| Moral Theory | Applied Ethics | Philosophy of Science | Philosophy of Biology | History of Philosophy | Misc. Courses | ||
| I have taught a number of courses on various facets of ethical theory and applied ethics: moral theory (introductory and advanced), biomedical ethics, philosophy of law, and business & professional ethics. In the future, I will also be teaching philosophy of science and philosophy of biology. In addition to formal course offerings, I have led graduate reading groups and/or independent studies in the metaphysics of causation, the biological bases of morality, and social & political philosophy. | ||
| Moral Theory (Introductory and Advanced) | ||
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Introduction to Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 4 (Summer 2001) | ||||
| This course will serve as an introduction to the three different branches of ethics: applied ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics. We will begin by considering challenges to the entire enterprise of ethics (amoralism and cultural relativism), then we will turn to applied ethics and discuss abortion, euthanasia, duty to aid, and animal rights. Next, we will consider the three dominant normative theories: John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism, Immanuel Kant’s deontology, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics, as well as their associative criticisms. Finally, we will discuss different ways of understanding the meaning of moral claims. | ||||
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Advanced Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 100A (Spring 2003) | ||||
| Ethics is frequently divided into three branches: meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. In this course on theoretical ethics, we will study the first two branches. We will begin by studying challenges to morality: the challenge cultural relativism, the challenge of amoralism, and the challenge of moral responsibility. Next, we will study some issues in meta-ethics: the meaning of moral claims, the nature of reason, and the distinction between fact and value. For the latter half of the course, we will discuss the three most dominant moral theories: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue theory. For each of these theories, we will consider both classical and contemporary formulations, as well as the associative criticisms. | ||||
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Advanced Ethics: Moral Philosophy | |||
| Philosophy 3310 (Spring 2006) | ||||
| Ethics is frequently divided into three branches: meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. In this course on theoretical ethics, we will study the first two branches. We will begin by studying two traditional challenges to morality: cultural relativism and amoralism. Next, we will study some issues in meta-ethics, especially focusing on the meaning of moral claims. For the latter half of the course, we will discuss the three most dominant moral theories: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. For each of these theories, we will consider classical formulations, as well as the associative criticisms. | ||||
| Applied Ethics | ||
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Biomedical Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 7 (Winter 2003) | ||||
| This course will deal with moral controversies that arise in a biomedical ethics. The issues to be examined are human cloning, surrogate motherhood, abortion, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, human and animal research, organ procurement, lying to patients, decision making for the incompetent, etc. The student's grade for the course will be the result of a short paper (2-3 pages), a midterm exam, a longer paper (4-5 pages), and a cumulative final exam. | ||||
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Biomedical Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 7 (Winter 2004) | ||||
| Biomedical ethics is composed of two separate fields: bioethics and medical ethics. Bioethics is the study of the ethics of life (and death), and includes familiar topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, euthanasia, and human and animal experimentation. We shall spend approximately the first two-third of the course on these issues. For the last third of the course, we shall discuss topics in medical ethics, which is concerned with “micro” issues such as the moral underpinnings of doctor-patient relationships as well as “macro” issues such as the structures of medical institutions or the duties that societies have to provide health care for those in need. | ||||
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Biomedical Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 3340 (Fall 2005) | ||||
| Biomedical ethics is composed of two separate fields: bioethics and medical ethics. Bioethics is the study of the ethics of life (and death), and includes familiar topics such as abortion, cloning, stem cell research, euthanasia, and human and animal experimentation. We shall spend approximately the first two-third of the course on these issues. For the last third of the course, we shall discuss topics in medical ethics, which is concerned with “micro” issues such as the moral underpinnings of doctor-patient relationships as well as “macro” issues such as the structures of medical institutions or the duties that societies have to provide health care for those in need. No previous coursework in philosophy is required for this course and fundamental concepts in moral philosophy (e.g., consequentialism and deontology) will be explained as they become relevant. Note that this is a course on theoretical (as opposed to clinical) bioethics. | ||||
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Biomedical Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 3340 (Spring 2006) | ||||
| Biomedical ethics is composed of two separate fields: bioethics and medical ethics. Bioethics is the study of the ethics of life (and death), and includes familiar topics such as abortion, cloning, stem cell research, allocation of scarce medical resources, and euthanasia. We shall spend approximately the first two-third of the course on these issues. For the last third of the course, we shall discuss topics in medical ethics, which is concerned with “micro” issues such as the moral underpinnings of doctor-patient relationships as well as “macro” issues such as the structures of medical institutions or the duties that societies have to provide health care for those in need. No previous coursework in philosophy is required for this course and fundamental concepts in moral philosophy (e.g., consequentialism and deontology) will be explained as they become relevant. This is a course on theoretical (as opposed to clinical) bioethics. | ||||
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Business & Professional Ethics | |||
| Philosophy 6 (Spring 2002) | ||||
| This course will serve as a general introduction to business and professional ethics. We will discuss the most fundamental issues in business ethics, as well as consider ethical issues that pertain to the specific professions of accounting and finance, journalism, medicine, and law. For most topics, we will consider moral arguments for and against various practices; students will be encouraged to draw their own conclusions regarding the moral permissibility of these practices. No previous experience in moral philosophy is required for this course, and we will discuss important moral theories (e.g., utilitarianism and deontology) as they become relevant to certain issues and/or arguments. | ||||
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Philosophy of Law | |||
| Philosophy 143 (Summer 2002) | ||||
| In this course, we will study the most central topics within philosophy of law. In our first unit, we will try to ascertain what a law is and which laws are legitimate and binding. We will then consider issues of liberty and constitutional interpretation, using the issue of privacy as a transition from one to the other. Next, we will try to understand the notion of legal responsibility and also discuss when responsibility might be undermined. In the fifth unit, we will consider various theories of punishment, as well as the death penalty in particular. Finally, we will discuss the moral underpinnings of the adversarial legal system. | ||||
