that represent different, competing visions of what it is to live well. Through reading these works, we see how the following issues are interrelated: What are the most fundamental kinds of things that exist? What can we know and how can we know it? How should we live? Assignments include three essays of medium length and weekly online comment and response assignments. Bryan Van Norden.
Topic for 2020/21b: Life & Death. In this course we study, evaluate, and develop a set of interconnected puzzles, claims, and philosophical arguments about the nature of life and death and their ethical significance. People die. But what, exactly, is death? What is a person? What is it for a person to cease to be? How drastically can a person change without ceasing to be? Why do we value our continued existence? Is death a harm to the person who dies? If so, what does the harm consist in? Should we prefer never to die? Can changing our views about what persons are change our attitudes towards death? These questions lead us from the theoretical domain to the practical. We can and do bring persons into existence. Should we? What considerations are relevant to deciding? Is it permissible to end a person’s life? If so, in what circumstances? Do we owe things to the dead? Do we owe things to persons who are not yet alive? In pursuing answers to these questions, our purpose is also to master the art of philosophical debate: to reconstruct and assess arguments charitably, precisely, and clearly, and to formulate good objections and counterarguments. Work consists in in-class discussion and short essay assignments, with particular attention to the goals and norms of argument-driven writing. Matt Moss.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 106 - Philosophy & Contemporary Issues Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as STS 106 ) This rendition of the course examines a number of ethical issues that arise in contemporary medical practice and research by analyzing articles and decision scenarios. Topics include the physician-patient relationship, medical experimentation, genetics, reproductive technologies (including cloning and stem cells), termination of treatment, euthanasia, resource allocation, and health care reform in the US. Case studies for some of these topics include the COVID-19 pandemic. Gus Law.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 110 - Early Chinese Philosophy Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as CHJA 110 ) The rendition of PHIL 110 focuses on four seminal texts from a period that saw extraordinary intellectual vibrance and diversity in China: the Analects, the Mengzi, the Zhuangzi, and the Xunzi. They are studied along with texts that are less explicitly philosophical (selections from the Odes, the Record of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals, etc.) but constitute part of the context and basis of those four. The overarching idea is to study the beginnings of Ruism more extensively and in more of its cultural-historical context. The Zhuangzi is included because of its palpable influence on the Xunzi, and also because it is plain fun. Gus Law.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 125 - Logic Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Logic is the study of valid deductive arguments. Our central question in this course is: what makes an argument good or bad, in the strictest possible sense that an argument can be good or bad? In answering this question, this course teaches a skill: how to construct logically good arguments, and how to show whether an argument is logically good or not. This skill is not only central to logic itself and philosophy, but is widely relevant — to the law, to programming, to scientific research, to math, to linguistics, and to persuasive writing and speaking generally. You learn: how to represent the logical structure of natural language arguments (arguments written in English, for example) in a formal language (written in logical notation); what the basic logical operators are — such as negation, conjunction, etc. — and how to work with them when you construct and evaluate arguments; how to recognize and apply logical notions like consistency and validity; and how to demonstrate the logical validity or invalidity of arguments written in the formal language. Work consists of problem sets and in-class exams. Matt Moss
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
Philosophy: II. Intermediate
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PHIL 205 - 19th Century European Philosophy Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
After a brief overview of Kant’s “critical revolution” and its immediate aftermath, we will examine the thought of four major European thinkers: Hegel, Marx, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. Topics include the problem of alienation in a post-Enlightenment world; historical materialism and the concept of ideology; philosophical pessimism; and the hope that art can fill the spiritual void left by the collapse of religious belief. Christopher Raymond.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 210 - Neo-Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Introduction to Neo-Confucianism, one of the most influential intellectual movements in China and all of East Asia. Neo-Confucianism combines a profound metaphysics with a subtle theory of ethical cultivation. There is also some discussion of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism whose views of the self and ethics are the primary targets of the Neo-Confucian critique. No familiarity with Chinese culture is assumed, but a previous 100-level course in philosophy is a prerequisite because this course assumes students have the ability to tackle subtle issues in metaphysics, personal identity, and ethics. Bryan Van Norden.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy, Chinese-Japanese, or Religious Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 215 - Phenomenology & Existential Thought Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Two fundamental philosophical movements of the 20th century are phenomenology and existentialism. According to Martin Heidegger, phenomenology could be invoked with imperative: “to the things themselves!” Inspired by the phenomenological writings of Husserl and Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre would, in an infamous lecture, summarize the existentialist attitude with the slogan: “existence precedes essence.” What do such claims mean? What are the things we are called to go to, and why does the phenomenologist, whomever they are, seek to go to them? What does it mean to claim that existence precedes essence? This course examines the main texts and figures of phenomenology and existentialism, focusing primarily on questions and concepts. Special attention will be paid to phenomenology and existentialism in a global context addressing specific issues, focusing on decolonialism, epistemic (in)justice, and future possibilities. Osman Nemli.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 220 - Metaphysics
