PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT

 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

2005 FALL SEMESTER

(If the course description you are looking for is not listed below, you may contact the instructor for information about the content of the course.)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Due to the certain restrictive rules concerning the use of special topics course codes, we cannot open up PHIL 481 Sp. Topics: Science, Politics and Society; PHIL 495 Sp. Topics: Empiricism After Sellars; and PHIL 486 Sp. Topics: Translation under those codes.  Hence:

     If you want to take PHIL 481 Sp. Topics: Sc., Pol. and Soc., register for: PHIL 480
     If you want to take PHIL 495 Sp. Topics: Emp. After Sellars., register for: PHIL 490
     If you want to take PHIL 486 Sp. Topics: Translation, register for: PHIL 331

The codes PHIL-331, PHIL-480, and PHIL-490 are temporary and they will be replaced by some new codes (48A, 48B, and 48C respectively) once they become official.  The replacement of the new codes will be done automatically.  The students don't have to do anything about it.   Please note that changes are currently being made in our programs; so check our Undergraduate Page in the near future again for the result of this process.
 

PHIL 101.01 (Intro. to Philosophy)
Instructor: Yıldız Silier
Description:

This course will introduce some of the fundamental questions of philosophy in epistemology, metaphysics and ethics through the works of Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Mill and Sartre. This will reveal how the main concerns of philosophers have changed through history, from ancient Greek to modern philosophers. Some of the questions we will address are:
- Is there a distinction between reality and appearance?
- What is knowledge? Can scepticism be defeated?
- How is the mind related to the body?
- What makes an action right or wrong? Good or bad?
- Are moral principles objectively valid or are they relative to culture?
- Are all actions motivated by self-interest or are there other motives for action?

Grading: Mid-term exam(%30), paper (%20), classroom participation (%10), final exam (%40)


PHIL 101.02 (Intro. to Philosophy)
Instructor: Gürol Irzık
Description:

This course is an introduction to the main issues, problems, and approaches in philosophy. Topics to be covered are the nature of reality, the sources and grounds of knowledge, the difference between belief and knowledge, the problem of induction, the nature of mental states, free will and determinism, the grounds of moral judgements, the meaning of freedom, social justice and equality.

 Readings:

 Thomas Nagel, What Does it All Mean?

A course reader compiled by the instructor.


PHIL 131.01 (Intro. to Logic I)
Instructor: Sun Demirli
Description:

This is an introductory course in symbolic logic, requiring no prior knowledge of logic and philosophy.  We will be engaged in symbolizing English sentences in the language of a series of logical systems; in constructing derivations from premises to conclusions of valid arguments in these logical systems, and in providing refutations—invalidating models—for the arguments in the languages of these systems that are invalid.


PHIL 213.01 (Ancient Philosophy)
Instructor: Chryssi Sidiropoulou
Description:

"Ancient Philosophy" is a basic introduction to the main themes and questions of Ancient Greek philosophy, from its Ionian beginnings to Aristotle. In referring to the philosophical background created by the Presocratics (Milesians, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Atomists) we will highlight the fundamental themes of Plato’s philosophy. We shall thus  examine Plato’s ontology and epistemology as a response to that pre-existing Greek philosophical tradition. The questions of being and becoming, one and many, sensible and intelligible will be studied by reference to a selection of excerpts from Plato’s Republic. Apart from the Republic, Plato’s dialogue Meno will be studied in considerable detail. Being an approachable instance from the Platonic corpus, the Meno gives  students a chance to familiarize themselves with Plato’s style and way of arguing; furthermore, to study the great Platonic question concerning the teachability of virtue, and the fundamental epistemological distinction between episteme (knowledge) and doxa (belief). The examination of Plato will culminate in the presentation of the three similes (Sun, Divided Line, and Cave) to be found in the Republic.

Phil. 213 will also offer a general introduction to the main ideas of Aristotle’s philosophy as they are to be found in his Metaphysics and Categories. Of particular interest to us here will be the definition of metaphysics, the topic of the four causes, matter and form, potentiality and actuality, substance and accidents, particular vs. universal.


