Philosophy
Connecticut Hall, 432.1665
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Chairs
Karsten Harries (Acting) [F]
Michael Della Rocca [Sp]
Directors of Graduate Studies
Sun-Joo Shin (Acting [F]) (107 Connecticut Hall, 432.1682, sun-joo.shin@yale.edu)
Karsten Harries [Sp] (107 Connecticut Hall, 432.1682, karsten.harries@yale.edu)
Professors
Keimpe Algra (Visiting [F]), Seyla Benhabib, Susanne Bobzien, J. Baird Callicott (Visiting), Jules Coleman, Michael Della Rocca, Keith DeRose, Samuel Gorovitz (Visiting), John Hare, Karsten Harries, Robin Jeshion, Shelly Kagan, Sun-Joo Shin
Assistant Professors
Katalin Balog, Troy Cross, Jonathan Gilmore, James Kreines, Michael Nelson, Matthew Smith, Michael Weber
Fields of Study
Fields include most of the major areas of philosophy. Please write for departmental statement.
Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
In the first two years all students must complete a total of twelve term courses. Graduate courses are grouped: (1) metaphysics, theory of knowledge, philosophy of science; (2) ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, political philosophy, and theory of value; (3) history of philosophy. No more than six and no fewer than two courses may be taken in each group. A course in logic must also be taken, although on the basis of previous work a student may petition to have this requirement waived. Two qualifying papers must be submitted, one in history, the other in another distribution area; normally the first of these papers will be submitted by mid-September, the second by December, of a student's third year. It is expected that these papers will be more substantial and professional than an ordinary term paper. Students must demonstrate competence in at least one of the following languages: French, German, Greek, or Latin, normally by the end of the second year. Students in Philosophy will teach in the third and fourth years. They must have teaching experience in at least two distribution areas. Approval of the dissertation prospectus is expected before the end of the sixth term. Upon completion of all predissertation requirements, including the prospectus, students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. Admission to candidacy must take place by the end of the third year of study. The norm for completion of the Ph.D. degree is five to six years.
Master's Degrees
M.Phil. See Graduate School requirements.
M.A. (en route to the Ph.D.). An M.A. degree is awarded to students after completion of six term courses with an average grade of High Pass.
Program materials are available upon request to the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Philosophy, Yale University, PO Box 208306, New Haven CT 06520-8306. See Philosophy Web page for information (www.yale.edu/philos).
Courses
PHIL 567au, Mathematical Logic. Sun-Joo Shin.
TTh 1–2.15
An introduction to the metatheory of first-order logic, up to and including the completeness theorem for the first-order calculus. An introduction to the basic concepts of set theory is included.
PHIL 600bu, Descartes. Michael Della Rocca.
T 1.30–3.20
A close examination of Descartes's views on skepticism, perception, philosophy of mind, causation, and the nature of the physical world. Consideration of writings from throughout his career as well as influential secondary literature.
PHIL 601bu, Aristotle. John Hare.
TTh 2.30–3.45
A close reading of selected portions of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in the Greek. Also GREK 712bu.
PHIL 602au, Hellenistic Philosophical Theology. Keimpe Algra.
T 3.30–5.20
This seminar focuses on the philosophical theologies of Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics, largely on the basis of the debates recorded in Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods, against the background of ancient philosophical theology in general.
PHIL 625bu, Consciousness—Philosophical Issues. Katalin Balog.
Th 1.30–3.20
The problem of consciousness is considered by most philosophers of mind the “hard problem,” i.e., the difficult part of the mind-body problem. Arguments against physicalism, i.e., the view that everything is, or is composed of, physical stuff, often take consciousness as their starting point. Discussion of these arguments as well as physicalist proposals for a theory of consciousness.
PHIL 626au, Singular Thought. Robin Jeshion.
T 1.30–3.20
We examine theories of language and mind that aim to explain how we refer to and think about objects in the world. We focus on understanding a distinction between de dicto and de re thoughts: thoughts that are purely discursive (conceptual) and thoughts that are singular in that they are, in a certain sense, directly about objects.
PHIL 627au, Demonstratives in Thought and Language. Michael Nelson.
T 7–8.50
Some sentences seem to depend on context. Classic examples involve indexicals (the sentence “I am happy,” for example) and demonstratives (the sentence “That is a book,” for example). Similarly, some thoughts seem to depend on context. In this seminar we look at theories of the relationship between what a sentence says and context, on the one hand, and the content of a mental state and context, on the other.
PHIL 628bu, Philosophy of Logic. Sun-Joo Shin.
M 3.30–5.20
An examination of some basic philosophical issues in logic. Topics include justifications of deductive and inductive reasoning, connectives, quantifiers, paradoxes, modal logic, many-valued logic, and diagrammatic logic.
PHIL 629au, Vagueness and the Sorites Paradox. Susanne Bobzien.
Th 1.30–3.20
We study some of the main approaches to the Sorites paradox and examine what semantics (if any) can be given for vague expressions as well as what role pragmatic considerations ought to play in an account of vagueness.
PHIL 630bu, Appearance and Reality. Troy Cross.
