***2H 8-week asynchronous fully online course***

This course is an exploration of some of the basic questions in philosophy such as what is reality, what is self, what is the connection between mind and body, whether are we free, and what is the nature of right and wrong.  

Required Course Material: 

• Robert C. Solomon, Introducing Philosophy 
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 
• Various essays and lectures on Learn 
• Film: The Matrix 

Most, if not all of us, have spent time in our lives asking philosophical questions: Are you and I seeing the same blue when we look at the sky? What is the meaning of life? What does it mean to be a good person? While many people view these philosophical questions as just pointless musings which don't really have any answer beyond one's opinion, in this course, we will take seriously the idea that philosophy relies on rigorous, well-reasoned arguments. The goal of this course is not to answer all our philosophical questions once and for all. The goal is simply to engage with some of the important philosophers of the past in order to determine what philosophy is, how we do it, and why we ought to do it at all. We're all born as philosophers who repeatedly ask our parents "Why?" over and over until we are met with the frustrated "Because I said so!" Throughout the rest of our lives, we are often told by other authorities "this is simply the way things have to be" or "it's just common sense." Our goal is to revive that child-like wonder and questioning - philosophy is about giving actual reasons where others simply want to appeal to authority or say "it's just obvious." 

We will begin with ancient philosophy and continue all the way to the 21st century, picking out a variety of important texts throughout history. All readings will be available on Learn. Grades will primarily be determined by argumentative papers and reading questions. 

This course will introduce students to the rigorous analysis of arguments. In the first half of the course, we will learn some linguistic, logical, and conceptual skills useful for recognizing, analyzing, and critically evaluating arguments, including deductive, inductive, moral, and fallacious arguments. In particular, we will learn what may make an argument sound or cogent. In the second half of the course, we will look at a variety of moral and political philosophical texts with which to apply these concepts of reasoning. Texts may include selections from Mill, Kant, Rawls, Korsgaard, Nozick, Davis, and Geronimo.

The first and most important objective of the course is that we should develop the skills and tools to confront the arguments we encounter in academic, public, and daily life. We will examine and reexamine what we think makes for a good argument, and what counts as a good reason for believing something. The second objective is that we should gain familiarity with some important political philosophy, a familiarity which may help us to better understand and critique contemporary political and social discourse. We will explore the arguments made by political thinkers, and we will apply our learnt critical skills to those arguments. In doing this, I hope we will together develop our ideas about the nature of 'justice' and how justice might best be achieved today.

1120 Logic, Reasoning and Critical Thinking is a course that will teach the skills of writing, argumentation, argument analysis, reasoning, and critical thinking. The first half of the course will cover how to identify and assess arguments, by introducing students to deduction, induction, validity, soundness, strength, and fallacy, among others. The second half of the course will apply the skills learned in the first part of the course through critical engagement with selected texts and speeches. Classes will consist of lecture, discussion, and group work. Assignments will include readings, quizzes/exams, short papers, and a final paper.

This class aims at developing your skills in writing, argumentation, argument analysis, reasoning, and critical thinking. We will study the structures of argumentative texts and of different types of arguments (deduction and induction, descriptive vs normative arguments, etc.) as well as the elements of meaning and language that convey those arguments. We will also consider what constitutes a flawed argument, or logical fallacy. Throughout the class, we will practice our skills at spotting and analyzing arguments by reading texts on philosophical and ethical themes. Students will also practice their own argumentative skills by writing short essays in response to some of these texts. The logical and analytical tools acquired in this class will be highly useful to students in their future coursework by enabling them to read and analyze material efficiently and to write strong and well-structured papers. 

Required text: Critical Thinking, An Introduction to the Basic Skills (7^th Edition), by William Hughes, Jonathan Lavery, Katheryn Doran (Broadview Press). (ISBN-13: 978-1554811977 ISBN-10: 155481197X) 

How can you tell if an argument makes sense? What separates a good argument from a bad one? In this online course, students will learn the skills necessary to construct, analyze, and critically assess arguments.  Beginning with the basic principles of reason and logic, students will acquire the abilities necessary to extract arguments from philosophical texts, evaluate the strength of these arguments, and craft written responses to them.  We will also be analyzing classic philosophical texts that have profoundly influenced the structure and development of Western civilization.  

