AY 2021/22 Undergraduate Modules
The undergraduate modules offered in AY 2021-2022 are listed below. Please access the individual LumiNUS course pages for more details, and plan your timetable using the following tools:
Semester 1
GET1029/GEX1015 Life, the Universe, and Everything
by Michael PELCZAR
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH1102E, GEK1067; Cross-listing(s): GEX1015
Description:
GET1029/GEX1015 exposes students to philosophy by engaging with a variety of philosophical ideas, theories, and arguments. We take up questions like: What is good for its own sake? Is there really a difference between right and wrong, and if so, where do we draw the line? Do you have an obligation to assist those in dire need before spending on luxuries for yourself? Does the government have a right to make you pay for things you don’t want? Does God exist? Do you have an immaterial spirit, or are you just a highly organized collection of atoms? How do we know that we're not living in the Matrix? These are hard questions over which intelligent and well-informed people disagree. Over the course of the module, students will learn how to arrive at their own intelligent and well-informed answers to them.
*GET1029/GEX1015 replaces PH1102E as the essential introductory module for the PH major and minor from AY2016-17.
GET1025/GEX1011 Science Fiction and Philosophy
by John HOLBO
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-2-1-4; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH2225; Cross-listing(s): GEX1011
Description:
This module considers science fiction as a mode of philosophical inquiry. Science fiction stories are used to examine fundamental questions of metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Topics include the nature of time, space, religion, nature, mind, and the future. Specific topics may include such issues as genetic enhancement, environmental ethics, and implications of encounters with non-human life forms.
Sub-area(s): Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language
GET1026/GEX1012 Effective Reasoning
by LEE Wang Yen
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH2111; Cross-listing(s): GEX1012
Description:
What is good reasoning? We will try to answer this question by studying the mechanics of reasoning. Students will learn what an argument is, what the difference between validity and soundness is, and what it means to say that an argument is valid in virtue of its form. They will also be introduced to various strategies and pitfalls in reasoning. In addition, to hone their analytical skills, students will be given arguments—drawn from philosophy and other areas—to unpack and evaluate. It is hoped that in the process of learning what counts as good reasoning, one will become a better reasoner.
Sub-area(s): Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language
GET1028/GEX1014 Logic
by Lavinia PICOLLO
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): GEX1014
Description:
Logic, as a branch of philosophy, is the study of valid argument. Each logical system puts forward its own definition of validity, which purports to approximate our informal notion. This is an elementary course in first-order predicate logic, the most widely used logical system both in philosophy and the sciences. It consists of a formal language (with instructions how to translate declarative English sentences into it), a semantics, and a proof theory, which will constitute the core of the course. We will also cover topics such as basic elements of set theory and definitions.
GES1041/GESS1029 Everyday Ethics in Singapore
by CHIN Chuan Fei
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-2.5-4.5; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): GESS1029
Description:
This module examines the ethical dimensions of everyday life in Singapore. It focuses on moral encounters and dilemmas that arise in our pursuit of ‘happiness, prosperity, and progress’. We will explore how the tools of moral reasoning and engagement apply to local concerns, such as inequality, meritocracy, multiculturalism, immigration, and marriage. This will challenge us to clarify moral values transformed by social and technological changes, combine moral principles with practical constraints, and balance other interests with our own. We will also consider how moral dialogue can be cultivated in Singapore’s multicultural society, so as to manage diverse traditions and divergent values.
GET1050 Computational Reasoning
by Jonathan SIM
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-4-3; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): GET1031A; Cross-listing(s): NIL
Description:
Through a series of fun and engaging hands-on activities, this module aims to equip students with the ability to thoughtfully apply computational tools when solving complex real-world problems. In particular, this module aims to impart students with the ability to critically self-evaluate the way they apply these tools, and thus be able to reason effectively in a variety of contexts. They will learn to identify problems and design solutions, while also developing a critical awareness of the merits and limits of their methods, thereby empowering them to make better-informed decisions and to articulate the reasons for those decisions.