1 unit(s)
This course is a survey of contemporary metaphysics. Broadly construed, metaphysics concerns the most general questions about existence: What kinds of things are there? What are their features? We discuss different kinds of things, including spacetime, material objects, persons, properties, mathematical objects, holes, fictional objects, and gender. We also discuss the relevance of contemporary metaphysics to other traditions of philosophy, including Buddhist philosophy and Chinese philosophy. By taking this course, you (1) gain general understanding of metaphysics and (2) advance your analytical thinking and writing skills.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: CLS
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PHIL 222 - Philosophy of Language Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Philosophy of language is the study of linguistic meaning. What is the meaning of a word or sentence, and how is it related to the world that we use language to describe? How is meaning related to the thoughts that individual speakers aim to express with language? How is it related to the communities that give rise to a language and use it to communicate? These are all very difficult questions that philosophers have tried to answer by looking at small and specific examples of language that admit of easier answers. In this course, we are going to follow this methodology and examine the large questions by looking at smaller questions like the meaning of the words “is”, “the”, “exist”, “Jackie Chan” and “I”. We look at the range of answers to these questions and their implications for philosophy at large, particularly as to how linguistic meaning and speaker intentions play a role in determining laws and hate speech. Barry Lam.
Prerequisite(s): One previous course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 224 - Philosophy of Mind Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course is an introduction to contemporary philosophical work on mentality: what are minds, and what does it take to have a mind: are minds objects, abilities, processes, or properties? This course especially focuses on the most up-to-date problems with materialism, the thesis that everything that exists is physical and that therefore minds are material, as well as defenses of materialism. How do we make sense of conscious beings and beings with thoughts in a world made of matter? Relatedly, can we make sense of thinking robots, conscious aliens, and ‘phenomenal zombies’? One final segment of the course is devoted to one or two units chosen by class participants. In this course, students learn to read difficult philosophical texts, discuss them critically both verbally and in writing, and orient them in a wide landscape of thought that includes other disciplines and methodology. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy, Cognitive Science, or Psychology, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 226 - Philosophy of Science Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as STS 226 ) This course investigates questions about the nature of scientific inquiry and knowledge through a survey of classic and contemporary research in the philosophy of science. Our guiding questions are: What distinguishes scientific inquiry from other human projects? What, if anything, justifies the preeminence that is accorded knowledge gained in specifically scientific ways? What features of science make its methods objective, rational, reliable, etc.— if they are so in fact? Specific topics explored may include the nature of explanation, theory change, the puzzle of induction, empirical significance, and whether we should be scientific realists, i.e., should we understand scientific theories as requiring the actual existence of the entities, properties, and laws it purports to describe? Philosophy of science is a deeply historical subject matter, and we frequently have recourse to examples drawn from the history of physics, mathematics, biology, and the social sciences, among others. Matt Moss.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 228 - Epistemology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
What is knowledge, how do we get it, and what does it take to count as having it? In ordinary life, science, medicine, law, and politics, we need to have answers to these questions so that we can assess who we can trust, what information is reliable, and whether our conclusions are correct. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy concerned with addressing such questions, and in this course, we study both historical and contemporary approaches to answering them. We consider skeptical challenges, such as: can we truly rely on our sense perception to learn about the world? And: how fallible is our ability to reason? We ask whether there are ways of justifying our knowledge claims by identifying specific relationships among our beliefs and the world. In addition, we consider some social and moral aspects of knowledge acquisition and knowledge production, which might include the nature of expertise and epistemic authority, and the question of whether withholding knowledge from others or neglecting our own learning may constitute moral failings. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 234 - Ethics Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This rendition of the course focuses on medieval Islamic and Christian ethics, as well as the subsequent rise of ethical outlooks that are less tied to the specifics of established religions in Europe. Key terms include “happiness,” “nature,” “wisdom,” “virtue,” “pleasure,” and “the moral law.” Gus Law.
