PHIL 508, Social and Political Philosophy, Reeves (FYS, Anglo-Amer.)
PHIl 540C, Kant and Contemporary Moral Philosophy, Zinkin (History of Philosophy)
PHIL 510B, Metaphysics, Dietrich (Metaphysics)
PHIL 605B, Moral Intuitions and Reasoning, Tessman (Anglo-Amer.)
PHIL 605D, Value Theory, Knapp (Anglo-Amer.)
PHIL 608H, Global Justice, Hassoun (Anglo-Amer.)
PHIL 505, Contemporary Ethics, Knapp (FYS, Anglo-Amer.)
PHIL 540C, Kant's Third Critique, Zinkin (History of Philosophy)
PHIL 543B, Socrates, Preus (History of Philosophy)
PHIL 550F, Feminist Ethics, Tessman (Anglo-Amer.)
PHIL 580A, Just War, Bar On
PHIL 605E, Buddhist Metaphysics (Metaphysics)
PHIL 640M, Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Religion (History, Continental)
PHIL 650A, Hegel on the Sociality of the Self, Guay (History, Continental)
Course # Course Name Instructor Day/ Time SPEL requirements fulfilled
SPEL colloquium
PHIL 570Q SPEL colloquium Guay R 11:45-1:05 (Colloquium)
SPEL seminars:
PHIL 507 Epistemology Dietrich M 3:30-6:30 (M&E etc.)
PHIL 508 Social and Political Theory Bar On T 1:40-4:40 (1st Year Seminar; Continental)
Democratic Moments
In an 1819 speech, Benjamin Constant distinguished between the liberties of the ancient Greeks and the modern Europeans in a way that suggested that direct or participatory democracy had become impossible. In this course we will discuss the idea of a "democratic moment" as a possible response to Constant and as a way to become familiar with and develop a wide view of democratic theory (though mostly in a Continentalish vein).
The course’s objectives are: (a) To familiarize students with relevant texts in democratic theory and appropriate secondary literature, (b) To have students learn and practice writing and discussion skills that are important for them as graduate students. (draft syllabus available)
PHIL 560 Philosophy of Mind Dietrich W 3:30-6:30 (M&E etc.)
PHIL 605A Moral Failure Tessman M 1:40-4:40 (Anglo-American)
How difficult is moral life? Is moral failure a ubiquitous feature of moral life, at least under some conditions? Can there be moral requirements that are impossible to fulfill, thereby making moral failure unavoidable? Or is it always possible, and usually fairly easy, to avoid moral failure, and sometimes even possible to go beyond what is morally required and earn some moral “extra credit”? How demanding can or should moral requirements be? What are the sources of moral requirements, and do moral requirements arising from different sources differ in terms of how demanding they are and whether or not they may be impossible?
We will begin by considering the loss of morality under the extraordinary conditions of the Holocaust and ask how the failures of morality under these conditions differ from more ordinary moral failures. We will look (very briefly) at the concept of a moral dilemma and the characterization of dilemmas as situations of unavoidable moral wrongdoing. We will then examine several different moral frameworks to consider whether they cast moral life as relatively easy or relatively difficult (including impossibly difficult). Specifically, we will study 1) supererogationist frameworks that set limits on moral requirements by marking some morally valuable acts as optional; 2) consequentialist theories that must respond to the charge of over-demandingness; and 3) vulnerability models (including a feminist version), that posit the vulnerability of others as a source of the moral requirement to protect or care for those who are vulnerable or dependent.
The topics covered in the course follow the chapters of a book manuscript that I am in the process of writing, some drafts of which will be available to students (but not as required reading).
Don’t worry about the list of expensive books ordered for the course – all of the reading can be done on reserve.
