Thomas K Seung

This course is an introduction to ancient Greek philosophy. We’ll focus on three major thinkers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; and we’ll examine their views and arguments on some central questions about human conduct, the natural world, and our knowledge of both. We’ll begin with a brief look at some influential earlier figures known as Presocratics and Sophists, and we’ll end with a brief look at some enduring ideas of Epicurus. The emphasis throughout will be on analyzing both what these thinkers say and their reasons for saying it. The main goal is not to memorize information but to develop a critical understanding of some problems and arguments that remain very much alive today.

This course is an introduction to early modern philosophy. The objectives of the class are to identify and analyze arguments in philosophical texts of the early modern period, and to become familiar with central themes and problems. Topics include causation, substance, and the possibility of knowledge. The relationship of philosophical theories to contemporary science will be an ongoing theme.

This course is an introduction to ancient Greek philosophy. We’ll focus on three major thinkers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; and we’ll examine their views and arguments on some central questions about human conduct, the natural world, and our knowledge of both. We’ll begin with a brief look at some influential earlier figures known as Presocratics and Sophists, and we’ll end with a brief look at some enduring ideas of Epicurus. The emphasis throughout will be on analyzing both what these thinkers say and their reasons for saying it. The main goal is not to memorize information but to develop a critical understanding of some problems and arguments that remain very much alive today.

This course is a survey of the philosophical texts in ancient Europe, India, and China. The weekly schedule will contain three lectures and one discussion session. The reading assignments for the lectures will be announced at the beginning of the semester.  The discussion session will pick up the problems that arise from the reading assignments and lectures.

Textbooks:

            Plato, the Republic

            Bourke, The Essential Augustine

            Hartshorne, Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes           

            Bhagavad Gita, translated by Mascaro

            Confucius, the Analects, translated by Huang

Evaluation:

The semester grade will consist of four items: (1) the student’s contribution to discussion sessions (10%), (2) one-hour test (20%), (3) a short paper of about 1000 words (20%), and (4) the final exam (50%).   

This course is a survey of modern philosophy. It covers Descartes, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. The class will be conducted in three lectures and one discussion session every week.

Texts:

Descartes, Meditations

Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge

Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (abridged edition)

Seung, Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed

Evaluation:

 The semester grade will consist of four items: (1) class preparation and participation (10%), (2) one-hour test (20%), (3) a short paper of about 1000 words (20%), and (4) the final exam (50%). 

This course is a survey of modern philosophy. It covers Descartes, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. The class will be conducted in three lectures and one discussion session every week.

Texts:

Descartes, Meditations

Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge

Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (abridged edition)

Seung, Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed

Evaluation:

The final grade will consist of three items: (1) class preparation and participation (10%), (2) two one-hour test (20% each), (3) the final examination (50%). 

This is a general survey course on the basic issues in philosophy of law. Those issues are legal positivism, legal formalism, legal pragmatism, natural law, the legal authority, the question of justice. The class will be conducted in lectures and discussion sessions.

Textbook: D’Amato, ed., Analytic Jurisprudence Anthology

Evaluation:

The final grade will consist of three items: (1) class preparation and participation (10%), (2) two one-hour test (20% each), (3) the final examination (50%). 

This course is an intensive study of Kant’s greatest work, Critique of Pure Reason.  Because this is a very difficult text, we will go over it, paragraph by paragraph, sometimes line by line.  The students will be given a reading assignment every week, and they will present their interpretations of the assigned texts in class and challenge the interpretations by other students.

 Texts:

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason

Seung, Kant

Evaluation:

 The final grade will consist of three items: (1) class preparation and participation (20%), (2) the mid-term paper (30%), (3) the term paper (50%). 

The paper topics will be suggested when the time comes.