Prerequisite(s): At least one 100-level course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 236 - Philosophy of Law
1 unit(s)
This course introduces students to the philosophical analysis of law and legal institutions. Topics may include natural law theories, legal positivism, formalism, and realism, as well as questions about constitutional interpretation and the obligation to obey the law. Jamie Kelly.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 238 - Social and Political Philosophy
1 unit(s)
This course introduces students to some historical and contemporary debates within political philosophy. Our focus is on the relationship between ideology and propaganda.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 240 - Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course examines 19th, 20th, and 21st century philosophical approaches to the question of art and aesthetics, specifically focusing on film and cinema. Taken by Horkheimer and Adorno to be akin to Richard Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwert (total work of art), film is understood to be the total work of art that synthesizes and incorporates all other forms of art. Given the dominance and preponderance of visual media, specifically film and cinematic works, and the almost scopic monopoly enforced upon the other forms of art (and therefore all our other senses), it is important to spend some time unpacking and unraveling what is at stake in the visual field. This course addresses this via the specific questions: what does film do, what is its work, and how do artists and the viewing public situate themselves around it. Finally, how does technology alter artistic production, distribution, and consumption? Rather than seeing film as one mode of art — the latecomer when compared to the other art forms — this course seeks to show how film re-orientates our relationship to the arts, generally, and how the questions film gestures towards implicate and complicate all the other forms of art. Assignments include: reading philosophical works and watching films; writing reviews and argument pieces (4-6 page papers); constructing video essays; making short podcast audio questions and responses; and, of course, class attendance and participation. Some of the philosophical schools and approaches encountered include: psychoanalysis, feminist theory, ideology critique, afropessimism, black optimism, and ontological approaches. Osman Nemli.
Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 250 - Feminist Theory Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as WMST 250 ) The central purpose of the course is to understand a variety of theoretical perspectives in feminism - including liberal, radical, socialist, psychoanalytic and postmodern perspectives. We explore how each of these feminist perspectives is indebted to more ‘mainstream’ theoretical frameworks (for example, to liberal political theory, Marxism, and psychoanalysis). We also examine the ways in which each version of feminist theory raises new questions and challenges for these ‘mainstream’ theories. We attempt to understand the theoretical resources that each of these perspectives provides the projects of feminism, how they highlight different aspects of women’s oppression and offer a variety of different solutions. We look at the ways in which issues of race, class and sexuality figure in various theoretical feminist perspectives and consider the divergent takes that different theoretical perspectives offer on issues such as domestic violence, pornography, housework and childcare, economic equality, and respect for cultural differences. We try to get clearer on a variety of complex concepts important to feminism - such as rights, equality, choice, essentialism, cultural appropriation and intersectionality. Uma Narayan.
Prerequisite(s): One unit of Philosophy or Women’s Studies.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 262 - Latin American Philosophy Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 262 ) A survey course, conducted in English, covering a series of thinkers and traditions in the Americas, particularly Central and South America and the Carribbean, both before and after the colonial period. This course is conducted in historical order, and covers numerous topics pertaining to conceptions of the world, ethics, and politics. We begin by reading pre-colonial and Native American philosophical sources, including a peek into Aztec and Mayan thought. We then study and discuss the colonial era, where the issues of emancipation and the rights of indigenous groups and women were playing out on a global scale. This includes readings on Bartolomé de las Casas, Sor Juana, and Simón Bolívar. We then do a unit on the identity movement in the 19th and 20th century, where each nation was grappling with the problem and (im)possibility of forging a national identity in the wake of its independence. This unit might include readings on Martí, Vasconcelos, Ramos, Gracía, Alcoff, Schutte, and Zea. We end with a discussion of whether there is a distinctive Latino/a philosophy, and the relevance of historical Latin American thought to the modern day. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 279 - Spaces of Exception
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 279 and INTL 279 ) This course charts and critically examines a series of exceptional spaces in which inclusion in the political community is possible only by mechanisms of exclusion and intensified precarity that place vulnerable subjects at the outskirts of political legibility. We map the mechanisms of identification, exclusion, dispossession, penalization, and abandonment through a number of theoretical sources as well as the history of sovereign claims, territoriality, resistance, community, and transformations in bio and necropolitics.
