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Courses for Fall 2024

Title Instructor Location Time All taxonomy terms Description Section Description Cross Listings Fulfills Registration Notes Syllabus Syllabus URL Course Syllabus URL
PHIL 0902-301 High School Ethics Bowl Dustin C. Webster TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM In this course, teams of Penn undergraduates, each joined by a graduate student in philosophy, will coach teams of high school students for participation in the National High School Ethics Bowl, an annual competitive yet collaborative event in which teams analyze and discuss complex ethical dilemmas. Cases for the Ethics Bowl will will serve as a foundational starting point for the undergraduate students' investigations into ethical theory, and the study of the Ethics Bowl itself will develop the capacities to provide coaching and mentorship to the teams of high school students from West Philadelphia and across the city. Undergraduates will travel to these school as part of the course, and there will be one or two Saturday sessions. This course will introduce the ethics bowl to many new Philadelphia School District schools and students, and it will provide Penn students with the opportunity to develop their teaching and communication skills, build collaborative relationships with community schools, and solidify their knowledge of ethical theory through coaching.
PHIL 1000-001 Introduction to Philosophy Stephen P Steinberg MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Philosophers ask difficult questions about the most basic issues in human life. Does God exist? What can we know about the world? What does it mean to have a mind? How should I treat non-human animals? Do I have free will? This course is an introduction to some of these questions and to the methods philosophers have developed for thinking clearly about them. Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only) https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL1000001
PHIL 1000-601 Introduction to Philosophy MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM Philosophers ask difficult questions about the most basic issues in human life. Does God exist? What can we know about the world? What does it mean to have a mind? How should I treat non-human animals? Do I have free will? This course is an introduction to some of these questions and to the methods philosophers have developed for thinking clearly about them. Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only)
PHIL 1110-401 Ancient Greek Philosophy Sukaina Hirji MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, literature, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy as a discipline in the Western tradition, looking to thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will examine how natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus distinguished their inquiries from the teachings of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; how ancient atomism had its origins in a response to Parmenides' challenge to the assumption that things change in the world; how Socrates reoriented the focus of philosophy away from the natural world and toward the fundamental ethical question, how shall I live? We will also examine how his pupil, Plato, and subsequently Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems that address the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. Finally, we will examine the ways in which later thinkers such as the Epicureans and Stoics transformed and extended the earlier tradition. CLST1501401 History & Tradition Sector (all classes)
PHIL 1252-401 Introduction to Indian Philosophy Deven Patel TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course will take the student through the major topics of Indian philosophy by first introducing the fundamental concepts and terms that are necessary for a deeper understanding of themes that pervade the philosophical literature of India -- arguments for and against the existence of God, for example, the ontological status of external objects, the means of valid knowledge, standards of proof, the discourse on the aims of life. The readings will emphasize classical Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical articulations (from 700 B.C.E to 16th century CE) but we will also supplement our study of these materials with contemporary or relatively recent philosophical writings in modern India. RELS0055401, SAST0050401 History & Tradition Sector (all classes)
PHIL 1330-001 Ethics MW 9:00 AM-9:59 AM Ethics is the study of right and wrong. This introductory course will introduce students to major ethical theories, the possible sources of normativity, and specific ethical problems and questions. Topics may include euthanasia, abortion, animal rights, the family, sexuality, bioethics, crime and punishment, and war. Society sector (all classes)
PHIL 1330-601 Ethics Milton W. Meyer TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM Ethics is the study of right and wrong. This introductory course will introduce students to major ethical theories, the possible sources of normativity, and specific ethical problems and questions. Topics may include euthanasia, abortion, animal rights, the family, sexuality, bioethics, crime and punishment, and war. Society sector (all classes)
PHIL 1342-001 Bioethics TR 9:00 AM-9:59 AM This course is an introduction to bioethics, focusing on ethical questions arising at the beginning and end of life. Topics will include procreative responsibilities, the question of wrongful life, and prenatal moral status as well as questions of justice related to markets for sperm, eggs and gestation. We will also attend to dilemmas at the end of life, including the authority of advance directives, euthanasia and the allocation of life-saving therapies. Society sector (all classes)
