PHIL 106 - Philosophical & Contemporary Issues

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2019/20a: Critique on the Border. (Same as URBS 106) Critique is a fundamental philosophical activity. This course focuses on critique as a practice related to the border via specific readings. Thus, the course simultaneously focuses on various instances of critique, or critical readings, as well as how the border plays a factor in such readings. Critique, defined by Kant, as the determination of limits and boundaries, requires a certain freedom of movement (even if just a freedom of thought to enjoy speculative flights of fancy). The person engaging in critique, then, is able to move and maneuver within and between various areas, disciplines, and regimes. At the same time, however, this person is able to determine who or what belongs in certain areas or disciplines. Here, the person engaged in critique becomes a border agent. The course thus assesses how one simultaneously evaluates certain philosophical, ethical, and political circumstances, while also situating individuals and groups within their areas. Borders examined include: the (in)violability of the body, the sanctity of the holy, the familiarity of home, and national boundaries, more generally. Osman Nemli.

Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

Topic for 2019/20b: Biopower in the Age of the Anthropocene. (Same as ENST 106 and STS 106 ) Biopower in the Age of the Anthropocene. This course examines the notion of biopower in the historical, geological, and geopolitical period identified as the anthropocene. Quite simply: what is the relation between the human animal and their environment? What does one choose to include in their environment? Michel Foucault identified biopower as the power to foster life and disallow it to the point of death. The anthropocene, as contemporary buzzword and historical designation, is recognized as the period in which humans have been seen as playing a significant part in affecting the ecological and climatic systems. The anthropocene is the proposed name for the period of anthropogenic climate change. How is life fostered or disallowed during this period? What sorts of life are promoted and what are the ways in which one should approach life? As a way of dealing with this spatially, historically, and conceptually expansive topic, the course focuses on specific case studies. Particular policies addressed include: the New Green Deal, Health Care and Resource Allocation in the United States, the Management or Mismanagement of Refugees of Climate Catastrophes, and the Distribution of Health Care Globally. Osman Nemli.

Topic for 2019/20ab: Philosophy and Technology. (Same as STS 106 ) This course studies historical and contemporary philosophical accounts of the nature of technology, and its relationship with moral and political values. Emphasis throughout is placed upon argumentative rigor, clarity, and precision. Jamie Kelly.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS