PHIL 107/COLI 180P GUAY
Existence and Freedom
An introduction to philosophy through selected readings from late modern continental European philosophy, in particular from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Beauvoir, and Sartre. Topics include knowledge, the self, freedom, ethics, and history.
PHIL 111A/JUST 280N/COLI 180N FRIEDMAN
Philosophy of Religion
This introductory course will explore the many philosophical methodological questions which emerge from the philosophical study of religious thought. Topics will include the nature of religious subjectivity, divinity, prayer, sacrifice, and faith. We will study some central biblical stories and narratives and literary, philosophical, and theological responses to them. Students will practice techniques of textual exegesis and directly engage texts.
In addition to the content of this course, students will practice the process skills of reading and writing critically. Students will be expected to read the texts carefully and to come to class prepared to ask and answer questions. The course will require approximately 100 pages of reading each week.
PHIL 122 REEVES
ELEMENTARY LOGIC
Introduction to symbolic logic with consideration given to various areas of traditional logic.
PHIL 140R SINGH
Introduction to Ethics
Introduction to some fundamental concepts, issues and major works in ethics.
PHIL 147 SCALET
Markets, Ethics and Law
This course aims to provide you with an introduction to ethical issues that arise in business and the market system. Topics include property rights, markets and law, the morality of capitalism, corporate social responsibility, insider trading, sexual harassment, and others. The course will consider various arguments about the virtues and vices of market activities as well as several applied topics in business ethics.
PHIL 149/ENVI 149 KNAPP
Environmental Ethics and Policy
Nearly everyone agrees that the natural world is worth preserving. The agreement ends, however, when preserving the natural world conflicts with other things that seem worth doing. In such cases, we have conflicts of value, and trade-offs must be made: We must decide whether to trade habitat preservation in order to save an ancient culture; whether to trade wilderness for economic profits; whether to trade biodiversity for food for hungry people. Making these hard and controversial choices well requires our understanding not just that the natural world is valuable, but how it is valuable, and how its value compares to other things we value. The goal of this course is to give students the stimulus, the opportunity, and the resources to work towards developing their own understanding of the nature of the value of nature. Appropriate for first year students.
PHIL 202 PENSKY
Descartes, Hume and Kant
Introduction to modern philosophy, emphasizing the works of Descartes, Hume and Kant.
PHIL 336/510H/AAAS 336 GOODMAN
Buddhist Metaphysics
Examines philosophical theories about reality, and our knowledge of reality, developed by Buddhists in India and Tibet. Emphasizes comparisons between Buddhist and Western metaphysical theories. During class discussions, critically investigate Buddhist arguments and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Explore questions about time and change, substance, personal identity, truth, objectivity, and knowledge.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
PHIL 345 REEVES
Philosophy of Law
In this course, we will examine recent reflection on some philosophical issues surrounding law and legal practice. Four questions in particular will be the focus of our investigation. First, what is law? Although law is now commonplace, it is surprisingly difficult to say what exactly makes for law. In thinking about this question, we will be paying close attention to whether law has any special relationship to morality. Second, what is the character of legal interpretation and legal reasoning? Our focus here will be with how we should identify, construe, and implement the law of a given legal system. Third, what is the value of the “rule of law”? We tend to think of the rule of law as a commendable thing – as an appropriate basis for distinguishing good and bad governance. We will consider how to make sense of and justify this belief, as well as some possible dangers of legal structures. Fourth, do we have a duty to obey the law? We will examine to what extent citizens have an obligation to abide by legal demands simply because those demands are legal. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy
PHIL 431/510A DIETRICH
Metaphysics
Morpheus said it best: "What is real? How do you define real? If you are talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." Apparently, Morpheus was assuming brains are real. What if they aren't either? So what is real?
In this course we will try to find out what is Real, paying close attention to the role our strange minds play in conjuring up the "real." We will examine the fundamental nature of existence, universals, particulars, time, concepts, consciousness, quantum mechanics, artificial intelligence, and our own examining in hopes of finding something like our ordinary world in them somewhere.
FORMAT: Seminar/discussion. Grades based on papers and quizzes.
