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Philosophy is about as broad a subject as one can find in a university curriculum. It addresses a wide array of questions, some quite familiar (Does God exist? Why be moral? What is art?), others less so (What is a thing? Is space a substance?). Philosophy includes the examination of its own methods, and its own history. It also falls within philosophy to examine the methods and practices of virtually all academic disciplines. Because of this breadth, a person can study philosophy in ways involving the styles and techniques of thought of most other fields of inquiry. For example, the work of a philosopher concentrating in logic is much like that of the student of mathematics. A philosopher primarily interested in the philosophy of religion will often be doing much the same things as a theologian or a student of the history of religion. Political philosophy is regarded by some as including political activity itself. Many other such examples exist. In addition, Philosophy examines the practices of other activities, such as the fine arts, that are sometimes thought of as different from typical academic disciplines. However, for the most part the activities characteristic of philosophy are peculiar to the discipline. The only way to know what it's really like is to give it a try.
A number of philosophy courses that do not carry prerequisites are available in the Fall to first-year students. These include general introductions designed to acquaint students with a representative sample of philosophical problems (232 and 297), as well as an introduction that focuses on substantive moral problems (355), an introduction to formal logic (303), and a First-year Seminar (196).
The general introductions deal, for example, with questions concerning the nature of reality, knowledge, the self and the mind, freedom, morality, society, and religion. In Philosophy 232 and 355, a faculty member delivers a lecture two hours per week, and students divide into groups of 25 for discussion sections led by graduate students. Philosophy 297 is an introduction to philosophy open to Honors students (and to others by permission of the instructor), taught by faculty members to groups of 25 students. Philosophy 303 is faculty-taught an introduction to formal or symbolic logic. Though this latter courses carries a 300-level number, it has no prerequisite.
There is additional information about the Department's curriculum in "The Undergraduate Program in Philosophy." This brochure contains information intended for students interested in taking philosophy courses, whether or not they are considering a Philosophy concentration. The Department also maintains a home page (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/). To request a copy of the undergraduate brochure, contact the Department Office (2215 Angell Hall, 764-6285). The Office can also provide information about the Department's Undergraduate Philosophy Club and undergraduate e-mail group.
196. First Year Seminar. Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (HU).
Section 001 - Nature and Virtue in Chinese and Western Philosophy. This course is an introduction to various views, taken from both traditional Chinese and Western philosophy, about the character of human nature and its relationship to conceptions of the virtues. Most thinkers who can be described as "virtue ethicists" ground their views about the virtues in an understanding of human nature. The idea is that in one way or another virtues are those traits of character that facilitate and encourage the flourishing of human nature and lead to the living of good human lives. And so there is often an intimate relationship between theories of human nature and conceptions of virtues. In addition to exploring and comparing a number of examples of eastern and western philosophers who espouse different versions of virtue ethics, we will also examine more recent philosophical writings on virtue ethics. Every student is expected to participate regularly in class and to lead the discussion for part of one class meeting. All students are required to write one-page, weekly reflections on the assigned readings and a final paper, 12-15 double spaced typed pages in length. WL:1 (Ivanhoe)
Section 005 - Logic and the Study of Meaning. It has been over a hundred years since systems of logic were developed in order to provide a theory of mathematical proofs. One of the most exciting later developments has consisted in working out how these theories could be used to approach meaning in natural language and to common sense reasoning. This work has been important not only in Philosophy, but in Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, and Computer Science. This course will provide an introduction to some of the most important and basic ideas of the information age. We will use instructional software to provide a quick, informal introduction to logic. We will discuss how the logical ideas can be used to model the meanings of English sentences, and to account for several types of everyday reasoning. This course can serve as the basis for further work in Philosophy and the many other fields that make use of ideas from logic. The course will meet Fridays, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm. WL:1 (Thomason)
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232. Problems of Philosophy. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in 181, 182, 202, 231, 234, or 297. (4). (HU).