PHIL 1342-301 Bioethics Jacqueline Mae Wallis MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course is an introduction to bioethics, focusing on ethical questions arising at the beginning and end of life. Topics will include procreative responsibilities, the question of wrongful life, and prenatal moral status as well as questions of justice related to markets for sperm, eggs and gestation. We will also attend to dilemmas at the end of life, including the authority of advance directives, euthanasia and the allocation of life-saving therapies. Society sector (all classes) https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL1342301
PHIL 1380-301 Aesthetics MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM This course examines philosophical issues centering on the nature and value of the arts. What is art? What does it mean to have an aesthetic experience? How are aesthetic experiences different from non-aesthetic ones? What is the relation between art and truth? How do the moral qualities in a work of art affect its aesthetic qualities? Why are emotions important in our interpretations of artworks? What is the relation between art and expression? Do forgeries necessarily have less aesthetic value than original artworks? What are aesthetic judgments, and are they merely expressions of taste? Lecture and discussion will center on both classical and contemporary works in aesthetics. Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)
PHIL 1433-001 The Social Contract Carlos J Pereira Di Salvo TR 3:30 PM-4:29 PM This is a critical survey of the history of western modern political philosophy, beginning from the Early Modern period and concluding with the 19th or 20th Century. Our study typically begins with Hobbes and ends with Mill or Rawls. The organizing theme of our investigation will be the idea of the Social Contract. We will examine different contract theories as well as criticisms and proposed alternatives to the contract idea, such as utilitarianism. Besides the above, examples of authors we will read are Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Mill and Marx. Society sector (all classes) https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL1433001
PHIL 1433-301 The Social Contract Samantha Fritz MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This is a critical survey of the history of western modern political philosophy, beginning from the Early Modern period and concluding with the 19th or 20th Century. Our study typically begins with Hobbes and ends with Mill or Rawls. The organizing theme of our investigation will be the idea of the Social Contract. We will examine different contract theories as well as criticisms and proposed alternatives to the contract idea, such as utilitarianism. Besides the above, examples of authors we will read are Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Mill and Marx. Society sector (all classes) https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL1433301
PHIL 1800-001 Philosophy of Science Aydin Mohseni MW 1:45 PM-2:44 PM What counts as a scientific theory? What counts as evidence for a scientific theory? Are scientific inferences justified? Does science give us truths or approximate truths about a world that exists independently of us? How can we know? Does it matter? These are all perennial questions in the philosophy of science, and the goal of this course is to look at how philosophers have answered these questions since the scientific revolution. In addition to reading classic work by philosophers of science, we will read material from living and dead scientists in order to gain a deeper appreciation of the philosophical questions that have troubled the most brilliant scientists in Western science. Nat Sci & Math Sector (new curriculum only)
PHIL 1840-401 Introduction to Cognitive Science Russell Richie TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM How do minds work? This course surveys a wide range of answers to this question from disciplines ranging from philosophy to neuroscience. The course devotes special attention to the use of simple computational and mathematical models. Topics include perception, learning, memory, decision making, emotion and consciousness. The course shows how the different views from the parent disciplines interact and identifies some common themes among the theories that have been proposed. The course pays particular attention to the distinctive role of computation in such theories and provides an introduction to some of the main directions of current research in the field. It is a requirement for the BA in Cognitive Science, the BAS in Computer and Cognitive Science, and the minor in Cognitive Science, and it is recommended for students taking the dual degree in Computer and Cognitive Science. CIS1400401, COGS1001401, LING1005401, PSYC1333401 Nat Sci & Math Sector (new curriculum only)
PHIL 2200-301 Continental Philosophy Daniele Lorenzini MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course is an introduction to 20th-century continental European philosophy, focusing on the origins and development of phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and deconstruction. The centrality of phenomenology to an understanding of these movements and other contemporary trends in European thought will be emphasized throughout. No previous background in philosophy is required.
PHIL 2221-301 Philosophy East and West TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM Our goal in this course is to bring Western Philosophy and Eastern Philosophy into dialogue. Topics will include skepticism and knowledge, ethics and the good life, moral responsibility and personal relationships, and political obligations and justice. Do the Western and Eastern philosophical traditions approach these topics in the same way? Do they even share an understanding of what the problems and issues at stake are? And what can we learn from comparative philosophy? This seminar does not presuppose prior knowledge of philosophy. Examples of authors we will study include Descartes, Aristotle, Mencius, and Confucius.