PHIL 273.01 (Epistemology)
Instructor: Murat Baç
Description:

This course is intended to be a general introduction to theory of knowledge.  It will cover some historical material as well as readings from contemporary epistemology literature.  For more information click here.


PHIL 313.01 (History of Modern Philosophy I)
Instructor: Sun Demirli
Description:

We will investigate the philosophical systems of seven representative philosophers of the modern period (that is, the 17th and 18th centuries) -- Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Kant on the Continent, as well as Locke, Berkeley, and Hume in Great Britain.  Special attention will be devoted to selected metaphysical and natural philosophical issues, including substance and causation, mind and body, and the nature of ideas. Some attention will also be given to a number of epistemological issues, most importantly our knowledge of the external world, our knowledge of other minds, and the nature and defensibility of inductive reasoning.  The course has two main goals: (1) to study the metaphysical (and to a lesser degree epistemological) theories of the selected philosophers, paying close attention to the arguments offered on behalf of often very strange positions, and (2) to help you improve your analytical and critical skills, including, for example, extracting and evaluating philosophical arguments.


PHIL 354.01 (Social and Political Philosophy)
Instructor: Yıldız Silier
Description:

This course will focus on the foundations of liberalism (Hobbes, Locke, Mill) and the main critics of liberalism (Rousseau, Marx). It will reveal how different theories of human nature lead to rival views about the function of the state and diverse understandings of freedom, democracy and justice. Some of the questions we will discuss are:
- Is politics a necessary evil or an indispensable component of a fully human life?
- When is political authority legitimate?
- What are the origins and the main functions of the state?
- How can we draw the limits of political authority?
- Do we have to give up some of our freedom to achieve security?
- Is freedom a natural right to be protected or something to be achieved through politics?


PHIL 375.01 (Philosophy of Mind)
Instructor: Stephen Voss
Description:

In this class we raise a metaphysical question: what is it to have a mind; what is it to be that kind of being? Beings with minds are capable of mental states such as sensation, feeling, and intentional states or propositional attitudes like belief and desire. What is the nature of such states? What is the nature of consciousness? How does it enable access to our own mental states? This class provides philosophical preparation for serious work on the traditional mind-body problem and for cognitive science. Short papers and final exam.


PHIL 331.01 (Translation) (Note: This course was originally announced under the code PHIL 486.  See explanation on top of the page)
Instructor: İlhan İnan
Description:

Wednesday 14:00-17:00  in M 2152, Office: TB 360,  Telephone:  359 7218,

This is a course offered for the first time upon a request coming from a group of undergraduate philosophy students. In this course each participant will choose an important philosophical text, originally written in a language other than Turkish, and translate it into Turkish. Before starting on the translation work the participant will do a short presentation in-class justifying the philosophical significance of the text and why translating it into Turkish will be a contribution to the Turkish philosophical literature. We will also do in-class translations of short excerpts from some classical philosophical texts as an exercise, and then have a general discussion on the problems we encounter during the translation process. The instructor hopes that some of the high quality translations will later be published in Turkish journals or books.

Requirements:

1. Six short in-class translations into Turkish.
2. A short in-class presentation in Turkish on the proposed term project.
3. A short introductory essay in Turkish related to the term project which includes:

(a)    brief background information on the author specifically concentrating on the period in which the text was written,

(b)   the philosophical significance of the text in the framework of the author’s philosophical work,

(c)    justification of why translating this particular text of the author will be a contribution to the Turkish philosophical literature. 

4. Term project: Translation of a major philosophical text (a journal article or a book part) into Turkish.

PHIL 480.01 (Special Topics: Science, Politics, and Society) (Note: This course was originally announced under the code PHIL 481.  See explanation on top of the page)
Instructor: Gürol Irzık
Description:

This course will explore the intricate relationships betwee science, politics, and society. What is the role and place of science (and more generally, knowledge) within the society today? Did that role and place change in any significant ways throughout history? Is science ideology free? Do philosophical positions (e.g. realism, relativism, scepticism, idealism, etc.) regarding the nature and status of science, knowledge, and reason have any political implications? These questions will be discussed within both the context of recent “science wars” and an historical context.