Practices of capture as well as regimes of death and penalization are analyzed in their entanglements with the history of the Colony, citizenship, manhunting, jurisprudence, and the humanitarian logic of care. We engage these thematics through literary and cinematic texts in conversation with theorists such as Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Etienne Balibar, Grégoire Chamayou, Achille Mbembe, Angela Davis, Jacques Derrida, Franz Fanon, Paul Gilroy, and Suvendrini Perera among others.
By confronting the psychological, physical, moral, and political ways in which violence inscribes itself on the body, both individual and collective, this course discloses the pivotal role played by the biologization of subjectivity, achieved through biometrics, therapeutics, the power of extra-territorial formations, immunization, and technologies of capture, enclosure, penalization, and encampment. Ultimately, our immanent critique of spaces of exception brings us to examine the ethical dimensions of practices that draw new maps, create new archives, and foster everyday enactments of hospitality, life, and co-habitation. Giovanna Borradori and Samson Opondo.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 290 - Community-Engaged Learning Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Supervised by the department faculty.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 291 - The Vassar College Journal of Philosophy Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
The intensive provides students with support in selecting a thematic focus for the yearly issue of the Journal. It also guides them through the various stages of the process of blind-reviewing submissions. In most cases, the four essays that are accepted for publication are sent back to the authors for revisions and then go through a final round of edits before being published. The students also become familiar with the scholarly book review genre. They commission and/or write themselves two books reviews, which go through a rigorous editing process. Finally, after studying the genre of the scholarly interview, they conduct one themselves, meeting with a distinguished scholar on the theme of the Journal, gathering their thoughts and responses, transcribing the materials, editing it in a suitable way, and gaining the scholar’s agreement to publish it. Throughout the year, students disseminate the Call for Papers and promote the visibility of the Journal on professional venues while managing the coordination of tasks among the members of the Editorial Board, which is typically comprised of five to seven Philosophy Majors. The rhythm and duration of meetings change throughout the year based on the stage of production of the publication. We meet every two weeks, but at some key times, typically in connection with the finalizing of the manuscript and the editing of the essays, book-reviews, and interview, we spend as long as a whole afternoon together. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The intensive is intended for the Editors-in-Chief of the Journal, and is open to two more students from the Editorial Board (most likely the Editors of the Book Review section). Giovanna Borradori.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 292 - The Vassar College Journal of Philosophy
0.5 unit(s)
The intensive provides students with support in selecting a thematic focus for the yearly issue of the Journal. It also guides them through the various stages of the process of blind-reviewing submissions. In most cases, the four essays that are accepted for publication are sent back to the authors for revisions and then go through a final round of edits before being published. The students also become familiar with the scholarly book review genre. They commission and/or write themselves two books reviews, which go through a rigorous editing process. Finally, after studying the genre of the scholarly interview, they conduct one themselves, meeting with a distinguished scholar on the theme of the Journal, gathering their thoughts and responses, transcribing the materials, editing it in a suitable way, and gaining the scholar’s agreement to publish it. Throughout the year, students disseminate the Call for Papers and promote the visibility of the Journal on professional venues while managing the coordination of tasks among the members of the Editorial Board, which is typically comprised of five to seven Philosophy Majors. The rhythm and duration of meetings change throughout the year based on the stage of production of the publication. We meet every two weeks, but at some key times, typically in connection with the finalizing of the manuscript and the editing of the essays, book-reviews, and interview, we spend as long as a whole afternoon together. Enrollment by permission of the instructor. The intensive is intended for the Editors-in-Chief of the Journal, and is open to two more students from the Editorial Board (most likely the Editors of the Book Review section). Giovanna Borradori.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
Yearlong course PHIL 291 -292.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 293 - Wagner and Philosophy
0.5 unit(s)
This Intensive provides a philosophical introduction to Richard Wagner’s monumental four-part music-drama, The Ring of the Nibelung (1876), one of the most revolutionary – and controversial – creations of modern culture. After an initial survey of the mythical and philosophical background to the work, we dedicate one week to analyzing each of the Ring’s four parts, which explore the conflicts between love and power, freedom and fate, human law and primeval nature. Screenings are arranged outside of class, and students have access to the entire cycle through Vassar’s subscription to the Metropolitan Opera on Demand. In the final week, students present on their individual research into the Ring’s complex reception history, in thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Mann, Theodor Adorno, Alain Badiou, and Roger Scruton. No prior musical knowledge is assumed, though students learn to identify the work’s principal themes and their transformations. Christopher Raymond.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy or Music or German Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Second Six-Week Course
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Supervised by the department faculty.
