Winter Quarter

In this course, we’ll consider the relevance of work in the tradition of the Frankfurt School for contemporary debates in analytic philosophy about the nature and status of rationality, ideology, morality, alienation, and autonomy. Authors to be read will include Adorno, Horkheimer, and their contemporaries — as well as more recent work by figures such as Habermas, Honneth, and Jaeggi. In discussing these figures, we’ll try to understand them both on their own terms and in relation to contemporary analytic philosophy.

This seminar considers questions of risk creation for public benefit, with particular concern for utilitarian and contractualist theories.  It focuses on the social costs and benefits of trade and technological change in recent history and on the potential implications of artificial intelligence and climate change for the future of economic production, work and leisure, basic income, and social insurance.

This course offers an opportunity for Philosophy postgraduate students to develop their professional skills. As part of the course, students will construct a portfolio consisting of the following items: (i) a one-page research proposal; (ii) a (recorded) short research presentation (c. 10-15 minutes), with accompanying powerpoints and handout; (iii) a (recorded) short teaching presentation (c. 10-15 minutes), with accompanying powerpoints and handout; (iv) an academic webpage; (v) a syllabus for an undergraduate course; (vi) an academic CV; (vii) and a teaching statement. The goal of the course is to facilitate the production of the above portfolio, through intensive and collaborative work.

Wednesdays: 4 -6:50 pm, HIB 55
This course provides students with an overview of the exciting field of medical epistemology. Based on case-studies drawn from contemporary medical practice, the course will be themed around nine key topics: 1) Testimonial and hermeneutical injustice in the medical context. 2) Expert disagreement in the medical context. 3) Trust and the role of experts in the medical context. 4) Transformative experiences in the medical setting. 5) The significance of vaccine skepticism. 6) The ethics and epistemology of placebos. 7) The value and accuracy of diagnostic tests. 8) The difference between side effects and intended effects. 9) The nature of medical indications.