The Second Sex was published over 70 years ago. The fact that the book continues to be an extremely influential work of feminist philosophy speaks to the power of Simone de Beauvoir’s analysis of women’s conditions of existence and lived experience. In this course we will undertake an in-depth study of The Second Sex. This study will provide us with an understanding of 1). how women have come to be considered men’s inferior “Others;” 2). how this view of what it means to be a woman limits and manipulates women’s freedom, making it difficult for them to see their situation as oppressive and therefore to take effective action in order to change it. Having gained an understanding of the nature of women’s oppression, we will explore tools Beauvoir provides for individual and social transformation that allows women to be fully recognized and to fully recognize themselves as free beings. We will supplement our study with the work of some contemporary feminist Beauvoir scholars.

Plato is one of the most innovative and influential philosophers in history. He helped develop a compelling, rigorous, and clear-headed methodology---of asking questions, and critically evaluating any proposed answers---for studying a variety of problems. Historically, that methodology contributed to the development of mathematics, science, history, the arts, philosophy itself, and more. But Plato's methodology is not a mere historical artifact, relevant only to the past. To this day, that methodology is worth learning: for when practiced well, it can help us discover what is most valuable in life, correct our own biases and misapprehensions, and ultimately, illuminate the deepest features of reality.

This course offers an in-depth exploration into the rich and diverse tradition of classical Islamic philosophy (falsafa). Students will explore the philosophical ideas of major Islamic thinkers, such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Ghazali, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). The exploration is structured thematically, beginning in the first half of the course with an overview of the Islamic tradition and the main philosophical issues that were discussed by the classical Islamic philosophers (falāsifa). We will then turn our attention toward the role of reason in Islam and the debate that ensued between theologians (mutakallimūn) and philosophers (falāsifa), as well as their critics, concerning the place of reason in religion, and then to the nature of ethics in Islamic philosophy. In the second half of the course, we will focus on the key debates in Islamic philosophy concerning the existence of God, the problem of evil, God’s relationship to morality, and religious epistemology. The approach taken in the course will involve a critical reading and analysis of original texts authored by classical Islamic philosophers. All readings will be in in English; no prior knowledge of Arabic is required, as relevant Islamic texts will be read in translation (on occasion with parallel Arabic text).