PHIL 2450-001 Justice, Law and Morality MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM The course will focus on the philosophical background to the individual rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, including 1st Amendment freedoms of religion, expression, and association; the 14th amendment guarantee of Due Process and the rights of privacy, abortion, assisted suicide, and marriage; the Equal Protection clause and equal political rights and the legitimacy of affirmative action; and the Takings and Contract clauses and their bearing on rights of private property and economic freedoms. In addition to Supreme Court decisions on these issues, we will read works by political philosophers and constitutional theorists, including J.S. Mill, Ronald Dworkin, Cass Sunstein, Martha Nussbaum, Katherine MacKinnon and others.
PHIL 2510-301 Philosophy of Race Quayshawn Nigel Julian Spencer TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM Historically, philosophical questions about race have been about the nature and reality of race, the nature of racism, and social or political questions related to race or racism. In fitting with that history, the first part of the course will focus on the nature and reality of race, as understood in biology and as understood by ordinary people. We will begin by looking at biological race theories from Francois Bernier in 1684 to Pigliucci and Kaplan in 2003. Next, we will look at the philosophical work that has been done on the nature and reality of race as ordinarily understood in the contemporary United States. We will discuss racial anti-realism, social constructionism about race, and biological racial realism from well-known philosophers of race like Anthony Appiah, Sally Haslanger, and Joshua Glasgow. The second part of the course will focus on the nature of racism and social or political questions related to race or racism. In our discussion of racism, we will cover, at least, intrinsic racism, extrinsic racism, and institutional racism. In our discussion of social or political issues related to race or racism, we will look at whether any US racial groups should be used to diagnose, study, or treat genetic disorders.
PHIL 2620-001 Introduction to Epistemology and Metaphysics: Knowledge and Reality Daniel Singer TR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Two basic assumptions of academic research are that there are truths and we can know them. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, what it is, how it is produced, and how we can have it. Metaphysics, the study of the basic constituents of reality, the study of being as such. In this introduction to metaphysics and epistemology, we will ask hard questions about the nature of reality and knowledge. No philosophy background is required for this course.
PHIL 3430-301 Topics in Political Philosophy: Poverty Carlos J Pereira Di Salvo TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This majors seminar will focus on various topics in political philosophy. Topics will vary from term to term. https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL3430301
PHIL 3600-301 Topics in Theoretical Philosophy: Philosophy of the Environmental Sciences Carlos Santana MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM This seminar for philosophy majors will cover selected topics in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, or philosophy of language. Topics will vary from term to term. https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL3600301
PHIL 3800-301 Topics in Philosophy of Science Aydin Mohseni MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM A seminar for philosophy majors on selected topics in the Philosophy of Science.
PHIL 4181-401 Kant I Sabina Bremner W 10:15 AM-1:14 PM The course will concentrate on the Critique of Pure Reason and discuss in detail Kant's conception of knowledge and experience, his criticism of traditional metaphysics and the resulting project of a system of transcendental philosophy. GRMN5510401, PHIL6181401
PHIL 4480-402 Oppression: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (SNF Paideia Program Course) Sukaina Hirji
Daniele Lorenzini
MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM What is oppression? Does it define a subjective experience or a structural condition? Should we understand it in terms of a restriction on freedom? Or equality? Or our ability to fully express our agency? And how can it be resisted? The course aims to explore these questions through the reading and discussion of the work of philosophers and critical theorists who have addressed them in the past and continue to address them today. We will thus attempt to get a clearer idea of what oppression is, how it works, and how it can be resisted. We will also discuss its difference vis-à-vis and relation with other concepts such as power, domination, submission, exploitation, and alienation. PHIL6480402
PHIL 4720-401 Topics in Mathematical Logic Scott Weinstein TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM The course focuses on topics drawn from the central areas of mathematical logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory, and computability theory. LGIC4960401, MATH6770401, PHIL6720401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL4720401
PHIL 4721-401 Logic and Computability 1 Henry Piers Towsner TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM This graduate course focuses on topics drawn from the central areas of mathematical logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory, and computability theory. LGIC3100401, MATH5700401, PHIL6721401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL4721401
PHIL 4770-401 Philosophy of Mathematics Scott Weinstein TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM The course will focus on the development of the foundations and philosophy of mathematics from the late nineteenth-century through the present day. Topics may include logicism, formalism, intuitionism, and the foundations of set theory. Ample consideration will be given to some of the fundamental results of mathematical logic, such as the Godel incompleteness theorems and the independence of the Continuum Hypothesis from Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, that have had a profound impact on contemporary approaches to the philosophy of mathematics. PHIL6770401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL4770401