PH2207 Hume and Kant
by QU Hsueh Ming
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
PH2208 Applied Ethics
by Abelard PODGORSKI
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
1) To introduce students to recent philosophical thought about moral and social issues.
2) To train general skills of critical thought, rational discourse, and effective writing by developing the ability to identify, evaluate, critique, and construct arguments.
PH2211 Philosophy of Religion
by Saranindra Nath TAGORE
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This is a course in the philosophy of religion. We shall be concerned mainly with the philosophical issues underpinning the idea of God. Accordingly, we will critically discuss the main arguments for the existence of God: the ontological, the cosmological and the teleological. We will also critically present the main argument for philosophical atheism: the problem of evil. We shall also discuss the nature of religious experience and the problem of religious pluralism. Please see tentative schedule below for full listing of topics to be covered.
Sub-area(s): Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language
PH2212/GEK2030/EU2214 Introduction to Continental Philosophy
by GOH Kien How
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-2-5; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): GEK2030, EU2214
Description:
This course introduces students to European Continental philosophy by way of several representative thinkers. It considers themes like the nature of human existence, our lived experience of ourselves and the world, the limits of scientific knowledge, the place of human values and meaning in the material world, as they are treated in key works of closely related phenomenological, hermeneutical, existentialist and absurdist philosophical traditions in the twentieth century. Focus will be on context-sensitive interpretation of texts, as well as critical engagement with ideas.
PH2213 Metaphysics
by Ben BLUMSON
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH3212; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
PH2241 Philosophy of Mind
by TANG Weng Hong
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH3212; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
What is the nature of mind and its relation to physical body? The mental realm is among the last great unknowns in the modern view of sentient beings and their place in the Universe and is a fertile field of philosophical inquiry. This module examines central conceptual issues surrounding the idea of mind and its relation to physical body. These include the distinction between the mental and the physical, the nature of consciousness, personal identity, disembodied existence, mental representation, and the attempt to tame the mental in purely physical terms.
PH2242 Philosophy of Language
by Ethan James JERZAK
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH3210; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
PE3101P Decision and Social Choice
by Ben BLUMSON
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): GEM2006/GET1028; Preclusion(s): PH3249; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
PH3214 Philosophy and Literature
by CHIN Chuan Fei
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH3206; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This online seminar introduces recent debates that lie at the intersection of philosophy and literature. These debates are provoked by the Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee's Tanner Lectures on Human Values, The Lives of Animals. His remarkable lectures present -- in fictional form -- a lecture, a seminar, and a debate with Elizabeth Costello, a novelist to whom reason looks 'suspiciously like the being of human thought; worse than that, like the being of one tendency in human thought'.
We will explore how Coetzee's lectures raise questions in three enmeshed relationships: those between philosophy and literature, reason and reality, and humans and other animals. Then we will examine a set of philosophical and literary texts that address the significance of stories in our moral lives.
The writers we may read include: Peter Singer, Cora Diamond, Marjorie Garber, Stanley Cavell, Ian Hacking, Iris Murdoch, Martha Nussbaum, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
PH3230 Normative Ethical Theory
by Zachary BARNETT
This module is a study of the main contending contemporary views about goodness and virtue, principles of moral evaluation, and moral decision-making. These include deontological, consequentialist, and contemporary virtue-based and contractarian theories. Emphasis will be placed on securing a thorough understanding the arguments used to derive fundamental moral principles and to justify claims about our moral obligations. Such study aims to reveal the kinds of issues that are involved in analyzing what constitutes rational considerations for moral action, and the strengths and weaknesses of the rival theories. Sub-area(s): Value Theory
PH3241 Consciousness
by Michael PELCZAR
Module Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Preclusions: PH3212; Prerequisite: PH2241 or PH2242 or PH3210
One of the main problems of consciousness concerns whether consciousness can be explained solely in terms of brain activity and the like. Some philosophers think so. After all, science has successfully explained various cognitive functions in such terms, and it’s natural to think that its success will eventually extend to consciousness. Other philosophers disagree, finding it hard to fathom how consciousness can arise from the purely physical. To help us decide which answer is correct, we shall examine various important positions on the nature of consciousness including physicalism, dualism, eliminativism, and idealism.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH3243 Chance and Uncertainty (To Be Confirmed)
by Isaac WILHELM
Module Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Preclusions: NIL; Prerequisite: PH2110/GEM2006 or GET1028 or PH2201/GEM2025 or PH2243 or PH3211
What is the relationship between chance and uncertainty? If a fair coin is about to be flipped, how certain should I be that any particular outcome will obtain? What mathematical theories can be used to formalize chance and uncertainty? What sorts of things are chances and credences, anyway? And how can we use chance and credence to make our way in an uncertain world?