BOOKS: To be determined, and selected papers
Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy
PHIL 451/650C GUAY
Topics in Continental Philosophy: Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil
The main component of this class is a close reading of Nietzsche’s 1886 work, Beyond Good and Evil, with special attention to understanding Nietzsche’s conception of what lies “beyond” morality and why a move beyond morality might be compelling. To help us with this task, we shall start the semester by considering a number of alternative conceptions of the postmoral from more recent literature (e.g. Anscombe, Lovibond, Williams, MacIntyre, Taylor). Permission of the instructor is required to register for this class. Prerequisites: For undergrad: two courses in philosophy.
PHIL 456C SCALET
Public Philosophy
In this course we will study philosophy as it shapes leading public policy issues. Readings will include not only traditional philosophy texts but also great public and political documents, literature, film, and the arts. We will study philosophy as a life-long pursuit to interpret the world around us, a pursuit that travels through the broad range of the materials of life. Prerequisite: Two courses in philosophy
PHIL 457E REEVES
Problems: Law and Morality: Liberty and Justice
In this course, we will examine recent philosophical reflection on the nature of political liberty and distributive justice. Two questions will be our focus throughout. First, how far may a state legitimately regulate our affairs through law? Second, what is it for a state to be just and how far may it pursue, through legal mechanisms, distributive justice? A variety of approaches to these questions will be considered, including liberal, communitarian, libertarian, Marxist, and feminist accounts. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy, of which one is a course in social, ethical or legal philosophy.
PHIL 457F GOODMAN
Religion, Ethics, and Law
In a diverse society, what should be the relationship between religious beliefs, moral theories, and legal norms? Should there be a strict wall of separation between church and state, and if so, why? To what extent can or should the state be neutral between different conceptions of the good? Should the state recognize the right of particular cultural groups to preserve their cherished traditions, or should it recognize only the individual right of its citizens to make their own choices? Through class discussions, examine and analyze these and other related questions in detail. Prerequisite: two courses in philosophy.
PHIL 458J JOHNSTON
John Stuart Mill and Liberalism
This course is an intensive undergraduate seminar on the social and political philosophy of John Stuart Mill. The seminar examines Mill’s contributions to the development of political liberalism and his formulation of liberal concepts and values. Specific topics include freedom of expression, individuality and autonomy, the harm principle, the principle of utility, representative government, democratic socialism, and liberal feminism. Readings will include Mill's canonical works on social and political philosophy as well as some of his lesser known writings. Prerequisite: two courses in philosophy.
PHIL 460B/540C DIETRICH
Spinoza, Berkeley and Kant
This course explores the philosophies of Spinoza (1632-1677), Berkeley (1685-1753), and Kant (1724-1804). We will read from their primary works, and along the way learn about rationalism, empiricism, dualism, dual aspectism, monism, idealism, transcendental idealism, and God (as the universe and as a being). We will also tackle fundamental problems in epistemology and metaphysics. The course is intended to give students a historical view of the development (or lack thereof) of philosophy during one its greatest ages, the Age of Enlightenment, when vast and tremendous philosophical systems were constructed to explain both the nature of universe and the humans that seem to inhabit it. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy.
PHIL 480B/AAAS 480J/AFST 480S/COLI 480P/LACS 480P/WOMN 412B ALLEN
Feminist and Diasporic Performance Art
In forms ranging from spoken word poetry to multimedia installations to riffs on history and politics, contemporary performance artists represent the complex linkages of ethnicity, aesthetics, and theory. Performance art, at once analytic and creative, transforms the cultural repertories that it represents into intermediary sites of cultural relevance. The course will examine how an aesthetics that displaces the ethnographic privilege of Western interpretation concerning time, place, observer and observed is developed by some African-, Native-, Asian-, Euro-, and Latino-American performance artists, especially with reference to complex themes of immigration, community, body, and to perspectives on race, gender, class, sexuality. The representational logics and positional historicities of the interactive performance event, as studied, created and produced in the class, open possibilities for understanding aesthetics in post-colonial, transcultural contexts. Course work may be in essay form or, if a student wishes, may include performance, creative writing, installation, film, sound, or multimedia.Texts With the exception of items which are on library shelf reserve, all course materials are available electronically
PHIL 505 TESSMAN
20th Century Ethics
This course serves as the first-year ethics seminar for graduate students in the program in Social, Political, Ethical and Legal Philosophy (SPEL). The course includes a wide range of works in contemporary, mostly analytic, ethics, and is thematized by questions raised in debates about the value of ideal and nonideal theory, and about the existence and significance of genuine moral dilemmas. We will consider questions such as: What is the task of ethical theory? Should it provide a perfect decision procedure for resolving moral conflicts? Or are there some moral conflicts that are genuine moral dilemmas, namely situations in which there is a moral requirement to enact each of two possibilities, but where it is not possible to enact both? When a moral conflict can be resolved, does one of the conflicting moral requirements get cancelled or do both somehow remain in effect? Can moral wrongdoing be unavoidable? What moral conditions give rise to dilemmas? Do aspects of one’s social position (race, gender, etc.) affect which dilemmas one is likely to encounter? We will borrow insights from the moral dilemmas debate to try to understand problematic aspects of both ideal and nonideal theory.