PHIL 609A Topics in Philosophy of Law Reeves R 1:40-4:40 (Anglo-American)
How should legal norms figure into the reasoning of those who fall under their jurisdiction? In what sense do those norms have authority? How do legal norms produce reasons for action? More plainly, how can law (if it can) defensibly demand compliance? This course will examine these (and related) questions that sit at the intersection of legal and political philosophy. We will consider accounts of political obligation, anarchism, and legal authority that have been offered in the past fifty years.
PHIL 650H Habermas Pensky W 1:40-4:40 (Continental)
Graduate courses cross-listed with Philosophy:
PHIL 630B Evolution and Human Affairs Wilson R 6:00-9:00
PHIL 647D 21st Century Longing Allen M 3:30-6:30
Undergraduate courses that SPEL students may wish to “sit in” on to pass proficiency requirements:
PHIL 122E Elementary Logic TBA MW 5:50-7:20
PHIL 201 Plato and Aristotle Preus T R 8:30-9:55
PHIL 505 (CRN: 95087; M 1530 – 1830)
20th CENTURY ETHICS: CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL THEORY/GOTLIB (agotlib@binghamton.edu)
PHIL 605C (CRN: 98635; TR 1625 – 1750)
BUDDHIST ETHICS/GOODMAN (cgoodman@binghamton.edu)
Explores the systematic structure of ethical thought in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Emphasizes comparisons between Buddhist and Western ethical theories. Required books: The Bodhicaryavatara (Crosby and Skilton, $10.36); An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics (Harvey, $25.64); Nicomachean Ethics (Irwin $14.80); The Dhammapada (Anada Maitreya, $9.95); Reasons and Persons (Parfit, $49.50); and a course pack. Prerequisites: Two philosophy courses.
PHIL 608F (CRN: 98665; W 1340 – 1640)
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: ARENDT AND THE QUESTION OF VIOLENCE/BAR ON (ami@binghamton.edu)
This course centers the question of violence in Arendt whose concern with it has been mixed with her sense that violence and politics can mix and sometime even should mix and yet violence is basically rather antithetical to democratic politics.
The course’s objectives are: (a) To familiarize students with the relevant Arendt works on violence and appropriate secondary literature. (b) To bring to light some of the problems that Arendt addresses in her various discussions of violence and examine conceptual continuities and discontinuities over time. (c) To have students learn and practice writing and discussion skills that are important for them as graduate students.Required Books:
The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press
On Revolution. New York: Penguin Books. On Violence. New York: Harcourt Brace.
The Promise of Politics. Ed. Jerome Kohn. New York: Schocken Books.
PHIL 609D (CRN: 98613; R 1340 – 1640)
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE/PENSKY (mpensky@binghamton.edu)
PHIL 621C (CRN: 95437; TR 0830 – 0955)
ARISTOTLE: SCIENCE AND METAPHYSICS/PREUS (apreus@binghamton.edu)
Study of Aristotle’s scientific writings (Physics, psychological and biological writings), and his Metaphysics. This course is designed to fulfill the SPEL epistemology / metaphysics and history requirements. Emphasis on developing research paper-writing skills and creating conference-worthy presentations.
Required Books:
Aristotle: The Complete Works: 2 volumes, from Princeton University Press.
This is available from Amazon for $34.95 per volume; used editions are between $25 and $30 per vol.
PHIL 622B (CRN: 98244; T 1800 – 2100)
KANT’S ETHICS/ZINKIN (mzinkin@binghamton.edu)
What does it mean to be "Kantian" in one's approach to morality? In this class students will gain an in depth understanding of Kant's moral theory. We will focus on Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, but will also read other texts by Kant. Each week we will also read contemporary interpretations--and criticisms--of Kant's views. This class will give students a solid understanding of Kant's moral philosophy as well as contemporary "Kantian" approaches to morality.
