Honours Seminars in the Department of Philosophy for 2012

Semester 1

Cosmopolitanism and Community
Dr Thomas Besch
Should we think of our moral and political obligations as limited by our membership in particular communities? Should we define our conceptions of moral and political community according to particular cultural or national characteristics, or in terms of a shared common humanity? Do we have special obligations to our compatriots or general obligations to humanity as a whole? What is the relation between universal principles and local practices, and what are the consequences for our conceptions of practical reason? We shall explore these questions, and others, through an engagement with the arguments of leading contemporary moral and political philosophers.

Habermas
Dr John Grumley
A general introduction to the vast arena of Habermas’s post Theory of Communicative Action political and social philosophy. Commencing with three weeks of introductory lectures, this will be a seminar-style discussion of a selection of papers that provide a taste of the general theoretical contours of his work and of the vast range of his contributions. There may be some possibility to negotiate on topics treated in line with the interests of participants.

Probability
Dr Nick Smith
We make judgements of probabilities all the time (e.g. concerning the chance of rain tomorrow, the likelihood of a particular team winning some game, the chance of getting a certain hand in poker, the probability of a given party winning the next election, and so on) – but what do they really mean? Are there chances ‘out there’ in the world, or are probabilities all in our heads? In this course we shall engage whith these questions, and others in the contemporary philosophy of probability, such as questions of how judgements of probability relate to rational decision-making, and of how we should update probability judgements in light of new evidence. No prior knowledge of probability theory will be assumed.

Imagination, Religion, and Morality
Professor Moira Gatens
This seminar is an introduction to some influential theories of the role of the imagination in religion and morality. We will pay special attention to selected writings from Spinoza, Feuerbach, Freud (and others depending on class interests and time constraints). Imagination has been posited as the source of superstition, religion, and error and, as such, as the enemy of reason and enlightenment. However, imagination also has been seen as necessary for the development of sympathetic fellow feeling and to the cultivation of a moral sense. Through a critical examination of our sources, we will consider the ambiguous status of imagination in human thought and society. (Please note: this will be a regular 13 week 2 hour seminar.)

Metaphysics and Identity
Dr Adrian Heathcote
This seminar series will look critically at the notion of identity, particularly what is called numerical identity. Among the topics we will investigate will be Geach’s notion of relative identity, the validity of the Leibniz principles, the modal status of identity claims, and the existence of so-called contingent identities. Of course we will also look at the issues that arise in questions of personal identity. If time permits we may look at the notion of identity in quantum mechanics.

Happiness, Welfare and Meaning
Dr Caroline West
What does it take to lead a worthwhile life? What is the connection between happiness and welfare? What makes a life meaningful? Should social and political institutions aim to promote (some or all of) these things? We will consider these and related questions by reading some influential recent books on these topics, starting with What is This Thing Called Happiness? by Fred Feldman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). (Free access to an electronic copy of this book is available to students via the library website.)

Semester 2

Time Travel
Dr Kristie Miller
If it were possible for me to travel backwards in time, what would prevent me from murdering my grandfather before he sires my father, thus preventing my own birth and ultimately preventing me travelling back in time to murder said grandfather. The grandfather paradox is but one of many paradoxes that pose questions about whether time travel is logically possible and about whether, if time travel is logically possible it would pose objectionable constraints on the free will of time travellers by somehow requiring that their attempts at grand-patricide are always scuppered. This course will consider a number of such paradoxes including: if I were to travel backwards in time, could I meet my younger self in the past, or is such a meeting inherently problematic for accounts of identity through time? If I could meet myself in the past, could I tell myself what I will do in the future, and if so, does this pose issues for my free will, my powers of deliberation, or my psychological well-being? If our world were one in which the past and present do not exist, and the present is a thin sliver of reality, is it metaphysically possible for anyone to time travel in such a world, since there would seem to be nowhere to travel to? The course will focus on questions pertaining to the metaphysical nature of the universe, the nature of time, and issues pertaining to the freedom of the will.

Kant’s moral philosophy
Prof Paul Redding
In this seminar we closely examine Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Issues to be pursued will include: the place of this account of practical philosophy within the project of Kant’s “transcendental idealism” as a whole; its relation to competing accounts of practical reason, both naturalistic and those of later idealists; and the problems facing a Kantian “moral psychology”.
Text: Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge UP, 1998).

Themes from Cavell
Dr David Macarthur
Stanley Cavell (b.1926-) is an uncategorizable American philosopher who is indispensable for anyone wishing to think fruitfully about why philosophy matters to us, or who is unhappy to be counted as having to stand on one side or other of the analytic/continental divide, or who wishes to give reflections on art and aesthetics and culture a more central role in their thinking. In this course we shall explore a selection of Cavell’s vast and wide-ranging writings: from his ground-breaking reading of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations and his defence of the procedures of ordinary language philosophy, to his influential readings of Hollywood cinema of the 1930’s-1940’s. A central concern will be to understand Cavell’s conception of skepticism as an attack on the ordinary and its personal and political ramifications.

Philosophy of Music
Prof Paul Thom
An introduction to central issues in contemporary philosophies of music, arranged in eight two-hour sessions, covering:

• The nature of music: music and sound
• Music as art and as entertainment
• Musical works: ontology and teleology
• The performance of music: authenticity, interpretation and improvisation
• ‘Absolute’ versus vocal music
• Representation and expression
• Music and the ineffable
• Musical beauty and the musical sublime

The ideas of contemporary figures such as Theodor Adorno, Lee Brown, Carl Dahlhaus, Stephen Davies, Lydia Goehr, Peter Kivy, Jerrold Levinson, Bryan Magee, Aaron Ridley, Jenefer Robinson, Roger Scruton, Michael Tanner and Bernard Williams will be discussed in relation to major historical philosophers including Aristotle, Descartes, Hegel, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Plato, Plotinus, Schiller and Schopenhauer. Audio-visual materials will form part of the seminar.

Philosophy and Genetics
Prof Paul Griffith
The philosophy of genetics provides a window into many key debates in the philosophy of science. This course will deal with questions concerning, scientific explanation, causation, the relationship between theories, models and real world systems, the status of theoretical entities, reduction, emergence, the nature-nurture debate, and conceptual change in science.

Genetics is no longer a single discipline within the biological sciences. Almost all work in the biological sciences has ‘gone molecular’ and genetic concepts and methods can be found throughout biology and biomedicine. Nevertheless, it is still possible to identify some kinds of scientific work whose primary focus is on genes, genetic transmission, or on the nucleic acids and other molecules from which genomes are composed. The course will be organized around a series of these ‘genetic disciplines’. Explaining the philosophical issues raised by genetics necessarily involves explaining the relevant scientific material, and in some cases giving a historical perspective on the current state of the science. Organising the book around particular kinds of genetic work enables us to provide this material in a timely fashion, as and when the reader needs it.

The course will not presuppose prior acquaintance with genetics, but lectures and readings will describe specific examples of work in genetics in some detail.

Venue details for all of these units will be posted on the philosophy notice board, outside the Philosophy Common Room S413, Main Quad A14, at the beginning of semester.