What is thinking? What is the distinction between mind and body, and ought one accept it? Can the mind survive the death of the body? Can people be thoughtful and passionate at the same time? What kind of access can one have to the worlds of human beings from other cultures and historical periods? Readings from ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophers primarily in the Western tradition. Designed to introduce beginning students to problems and methods in philosophy and to the philosophy department at Smith. Enrollment limited to 30.

An introduction to the two-thousand-odd years of philosophy on the Indian subcontinent, focusing on central texts and topics: the nature of self, mind and reality; knowledge and its acquisition; morality and meaning; language and aesthetics. Students read selections of primary texts in translation, such as the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, Milinda's Questions, the Nyaya Sutras and others. The course focuses on premodern Indian philosphy but includes some modern Indian thought, especially that which reflects on the relationship between modern and traditional ideas in the subcontinent.

Intensive practice in writing and discussing philosophy and in applying philosophical methods to key problems raised in essays written by members of the philosophy department. The spring semester course must be taken by the end of the student's sophomore year unless the department grants a deferral or the student declares the major itself during the spring of their sophomore year. Minors are encouraged but not required to take the class. Prerequisite: Two college courses in philosophy, one of which may be taken concurrently, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 20.

Among the most important and philosophically intriguing results in 20th-century logic are the limitative theorems such as Gödel’s incompleteness theorem and Tarski’s demonstration of the indefinability of truth in certain languages. A wide variety of approaches to resolving fundamental mathematical and semantical paradoxes have emerged in the wake of these results, as well as a variety of alternative logics including paraconsistent logics in which contradictions are tolerated. This course examines logical and semantic paradoxes and their philosophical significance, as well as the choice between accepting incompleteness and inconsistency in logic and knowledge. Prerequisite: one course in logic.

An examination of the works of some major moral theorists of the Western philosophical tradition and their implications for understanding the nature of the good life and the sources and scope of moral responsibilities. Enrollment limited to 30.

This course provides a survey of different Latin American philosophical traditions and figures. Against some regimes of knowledge that doubt whether or not such philosophy does exist or could have its own status, the course considers from the very beginning the existence of a Latin American philosophy in its own right and its contributions to theorizing about the very idea of philosophy. Students examine different figures in Latin American thought relevant to social and political philosophy, Feminist philosophy, philosophy of liberation, Latin American Marxism, and philosophy of history. The course focuses on figures such as Guaman Poma de Ayala, Bartolomé de las Casas, Carlos Mariátegui, Enrique Dussel, Paulo Freire, Aníbal Quijano, Maria Lugones, Gloria Anzaldúa, Beatriz Nascimento, and Silvia Rivera Cusicánqui, among others.

Ideas about the aims, guiding concepts, and practice of education are broad and constantly evolve due to human experiences in educational contexts. This introduction to the philosophy of education addresses questions including: What are the overall goals of education? What are the social, cultural, moral, and political influences on education? Can the process of education be liberatory? The course explores these questions with special attention to ethical, epistemological, existential, and decolonial philosophical perspectives. It also examines these perspectives in connection to various historical and current issues within education, such as equal opportunity, school reform, character education, pedagogy, and curriculum. (E)

What is sex? What is love? How are sex and love integral to the experience as a human being? This course serves as an exploration of historical and contemporary philosophical perspectives of sex and love through ethics, social and political philosophy, phenomenology, existentialism, and feminist and queer theory. The course investigates central philosophical debates surrounding consent, pornography, gay marriage, friendship, the nature and meaning of sex, and motherhood. Additionally, the course considers how philosophical concepts, theories, and arguments about sex and love serve to oppress or liberate individuals and communities.(E)

This is an introductory course to the field of philosophy of law. This course introduces students to both contemporary legal theory and a critical philosophical approach to the law from a decolonial and critical race theory. The course is structured into three parts: investigating the nature of law; studying the connection of normative notions (e.g., "authority," "rights," and "powers") with the realm of morality; and focusing on issues of race and the law, and alternative conceptions of property rights. Enrollment limited to 30.

Feminist philosophy of language in the analytic tradition seeks to understand how language may contribute to gendered patterns of oppression. It also proposes interventions to disrupt that oppression. This class surveys major topics in feminist philosophy of language, for example, the semantics of generics like "man" or "woman," the meaning of slurs, the silencing effects of speech, the influence of gendered metaphor, the grammatical encoding of gender into natural language, and more. Students read both foundational and contemporary works of analytic philosophy.

This course examines the nature of consciousness, emphasizing the challenges abnormal states of the brain present for the understanding of consciousness. Questions raised include: What is consciousness and its nature? Can consciousness be shared between individuals? Can consciousness be divided within an individual? In answering these questions, students engage with leading theories of mind and self. This investigation is both intercultural and interdisciplinary, drawing from research in neurology, contemporary Western philosophy, and classical Asian philosophy (especially Buddhism, Yoga, Sāṃkhya, and Vedānta). Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required. (E)

Permission Required/Registration by Waitlist. During Add/Drop, Waiver Required.

As the mobility of information, goods, capital and people has increased worldwide, so has the backlash against migration. This course examines contemporary bordering principles and practices in, and asks moral questions about citizenship, mobility and identity. The class investigates principles of inclusion and exclusion and asks how borders define moral status. The class then investigates bordering practices through social theory, ethnography, human geography and art. Should democratic societies adopt more open or closed policies toward immigration? How should nations conceive of the rights of climate refugees? Should territorial bordering practices be subject to international law and scrutiny? Restrictions: First years only; students are limited to one first-year seminar. Enrollment limited to 16.