Required text:  

Critical Thinking, An Introduction to the Basic Skills (7^th Edition), by William Hughes, Jonathan Lavery, Katheryn Doran (Broadview Press). ( ISBN-13: 978-1554811977 ISBN-10: 155481197X)  

***1H 8-week asynchronous fully online course***

Most intellectual endeavors involve argumentation. From short letters to the editor to complex philosophical essays, from every day discussions to legal debates, arguments are constantly created and invoked to support or criticize points of view. The purpose of the course is to help you learn how to argue well so that you can analyze, critique, and construct arguments. 

The course material is organized into two sections. In the first section, we will do an introductory survey of important logical concepts and tools that are needed for analyzing arguments. The second section is an in-depth examination of philosophical issues surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. In the face of this pandemic we will see the importance of evaluating sources and authority, rooting out conspiracy theories, and creating strong arguments about the issues arising from this pandemic. These include evaluation of ongoing scientific research, mistakes in reasoning, and moral arguments such as how vaccines should be equitably distributed. 

Required texts: 

1. Strunk and White, Elements of Style 
2. Weston, A Handbook for Arguments 
3. Handouts and Essays posted on Learn

This online course focuses on some of the ethical issues that arise in the context of professional life.  Beginning with an overview of three major ethical theories, we will consider how these theories, which traditionally concern personal morality, apply to life in a professional setting.  We will also examine the roles and obligations associated with professional life. What is the relationship between personal and professional codes of conduct? What distinguishes professions from other occupations?  Through the lens of various professions, we will look at issues such as lying and truth-telling, whistleblowing, confidentiality, and the obligations of professionals toward the public.  Using a combination of readings, case studies, and online discussion groups, we will explore these ideas in a philosophical manner, looking to understand the ethical principles at work.  This course will give students a solid introduction to ethical reasoning and will help to develop the tools necessary to apply ethical principles to real-world settings. 

Required text: 

Ethics Across the Professions: A Reader for Professional Ethics, 2^nd ed, Clancy Martin, Wayne Vaught, and Robert C. Solomon, editors. OUP. (ISBN-13: 978-0190298708/ISBN-10: 0190298707)

Perhaps there never was a “Greek miracle,” as some have called it, but ancient Greek civilization certainly produced one of the most impressive periods of cultural and intellectual flourishing in human history.  During that period, cultural and political institutions as well as new kinds of knowledge – including history, philosophy, and democracy – were invented, and since then, these institutions have been adopted and pursued around the globe – making Greek thought not only an ancestor to Western civilizations, but to many others.

 In this course, we will read classic works of Greek literature that were produced between the 8^th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, including different kinds of literary works produced during this period, such as an epic poem from Homer, a play by Sophocles, philosophical dialogues of Plato, and treatises of Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, and Plotinus. We will mainly proceed by topics and will adopt a double perspective: a historical perspective that aims at understanding those texts in their own terms, however different their ideas and positions might seem to us; and a critical perspective to reflect about what these texts can tell us about reality, what knowledge and truth are, what a good life is, and what thinking about politics involve. We will gain an appreciation of the lasting impact that Greek thought has on our approach to questions concerning metaphysics, ethics, and politics, but also how it can offer a powerful counter perspective to our most dearly held beliefs and assumptions.

This course will be offered remotely for the whole semester. It will combine sessions conducted via Zoom and lectures videos posted on Learn.

***Second-Half Term***

One great thing about the human mind is its ability to draw inferences. Better still is to do this well. In this course, you will learn two new languages developed to clarify the notion of logical entailment, which will help you understand the nature of valid inference. The course is good preparation for further work in logic or mathematics, but you can also take the tools you will acquire into any academic or professional discipline that requires clarity of thought. No prerequisites. Text: Bergmann, Moor, and Nelson, The Logic Book 6/e (McGraw-Hill). Consider renting the book. It’s one of the best available, but the most recent addition has a significant number of typos and is quite expensive.