PHIL 485.01 (Advanced Study of Philosophical Texts)
Instructor: Chryssi Sidiropoulou
Description:

In the Fall Semester of 2005, Phil 485- "Advanced Study of Philosophical Texts" will consist in an intoduction to the Ancient Greek language for philosophically oriented students. No previous knowledge of Greek will be presupposed, but the students are advised to study the Greek alphabet before coming to classes, thus gaining precious time.

The course will introduce the vocabulary and the basic grammar and syntax of Ancient Greek by means of real (= not contemporary, made-up) texts from the philosophical literature of Ancient Greece. Starting with simple fagments of the Presocratics we shall aim to proceed to Plato and be able to read one of two paragraphs from the original Greek text. These paragraphs could be from a text such as, e.g. the Republic, but, as of now the instructor would like to keep other text options open.

 Phil. 485 will be a course meant to fit the specific orientation and sensitivities of a philosophicaly minded student audience. Students who are interested in learning Greek but with no interest in philosophy are advised against taking this course.


PHIL 490.01 (Sellars on Empiricism) (Note: This course was originally announced under the code PHIL 495.  See explanation on top of the page)
Instructor: Ali Karatay
Description:

This is an introductory course on Sellars's influential philosophy. We shall begin with the Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man where Sellars develops his synoptic vision of scientific image vs. manifest image of man. Then we shall devote about half of the term to his Metaphysics of Epistemology, (topics such as Objects of Knowledge, Perception and Reality, Facts and Representation, Rationalism and Empiricism, Meaning, Knowledge and Representation; note the Kantian touch in the title). An unusual book by a leading mid-twentieth century philosopher sitting in his armchair, and taking the student along with him, unhurriedly, carefully, and patiently, through the turns and twists of his philosophical reflections, step by step towards his deep and complex thought. Finally we shall try to make as much sense as we can in a first reading of Sellars's groundbreaking masterpiece, Empiricism and the philosophy of Mind. A tough minded philosopher with deep philosophical sensitivity and, underlying it all, a touching feel.


PHIL 517.01 (Topics in Contemporary Philosophy)
Instructor: Murat Baç
Description:

(Note: Our new meeting time is M 3 4 5.  Place: TB 365).  The general theme of this grad-level course is “knowledge after epistemology.”   For more information click here.


PHIL 534.01 (Aesthetics)
Instructor: Zeynep Davran
Description:

One of the central texts to be studied in depth is Aristotle's Poetics.  Alongside the purely aesthetic issues raised there (the status of art object, the relation of the art object to the universe and the audience, etc.) the principles of literary criticism will be taken up.  Reference will be made to other related Aristotelian texts such as De Anima, Eudemian Ethics, Nichomachean Ethics, and the Rhetoric.  Then, as representative of modern aesthetic theory, Kant's Critique of Judgment will be examined.  The reading list will include examples from tragedies and other literary works.


PHIL 583.01 (Special Topics: Reality)
Instructor: Stephen Voss
Description:

I would like to work with graduate students and advanced undergraduates to distinguish what is real from what is only appearance. This distinction arises in many domains, so the course meets no area requirement. Examples: 1. What is the universe really like? 2. What really has value? 3. What is my real nature? — Our aim is not to understand different theories and arguments for them but to discover the truth. We each prefer certain theories, but that is not the same thing as finding the truth. Our procedure will be to do whatever kind of work is most effective in reaching the goal. Above all the course requires as much intellectual honesty and courage as we are capable of.


PHIL 599.01 (Chance and Determinism)
Instructor: Berna Kılınç
Description:

The course will examine issues in philosophy of probability, chance and determinism.  We begin with the foundations of probability theory and its interpretations, then consider how the theory is used in scientific practice, both for descriptive and prescriptive purposes.  Topics to be covered include classical versus Bayesian statistics and evaluation of scientific evidence, theses of (in)determinism, laws of nature, and time permitting, probabilistic design arguments.  The goal is to understand the role of probability theory in scientific ontologies and methodologies, and to do that we will explore the intersection of philosophy of probability with metaphysics and epistemology respectively.