Tim Juvshik

Introduction to Modern Logic
Logic is concerned with good reasoning; as such, it stands at the core of the liberal arts. In this course we will develop our reasoning skills by identifying and analyzing arguments found in philosophical, legal, and other texts, and also by formulating our own arguments. We will use the formal techniques of modern propositional and predicate logic to codify and test various reasoning strategies and specific arguments. No prior knowledge of logic, formal mathematics, or computer science is presupposed in this course, which does not count towards the PHL distribution requirement but instead towards the deductive reasoning requirement. 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Issues in Bioethics
In this course, we will look at when medicine departs from its usual purpose of prolonging life and treating disease/injury, as well as how to distribute medical resources needed for that purpose. First, when should medicine be used not to avoid death, but to bring it about? We will discuss abortion and euthanasia. Second, when should medicine be used to change our physical condition, in non-disease/injury contexts? We will discuss the nature of disability and the permissibility of human enhancement. Finally, we will look at how we should distribute medical resources in a variety of contexts, including triage, vaccine distribution and the anti-vax movement, Third World clinical trials, and blood donations, as well as how structural inequalities hamper just resource distribution. (Not open to students who have completed PHIL 1034)

Environmental Ethics
In this course we will explore a variety of moral questions that arise in connection to the environment and our relationship to it. Questions may include: What are our moral obligations to the environment? What is the moral status of non-human animals, and how should we take their welfare into account? Do we have a duty to be vegetarian/vegan? What should we do about climate change? How should we respond to climate change deniers? What role should technology play in combating climate change? Is biodiversity intrinsically or only instrumentally valuable?; What duties do we have to future generations? The primary goal of this course is to engage in an overview of philosophically and ethically significant questions about the environment and our relation to it.

Social Metaphysics
Social metaphysics focuses on the nature of social kinds and phenomena, including race, gender, sexual orientation, groups, teams, organizations, institutions, virtual artifacts, games, social relationships, governments, nations, and cultures. In this seminar we will focus on the ways such kinds are constructed via social norms and conventions, whether social kinds have essential properties, and what mental states are needed to sustain them. We will also consider how social kinds structure relations of power as well as our lived experiences, and the relations of dependence between social kinds and material artifacts. Students will be introduced to different methodological approaches to these issues, including methodological individualism, holism, conceptual engineering, and descriptive meta-ontology. (one Philosophy course) 3 hrs. sem.

Issues in Bioethics
In this course, we will look at when medicine departs from its usual purpose of prolonging life and treating disease/injury, as well as how to distribute medical resources needed for that purpose. First, when should medicine be used not to avoid death, but to bring it about? We will discuss abortion and euthanasia. Second, when should medicine be used to change our physical condition, in non-disease/injury contexts? We will discuss the nature of disability and the permissibility of human enhancement. Finally, we will look at how we should distribute medical resources in a variety of contexts, including triage, vaccine distribution and the anti-vax movement, Third World clinical trials, and blood donations, as well as how structural inequalities hamper just resource distribution.