This course aims to better students’ ability to formulate and evaluate various arguments regarding several important ethical issues in contemporary bioethics. Topics under consideration include philosophical issues surrounding the ethics of birth and death, and the social construction of illness.  Literature for this course includes philosophical texts, literature, memoir, film, and material from the contemporary media when appropriate.

The question “what is law?” concerns everyone, even if they don’t know it. We live under rule of law, government makes and enforces laws, judges apply law, and the law orders and regulates our human conduct. Most of us take this for granted. But how does it all work? Who or what really is source and authority of law? Is law’s purpose to punish ‘injustice,’ to ‘create’ justice, or something else? Are you morally obligated to obey ‘unjust’ law? What is the purpose of punishment? 

PHIL 381 is an introduction to philosophy of law and philosophical discussion about the nature and practice of law and about the central theories and problems in philosophy of law. Guiding our study will be the fundamental question “what is law?” but we will also consider how philosophers think about specific problems in law, including the following:  1) the sources and authority of law;  2) the legitimacy of judges ‘interpreting’ law to decide cases; 3) the nature of punishment and responsibility; 4) rights, such as your ‘right to personal liberty' and a 'right to privacy’ as these are rights are challenged (and protected) by surveillance, hate crime, and the law itself; 5) and contemporary problems of race and law.

Course requirements include: mandatory class attendance and participation, thoughtful reading of assigned texts, short discussion posts/response papers, occasional quizzes, and two take-home exams. 

Because of coronavirus restrictions, PHIL 381 will be entirely online, offered as “remote-scheduled,” combining Zoom and UNM Learn tools. We will meet online via Zoom at our scheduled class time, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:15pm, for live discussion. Attendance for the entire scheduled class time is mandatory. Registered students should plan to be present and visible on Zoom, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:15pm. If you have access concerns or questions, please feel free to email me.

I will email enrolled students at their unm.edu addresses prior to the course start with details for how to access our first Zoom class.

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is widely considered one of the most original and important philosophers of the 20th century.  This seminar will focus primarily on his most famous and influential work, Being and Time (1927).  Here in his early magnum opus, Heidegger develops and deploys a phenomenological method in order to help us understand the ontological structure underlying intelligibility.  The result is a revolutionary reconceptualization of existence, selfhood, and being, one which challenges—and seeks to replace—central presuppositions philosophers have inherited from the tradition of Western metaphysics.  To begin to understand how and why Heidegger’s philosophical views shift after Being and Time, we will end the course by reading some of Heidegger’s later work, including his minor masterpiece “The Origin of the Work of Art.”  This course is good—indeed, indispensable—preparation for understanding much subsequent work in continental philosophy (and other theoretical work in the humanities and beyond), almost all of which takes Heidegger as a primary point of departure.   

Prerequisites:  Graduate standing, background in continental philosophy/existentialism, or consent of professor.  Course Requirements:  Grades will be based on two take home essay assignments (for undergraduates) or a single research paper (for graduate students).  Required texts (and abbreviations used below):  1. Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson (New York:  Harper, 2008; hereafter “B&T”); 2.  Thomson, Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2011; hereafter “HAP”); and 3. Heidegger, Off the Beaten Track (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2002; hereafter “OBT”).  Recommended Texts:  1.  M. Wrathall, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Being and Time (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2013; hereafter “CCBT”); 2. Thomson, Heidegger on Ontotheology:  Technology and the Politics of the University (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005; hereafter “HOTPE”); 3.  Heidegger, Sein und Zeit (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1993 [1927]); 4). Braver, ed., Division III of Heidegger's Being and Time: The Unanswered Question of Being (Cambridge, MA:  MIT, 2015; hereafter “D3BT”); and 5).  Heidegger, Being and Time: A Translation of Sein und Zeit, J. Stambaugh, trans. (Albany:  SUNY, 1996) (we will be using the Macquarrie and Robinson translation in class, but it can often help to have another translation to compare). 

