Are there any facts about what is morally right or wrong? Or is it all just a matter of how we feel? Is it possible to know what will happen in the future, given knowledge of what's happened in the past? Is it possible to know anything at all? What is it to be a person, as opposed to just an animal? What guarantees that I am now the very same person as the person who started typing this paragraph a few minutes ago? Do I have free will? If not, how can I be held morally responsible for any of my actions? Is it ever morally permissible to steal from someone else? What reason do I have to act morally anyway?

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

In this course, we will consider some of the numerous questions long-debated within the history of philosophy, in addition to some questions raised only recently. These include: What can we know? How do we know it? Is there a God? How ought we to act? What is gender?
What is race? How do gender and race shape our lives? To think through these questions, we will read texts authored by a diverse cross-section of philosophers, with the express purpose of regularly engaging students with perspectives relevantly unlike their own.

The goal of this course is not for students to come to steadfast conclusions about these important philosophical topics, but to leave with an understanding of, and appreciation for, both the kinds of questions asked, and the range of answers given, within the discipline of philosophy. The expectation is that students will have a safe space to consider critically topics they might not have had the chance to ponder before. The hope is that students will see this brief introduction to philosophy as just the beginning of philosophical exploration.

In this course, we will consider some of the numerous questions long-debated within the history of philosophy, in addition to some questions raised only recently. These include: What can we know? How do we know it? Is there a God? How ought we to act? What is gender?
What is race? How do gender and race shape our lives? To think through these questions, we will read texts authored by a diverse cross-section of philosophers, with the express purpose of regularly engaging students with perspectives relevantly unlike their own.

The goal of this course is not for students to come to steadfast conclusions about these important philosophical topics, but to leave with an understanding of, and appreciation for, both the kinds of questions asked, and the range of answers given, within the discipline of philosophy. The expectation is that students will have a safe space to consider critically topics they might not have had the chance to ponder before. The hope is that students will see this brief introduction to philosophy as just the beginning of philosophical exploration.

In this course, we will consider some of the numerous questions long-debated within the history of philosophy, in addition to some questions raised only recently. These include: What can we know? How do we know it? Is there a God? How ought we to act? What is gender?
What is race? How do gender and race shape our lives? To think through these questions, we will read texts authored by a diverse cross-section of philosophers, with the express purpose of regularly engaging students with perspectives relevantly unlike their own.

The goal of this course is not for students to come to steadfast conclusions about these important philosophical topics, but to leave with an understanding of, and appreciation for, both the kinds of questions asked, and the range of answers given, within the discipline of philosophy. The expectation is that students will have a safe space to consider critically topics they might not have had the chance to ponder before. The hope is that students will see this brief introduction to philosophy as just the beginning of philosophical exploration.

Among the moral questions that confront us over the course of a lifetime, some have broad social significance. The answers to many of these moral questions, moreover, are a source of often intense public debate. Should public higher education be treated as a public good or a private commodity? Is race-based affirmative action a requirement of justice or unfair? Does mass incarceration of African Americans perpetuate racial injustice? What is my responsibility, if any, to help alleviate income inequality or climate catastrophe? What moral consideration, if any, do we owe to fetuses? Is assisted suicide a permissible aid to a terminally ill person's autonomy or a morally forbidden collaboration in a killing? Is the conduct of a just war compatible with holding enemies captive without charge or trial, potentially indefinitely? What immigration policies of a democratic state are morally defensible, and which not?

Given the significance of such questions and the lack of agreement on their answers, it is especially important that we think clearly and argue cogently for solutions to the moral problems that prompt them.

Both philosophy majors and non-majors are welcome.

>Identify, define, and solve problems

>Locate and critically evaluate information

>Master a body of knowledge and a mode of inquiry

>Communicate effectively

>Exercise skills required for effective citizenship and life-long learning

Finally, the course is designated Writing Intensive.

Think about a word, for example, ‘Obama'. That word, in English, refers to or is about or represents a certain individual, namely the 44^th president of the united states. How does it do this? What makes it the case that when I use the word, here and now, I somehow manage to talk about Obama, in Washington D.C., rather than someone else or nothing at all? Relatedly, how does this referential fact about ‘Obama' relate to the meaning of the word? Does a word have a meaning over and above what it refers to? For that matter, what is it for a word to mean something in the first place? Do there actually exist things called meanings that somehow "attach" to words? How do words get their meanings? And how does the meaning of a sentence like ‘Obama is tall' relate to our thought that Obama is tall? Is one in some sense more fundamental? Which? Language or thought? And what is it for such a sentence to be true?

These are all foundational questions in the philosophy of language. The philosophy of language is intimately related to virtually every other area of contemporary theoretical philosophy: metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of logic, meta-ethics, and so on.

In this course we will survey a number of topics and questions, such as those above, that have occupied 20^th-century and contemporary analytic philosophers. Topics to be covered include: the nature of reference, linguistic meaning, and truth; synonymy and translation; propositional attitude reports; and the relationship between language, thought, and world.

Seminar participants will:

· Become familiar with arguments and approaches to the topic as it is treated

· Present their research on the topic, and

· Produce a significant body of written work on the topic.