In this course, students will learn some accounts of chance and ‘credence’—the technical philosophical term for uncertainty—which address these questions. We will begin with three weeks on the basics of probability theory, since both chance and credence are often formalized in terms of probabilities. Then we will discuss the metaphysics of chances and credences; that is, we will explore some theories of what chances and credences are. After that, we will explore some theories of which credences are rational, and how rational credence might relate to chance. Finally, we will explore a few more theories of how people can use credences, and chances, to help them navigate the world.
PH3246 Paradoxes
by Ethan James JERZAK
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): PH2110/GEM2006 or GET1028/GEX1015; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module is a survey of classic paradoxes, ancient and modern. No mere brain‐teasers, these riddles have exercised some of history’s best minds, often with startling results. How is motion possible? What is a gamble at given odds worth? Is time travel possible? Why do nations honor their treaty obligations? What are numbers? The contemplation of paradoxes drives the search for answers to these questions and more, and by grappling with the paradoxes, students gain familiarity with key techniques and concepts of decision theory and logical analysis which are useful both in philosophy and other fields of inquiry.
PH3252 Introduction to Philosophy of Mathematics
by Daniel WAXMAN
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 0-3-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): GEM2006 Logic or GET1028 Logic; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): NIL
Description:
PE4101P The Ethics and Politics of Nudging
by Abelard PODGORSKI
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2012-2014: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, or 28MCs in PS, or 28 MCs in EU/LA(French/German)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. Cohort 2015 onwards: Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, PS, EC, PE or PE-recognised modules. Achieve a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. PE2101P and EC2101.; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Nudge policy uses people’s cognitive biases to steer them towards decisions that they would have made if they were rational. This module takes an in-depth look at nudge policy, and the ethical and political issues surrounding it. We first review nudge policy and the psychological theories underpinning it. We then look at arguments for and against nudging, and tackle issues such as: whether governments can identify a citizen’s true/rational preferences and help citizens satisfy them, whether nudges are manipulative or paternalistic, whether nudges violate principles of publicity and transparency, what public choice analysis could tell us about nudge policy.
Students will learn some of the core results of behavioral economics and how to creatively apply such results to the design of public policy. They will also practice writing persuasive arguments on moral and political issues around freedom, paternalism, and nudging as a policy strategy.
PH4202 Political Philosophy
by Neil SINHABABU
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-3-6.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2012-2014: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, or 28MCs in PS, or 28 MCs in EU/LA(French/German)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. Cohort 2015 onwards: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, or 28MCs in PS, or 28 MCs in EU/LA(French/German/Spanish)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track.; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will discuss some of the central issues in political philosophy such as the basis and limits of toleration and individual liberty, the importance of a shared morality, and the role of the state in meeting the claims of different conceptions of what a worthwhile life should be. In plural societies, with a diversity of different values, what would be a fair basis for social co-operation?
PH4211/PH6211 Issues in Epistemology/Advanced Epistemology
by TANG Weng Hong
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: PH4211: 0-3-0-0-9.5, PH6211: 0-3-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will explore an advanced topic in epistemology in depth. Some possible topics are the problem of scepticism, including realist and anti‐realist responses to it, the nature of certainty and the relationship of knowledge to chance and credence, the internalism versus externalism debate about the nature of knowledge and justification, and the definability of knowledge in terms of truth, belief, justification and their cognates. The module may also explore a problem from formal epistemology, such as the lottery paradox, the problem of logical omniscience, or probabilistic approaches to the problem of induction.
PH4243/PH6243 Issues in Aesthetics (To Be Confirmed)
by Moonyoung SONG
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-2-7.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
At the end of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, is Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, still dreaming or back in the real world? Is Dumbledore gay in the Harry Potter series because J. K. Rowling said so during an interview? What does Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, a story about a man who turns into an insect, mean? These are questions about interpretation of fiction and artwork. In this course, we will examine philosophical theories about this topic.
This course consists of three units.
In Unit 1, we will look at theories about one kind of interpretation: the interpretation of work meaning (e.g., interpretation of The Metamorphosis’s meaning). The debate between these theories revolves around what exact role the artist’s intention plays in determining their work’s meaning.
Unit 2, on the other hand, addresses another kind of interpretation: the interpretation of truth in fiction (e.g., interpretation of whether Dumbledore is gay in the Harry Potter series). Here, our focus will be what determines what is true in fiction. The role of intention will still be an important issue in Unit 2, but we will also explore other issues, such as whether truth in fiction can be understood in terms of possible worlds and how truth in fiction and imagination are related to each other. (By the way, if you are wondering how a work’s meaning and truth in fiction differ, that is one of the questions we will address in this course.)
Lastly, in Unit 3, we will discuss a puzzle about truth in fiction: the fictionality puzzle. This puzzle is about why certain kinds of deviant claims, such as deviant moral claims (e.g., female infanticide is morally permissible), are rarely true in fiction, whereas other kinds of deviant claims, such as deviant scientific claims (e.g., time travel is possible), are regularly true in fiction.
Although this course is an advanced course in aesthetics, it requires no background knowledge of the field. If you have taken some philosophy courses, even if none of them were in aesthetics, you’ll have no problem in this course.
PH4262 Nietzsche
by John Christian HOLBO
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-3-6.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2012-2014: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, or 28MCs in PS, or 28 MCs in EU/LA(French/German)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. Cohort 2015 onwards: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, or 28MCs in PS, or 28 MCs in EU/LA(French/German/Spanish)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track.; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will focus on the philosophy of the 19th Century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It will proceed chronologically through Nietzsche's most significant writings, such as The Gay Science; Thus Spoke Zarathustra; Beyond Good and Evil; On the Genealogy of Morality. Most of the attention will be on primary sources. All materials will be in English.
PH4401 Honours Thesis
Modular Credits: 15; Workload: 0-1-0-0-36.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2015 and before: Completed 110MCs including 60MCs of PH major requirements with a minimum CAP of 3.5. Cohort 2016 onwards: Completed 110MCs including 44MCs of PH major requirements with a minimum CAP of 3.5.; Preclusion(s): PH4660; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
A dissertation on an approved research topic not exceeding twelve thousand words. Please read the following page and register PH4401 manually with the Department. Please refer to https://fass.nus.edu.sg/philo/overview/academic-requirements/ for more information on the PH major requirement. Sub-area(s): NA
PH4550 Internship: Philosophy for Teaching
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 3-3-2-1-3.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MC, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2 or be on the Honours track. Preclusion(s): Nil.; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Students will intern in an educational organisation approved by the Department. (e.g. Logic Mills, which specialises in courses on analytical thinking skills to schools and other educational organisations). During the internship, they will learn to use their philosophical skills to teach, and through practice, reflect on the usefulness of Philosophy in education practice and intellectual development. Sub-area(s): NA
PH4660 Independent Study
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-0-0-0-12.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2015 and before: To be offered subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. Completed 100 MCs, including 60 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2. Cohort 2016 onwards: To be offered subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. Completed 100 MCs, including 44 MCs inPH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2.; Preclusion(s): PH4401; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
The Independent Study Module is designed to enable the student to explore an approved topic within the discipline in depth. The student should approach a lecturer to work out an agreed topic, readings, and assignments for the module. A formal, written agreement is to be drawn up, giving a clear account of the topic, programme of study, assignments, evaluation, and other pertinent details. Head’s and/or Honours Coordinator’s approval of the written agreement is required. Regular meetings and reports are expected. Evaluation is based on 100% Continuous Assessment and must be worked out between the student and the lecturer prior to seeking departmental approval. Please register PH4660 manually with the Department. Sub-area(s): NA
Semester 2
GET1029/GEX1015 Life, the Universe, and Everything
by Michael PELCZAR
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH1102E; Cross-listing(s): GEX1015
Description:
GET1029/GEX1015 exposes students to philosophy by engaging with a variety of philosophical ideas, theories, and arguments. We take up questions like: What is good for its own sake? Is there really a difference between right and wrong, and if so, where do we draw the line? Do you have an obligation to assist those in dire need before spending on luxuries for yourself? Does the government have a right to make you pay for things you don’t want? Does God exist? Do you have an immaterial spirit, or are you just a highly organized collection of atoms? How do we know that we're not living in the Matrix? These are hard questions over which intelligent and well-informed people disagree. Over the course of the module, students will learn how to arrive at their own intelligent and well-informed answers to them.
*GET1029/GEX1015 replaces PH1102E as the essential introductory module for the PH major and minor from AY2016-17.
GET1028/GEX1014 Logic
by LEE Wang Yen
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): PH2110, CS3234 and MA4207; Cross-listing(s): GEX1014
Description:
An introduction to classical logic. The first half of the course introduces propositional logic, using the techniques of truth-tables and linear proof by contradiction. The second half of the course extends the use of linear proof by contradiction to predicate logic. Emphasis is placed on applying the techniques to philosophical arguments.
GET1050 Computational Reasoning
by Jonathan SIM
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-4-3; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): GET1031; Cross-listing(s): NIL
Description:
Through a series of fun and engaging hands-on activities, this module aims to equip students with the ability to thoughtfully apply computational tools when solving complex real-world problems. In particular, this module aims to impart students with the ability to critically self-evaluate the way they apply these tools, and thus be able to reason effectively in a variety of contexts. They will learn to identify problems and design solutions, while also developing a critical awareness of the merits and limits of their methods, thereby empowering them to make better-informed decisions and to articulate the reasons for those decisions.
GES1041/GESS1029 Everyday Ethics in Singapore
by CHIN Chuan Fei
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-2.5-4.5; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): GESS1029
Description:
This module examines the ethical dimensions of everyday life in Singapore. It focuses on moral dilemmas that arise in the nation’s pursuit of ‘happiness, prosperity, and progress’. We will explore how moral reasoning from multiple perspectives applies to local concerns such as equality, meritocracy, multiculturalism, immigration, and marriage. This will challenge us to identify moral problems created by social and technological changes, combine ethical principles with practical constraints, and balance the interests of individuals and communities. We will also consider how moral dialogue can be cultivated in Singapore’s multicultural society, so as to manage diverse traditions and divergent values.
PE2101P Introduction to Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
by Neil SINHABABU
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will introduce students to PPE as a multidisciplinary endeavour, by showing them how social and political philosophy can be done in a way that is strongly informed by the findings of social science. The course will be organized around discussing a few specific issues – such as inequality, nudging, climate change, and the formation of the state. Analysing these issues will introduce students to the methods and results of philosophy, political science, and economics, and show how they could be integrated to better understand and tackle social and political phenomena.
PH2201/GEM2025 Introduction to Philosophy of Science
by LEE Wang Yen
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): GEM2025; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module provides a broad overview of the major philosophical issues related to natural science to students of both science and humanities without a background in philosophy. It introduces the views on the distinctive features of science and scientific progress espoused by influential contemporary philosophers of science such as Popper and Kuhn. There is also a topical treatment of core issues in philosophy of science, including causation, confirmation, explanation, scientific inference, scientific realism, and laws of nature.
PH2202 Major Political Philosophers
by Daniel WAXMAN
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will introduce students to some of the major political philosophers in the Western tradition by examining their different views on such issues as the nature and basis of justice, its relation to equality and liberty, the justification of the state, and the basis of political obligation.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH2204 Introduction to Indian Thought
by Saranindara Nath TAGORE
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-2-5; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): GEK2027, SN2273; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This course is designed to survey the history of Indian philosophy both classical and modern. The course will begin with lectures on the Rig Veda and the Upanishads. It will proceed with the presentation of the main metaphysical and epistemological doctrines of some of the major schools of classical Indian philosophy such as Vedanta, Samkhya, Nyaya, Jainism and Buddhism. The course will conclude by considering the philosophical contributions of some of the architects of modern India such as Rammohan Ray, Rabindrananth Tagore and Mohandas Gandhi.
PH2211 Medical Ethics
by Moonyoung SONG
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): PH2208, GEK2035; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module will help students identify and think critically about the ethical dimensions of the medical profession and the provision of medical care and provide tools for making informed and ethically responsible decisions relating to healthcare issues. Specific topics may include the ethics of abortion, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, physician-patient relationships, organ procurement, bio-medical research, etc.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH2222/GEK2036 Greek Philosophy (Socrates and Plato)
by Abelard PODGORSKI
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-3-4; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): PH3209, GEK2036; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.) and Plato (427-347 B.C.) stand at the source of the Western Philosophical tradition. Alfred Whitehead said that “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” And when we turn to the writings of Plato, we discover that they consist almost exclusively of dialogues that portray Socrates, his teacher, in conversation with a variety of interlocutors on a variety of subjects.
This module will focus on a representative sample of these dialogues. We will be reading and thinking through some of the issues raised in them. For instance: What is courage? Can virtue be taught? What is moral knowledge? What is love? Why should we be just, if it seems like injustice can make us happier? What is the relationship between what is good and what God wants? Should death be feared?
As we work through the dialogues, we will be introduced to some of the enduring concerns of Western philosophical thinking in their first formulations. Through the process, we will get to sharpen our skills of close reading and interpretation, formulating arguments, and assessing concepts and theories, and so prepare ourselves to explore other philosophical problems of continued relevance. (For students keen to continue studying Greek philosophy, the class also prepares them for the third year module on Aristotle’s philosophy and the Honors seminar on Greek Thinkers.)
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH2224 Philosophy and Film
by John Christian HOLBO
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-2-1-4; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): PH2880A, GEK2040; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
"Philosophy and Film" means, in part, philosophy of film, in part, philosophy in film. Philosophy of film is a sub-branch of aesthetics; many questions and puzzles about the nature and value of art have filmic analogues. (Plato's parable of the cave is, in effect, the world's first philosophy of film.) Philosophy in film concerns films that may be said to express abstract ideas, even arguments. (Certain films may even be thought-experiments, in effect.) Questions: are philosophical films good films? Are they good philosophy? The module is intended for majors but - film being a popular medium - will predictably appeal to non-majors as well. (This module is offered as special topics only)
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH2243 Epistemology
by Robert BEDDOR
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): PH3211; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Epistemology is the study of knowledge, as well as related topics such as rationality, justification, and evidence. This course will investigate major philosophical attempts to grapple with these issues. Our investigations will be structured around four questions:
- How is knowledge even possible? On the one hand, we take ourselves to know many things. On the other hand, there are seemingly powerful skeptical arguments that purport to prove that we know virtually nothing. We’ll investigate whether there’s any way of defending our ordinary pretensions to knowledge in the face of the skeptic’s arguments.
- What is knowledge? The skeptic claims that we know virtually nothing. But what is knowledge, anyway? This unit takes a closer look at the question. We’ll pay particular attention to some of the problems that arise when one tries to give an analysis of knowledge.