An exploration of a significant range of the main areas of philosophy, e.g., the nature of reality, knowledge, mind, society, life, values. You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions: All on Fridays:
A01: CRN 94875; 0830 - 0930 A03: CRN 94877; 1310 - 1410
A02: CRN 94876; 0940 - 1040 A04: CRN 94878; 1420 - 1520
Covers the basic concepts and teachings of several Asian traditions, including Hinduism, Confucianism and Daoism, with a focus on Buddhism. Readings to include scriptural texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Dao De Jing, and selections from the Pali Canon, as well as the works of Asian philosophers, such as Vasubandhu, Mencius, Zhuang Zi and Shantideva. Examines such issues as the existence of God, the nature of truth, and the difference between right and wrong. You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions: All on Fridays:
PHIL 105:
A01: CRN 10464; 0830 - 0930
A02: CRN 94970; 0940 - 1040
A03: CRN 94972; 1310 - 1410
A04: CRN 94973; 1420 - 1520
AAAS 105:
A01: CRN 10015; 0830 - 0930
A02: CRN 94988; 0940 - 1040
A03: CRN 94994; 1310 - 1410
A04: CRN 95065; 1410 - 1520
The logic of critical thinking as it is employed in science and other related areas such as law and public policy. Topics include informal fallacies, deductive and inductive inferences, models, nature of evidence and analogical reasoning. You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions: All on Fridays:
A01: CRN 91222; 0830 - 0930 A03: CRN 91224; 1200 - 1300
A02: CRN 91223: 0940 - 1040 A04: CRN 91225; 1310 - 1410
Introduction to some fundamental concepts, issues and major works in ethics.
This introductory, lecture-based course examines moral arguments and theories bearing on controversial issues in law and politics. Readings include both philosophical texts and legal documents including Supreme Court and lower court opinions. Students will reflect on moral issues, read and interpret philosophical and legal texts, identify and evaluate arguments, and write short essays responding to interpretative and evaluative questions. Regular attendance at lectures and weekly discussion sections is a requirement along with in-class examinations and writing assignments. You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions all on Fridays:
A01: CRN 10474; 0830 - 0930 A06: CRN 10479; 1200 - 1300
A02: CRN 10475; 0940 - 1040 A07: CRN 10480; 1200 - 1300
A03: CRN 10476; 0940 - 1040 A08: CRN 10481; 1310 - 1410
A04: CRN 10477; 1050 - 1150 A09: CRN 10485; 1310 -- 1410
A05: CRN 10478; 1050 - 1150 A10: CRN 10487; 1420 - 1520
This course provides an introduction to a philosophical exploration of moral commitments and conflicts arising at the intersection of medical theory, practice, and policy. We will engage in the analysis of concepts of health and disease, problems surrounding life-and-death decisions, issues of professional and client relationships, as well as the difficulties involved in the allocation and rationing of limited resources. Topics to be discussed may include patient rights and autonomy, informed consent, assisted suicide, genetic therapy, HIV/AIDS, and others. You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions all on Fridays:
A01: CRN 91252; 0830 - 0930 A06: CRN 91257; 1200 - 1300
A02: CRN 91253; 0830 - 0930 A07: CRN 91258; 1310 - 1410
A03: CRN 91254; 0940 - 1040 A08: CRN 91259; 1310 - 1410
A04: CRN 91255; 1050 - 1150 A09: CRN 91260; 1420 - 1520
A05: CRN 91256; 1200 - 1300 A10: CRN 91261; 1420 - 1520
Introduction to Greek Philosophy to 323 BCE. Brief introduction to philosophy before Socrates; more extensive study of Socratic dialogues and Plato's philosophy; general introduction to Aristotle's ethics, politics, theory of language, science and metaphysics. For majors and non-majors.
Many short quizzes and three equal essay exams.
Two lectures, one discussion section per week.
No prerequisites or co-requisites. This course is appropriate for first year students.
You need to register for a discussion in addition to the lecture.
Discussions all on Fridays:
A01: CRN 95228; 0830 - 0930 A05: CRN 95233; 1310 - 1410
A02: CRN 95229; 0940 - 1040 A06: CRN 95234; 1420 - 1520
A03: CRN 95231; 1050 - 1150 A07: CRN 95235; 1420 - 1520
A04: CRN 95232; 1200 - 1300
Books:
A Presocratics Reader
Selected Fragments and Testimonia
Edited, with Introduction, by Patricia Curd Translations by Richard D. McKirahan, Jr.
1996 144 pp. Hackett. Paper: $10.95 (0-87220-326-3)/(978-0-87220-326-6)
PLATO
Complete Works
Edited by John M. Cooper Associate Editor D. S. Hutchinson
1997 1,838 pp. Hackett ISBN-10/ISBN-13 $52.00 (0-87220-349-2)/(978-0-87220-349-5)
The Basic Works of Aristotle
Written by Aristotle
Edited by Richard McKeon
Introduction by C.D.C. Reeve
Modern Library 978-0-375-75799-0 (0-375-75799-6) | September 2001 | $21.95
Introduction to Greek Philosophy to 323 BCE. Brief introduction to philosophy before Socrates; more extensive study of Socratic dialogues and Plato's philosophy; general introduction to Aristotle's ethics, politics, theory of language, science and metaphysics. For majors and non-majors.
Many short quizzes, weekly reading reports, revised for portfolio. Two or three oral presentations, with peer critiques.
Two lectures, one discussion section per week. The section is taught by the lecturer.
No prerequisites or co-requisites. This course is appropriate for first year students.
Books the same as Philo 201.
Discussion of central problems in philosophical aesthetics, such as the nature of beauty, artistic representation, the definition of art, the relation between art and morality.
This course will explore the naturalness of religion and the unnaturalness of the world. We will consider the hypothesis that all the world's religions, including the dominant ones, are products of human evolution. We are Homo religiosus, not Homo sapiens. So, does this mean that the world we live in is flatly natural? Far from it. We will look at this in detail. But is the unnaturalness of the world the sort of thing that could spawn a new religion? Would such a religion be worth anything?
What is the task of ethical theory? Should it provide a perfect decision procedure for resolving moral conflicts? Or are there some moral conflicts that are genuine moral dilemmas, namely situations in which there is a compelling moral reason to enact each of two possibilities, but where it is not possible to enact both. We'll focus on the question of whether or not there are genuine moral dilemmas, and if so, what this entails. For instance, when a moral conflict can be resolved, does one of the conflicting moral requirements get cancelled or do both somehow remain in effect? Can moral wrongdoing be inevitable? What moral conditions give rise to dilemmas? Do aspects of one's social position (race, gender, etc.) affect which dilemmas one is likely to encounter? Strict prerequisite of one prior philosophy course.
Is ‘Asia' a narrative of one's own making? Can it ever be? Contemporary ‘Asia', not as simply given but as constantly in formation through complex, multi-layered narratives of continent, nation, diaspora, colonization and globalization, is the focus of the course.
How is contemporary ‘Asia' produced, if it is, by the poetics and politics of how we know, remember, imagine, by the tensions, the upheavals, and the shifts of power and meaning that these activities engender? Where cultural, economic, and artistic interpretations of ‘Asia' offered by new generations produce a plurality of ‘Asias', what sorts of differences does that make?
The class will emphasize recent transnational feminist, queer, and diasporic theory and cultural interpretation, film, new media technologies, and activist practices by writers and visual artists such as Amitava Kumar, Rey Chow, Trinh T:. Minh-ha, Deepa Mehta, Myung Mi Kim, Kimiko Hahn, Gayatri Spivak, Kim Soo-Ja.
The course description is: A close reading of the Critique of Pure Reason.
This course will examine the concept of evil in the history of philosophy. Readings from: Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsche, Freud, Arendt among others.