This course is open to students from all areas of the University. No previous work in philosophy is assumed. First-term undergraduates are welcome. The course will provide an introduction to some fundamental philosophical problems drawn from a variety of branches of philosophy. Four of the following topics will be discussed: (1) determinism, free will, and moral responsibility; (2) arguments for and against the existence of God; (3) skepticism about the existence of the material world; (4) the nature of personal identity; (5) the relationship between mind and body; and (6) egoism, altruism, and the nature of moral obligation. The course also seeks to develop, through papers and intensive discussion, philosophical, and more generally critical and argumentative, skills. There will be two required papers. Course readings will be drawn from an anthology, Joel Feinberg, editor, Reason and Responsibility, and possibly a course pack. WL:4 (Loeb)
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297. Honors Introduction to Philosophy. Honors students or permission of instructor. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in 181, 182, 202, 231, 232, or 234. (3). (HU).
Section 001. This course will provide an introduction to the problems and methods of contemporary philosophy through an examination of three central issues: (1) The existence of God: Are there plausible arguments for the existence of God? How can the existence of an omnipotent and loving Creator be reconciled with the existence of worldly evil? (2) Personal identity: What is a person? Are you the same person you were five years ago? If so, why? If not, then how can you be held morally responsible for your earlier actions? (3) Free will: Are our decisions about how to act just part of the chain of causes and effects? If so, does that mean we can never act freely? WL:4 (Proops)
Section 004. The course will provide a survey and discussion of some of the major problems with which philosophy is traditionally concerned. While much of the reading will be from contemporary philosophers, some historical texts will be read as well. Among the general topics to be discussed are the following: skepticism and the possibility of knowledge; the connection between mind and matter; free will, determinism, and responsibility; the nature of morality; the meaning of life. The nature of philosophy itself will also be discussed, and hopefully made clearer in the process of tackling philosophical questions. WL:4 (Arpaly)
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303. Introduction to Symbolic Logic. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in Phil. 203, 296 or 414. (3). (MSA). (BS).
Symbolic logic is the application of formal, mathematical methods to human reasoning. Its goal is to determine which forms of reasoning must produce true conclusions when applied to true premises. This course will introduce students to the two simplest, but most important systems of formal logic: the propositional calculus, which classifies forms of reasoning that involve the truth-functional operations of negation, disjunction, and conjunction ("not," "or" and "and"); and the monadic predicate calculus, which characterizes inferences involving the quantifiers "all" and "some." The first half of the course will focus on the propositional calculus. A system of inference rules will be developed, and students will be shown how it can be applied both to the evaluation of ordinary arguments and to problems as "practical" as the design of computer chips and the simplification of electric circuitry in houses. A series of "metatheorems" will then be proved to show that the system developed indeed captures all and only the valid truth-functional inferences. During this portion of the course, students will also be asked to master proofs by mathematical induction. The second half of the course will be dedicated to the study of first-order logic. Basic concepts of the proof theory and model theory for first-order monadic languages will be discussed, and the important metatheorems theorems will be stated, among them the completeness, compactness, and Lowenheim Skolem theorems. There will be regular homework assignments, assigned weekly, as well as a midterm examination and a final. WL:1 (Tappenden)
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355. Contemporary Moral Problems. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in 455. (4). (HU).
Contemporary life faces us with many questions that have moral dimensions, some obvious, some less so. In this course, we will explore the moral dimensions of a range of contemporary issues, including abortion, equality, affirmative action, freedom of expression, justice across national boundaries and across generations, and the treatment of animals. In the process, we will also be examining competing conceptions of morality and justice, and the presuppositions about human nature, society, and value that underlie them. In one unit of the course we will focus on questions about race and gender, looking first at conceptual and empirical issues concerning these two categories - including the various real or alleged differences and inequalities associated with them - and then at the moral issues they raise for contemporary society. Three papers and a final examination. Cost:3 (est.) WL:4 (Railton)
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