What is justice? What is a good life? What counts as education? What can philosophy achieve? What is truth? These are some of the questions you would think about if you read Plato’s Republic. It is one of the few major philosophical works that have shaped and impacted the history of philosophy decisively for centuries. It is a landmark of Greek philosophy that has framed the conversation about ontology and metaphysics, education, aesthetics, ethics, and politics. This course will help students to improve their familiarity with Greek philosophy by introducing them to what could be considered Plato’s masterpiece. Besides its influence, Plato’s work is a fascinating achievement in itself: it is a sort of a “total work of philosophy”, which offers a coherent and articulated vision of major philosophical issues as well as reflects on the nature and the status of philosophy itself; it is also a “work of art,” given how Plato deploys his talent as a writer (despite his criticism of poets!), which serves his narrative by making full use of rhetorical and poetical devices. We will pay close attention to the literary aspect of the Republic, which has philosophical implications, especially regarding the way Plato considered what the activity of philosophy should consist in.

This course will propose a complete and patient reading of the text and require students to spend time understanding it on its own terms. Students should expect to dive into the details of the text and strive to develop a charitable interpretation that resorts to the multiple resources the text has to offer. Focusing on this single work will allow us to discuss contemporary scholarship and students should expect to read secondary literature besides the primary text. We will not, however, reduce the Republic to a historical curiosity, and will also consider it critically as a work making claims that still have purchase on some of the issues contemporary philosophy is still struggling with: questions of power, of political leadership, of justice, of the kind of society we want to live in, and the kind of life we want to live. Assignments will combine close commentaries of small passages and a final paper.

This course has an option to be offered in-person, but it will be offered remotely at least for the first half of the semester. We will meet online via Zoom, either for the entire length of time or for a shorter duration if lecture videos are posted in advance on Learn. There is little chance that the course will be offered in-person for the second half of the semester. It will depend on the guidelines from UNM and the State of New Mexico, as well as the type of classroom attributed to us. Even if the in-person teaching were to resume, students will still be offered the possibility of attending the class via Zoom. This means that a student who wants to follow this course for the entire semester remotely will be able to.

Course description:  In this advanced undergraduate and graduate student seminar, we will seek to understand the philosophical significance of Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), one of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century.  In order to chart a course through Derrida’s incredibly prolific and extremely difficult body of work, the seminar will be guided by my (once but no longer terribly controversial) interpretive thesis that Derrida is best understood as a post-Heideggerian thinker.  Derrida recognized Heidegger as the most important philosopher of the twentieth century and so sought to critically appropriate Heidegger’s views.  This means that Derrida develops his own views on the basis of Heidegger’s thought (as Derrida understands it), while also frequently criticizing that thought where (in Derrida’s evolving view) Heidegger himself failed to fully develop the radical implications of his own thinking.  Indeed, Derrida usually develops Heidegger’s thought precisely by criticizing it (and viceversa), and we will seek to understand this often confusing intertwinement of critique and development in terms of the deconstructive methodology Derrida develops from his reading of Heidegger.  (The Derridean title of this course could thus be “Derrida on Heidegger,” where “on” means not only “on the subject of” but also “on the basis of.”) 

            After some all-too-brief background on Heidegger (with whose philosophical and post-philosophical thinking some prior acquaintance will be presupposed), we will carefully read some of the most important texts written by Derrida directly on Heidegger, texts in which Derrida critically appropriates and develops many of his own core ideas (such as deconstruction, différance, and writing under erasure) as critical appropriations of Heidegger’s views.  We will then turn to read several longer works in which Derrida develops these (post-Heideggerian) views beyond Heidegger, extending them into the domain of ontological questions (for example, how should we understand the being of “the” animal?  Of politics?  Of death?) which Heidegger himself raised but left insufficiently thought-through and so underexplored and underdeveloped, in Derrida’s view.  In these ways, we will develop the hermeneutic hypothesis that Derridean deconstruction (following its hyper-Heideggerian logic) tries to think that which went “unthought” in Heidegger’s own thinking, taking Heidegger’s thought as its own “uncircumventable” (as Derrida put it) point of departure, a “point” which Derrida thereby seeks to push further and so move beyond (without, perhaps, ever entirely leaving it behind).  We will then bring the course to its end by reading the brilliant final seminars Derrida gave while confronting the encroaching imminence of his own demise and yet again rethinking (albeit for an apparently final time) the great existential and philosophical question of the meaning of death. 