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Social & Political Philosophy | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| This course will consider major themes within social and political philosophy as instantiated in both classical and contemporary sources. We will start by discussing differing understandings of the state of nature, as well as the associative social contracts that serve as exit strategies from pre-societal life. We will then discuss various approaches to property rights, focusing on John Locke’s classical formulation, as well as Marxian and contemporary libertarian ideas. In the largest unit of the course, we will examine the theories of distributive justice proposed by John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Karl Marx. Next, we will discuss the extent to which liberty should be respected, and when, if ever, the state may impugn the freedoms of its citizenry. Finally, we will discuss the ideals of equality, as well as try to understand the nature of rights. | ||||
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Environmental Ethics | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| This course will consider major themes within environmental ethics. We will start by evaluating arguments regarding the source and justification of nature’s value. Next, we will consider the moral status of non-human animals. In the third unit, we will evaluate arguments for and against biodiversity and preservation of the environment. Relatedly, the fourth unit will investigate whether we have moral duties to future generations in terms of the environments that we bestow upon them. The fifth and sixth unit are concerned with the related issues of overpopulation and world hunger. Time permitting, we will conclude the course by briefly assessing moral arguments regarding pollution, pesticides, and the greenhouse effect. | ||||
| Philosophy of Science | ||
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Philosophy of Science (Intro) | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| Science appears to be extraordinarily successful is two crucial respects. First, science apparently serves as an extremely reliable vehicle for arriving at the truth (as contrasted with astrology or palm reading). Second, the methodology of science seems eminently rational (again as opposed to the methodologies of astrology or palm reading). Philosophers have been quite interested in these two apparent virtues of science. Some philosophers think that the two virtues are illusory and that, upon reflection, science is not significantly superior to astrology or palm reading. Some philosophers even reject concepts like truth and rationality as somehow bogus or illegitimate. Our basic goal in this course is to survey 20th century philosophy of science as centered upon such disputes. To this end, our focus will be upon the following question: are truth and rationality genuine features of scientific inquiry, or are they mere illusions? | ||||
| Philosophy of Biology | ||
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Philosophy of Biology (Intro) | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| This course will address the central issues in philosophy of biology, and will focus on the philosophical issues and implications of evolutionary theory. We will start by discussing pre-Darwinian attitudes toward the observed design and complexity of the natural world, and will then see how Darwin’s theory provided a naturalistic explanation for these phenomena. After discussing the philosophical implications of evolution by natural selection, we will consider contemporary challenges to the orthodox view, as well as discuss the debate over the levels at which selection operates. Next, we will study the species problem, and will then return to evolutionary theory to investigate the current debate over adaptationism. Finally, we will look at whether evolutionary theory has any implications for ethics or epistemology, as well as look at models of cultural, as opposed to biological, evolution. | ||||
| History of Philosophy | ||
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Ancient Philosophy | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| This course is an introduction to Ancient Greek Philosophy and, since it addresses problems that remain central to modern thought, is also an introduction to philosophy in general. We shall begin with the emergence of philosophical thought and rational criticism in the Greek world: the passage from mythological ways of thought to the rational approaches of the Pre-Socratics. This will provide the background for approaching the philosophy of Socrates as presented in early Platonic dialogues; we shall also spend time on Plato’s Republic. Finally, we will discuss Aristotle’s contributions to philosophy, focusing especially on his Nichomachean Ethics, though also incorporating other writings. | ||||
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Early Modern Philosophy: 16th & 17th Century Philosophy | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| The Medieval philosophers sought to establish the existence of God and reconcile the existence of such a deity with the presence of evil in the world. As philosophy entered the modern period, there were significant advancements in science, including the development of the scientific method. As a result of these developments, there came to be an increased concern about the epistemological and metaphysical foundations and implications of the new science. Alongside these developments there were developments in political philosophy which have, in many ways, shaped the political development of our own country. In this course, we will study the scientific revolution, the aforementioned developments in political philosophy, and the epistemological and metaphysical views of the rationalists (as opposed to the empiricists). | ||||
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Late Modern Philosophy: 18th & 19th Century Philosophy | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| In the second part of the modern period, empiricism emerged as a tradition to rival the rationalism of René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Leibniz. The pioneers of this empiricist tradition were British: John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. After investigating the transition from rationalism to empiricism, we will study the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language of these British Empiricists. We will then discuss Immanuel Kant, whose philosophy systematized both rationalist and empiricist intuitions. Finally, we will consider the beginnings of American pragmatism as exemplified in the works of William James. | ||||
| Misc. Courses In Philosophy | ||
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Introduction to Philosophy | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| In this course, students will be introduced to important topical and methodological themes within analytic philosophy. To carry out this project, we will investigate key ideas and debates within several different branches of philosophy: philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics. Through these investigations, students will gain wide exposure to various realms of philosophical inquiry, many of which may be pursued in greater detail in other classes within our department. | ||||
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Introduction to Logic / Critical Thinking | |||
| Proposed Course (In Development) | ||||
| This class will serve as a general introduction to logic by introducing the student to numerous principles and methods of reasoning. Various pitfalls to be avoided will also be discussed. Hopefully, students will leave the class with a solid understanding of the basic principles and methods of logic and an ability to apply such principles and methods while engaging in everyday patterns of reasoning. | ||||