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Subject: Philosophy Philosophy Subject: Philosophy Philosophy 3 The True and the Good (111175) Bernhard Nickel 2018 Fall (4 Credits) Schedule: MWF 1030 AM - 1145 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a How you live your life is not just a matter of taste. The basic outlook of value and perspective that each of us adopts as we make decisions large and small are more than mere opinion. They are commitments that are open to deeper understanding and critique. This course introduces you to the practice of such critique and prepares you for its demands. It introduces you to the practice of philosophy. Issues include the nature of knowledge, of the mind and self, and of right and wrong. We'll also consider race and gender in relation to these philosophical topics. We will pursue these issues by considering both traditional philosophical writers, such as Plato, Descartes, Locke, Kant, and Mill, as well as contemporary writers. Because this course is concerned with the students' active engagement with the material they encounter, this class will be taught in a highly interactive format. No prerequisites Course Notes: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief. Class Notes: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS: General Education Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding FAS: General Education Culture and Belief FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students Writing Intensive Course Yes FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities Philosophy 6 Ancient Ethics and Modern Morality (133181) James Doyle 2019 Spring (4 Credits) Schedule: MWF 1200 PM - 0115 PM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a An historical introduction to ethics, from the Greeks to, roughly, now. We begin with the concept of virtue in Homer and trace its development through Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Aquinas. In the modern period we look, in a somewhat skeptical spirit, at the rise of the 'moral' as a supposedly sui generis category of reasons, traits, obligations etc, as this is found in Hume, Kant, Mill and others. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students HARVARD UNIVERSITY Page 2640 of 3603 9/9/2018 1:16 AM FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration Philosophy 7 Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (114416) Katherine Chambers 2018 Fall (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 1030 AM - 1145 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a The philosophy of ancient Greece forms the cornerstone of Western intellectual thought and culture. This course will survey themes in ancient Greek philosophy from the works of three major figures: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. We will look at their views about how humans should act, the nature of the soul, what the world is like, and how we can have knowledge. In this course we will pay special attention to the arguments given by these philosophers for their views. The goal of the course is not to learn about Greek philosophy; the goal is to learn how to do philosophy. Like the Greeks, our inquiry will be aimed at finding the truth, and we will critically engage with the arguments given by the Greek philosophers to help us get there. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities Philosophy 11 Philosophy of Law (156186) Emilio Mora 2018 Fall (4 Credits) Schedule: MW 1030 AM - 1145 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a Is there a standing duty to obey the law? What is the relation between law and morality? How should judges interpret the constitution? Does the practice of judicial review compromise democratic values? When and in what manner may the state interfere with the conduct of its citizens? We will discuss these and other questions in this survey course on the philosophy of law. Significant attention will be devoted to questions that lie at the intersection of legal and political philosophy. The final part of the course will be determined in consultation with course participants and will be devoted to philosophical puzzles arising in the law. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities Philosophy 12 Ethics of a Human Life (000012) Katherine Chambers 2019 Spring (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 1030 AM - 1145 AM HARVARD UNIVERSITY Page 2641 of 3603 9/9/2018 1:16 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a Ethical questions arise at every stage of a human life, from before a person is born until after she dies. We will explore the ethical questions that arise at familiar stages of a person's life: her conception, childhood, adulthood, death, and after her death. For example, is it bad to be born, to be a child, or to grow old? Why do we love some people and not others? What does it mean to get married? Does it matter what happens to us after we die? We will consider some surprising ways philosophers have tried to answer these questions, and we will think about how the arguments they make can help us better understand the ethical shape of a human life as a whole. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students Philosophy 19 God, Perfection, and Evil: Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (108848) Cheryl Chen 2018 Fall (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 0130 PM - 0245 PM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a An examination of some central themes in the philosophy of religion. Topics include: arguments for the existence of God, miracles, religious experience, the relation between religion and science, divine attributes, providence, and the problem of evil. Readings will include some historical, but mostly contemporary, works in the Western philosophical tradition. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities Philosophy 20 Happiness (205077) Susanna Rinard 2019 Spring (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 1200 PM - 0115 PM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a Should we pursue happiness, and if so, what is the best way to do it? This course will critically assess the answers to these questions given by thinkers from a wide variety of different places, cultures, and times, including Stoicism, Epicureanism, Buddhism, Daoism, and contemporary philosophy, psychology, and economics. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students HARVARD UNIVERSITY Page 2642 of 3603 9/9/2018 1:16 AM Philosophy 24 Ethics of Climate Change (205079) Lucas Stanczyk 2019 Spring (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 1030 AM - 1145 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a How should governments respond to the problem of climate change? What should happen to the level of greenhouse gas emissions and how quickly? How much can the present generation be expected to sacrifice to improve conditions for future generations? How should the costs of mitigation and adaptation be apportioned between countries? Should significant funds be allocated to the study of geo-engineering? We will consider these and other questions in an effort to understand our responsibilities in respect of climate change, with a special focus on the structure of the analytical frameworks that have been dominant among policymakers. Class Notes: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Ethical Reasoning. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities Philosophy 34 Existentialism in Literature and Film (109600) Sean Kelly 2018 Fall (4 Credits) Schedule: TR 1030 AM - 1145 AM Instructor Permissions: None Enrollment Cap: n/a What is it to be a human being? How can human beings live meaningful lives? These questions guide our discussion of theistic and atheistic existentialism and their manifestations in literature and film. Material includes philosophical texts from Pascal, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre; literature from Dostoevsky, Kafka, Beckett; films from Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Carol Reed. Course Notes: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Ethical Reasoning. Class Notes: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Ethical Reasoning. Additional Course Attributes: Attribute Value(s) FAS: General Education Ethical Reasoning Writing Intensive Course Yes All: Cross Reg Availability Available for Harvard Cross Registration FAS: Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students FAS Divisional Distribution Arts
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