Course requirements:  Given the legendary difficulty of reading Derrida, this course should not be your first exposure to continental philosophy (!); even students well-versed in continental thought should not be enrolled in this course unless they are up for the serious challenge of reading Derrida’s work, a challenge which will only reward those who can meet it with a great deal of their own time, energy, and thought.  The necessary requirements for success in this class might begin to be listed as follows:  the self-discipline needed to complete a great deal of challenging reading; an open-minded willingness to struggle with texts that rank among the most difficult in the Western philosophical tradition (and which challenge some of the most cherished achievements of this tradition); and regular course preparation and attendance.  To measure your fulfillment of these requirements, grades will be based (for undergraduates) on a midterm paper and a final paper, as well as weekly, 1 page reading reports (which will also serve as attendance checks), due (on-line) by 5 pm on the Wed. of class.  These weekly reports should clearly and succinctly explain in a paragraph (1) what you take to be the main point/thesis/insight of (one of) the reading(s) for that day’s seminar, (2) a second point you take to be important and interesting (your second paragraph), and then (3) end with a question concerning something you did not understand or would like to hear discussed or explained.  For graduate students, the requirements are the same except that you will be responsible for writing a final research paper (of 12-20 pages) and (instead of a midterm paper) doing an in-class presentation (which you will be responsible for arranging with me, see below).  Let me emphasize that this is an advanced course for serious students only:  Any student who misses more than three weekly seminars (without permission or formal documentation) will be disenrolled (as will students who demonstrate any other immature, irresponsible, and distracting behavior, such as texting or checking phones or computers during class without permission).  If you have any questions or concerns about these policies, please let me know by the first week of class. 

Required Texts:  1).  Thomson, Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity (Cambridge UP, 2011); 2). Derrida, Margins of Philosophy (U. Chicago, 1982); 3). Spurs:  Nietzsche’s Styles (U. Chicago, 1981); 4). Derrida, Psyche: Inventions of the Other, Volume II (Stanford UP 2008); 5). Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am (Fordham UP: 2008); 6), Derrida, The Beast and the Sovereign, Vol. 2 (Chicago UP, 2011).  (Other major texts by Derrida that are largely concerned with Heidegger include Of Spirit; Aporias; The Truth in Painting; The Gift of Death; Given Time; On the Name; and Heidegger:  The Question of Being and History, the last being Derrida’s earliest sustained engagement with Heidegger’s Being and Time.)  For anyone looking for the most accessible and authoritative introduction to Derrida’s thinking, I recommend the often impressively clear and insightful interviews collected in his Points…Interviews, 1974–1994.  (Please feel free to contact me with any questions.)

Course description:  In this advanced undergraduate and graduate student seminar, we will seek to understand the philosophical significance of Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), one of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century.  In order to chart a course through Derrida’s incredibly prolific and extremely difficult body of work, the seminar will be guided by my (once but no longer terribly controversial) interpretive thesis that Derrida is best understood as a post-Heideggerian thinker.  Derrida recognized Heidegger as the most important philosopher of the twentieth century and so sought to critically appropriate Heidegger’s views.  This means that Derrida develops his own views on the basis of Heidegger’s thought (as Derrida understands it), while also frequently criticizing that thought where (in Derrida’s evolving view) Heidegger himself failed to fully develop the radical implications of his own thinking.  Indeed, Derrida usually develops Heidegger’s thought precisely by criticizing it (and viceversa), and we will seek to understand this often confusing intertwinement of critique and development in terms of the deconstructive methodology Derrida develops from his reading of Heidegger.  (The Derridean title of this course could thus be “Derrida on Heidegger,” where “on” means not only “on the subject of” but also “on the basis of.”) 