PHIL 4800-401 Philosophy of Science. Quayshawn Nigel Julian Spencer TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM An advanced introduction to the central philosophical questions concerning the nature of scientific knowledge and its relation to experience, and the metaphysical assumptions underlying the natural sciences. Topics to be covered include: science versus pseudoscience, laws of nature, causation, determinism and randomness, theories and models in science, scientific explanation, underdetermination of theories by observation and measurement, realism and antirealism, reductionism and intertheory relations, objectivity and value judgments in science, hypothesis testing and confirmation of scientific theories, and classical paradoxes in scientific methodology. PHIL6800401
PHIL 4843-401 Philosophy and Visual Perception Gary Hatfield Central issues in the philosophy of perception from the modern period, including: what we perceive, the meaningful content of perception, and its relation to a mind-independent external world. Additional topics may include: (1) color perception and color metaphysics; (2) object perception in its interplay between Gestalt organizational factors and background knowledge; (3) the role of ecological regularities in the formation of our visual system and in the ongoing tuning of the system to the environment; (4) the geometry of visual space and the phenomenology of visual appearances of size and shape; (5) the problem of how visual scenes are experienced by means of images. Readings from authors such as Bertrand Russell, R. W. Sellars, Tim Crane, Evan Thompson, Robert Swartz, Wolfgang Metzger, Nelson Goodman, Richard Wollheim, and William Hopp, among others. PHIL6843401
PHIL 5430-301 Topics in Political Philosophy Carlos Santana T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This is a topics-based graduate seminar in political philosophy. Examples of topics we can examine in this course include distributive justice, liberty, equality, and global justice. Course readings will be drawn from a combination of classic and more recent works on the selected topics.
PHIL 5439-401 Hannah Arendt: Literature, Philosophy, Politics Liliane Weissberg T 1:45 PM-4:14 PM The seminar will focus on Arendt's major work, The Origins of Totalitarianism (and its three parts, Anti-Semitism, Imperialism, Totalitarianism). We will also discuss the reception of this work and consider its relevance today. COML6120401, ENGL6120401, GRMN6120401, JWST6120401
PHIL 5620-301 Topics in Epistemology Daniel Singer T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This seminar will cover topics of interest to contemporary epistemologists. Possible topics may include skepticism, accounts of knowledge and justification, virtue epistemology, formal epistemology, social epistemology, feminist epistemology, meta-epistemology and epistemic normativity.
PHIL 5640-301 Philosophy of Mind R 3:30 PM-6:29 PM This course explores core issues in philosophy of mind, such as: the nature of mental states and events, the mind-body problem, and the relationship between philosophy of mind and related disciplines, such as cognitive science. Specific topics may include: identity theories, grounding physicalism, functionalism, computationalism, disjunctivism and knowledge-first theories, internalism and externalism, consciousness, self-knowledge, perception, emotion, action, representationalism, mental causation, and intersections with psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and neuroscience. UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION.
PHIL 5960-640 MLA Proseminar: Problems of Global Justice Kok-Chor Tan T 5:15 PM-7:55 PM This is a topics-based MLA proseminar in political philosophy. Examples of topics we can examine in this course include distributive justice, liberty, equality, and global justice. Course readings will be drawn from a combination of seminal and more recent works on the selected topics.
PHIL 5962-640 Conflict, Ideology, and Public Discourse Stephen P Steinberg CANCELED This MLA seminar will deepen our understanding of the role that political and cultural ideologies -- such as liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, totalitarianism, fundamentalism, etc. -- play in contemporary public discourse and the psychology of ideological thinking that makes political conflicts so difficult to resolve. Drawing on a series of case studies in contemporary political, social and cultural conflict such as recent political campaigns and nationalist movements around the globe, we will identify and examine the ideologies driving such conflicts, and from these we will draw out the common philosophical characteristics and psychological features of ideological thinking. We will begin by considering a series of case studies in contemporary political, social and cultural conflict, drawn from contemporary events such as the 2012 political campaigns, the 2011 debt ceiling debate in Congress, nationalist movements around the globe, etc. We will identify and examine the ideologies driving such conflicts, and from these we will draw out the common philosophical characteristics and psychological features of ideological thinking. Throughout, we will seek to understand the deep attraction of ideological commitments and why they tend to push public discourse and behavior to extremes and even violence. Finally, we will consider efforts to reduce or resolve ideological conflicts thorugh strategies of political compromise, dialogue, toleration, and democratic deliberation. https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL5962640
PHIL 6000-301 Proseminar Jennifer Morton M 12:00 PM-2:59 PM An intensive seminar for first-year doctoral students, with readings drawn from recent and contemporary eistemology and metaphysics, broadly construed. Students will develop their abilities to present and discuss philosophical texts, and to write and revise their own papers.