An overview of some of the general philosophical problems of methodology, evidence, explanation, and understanding that arises in reflection on the social sciences in general, together with special attention to the issues that are especially prominent in the discipline of history, such as narrative and agency.
Critical study of legal concepts and philosophical problems arising within the law; criminal responsibility, nature of punishment, nature of law. Prerequisite: PHIL 345.
What is the meaning and constitutional basis of "separation of church and state"? How far-reaching should this doctrine be?
What is the significance, for law and public life, of the apparent "culture war" between "secular humanists" and "evangelicals"? Does our culture owe a debt to our Judaeo-Christian past that should be recognized in social policy? Does ethical conduct rest on a religious foundation?
Should prayer, and mention of "intelligent design," be banned from our public schools? Should people swear on the Bible in court, or the Ten Commandments be depicted on its walls?
Is secular humanism itself a faith that, contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, controls public life and unfairly disparages religious perspectives?
In the context of this "culture war," what about the conflict between "pro-choice" and "pro-life"? Should gay marriages and heterosexual marriages be on a par? To what extent should religious scruples be allowed to affect medical and research policies regarding stem-cell research, termination of life support, etc.?
Readings yet to be decided, but many will be drawn from the public and popular debate that can be found on the internet. (Printing-out of texts from the web will be required.)
Three papers. No exams.
In this course we will study philosophy that takes place outside the traditional philosophy text: in great public and political documents, in literature, in film, in the arts, and through the routines of our daily lives. We will study philosophy as a life-long pursuit to interpret the world around us, a pursuit that travels through the broad range of the materials of life. Prerequisite: Two courses in philosophy
Philosophical problems involving the relationship between law and morality; topics may include gender and race discrimination, harassment, speech codes, divorce and family, pornography, war, violence, disobedience, abortion, privacy, homosexuality, euthanasia, negligence and punishment. May not be repeated. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy, of which one is a course in social, ethical or legal philosophy.
Philosophical problems involving the relationship between law and morality; topics may include gender and race discrimination, harassment, speech codes, divorce and family, pornography, war, violence, disobedience, abortion, privacy, homosexuality, euthanasia, negligence and punishment. May not be repeated. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy, of which one is a course in social, ethical or legal philosophy.
This capstone seminar will cover a sizable portion of the canon of western philosophy (and one Buddhist philosopher) from the standpoint of the limits of knowledge. Specifically, we will try to understand philosophy as the exploration of the very limits of knowledge, limits beyond which no cognitive agent, no matter how intelligent, can go. As the course progresses, we will come to see that perhaps these limits aren't really limits, but boundaries beyond which we can, and do, go. We will discuss the role differing points of view have on such limit/boundaries. We will inquire whether the plight of all humans, not just philosophers, is to be encased in points of view. Perhaps everything is just a point of view, including the view that there are only points of view.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy. It is recommended that one of them be Phil 121 or logic (or their equivalent).
This course will examine leading and influential ideas in social and political philosophy.
The topic of this seminar will be the nature and significance of human well-being. A good deal of the course will be dedicated to the analysis and appraisal of various theoretical accounts of well-being. But we will also be concerned with some of the broader philosophical and practical issues these accounts raise, including the nature of value generally, the relationship between moral reasons and prudential reasons, the relationship between prudential value and aesthetic value, the scope of our duty to promote well-being, and the degree to which well-being is dependent on social and material conditions. Most, but not all, of our readings will be the work of contemporary philosophers.
A graduate course surveying the principle figures, texts and problems of the "Frankfurt School" of Critical Theory. Approximately two-thirds of the course time will be spent reading and discussing major texts of the so-called first generation of critical theorists: Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and Herbert Marcuse. Approximately one-third of the seminar will present a more schematic overview of the work of Jurgen Habermas, and trace the influence and impact of Critical Theory in more recent and contemporary works in philosophy and social theory, including feminist and postcolonial theory.
Course requirements: regular attendance, at least one longer seminar presentation, regular submission of discussion questions, and one concluding full-length research paper.
-Texts: TBA.
"Peitho" is the Greek word for persuasion, the influencing of future action and thought.