            After some all-too-brief background on Heidegger (with whose philosophical and post-philosophical thinking some prior acquaintance will be presupposed), we will carefully read some of the most important texts written by Derrida directly on Heidegger, texts in which Derrida critically appropriates and develops many of his own core ideas (such as deconstruction, différance, and writing under erasure) as critical appropriations of Heidegger’s views.  We will then turn to read several longer works in which Derrida develops these (post-Heideggerian) views beyond Heidegger, extending them into the domain of ontological questions (for example, how should we understand the being of “the” animal?  Of politics?  Of death?) which Heidegger himself raised but left insufficiently thought-through and so underexplored and underdeveloped, in Derrida’s view.  In these ways, we will develop the hermeneutic hypothesis that Derridean deconstruction (following its hyper-Heideggerian logic) tries to think that which went “unthought” in Heidegger’s own thinking, taking Heidegger’s thought as its own “uncircumventable” (as Derrida put it) point of departure, a “point” which Derrida thereby seeks to push further and so move beyond (without, perhaps, ever entirely leaving it behind).  We will then bring the course to its end by reading the brilliant final seminars Derrida gave while confronting the encroaching imminence of his own demise and yet again rethinking (albeit for an apparently final time) the great existential and philosophical question of the meaning of death. 

Course requirements:  Given the legendary difficulty of reading Derrida, this course should not be your first exposure to continental philosophy (!); even students well-versed in continental thought should not be enrolled in this course unless they are up for the serious challenge of reading Derrida’s work, a challenge which will only reward those who can meet it with a great deal of their own time, energy, and thought.  The necessary requirements for success in this class might begin to be listed as follows:  the self-discipline needed to complete a great deal of challenging reading; an open-minded willingness to struggle with texts that rank among the most difficult in the Western philosophical tradition (and which challenge some of the most cherished achievements of this tradition); and regular course preparation and attendance.  To measure your fulfillment of these requirements, grades will be based (for undergraduates) on a midterm paper and a final paper, as well as weekly, 1 page reading reports (which will also serve as attendance checks), due (on-line) by 5 pm on the Wed. of class.  These weekly reports should clearly and succinctly explain in a paragraph (1) what you take to be the main point/thesis/insight of (one of) the reading(s) for that day’s seminar, (2) a second point you take to be important and interesting (your second paragraph), and then (3) end with a question concerning something you did not understand or would like to hear discussed or explained.  For graduate students, the requirements are the same except that you will be responsible for writing a final research paper (of 12-20 pages) and (instead of a midterm paper) doing an in-class presentation (which you will be responsible for arranging with me, see below).  Let me emphasize that this is an advanced course for serious students only:  Any student who misses more than three weekly seminars (without permission or formal documentation) will be disenrolled (as will students who demonstrate any other immature, irresponsible, and distracting behavior, such as texting or checking phones or computers during class without permission).  If you have any questions or concerns about these policies, please let me know by the first week of class. 

Required Texts:  1).  Thomson, Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity (Cambridge UP, 2011); 2). Derrida, Margins of Philosophy (U. Chicago, 1982); 3). Spurs:  Nietzsche’s Styles (U. Chicago, 1981); 4). Derrida, Psyche: Inventions of the Other, Volume II (Stanford UP 2008); 5). Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am (Fordham UP: 2008); 6), Derrida, The Beast and the Sovereign, Vol. 2 (Chicago UP, 2011).  (Other major texts by Derrida that are largely concerned with Heidegger include Of Spirit; Aporias; The Truth in Painting; The Gift of Death; Given Time; On the Name; and Heidegger:  The Question of Being and History, the last being Derrida’s earliest sustained engagement with Heidegger’s Being and Time.)  For anyone looking for the most accessible and authoritative introduction to Derrida’s thinking, I recommend the often impressively clear and insightful interviews collected in his Points…Interviews, 1974–1994.  (Please feel free to contact me with any questions.)