Philosophy Course Offerings Fall 2009

Philosophy and the Human Being, Phil 101

Multiple Sections & Professors.

Required of all Siena students in fulfillment of the Core Disciplinary Requirement.

Required as a pre-requisite for all courses listed below.

[Courses with * fulfill Core Area Requirement for “Philosophical Questions”]

*Philosophy and Reality, Phil 202 (MW 3:40-5:00, Blanchard)

This course will offer an introduction to some of the central questions of pure philosophy through their examination by traditional and contemporary writers. We will seek to understand the most general features of the world: existence, individuality, time and space, identity through change, cause and effect; our place in the world as conscious minds and bodies, and as possibly free agents; whether there are other worlds, and why there is a world at all. This course extends and widens the scope of issues presented in PHIL101.

*Ethics, Phil 210 (TTH 1:00-2:20, McErlean) & (TTH10:00-11:20, Grenchus)

This course will offer a treatment of classic moral theorists, including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill. We will consider what it means to: live a good life, live well in community with others, live as a being with a soul, to have dignity and treat others with dignity, to pursue happiness for oneself and for others, and to be just. The ultimate goal of this course will be the critical application of moral theory to contemporary moral questions and problems. We will explore what we think; for this reason, a high degree of class participation is required.

*Philosophy of Law, Phil 279 (MWF 10:25-11:20, Santilli) & (MWF 1:30-2:25, Santilli)

This course features contemporary thinking about the nature and purpose of legal institutions, particularly courts of justice. It examines moral ideas like those of rights, goods, interests, responsibility, and fault, relative to their influence on theories of crime, punishment, contracts, civil suits, and constitutional law. Students will have a special opportunity to discuss the principles of international law concerning torture. This is a sophisticated, informative class that reads philosophical texts in the light of legal theory and appeals court decisions philosophically.

*Philosophy of Science, Phil 330 (MWF 9:20-10:15, Alexander)

This course will examine three of the most influential perspectives on the nature of science in twentieth century Anglo-American philosophy: logical empiricism, historicism, and realism. Logical empiricism, dominant during the first half of the twentieth century, focused on developing formal accounts of such scientific activities as confirmation and explanation. In the middle of the twentieth century, this perspective was challenged by historicism, which focused on the history of science and the radical discontinuities that exist between successive scientific worldviews. By the end of the twentieth century, both logical empiricism and historicism had given way to realism – an approach committed to the view that science aims to develop a literally true account of the natural world. We will examine the central theses and arguments of each of these perspectives, with the goal of developing a better understanding of the nature of science –what it is, what it does, and how it works.

Classic American Philosophy, Phil 420 (TTH 4:00-5:20, Boisvert)

“Pragmatism,” is America’s most important contribution to philosophy. This course will introduce students to the movement and explore its contemporary manifestations. It will begin with an examination of the founding figures, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and Jane Addams, along with the important fellow traveler Oliver Wendell Holmes. The latter part of the course will concentrate on more recent figures who have taken the movement in new directions: Richard Rorty in cultural criticism, Richard Posner in the philosophy of law, and Richard Poirier in literary criticism.

Symposium on Living Philosophers: John D. Caputo, Phil 491

(Class time alternates weekly Friday 2:35-4:45 & Friday 2:35-3:35, Burkey & Boisvert)

The Siena Symposium on Living Philosophers features a 4-credit seminar meeting once a week through the Fall and Spring semesters concentrating on the work of a major contemporary philosopher. That philosopher will be John D. Caputo, a postmodern thinker whose work circulates between philosophy and theology. The seminar is team-taught by two Siena professors, and an external scholar, includes a lectures series open to the public, and visitations by the featured philosopher. Caputo visits once in Fall for a discussion with seminar participants as well as a public lecture, then again in Spring for a second lecture and –the culminating event- a public panel discussion with students based on their research. Students should be willing to work both independently and collaboratively, give oral presentations and produce a research paper, and generally be eager to draw on and contribute to a sustained community of learning. The course is open to students from all majors. Permission of instructor is required. Students enroll for two credits in the Fall and two in the Spring. If you are interested, contact Dr Burkey either by email or phone to set up an appointment. burkey@siena.edu 783-4114