Yet "peitho," as object of cult, a figure of myth and an essential element in love, marriage
and commerce, meant more to Greeks than simply words designed to change minds. Nor
did "peitho" always operate through a verbal medium. "Peitho" was, in fact a central, if
ambiguously valorized, feature of ancient Greek culture, and the study of it in context
opens a window into the cultural-ideological landscape within which ancient Greeks
conceptualized politics, society and much else as well. For more information, go to
http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~clas381a/
A course reading Martin Heidegger, including selected works spanning his career. The
first half of the semester is devoted to Being and Time, the second to a variety of short
later works, such as What Is Metaphysics? On the Essence of Truth, Discourse on
Thinking, Early Greek Thinking, What Calls for Thinking? The End of Philosophy and
the Task of Thinking, The OntoTheological Constitution of Metaphysics, Identity and
Difference, The Origin of the Work of Art, Letter on Humanism, The Question
Concerning Technology Building Dwelling Thinking, On the Way to Language, On Time
and Being, Age of the World Picture, many of which are available in Basic Writings,
some in abbreviated form.
The course also includes selections from major writers influenced by as well as critical of
Heidegger: Sartre, Derrida, Deleuze, Irigaray, Levinas, Rorty, Lyotard, etc.
Some say our times are characterized by modernization, globalization, perhaps postmodernization and other posts. This course begins with Max Weber's suggestion that these are disenchanted, including religion, "that principally there are no mysterious incalculable forces that come into play, but rather that one can, in principle, master all things by calculation. This means that the world is disenchanted. One need no longer have recourse to magical means in order to master or implore the spirits, as did the savage, for whom such mysterious powers existed. Technical means and calculations perform the service. This above all is what intellectualization means." Everything is rational, accountable, and technical, science and academic knowledge of course but also religion.
The course explores the conditions of disenchantment and the possibilities for scientific reason and technical rationality. But it especially attends to multiple possibilities of enchantment, in religion but especially secular enchantments in art and literature, everyday life, fairies, spirits, magic and myths, in short to the many ways in which the earth exceeds accounting.
The course offers an introduction to aesthetic, political, epistemological, and economic perspectives on the making of modernity ‘outside' the West. Diaspora in a trans-national age is taken up as heterogeneous historical processes of formation and narrative practice, without uniformity. Yet, if there is no singular modernity that defines all other histories in its terms, nor an easy pluralism of alternative modernities, how might one hear/read/write complex dissonant imaginaries of contemporary diasporas in which specific strategies of modernization and globalization are articulated, negotiated, renegotiated, displaced?
We will focus on intersitial zones of translation in which the fractures and contradictions of a postcolonial moment trace time, space, subjectification, corporeal image, sexuality, and violence as frequently, though not always, exceeding the grasp of categories and out of reach, adrift. How to attend a composite, multilayered present in which the past is remote and contemporary? Recycling history, tending forgotten graveyards and the debris of former lives, do the jointing and the fracturing of scattered remains yield imperatives for interactive futures?
The class will emphasize recent transnational feminist and diasporic mixed genre writing, artistic productions, and activist practices. Transdisciplinary productions in varied mediums, theory, literature, street protest, film, etc., will be taken up not as one subordinated to or folded into the other, but as enmeshed without duplication.
This course is very modest in its ambition. We will seek only to understand the manifest sense of the fundamental concepts of volume 1 of CAPITAL. We therefore embark on a patient reading of the text. The work of the course will consist precisely in that work of reading. Our wager is that something new, something indispensable, appears in Marx's articulation of fundamental concepts. So our goal is not to read Marx in relation to the verisimilitude of his explanations and diagnoses of what counted for him as the world, but as a philosopher. In other words, we seek the use-value of Marx's work. It is further part of our wager that it is precisely at this level that a reading of Marx is indispensable in these dark times.
Course Requirements:
Attendance and participation required. A substantial paper required at end of term. You will decide on the topic of the paper in consultation with me; my only non-negotiable requirement is that it be in some way pertinent to the work.
Credits: 4 Description: This is a graduate-level introduction to evolution as a theory that applies to all human-related subjects in addition to the rest of life. It is intended for graduate students from any subject area without prior training in evolution, but it is equally suitable for students who are familiar with evolution as a biological subject and wish to learn about human-related application. The first part of the course is devoted to establishing evolution as a "common language" that can be spoken across disciplines. The second part is devoted to exploring specific topics tailored to the interests of the students. This is the graduate-level introductory course for EvoS, Binghamton University's campus-wide evolutionary studies program
