basic class info for spring 2015 -check back from time to time
(for book info go to the schedule of classes and click on the book icon)

Intro to Philosophy
This class is a survey of topics from different periods and different styles of writing in the history of philosophy. We will read and think about the soul, immortality, God, time, desire, the unconscious and alienation. The readings will range from Ancient Greek to contemporary French philosophy. The wide variety of reading means that almost everyone can find something that interests them, whether they are humanities-oriented or science-oriented.

Philosophy of Language
This course will concentrate on questions about the nature of language, meaning, interpretation, the relation between language and thought, language and history, humans and animals. We will also study how different answers to these questions influence other areas of philosophical reflection. There will be readings from the major periods of the history of philsophy (Aristotle, Ockham, Rousseau). We will try to focus on Structuralist linguistics, phenomenology and deconstruction (Saussure, Hjelmslev, Husserl, Derrida).