Phil 640M (CRN: 93606; W 1340 – 1640)
ADVANCED PHILOSOPHY IN RELIGION/FRIEDMAN (friedman@binghamton.edu)
This reading intensive seminar will tackle the neo-Kantian philosophy of Hermann Cohen and examine his two most esteemed interpreters, Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig. The majority of the seminar will be dedicated to reading Rosenzweig’s work. Cohen both looks to Kantian philosophy and to the Judaic tradition, creating a conversation of sorts which introduces many of the questions that occupy Buber and Rosenzweig, and indeed, most of 20th Century Judaic thought and philosophy of religion. In Religion of Reason, Plato and Kant meet Ezekiel and Maimonides: these engagements prompt Rosenzweig to address Hegel and philosophical theology, and Buber to explore dialogical possibility at the heart of his rendition of ‘creation’ and ‘revelation.’ We will examine these categories of religious thought, as well as the role of ‘God’ in history. Other figures may include: Emil Fackenheim and Emmanuel Levinas.
PHIL 650C (R 1340 – 1640)
THE CONCEPTION OF TRAGEDY/GUAY (rguay@binghamton.edu)
There are three ways to understand the content of this course. One can think of it as a survey of the major accounts of tragedy in the German tradition from roughly 1791 to 1872, with the conspicuous absence of Hegel. Then the main questions will be how this literary genre was elevated to general importance and became central to reflections in this tradition on the nature of subjectivity, the authority of cultural forms, and the status of morality. Another way of understanding this course is as a study of the philosophical context for Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy. Although Schopenhauer is most commonly recognized as an influence on Nietzsche, the Romantic influence is at least as important, and longer lasting in Nietzsche’s career. Alternately, one could understand this course as an occasion to read authors whose names begin with “Sch-”, or whose first names are “Friedrich.” Required texts: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (Cambridge); Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, 2 vol. (Dover); Schiller, Essays (Continuum); F. Schlegel, Philosophical Fragments (U Minn.); Hölderlin, Essays and Letters (SUNY Press); Schiller, On the Aesthetic Education of Man (Dover), Sophocles, The Theban Plays (Hackett).
| Course # | Course Name | Instructor | Day/Time | SPEL Requirements Fufilled | |
| SPEL Colloquium | |||||
| PHIL 570Q | SPEL Colloquium | Guay | R | 11:45-1:00 | (Colloquium) |
| SPEL Seminars | |||||
| PHIL 508 | Social and Political Theory | Pensky | T | 1:40-4:40 | (1st Yr Sem; Anglo-American) |
| PHIL 545A | American Pragmatism | Friedman | R | 1:40-4:40 | (History) |
| PHIL 550C | Wittgenstein | Guay | W | 1:40-4:40 | (M&E etc.) |
| PHIL 605C | Feminist Ethics | Tessman | M | 1:40-4:40 | (Anglo-American) |
| PHIL 605D | Metaethics | Knapp | R | 1:40-4:40 | (Anglo-American) |
| PHIL 650C | The Imagination | Zinkin | M | 5:50-8:50 | (Continental; M&E etc.) |
| Graduate Courses Cross-Listed with Philosophy | |||||
| PHIL 630B | Evolution and Human Affairs | Moscovia | TR | 6:00-7:30 | |
| PHIL 647D | 21st Century Longing | Allen | M | 3:30-6:30 | |
| Undergraduate Courses that SPEL Students May Wish to "Sit In" on to Pass Proficiency Requirements: | |||||
| PHIL 122E | Elementary Logic | Dietrich | MW | 5:50-7:20 | |
| PHIL 201 | Plato and Aristotle | Preus | TR | 8:30-9:55 | |
PHIL 510A DIETRICH
Metaphysics
PHIL 510H GOODMAN
Buddhist Metaphysics
PHIL 650C GUAY
Topics in Continental Philosophy: Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil
PHIL 540C DIETRICH
Spinoza, Berkeley and Kant
PHIL 505 TESSMAN
20th Century Ethics
PHIL 550B FRIEDMAN
Levinas and the Ethics of Phenomenology
PHIL 621C PREUS
Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Plato and Platonism
