Courses

Courses

Spring 2007

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107. The Seven Deadly Sins
Douglas Young T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Searles-223
Pride. Greed. Lust. Envy. Gluttony. Anger. Sloth. This list of the seven deadly sins (or capital vices) has its roots in 6th century Christianity and antecedents even earlier. These vices continue to influence our ethical thinking today. What do these vices tell us about the moral life and about evil? Are there secular equivalents? What makes them sins? What makes them deadly? Readings are drawn primarily from Aquinas, Dante, and from a recently published seven- volume series on the sins.
112. Modern Philosophy
Denis Corish T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55 Mass-Faculty Room
A survey of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European philosophy, focusing on discussions of the ultimate nature of reality and our knowledge of it. Topics include the nature of the mind and its relation to the body, the existence of God, and the free will problem. Readings from Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, and others.
200. History, Freedom, and Reason
Lawrence Simon M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 Sills-209
A study of the political philosophy and philosophy of history of Kant, Hegel, and Marx.
207. Skepticism
Douglas Young M 1:00 - 2:25, W 1:00 - 2:25 Sills-209
How do you know that the world is the way it appears? Although you seem to be reading a course description right now, can you prove that you're not really just having a rather elaborate (though fairly mundane) dream? With questions like these, the skeptic challenges us to explore whether we know most of things we think we know. Readings are drawn from Plato, Sextus Empiricus, Descartes, Hume and from contemporary sources.
241. Philosophy of Law
Scott Sehon M 10:30 - 11:25, W 10:30 - 11:25, F 10:30 - 11:25 Searles-126
An introduction to legal theory. Central questions include: What is law? What is the relationship of law to morality? What is the nature of judicial reasoning? Particular legal issues include the nature and status of privacy rights (e.g., contraception, abortion, and the right to die); the legitimacy of restrictions on speech and expression (e.g., pornography, hate speech); the nature of equality rights (e.g., race and gender); and the right to liberty (e.g., homosexuality).
258. Environmental Ethics
Lawrence Simon T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25
What things in nature have moral standing? What are our obligations to them? How should we resolve conflicts among our obligations? After an introduction to ethical theory, topics to be covered include anthropocentrism, the moral status of nonhuman sentient beings and of non-sentient living beings, preservation of endangered species and the wilderness, holism versus individualism, the land ethic, and deep ecology.
331. Plato
Denis Corish M 6:30 - 9:25 Edward Pols House-Conference Room
A study of some of the principle dialogues of Plato, drawn chiefly from his middle and later periods. The instructor selects the dialogues that are read, but topics to be studied depend on particular interests of the students.
399. Advanced Seminar: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy
Scott Sehon Lawrence Simon T 6:30 - 9:25 Edward Pols House-Conference Room
An in-depth examination of a topic of current philosophical interest. Students read recent books or journal articles and invite the authors of those works to discuss them with the group. Typically, this involves visits by three guest philosophers per semester. Limited to philosophy majors; others with permission of the instructor.

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