Duke University 2003-2004 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

Dean of Student Affairs, Duke Law School, Box 90376, Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina 27708.
For Seniors and Graduates
203S. Contemporary Ethical Theories (C-N). The nature and justification of basic
ethical concepts in the light of the chief ethical theories of twentieth-century British and
American philosophers. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Flanagan, Golding,
or Wong. 3 units. C-L: Political Science 289S
206S. Responsibility. The relationship between responsibility in the law and moral
blameworthiness; excuses and defenses; the roles of such concepts as act, intention,
motive, ignorance, and causation. Instructor: Golding. 3 units.
208S. Political Values. Analysis of the systematic justification of political principles and
the political values in the administration of law. Instructor: Golding. 3 units.
211S. Plato. Selected dialogues. Instructor: Ferejohn. 3 units. C-L: Classical Studies 211S
217S. Aristotle. Selected topics. Instructor: Ferejohn. 3 units. C-L: Classical Studies 217S
218S. Medieval Philosophy. Study of Augustine against background of late ancient
Roman philosophy, and Thomas Aquinas and others against background of medieval
Muslim philosophy, in particular Avicenna and Averroes, and Neoplatonism.
Instructor: Mahoney. 3 units. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 218S
219S. Late Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy. Readings in Scotus, Ockham, and
others. Discussions regarding the critical turn in fourteenth-century philosophy, rival
theories of knowledge, the 'Great Chain of Being.' Instructor: Mahoney. 3 units. C-L:
Medieval and Renaissance Studies 219S
220. The Presocratic Philosophers. 3 units. C-L: see Greek 220
225S. British Empiricism. A critical study of the writings of Locke, Berkeley, or Hume
with special emphasis on problems in the theory of knowledge. Instructor: Schmaltz. 3
units.
227S. Continental Rationalism. A critical study of the writings of Descartes, Spinoza,
or Leibniz with special emphasis on problems in the theory of knowledge and
metaphysics. Instructor: Schmaltz. 3 units.
228S. Recent and Contemporary Philosophy. A critical study of some contemporary
movements, with special emphasis on analytic philosophers. Instructor: Sterrett. 3 units.
C-L: Linguistics 228S
229S. Topics in the History of Philosophy. Topics in one or more periods in the history
of philosophy (for example, ancient, medieval, or modern) such as skepticism, mindbody
relations, the nature of persons and personal identity, the relation between physics
and metaphysics, causation and explanation. Instructor: Flanagan, Ferejohn, Janiak,
Mahoney, Rosenberg, Schmaltz, or Sterrett. 3 units.
231S. Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Instructor: Janiak. 3 units.
232S. Recent Continental Philosophy. Selected topics. Instructor: Staff. 3 units.
233S. Methodology of the Empirical Sciences. Recent philosophical discussion of the
concept of a scientific explanation, the nature of laws, theory and observation, probability
and induction, and other topics. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Brandon
or Rosenberg. 3 units.
234S. Problems in the Philosophy of Biology. Selected topics, with emphasis on
evolutionary biology: the structure of evolutionary theory, adaptation, teleological or
teleonomic explanations in biology, reductionism and organicism, the units of selection,
and sociobiology. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Brandon or Rosenberg. 3
units. C-L: Biology 234S
236S. Hegel's Political Philosophy (C-N). Within context of Hegel's total philosophy,
an examination of his understanding of phenomenology and the phenomenological
basis of political institutions and his understanding of Greek and Christian political life.
218 Courses and Academic Programs