Course Format: OTH
Philosophy: III. Advanced
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PHIL 310 - Seminar in Analytic Philosophy Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2020/21b: What Imagination Teaches. When you dream about flying, traipse across stage as a Shakespeare character, get mad when Harry Potter is a jerk in book 5, wonder how the world might have been had the Archduke Franz Ferdinand not been shot, guess what might cheer up your stressed-out friend during finals, salivate at the thought of baked mac & cheese, figure out just the right way to build a maze lab rats will find challenging, or conjure up a new piece of visual art, we could say you are using your imagination. What is this fantastic, mysterious mental faculty, and how does it work? Is imagination involved in mental imagery, pretend play, understanding fiction, empathy, counterfactual reasoning, problem solving, and creativity – or are these different mental activities altogether? Sometimes we say we “only imagined” an event, or that something was, “just our imagination”. Can imagination only ever mislead us, or might it sometimes teach us new things? Can we imagine things that are impossible? Can we imagine the perspective of someone unlike ourselves? Can people lack imagination, the same way people can lack sight? Finally: can we use our imagination to influence our social and political future? In this seminar, we discuss these issues, drawing on ancient and contemporary philosophers and scientists. Course focus is on sharing ideas through group discussion and introducing students to advanced research and writing methods in philosophy. Students are encouraged to pursue their own interests in writing their final pieces. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy, Cognitive Science, or Psychology, or permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 320 - Seminar in the History of Philosophy Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2020/21b: Aristotle’s Theoretical Philosophy. This seminar is devoted to a close study of Aristotle’s key theoretical works, moving from his accounts of nature, substance, and the divine (in Physics and Metaphysics) to his investigations of living creatures (in De Anima and select biological works). Our aim is to appreciate why Aristotle’s philosophy would become the dominant system of thought in the Mediterranean world for the next two thousand years – and to assess whether any parts of it are viable today. Christopher Raymond.
Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in Philosophy or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 330 - Seminar in Ethics & Theory of Value Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This seminar focuses on questions about capitalism, globalization, and economic justice. A central project of this course is to understand the different ways in which capitalism is conceptualized by various thinkers and philosophical perspectives and to critically evaluate the benefits and problems attributed to capitalism as a global economic system. We complicate the tendency to focus on “wage labor” by asking where colonialism, slavery, subsistence production fit into an account of capitalism. We consider the various ways in which women’s unpaid labor as well as their growing induction into wage labor and income generation fit into our understanding of capitalism. We address debates on private property and the division of labor, and examine the functions of states, markets, corporations, international institutions like the IMF and WTO, development agencies in economic globalization. We address controversies over the role private charity and state-provided international aid play in ameliorating the situation of the global poor and securing their human rights. We examine some of the ecological consequences of contemporary capitalism and our own locations as consumers within the system. Readings include the works by figures such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Karl Polanyi, Nancy Fraser, Peter Singer, Thomas Pogge, Antonio Negri, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Zygmunt Bauman. Uma Narayan.
Prerequisite(s): Three courses in Philosophy.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 340 - Seminar in Continental Philosophy Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2020/21a: Social Ontologies. What constitutes a group, or a people? What are the ethico-moral, social, political, metaphysical, and epistemic ties that bind individuals to one another, and what are the conditions (historical or trans-historical) for the possibility for sustained and evolving group-belonging? What are the ways groups address and are addressed? These questions are used to introduce the topic of social ontologies, the name given to thinking the forms of the being of social existences. Rather than just look at particular movements in historical circumstances, special attention is paid to thinking the (historical) essence and situatedness of groups, moments and movements, their goals and the obstacles they meet, their benefits and limitations. Building off of social contract theories, Enlightenment philosophies, and 19th century political movements, this course addresses the state, status, and activity of social ontologies for the 21st century. Readings include writings by: Agamben, Ahmed, Badiou, de Beauvoir, Brown, Butler, Collins, Du Bois, Fanon, Hardt&Negri, Hartman, Moten, Muñoz, Nancy, Sartre, Virno. Osman Nemli.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 350 - Seminar in Modernism, Postmodernism, and Hermeneutics Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
The Modernism/Postmodernism/Hermeneutic divide stretches across many different disciplines, including philosophy, literary theory, history, religious studies, political science, anthropology and others. Roughly, these approaches argue over whether rationality, truth, and ethics are culturally and historically universal (Modernism), incommensurable (Postmodernism) or dialogical (Hermeneutics). This course explores these approaches with an emphasis on how they apply in the context of one culture trying to understand another. Requirements include regular class participation that shows familiarity with the readings and many brief essays. Bryan Van Norden.