- What is justification? In addition to asking whether a belief amounts to knowledge, we can also ask whether that belief is justified. Indeed, some recent philosophers have advocated that epistemologists’ preoccupation with knowledge is misguided: we should focus on justification instead. In this unit, we’ll look at two leading theories of justification: evidentialism and reliabilism.
- How should we form and revise our degrees of belief? Belief is not a binary matter; it comes in degrees. In this unit, we’ll investigate how rational agents proportion their degrees of belief to the evidence. We’ll also discuss how this topic relates to our earlier questions about knowledge and justified belief.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH3203 Moral Philosophy
by Neiladri SINHABABU
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module is concerned with an area in Moral Philosophy called 'meta-ethics'. Meta-ethics is a discussion of the nature of ethics. It is a second-order, reflective activity about ethics, and not a first-order discussion of the rights and wrongs of particular issues within ethics. Beginning with non-naturalism, the module proceeds to discuss emotivism, prescriptivism, descriptivism or naturalism, culminating in current discussion of moral realism.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH3207/EU3227 Continential European Philosophy
by GOH Kien How
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): NIL; Preclusion(s): EU3327; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Using Existentialism as a springboard, the module discusses recent movements in Continental Philosophy. Objectives: (1) Introduce major movements in Continental Philosophy, (2) Promote understanding of the characteristics of Continental Philosophy, (3) Encourage further study in Continental Philosophy. Topics include existentialism, structuralism and post-structuralism. Target students include all those wanting to major in philosophy and those wanting to have some knowledge of European philosophy.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH3217 Women in Philosophy
by Isaac WILHELM
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 2-1-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): One PH Module; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module deals with philosophy by women (eg Christine de Pisan, Hildegaard von Bingen, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ban Zhao, Iris Murdoch, Martha Nussbaum) and philosophy about women, to counter the perceived neglect of these in many philosophical discourses. Students are encouraged to reflect critically about their own experiences as men and women who live in a gendered world, to think through the implications of gender: how women's experience may challenge some fundamental assumptions regarding human nature, femininity and masculinity, sexuality and the body, public and private life, subjectivity and representation. We will explore how these challenges to philosophy may be met.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH3245 Language and Thought
by Robert BEDDOR
Modular Credits: 4; Workload: 3-0-0-0-7; Prerequisite(s): Nil; Preclusion(s): Nil; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Topics at the intersection of philosophy of mind and language, such as whether thought depends on talk or vice versa, whether we think in words or images, whether those words are words of English or a sui generis mental language just for thinking, whether animals which can’t talk can think and whether the mind is like a computer. These questions are central to contemporary philosophy and language and are also an important case study in the relationship between the methods of analysis, experiment and introspection in philosophical psychology.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PE4102P Welfare and Distribution
by Joel CHOW
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, PS, EC, PE or PE-recognised modules. Achieve a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. PE2101P; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
What makes a good life? This module aims to examine different theories of welfare (or wellbeing) as they appear in economics and philosophy, and related concerns pertaining to the distribution and measurement of the goods possessed by members of society. Topics covered might include: theories of wellbeing, cost-benefit analysis and its ethical assumptions, the value of equality, the ‘equality of what’ debate, the contrast between resources and capabilities, and the value of social equality.
