Spring 2012 Courses

PH 230 - Philosophy of Gender and Race      C. McKeen

In this course, we will look at how 19th century philosophy continued with the problems and methods set for it in the modern period and why and how these methods and problems were subject to change, variation, and philosophical development given the historical context in which they were deployed. We will also look at the way in which 19th Century philosophical ideas went on to influence the way we think in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Given that the 19th Century in Europe, England, and the United States was very fertile and diverse philosophically and witnessed the professionalization of the discipline as well as the wide dissemination of philosophical journals, lectures, and ideas, there is much material from which this seminar might choose. In order to narrow this material down and to look at the way in which the historical context changed philosophy (and how philosophy changed the historical context), we will look at the area where historical changes most inscribed themselves; that is, on philosophers’ ideas about the human subject, on technology and science, and about the way in which this knowledge might be used to regulate society in the best way.

Philosophy and law were born together in the earliest reflections on the way of the world, both natural and political.  This seminar will engage classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of law to explore the philosophical foundations and content of law and jurisprudence.   The nature of law – natural, or conventional, or moral; the nature of legal reasoning – textually based or precedent based; the moral force of the law, the nature of rights – liberty, speech, privacy, religion; the nature of justice and equality --- these and other topics will be addressed in a seminar that will make use of both original and secondary materials, as well as case studies.