PHIL 6181-401 Kant I Sabina Bremner W 10:15 AM-1:14 PM The graduate course will concentrate on the Critique of Pure Reason and discuss in detail Kant's conception of knowledge and experience, his criticism of traditional metaphysics and the resulting project of a system of transcendental philosophy. GRMN5510401, PHIL4181401
PHIL 6480-402 Oppression: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives Sukaina Hirji
Daniele Lorenzini
MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM What is oppression? Does it define a subjective experience or a structural condition? Should we understand it in terms of a restriction on freedom? Or equality? Or our ability to fully express our agency? And how can it be resisted? The course aims to explore these questions through the reading and discussion of the work of philosophers and critical theorists who have addressed them in the past and continue to address them today. We will thus attempt to get a clearer idea of what oppression is, how it works, and how it can be resisted. We will also discuss its difference vis-à-vis and relation with other concepts such as power, domination, submission, exploitation, and alienation. PHIL4480402
PHIL 6720-401 Topics in Mathematical Logic Scott Weinstein TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This graduate course focuses on topics drawn from the central areas of mathematical logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory, and computability theory. LGIC4960401, MATH6770401, PHIL4720401
PHIL 6721-401 Logic and Computability 1 Henry Piers Towsner TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM The course focuses on topics drawn from the central areas of mathematical logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory, and computability theory. LGIC3100401, MATH5700401, PHIL4721401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=PHIL6721401
PHIL 6770-401 Philosophy of Mathematics Scott Weinstein TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This graduate course will focus on the development of the foundations and philosophy of mathematics from the late nineteenth-century through the present day. Topics may include logicism, formalism, intuitionism, and the foundations of set theory. Ample consideration will be given to some of the fundamental results of mathematical logic, such as the Godel incompleteness theorems and the independence of the Continuum Hypothesis from Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, that have had a profound impact on contemporary approaches to the philosophy of mathematics. PHIL4770401
PHIL 6800-401 Philosophy of Science. Quayshawn Nigel Julian Spencer TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM This graduate seminar is an advanced introduction to the central philosophical questions concerning the nature of scientific knowledge and its relation to experience, and the metaphysical assumptions underlying the natural sciences. Topics to be covered include: science versus pseudoscience, laws of nature, causation, determinism and randomness, theories and models in science, scientific explanation, underdetermination of theories by observation and measurement, realism and antirealism, reductionism and intertheory relations, objectivity and value judgments in science, hypothesis testing and confirmation of scientific theories, and classical paradoxes in scientific methodology. PHIL4800401
PHIL 6843-401 Philosophy and Visual Perception Gary Hatfield Graduate seminar exploring central issues in the philosophy of perception from the modern period, including: what we perceive, the meaningful content of perception, and its relation to a mind-independent external world. Additional topics may include: (1) color perception and color metaphysics; (2) object perception in its interplay between Gestalt organizational factors and background knowledge; (3) the role of ecological regularities in the formation of our visual system and in the ongoing tuning of the system to the environment; (4) the geometry of visual space and the phenomenology of visual appearances of size and shape; (5) the problem of how visual scenes are experienced by means of images. Readings from authors such as Bertrand Russell, R. W. Sellars, Tim Crane, Evan Thompson, Robert Swartz, Wolfgang Metzger, Nelson Goodman, Richard Wollheim, and William Hopp, among others. PHIL4843401
PHIL 7000-301 Dissertation Workshop Sabina Bremner W 3:30 PM-6:29 PM Registration required for all third-year doctoral students. Third-year students and beyond attend and present their dissertation work or their preliminary exam prospectus. From time to time, topics pertaining to professional development and dissertation writing will be discussed.