PH4201 Philosophy of Science
by Isaac WILHELM
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, PS, EC, PE or PE-recognised modules. Achieve a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. PE2101P and EC2101; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module addresses important issues concerning the structure and development of scientific knowledge. These involve questions regarding the character of scientific method, the demarcation of scientific theories from other types of theories, whether the growth of science can be characterised as cumulative and progressive, the role of socio-cultural factors in shaping the content of scientific theories, the criteria deployed to determine which of a number of competing theories are scientifically acceptable, and the extent to which scientific theories can be said to give a realistic description of the world.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH4203 Issues in Moral Philosophy
by Moonyoung SONG
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, PS, EC, PE or PE-recognised modules. Achieve a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. PE2101P and EC2101; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module examines different issues in meta-ethics or normative ethics. It asks questions such as: Can ought be derived from is? Are there natural laws? Is morality about an agent’s character or actions? Are actions morally justified by consequences or compliance with moral laws or principles? It may also examine and assess different schools of moral philosophy, such as utilitarianism, Kantian ethics or virtue ethics, or a current debate among moral philosophers, for example, the nature and role of intuition, or emotions, in acting morally.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH4261 Kant
by Ethan James JERZAK
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2012-2014: Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH or 28 MCs in EU/LA (French/German)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. Cohort 2015 onwards: Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH or 28 MCs in EU/LA (French/German/Spanish)/recognised modules, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track.; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Immanuel Kant is one of the most important philosophers and his major works are influential in many areas of contemporary philosophy. This module allows students to study the philosophy of Kant in some depth. Each offering of this module will select a key body of works from Kant’s philosophical corpus, such as (1) his Critique of Pure Reason or (2) his main texts in Moral Philosophy or (3) his philosophy of the natural and/or human sciences. It may also include the study of major contemporary scholarship on Kant.
PH4210 Topics in Western Philosophy
by TANG Weng Hong
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. PH2110/GEM2006; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
This module deals with specific topics of current interest and controversy in Western philosophy. The topics to be discussed may be in, but are not limited to, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of psychology, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, or social and political philosophy.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH4240 Issues in Metaphysics
by Ben BLUMSON
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-3-0-0-9.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2012-2014: Completed 80MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track. Cohort 2015 onwards: Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH or 28 MCs in EL, with a minimum CAP of 3.20 or be on the Honours track.; Preclusion(s): NIL; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
his module will explore in depth some advanced topics in metaphysics. Some possible topics include whether similar things have universals in common, whether time flows, whether past and future exist, whether a whole is something over and above the sum of its parts, whether chance is objective, whether there are other possible worlds, and whether numbers, gods, or chairs and tables exist.
LumiNUS (TBC)
PH4401 Honours Thesis
Modular Credits: 15; Workload: 0-1-0-0-36.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2015 and before: Completed 110 MCs including 60 MCs of PH major requirements with a minimum CAP of 3.5. Cohort 2016 onwards: Completed 110 MCs including 44 MCs of PH major requirements with a minimum CAP of 3.5.; Preclusion(s): PH4660; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
A dissertation on an approved research topic not exceeding twelve thousand words. Please read the following page and register PH4401 manually with the Department. Please refer to https://fass.nus.edu.sg/philo/overview/academic-requirements/ for more information on the PH major requirement. Sub-area(s): NA
PH4550 Internship: Philosophy for Teaching
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 3-3-2-1-3.5; Prerequisite(s): Completed 80 MCs, including 28 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2 or be on the Honours track. Preclusion(s): Nil.; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
Students will intern in an educational organisation approved by the Department. (e.g. Logic Mills, which specialises in courses on analytical thinking skills to schools and other educational organisations). During the internship, they will learn to use their philosophical skills to teach, and through practice, reflect on the usefulness of Philosophy in education practice and intellectual development. Sub-area(s): NA
PH4660 Independent Study
Modular Credits: 5; Workload: 0-0-0-0-12.5; Prerequisite(s): Cohort 2015 and before: To be offered subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. Completed 100 MCs, including 60 MCs in PH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2. Cohort 2016 onwards: To be offered subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. Completed 100 MCs, including 44 MCs inPH, with a minimum CAP of 3.2.; Preclusion(s): PH4401; Cross-listing(s): Nil
Description:
The Independent Study Module is designed to enable the student to explore an approved topic within the discipline in depth. The student should approach a lecturer to work out an agreed topic, readings, and assignments for the module. A formal, written agreement is to be drawn up, giving a clear account of the topic, programme of study, assignments, evaluation, and other pertinent details. Head’s and/or Honours Coordinator’s approval of the written agreement is required. Regular meetings and reports are expected. Evaluation is based on 100% Continuous Assessment and must be worked out between the student and the lecturer prior to seeking departmental approval. Please register PH4660 manually with the Department. Sub-area(s): NA