T 3.30–5.20
An investigation of the nature of ultimate reality and the relations between the fundamental and the derivative. Theories of ultimate reality include physicalism, idealism, atomism, and monism. Dependence relations between the fundamental and the derivative include mereological composition, reduction, supervenience, and emergence.
PHIL 631au, Psychological Explanations. Katalin Balog.
Th 1.30–3.20
A critical philosophical examination of two kinds of psychological explanation: commonsense psychological explanations and those offered by Freudian psychoanalysis. We evaluate the scope and relationship of these different modes of explanation and assess their scientific status. We also discuss related issues including self-deception and irrationality, transformation and therapy.
PHIL 633bu, Nonconceptual Content. Robin Jeshion.
M 1.30–3.20
Can we have any perceptual experiences of the world that are not conceptually mediated? An exploration of this question with an eye toward understanding what it means for a theory of mental representation.
PHIL 651au, Ethics, Health Policy, and the Law. Samuel Gorovitz.
W 1.30–3.20
Examination of issues at the intersection of health care, ethics, and public policy; e.g., regulation of supplements (liberty vs. safety), control of medical information (efficiency vs. privacy), infectious diseases—SARS, bio-terrorism (civil rights vs. public health).
PHIL 655bu, Normative Ethics. Shelly Kagan.
T 1.30–3.20
A systematic examination of normative ethics, the part of moral philosophy that attempts to articulate and defend the basic principles of morality. The bulk of the course surveys and explores some of the main normative factors relevant in determining the moral status of a given act or policy (features that help make a given act right or wrong). Brief consideration of some of the main views about the foundations of normative ethics (the ultimate basis or ground for the various moral principles).
PHIL 656bu, The Environment: Aesthetics and Ethics. J. Baird Callicott, Stephen Kellert.
M 3.30–5.20
A study of natural aesthetics and its ethical implications, from eighteenth-century concepts of the sublime and the beautiful to contemporary concepts of topophilia, biophilia, and cognitive, imaginative, and narrative modes of environmental perception.
PHIL 657au, Rational Choice Theory. Michael Weber.
W 3.30–5.20
A philosophically sophisticated introduction to the theory of rational choice that underlies orthodox treatments of decision-making behavior in economics, political science, and other social sciences. Some of the paradoxes of rational choice theory are examined, including the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Allais Paradox, and Newcomb's Problem, in an attempt to derive conclusions about the nature of practical reason. Topics also include the use and alleged misuse of rational choice theory in the social sciences.
PHIL 659au, Freedom of Expression. Jonathan Gilmore.
T 3.30–5.20
The history and theory of freedom of expression from the standpoints of philosophy, law, art history, and literary criticism. Topics include censorship of art and literature, self-expression and self-realization, First Amendment interpretation, autonomy, paternalism, and rights.
PHIL 660bu, Property. Matthew Smith.
W 3.30–5.20
This course is about property: what it is, how it works, and how it can be justified. We read diverse texts, including philosophical works, decisions by the Supreme Court and other courts, and papers discussing recent developments in social psychology.
PHIL 700a, Contemporary Critical Theory. Seyla Benhabib.
W 3.30–5.20
Is Habermas's theory of communicative ethics a moral theory or a theory of legitimation? Contemporary critics have argued that it fails in both respects. This course examines challenges to communicative ethics through a group of thinkers whom we may name “ethical pluralists” and “political agonists.” Readings from Juergen Habermas, Charles Taylor, Bernard Williams, Barbara Herman, Isaiah Berlin, A. Honneth, R. Forst, James Bohman, Chantal Mouffe, and others. Also PLSC 583a.
PHIL 701b, Epistemology. Keith DeRose.
W 1.30–3.20
A study of some prominent issues in current epistemology. Topics may include skepticism, internalist vs. externalist accounts of knowledge and of justification, the structure of knowledge and justification (foundationalism vs. coherentism), contextualism in epistemology, and the “relevant alternatives” account of knowledge.
PHIL 702a, Kant's Critique of Judgment. Karsten Harries.
T 10.30–12.20
PHIL 703b, Descent of the Logos: Heidegger's Way from Logic to Poetry. Karsten Harries.
T 10.30–12.20
At the very center of Heidegger's thinking is a concern with logos, and that means also with logic. But what logos and logic meant to him changed: If the young Heidegger wanted to free logic from grammar, Being and Time argued for a liberation of grammar from logic. Continuing reflection led him to turn from logic to poetry and to reconsider his theological beginning, in which his logical reflections had their origin. Readings in Being and Time, Introduction to Metaphyscis, “The Origin of the Work of Art,” “Poetically Man Dwells,” “Hölderlin and the Essence of Poetry,” “Building Dwelling Thinking,” On the Way to Language.
PHIL 704a, Complexity: Theory of Meaning and the Literary Text.Benjamin Harshav.
W 1.30-3.20
The course presents a comprehensive and systematic theory of works of literature as the highest sign-complexes in human culture. Departing from the basic concepts of meaning and reference in linguistics and philosophy of language, a theory of semantic integration is developed. Departing from the basic assumptions of narratology and the philosophy of fictional worlds, a theory of works of literature as complex and open-ended constructs is offered. Also CPLT 541au.
PHIL 750, Tutorial.
By arrangement with faculty.
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