Prerequisite(s): At least one course in Philosophy, Chinese-Japanese, or Religious Studies at the 200-level, or permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
PHIL 374 - Ideas, Sound, and Story: Podcast Production Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 374 and MEDS 374 ) This is a course on narrative audio production that focuses on the study and production of various nonfictional genres in the American podcasting landscape, including audio documentaries, investigative reporting, confessionals, art pieces, storytelling for academic purposes, and others. Students learn the craft of audio production from getting tape, tape-logging, writing for audio, story and tape-editing, and sound-tracking. Students complete various technical assignments, and submit a final 10-minute piece, with regular progress graded throughout. In order to model the highly competitive nature of the podcasting production space today, students must be highly-motivated, highly-organized, and grading is very rigorous, with the highest of standards and strict deadlines. Barry Lam.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 1-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 390 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
Yearlong development of an extended philosophical essay in consultation with a faculty adviser. Participation in a senior proseminar is required. Christopher Raymond.
Students must register for 390 for fall semester and PHIL 391 for spring semester.
Yearlong course 390-PHIL 391 .
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 391 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Yearlong development of an extended philosophical essay in consultation with a faculty adviser. Participation in a senior proseminar is required. Christopher Raymond.
Students must register for PHIL 390 for fall semester and 391 for spring semester.
Yearlong course PHIL 390 -391.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 392 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
By special permission only. This one semester course may be substituted for PHIL 390 -PHIL 391 after consultation with your advisor. Participation in a senior proseminar is required. The Department.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 393 - Reading the Analects of Confucius Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Confucius is one of the most influential figures—as historical individual and as symbol—in world history; and the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius and his disciples, is a classic of world literature. Nonetheless, how to understand both figure and text is constantly under dispute. In this course we conduct an in-depth examination of the historical context of Confucius, and his views on the virtues, human nature, ethical cultivation and his Way for living and organizing society. Requirements include faithful attendance and weekly response essays. Bryan Van Norden.
Prerequisite(s): At least two courses in Philosophy, or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 394 - Philosophy of Mental Illness
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as STS 394 ) This interdisciplinary intensive focuses on two main issues: psychopathological categorization and diagnosis, and ethical issues that surround categorization, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders. We ask questions such as: what are the biological, physical, sociological, and individual characteristics that do influence, and which are the characteristics that should or should not influence, psychopathological taxonomy and diagnosis? What can we learn about mental illness from the disability rights movement? And are current treatment options the optimal approach for general and particular mental illnesses? After an initial seminar-style period of common reading and discussion, students are expected to pursue individual research projects that may involve a short-term production or creative component, with instructor approval. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
Not offered in 2020/21.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 395 - Reading Hegel Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course engages in a rigorous and careful reading of one of the most important texts in the history of philosophy, G.W.F. Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, published in 1807. The class looks at the work as a whole (in its “totality”) and meets weekly to discuss specific sections of the Phenomenology. Along the way we: address philosophical experience; unpack the movement of Spirit; account for the transitions of knowledge from sense-certainty through perception to the force of the understanding; trace the development of consciousness toward self-consciousness (looking at the battle between lord and bondsman, frequently cited as “the master-slave dialectic”); encounter the various stages of Reason, including morality and law; and end (as all classes should) with Absolute Knowing. Throughout all this, we pay careful attention to what has been called Hegel’s dialectic, focusing on what he calls “the labor of the negative”, while also locating the historical and philosophical references he makes and alludes to along the way.
Students should have prior knowledge and experience of studying texts in the history of philosophy, in particular the early modern tradition (Descartes through Kant). Work throughout the semester includes: weekly reading of a substantial section of the Phenomenology of Spirit, short weekly response papers, and class discussion. Osman Nemli.
Prerequisite(s): Either (1) two intermediate courses, or (2) one advanced course, or (3) permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
PHIL 399 - Senior Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
The department.
Course Format: OTH
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