This is the second course in the department's two semester sequence in logic. In the second course, a fair amount of attention is also devoted to logical metatheory. The main text for both courses is Benson Mates's Elementary Logic , 2nd ed.
Course work consists of regular homework, occasional unannounced quizzes, two midterms, and a final.
This course focuses on the thought, particularly with regard to metaphysics and epistemology, of some of the key figures in the history of Western philosophy from Descartes through Kant. In particular, we will study representative works by Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Student performance will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, two examinations, and a term paper. This course is designed to acquaint students with the skills necessary to apply ethical theories to concrete social problems. The specific theories that will be applied to these problems are utilitarianism, Rawlsian distributive justice, libertarianism, and socialist justice.