In my courses, I aim to engage students in conversations -- with each other, with me, with their friends and family, and with other philosophers past and present -- about issues that matter to them. I teach courses in moral philosophy, metaethics, environmental ethics, ethics of data and artificial intelligence, philosophy of law, Latin American and Latinx philosophy, and gender and philosophy. I also have been teaching a version of my first year seminar Life, Death, and Meaning for over 10 years.
My courses, expanding from my research interests in how we make decisions, contribute to various university core requirements and interdisciplinary programs such as Science, Technology, and Society; Bioethics; Neuroscience; Latin American Studies; Latina/o Studies; Environmental Policy and Decision Making; Politics and Government; Gender and Queer Studies; and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Emphasis Pathways "Challenging Inequality, Leading Social Change: Issues of Gender," "Challenging Inequality, Leading Social Change: Issues of Race and Ethnicity," "Science and Values," and " Empire, Colonialism, and Resistance."
Brief descriptions of some of the courses I teach:
PHIL 250 - Moral Philosophy (Neuroscience, Bioethics)
This course examines a number of ethical theories - theories attempting to provide a systematic account of our beliefs about what is right and wrong, good and bad. The course examines a range of answers to questions like the following: What makes for a good life? What, if anything, is of value? What does morality require? Should we care about moral requirements and, if so, why? Is there a connection between morality and freedom? In addition to a careful study of various classic views, we will consider recent defenses and critiques of these views.
PHIL 285 - Environmental Ethics (Environmental Policy and Decision Making; Science, Technology, and Society; Bioethics; Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course focuses on ethical issues that arise in the context of human relationships to nature and to non-human living things. The course explores questions like the following: What is nature? Is nature intrinsically valuable? Should wilderness be preserved? What is biodiversity and should it be promoted? What are our moral obligations to non-human animals and to future generations? What is environmental racism? What ethical considerations arise in facing global poverty and overpopulation?
PHIL 286 - Ethics, Data, and Artificial Intelligence
This course focuses on social, economic, legal, and ethical issues that arise from the collection, analysis, and use of large data sets, especially when these processes are automated or embedded within artificial intelligence systems. The course explores the design of ethical algorithms by considering questions like the following: what kinds of biases are ethically problematic and how can they be avoided? what are the effects of automation on jobs and inequality? what are the privacy considerations that arise when collecting and using data? what is the ethical significance of transparency in automation? who owns data sets and who has the right to access information? who is responsible for actions that result from artificial intelligence systems? In thinking about these complex questions, students consider specific case studies of controversial uses of data and algorithms in fields such as medicine, biotechnology, military, advertising, social media, finance, transportation, and criminal justice, among others. In addition to relevant ethical theories, students are introduced to philosophical, legal, and scientific theories that play a central role in debates regarding the ethics of data and artificial intelligence. Readings are drawn from a number of classic and contemporary texts in philosophy, science and technology studies, law, public policy, and the emerging fields of "data ethics" and "robot ethics".
PHIL 312 - Latin American Philosophy (Latin American Studies, Latina/o Studies, Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course introduces students to philosophy in Latin America – broadly construed to include Indigenous philosophy and Latinx philosophy in the United States. The course will be especially focused on issues of identity in Latin American Philosophy, to include: 1) Latin American philosophers’ self-conscious discussion about whether there is such a thing as a Latin American Philosophy; 2) alternative conceptions of self, other, and community in selected indigenous conceptions of the world; 3) issues of gender, race, and identity in Latin American anti-colonial and independence philosophy, liberation philosophy, and Latinx philosophy in the United States.
PHIL 383 - Metaethics
This course is concerned with the study of epistemological, metaphysical, and psychological issues related to ethics. The course focuses on questions like the following: Are moral judgments objective or subjective? Are they relative to the speaker or to the community of the speaker? Are there moral facts? If so, what kind of facts are they (e.g., natural, non-natural, psychological)? What motivates moral action (is it reason, desire, a combination)? Does morality provide reasons for action? What is the relationship between freedom and moral responsibility? Is morality undermined by evolutionary theories regarding its origin?
PHIL 390 - Gender and Philosophy (Gender and Queer Studies, Politics and Government, Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course is a study of a number of philosophical questions related to gender. In investigating these questions, the course will consider a diversity of perspectives, exploring the intersectionality between gender and other social categories such as race or class and contrasts such as those between liberal feminism and radical feminism, between gender essentialism and gender pluralism, and between gender standpoint theories and varieties of social constructivism. The course will be concerned first, with some metaphysical issues concerning gender: What is gender? How many genders are there? Is there an essence of womanhood or manhood that goes beyond certain physical characteristics? Are ‘woman’ and ‘man’ purely natural categories or are they to some extent socially constructed? Second, with epistemological issues that relate to gender difference: Do women, for example, see the world differently from men? What kind of implications does this have for scientific and philosophical knowledge? Are there specifically female ways of thinking or reasoning? If so, to what extent are they marginalized? Finally, with ethical issues related to gender: Granted that everyone has an equal right to flourishing regardless of gender, is a woman’s flourishing, for example, different from a man’s? To what extent are we culturally biased when we think that women or those who don’t conform to gender norms living in other cultures are oppressed?
PHIL 387 / PG 348 - Philosophy of Law (Politics and Government, Bioethics)
This course is concerned with the nature of law and the relationship between law and morality. The course is centered on questions like the following: What is the law? What is the connection between law and morality? Is it morally wrong to break the law? Is breaking the law sometimes morally permissible or even morally required? Should morality be legally enforced? To what extent, if at all, should legal decisions be influenced by moral beliefs? What are the relationships between legal, constitutional, moral, and political rights? How can legal punishment be morally justified? While pursuing answers to these questions through the work of leading legal philosophers, students read a number of actual court cases and discuss specific issues like hate speech and capital punishment, among others.
PHIL 403 - Topics in Value Theory (Senior Seminar, topics vary)
Topic for Spring 2016: The Constitution of the Self
This course is focused on the idea that the self is in some sense constituted and the consequences of that idea for theories of practical reason. Different theories of self-constitution have been recently developed in response to the classic problem of personal identity -- the problem of what, if anything, makes each one of us the same person throughout our lives. The course starts with an overview of the problem and Derek Parfit's Humean solution to the problem in Reasons and Persons. Parfit's view, which he compares to the Buddhist view, denies the existence of a self that survives throughout a person's life. This view, Parfit argues, has consequences for prudential and ethical reasoning (his view will allow us to see ourselves as more connected to others and in some sense, less connected to our later selves.) In response to Parfit's view, there have been several recent attempts to argue that the self is constituted in various ways throughout a person's life. The rest of the course is focused on the following three theories: Christine Korsgaard's Kantian view in The Constitution of Agency and Self Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity; Marya Schechtman's existentialist view in The Constitution of Selves; and Paul Katsafanas' Nietzschean view in Agency and The Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism. As we examine each of these theories, we consider whether they present plausible alternatives to Parfit's view and explore the consequences of each theory for thinking about practical reason. In addition to reading large selections from these books mentioned above, we read a number of articles criticizing their views or applying them in various ways. These included Galen Strawson’s critique of the narrative view, Maria Lugones’ discussion of agency under oppression, Hilde Lindemann Nelson’s treatment of the role of the body in narrative views, and Catriona Mackenzie’s discussion of narrativity in relation to cases of mental illness.
SI1 111/SI2 111 - Life, Death, and Meaning (First Year Seminar)
The course will be centered on a number of existential issues and different attempts, past and present, to address these issues. The first part of the course focuses on different conceptions of the good life and the roles played by pleasure and reason in achieving happiness. The second part of the course is centered on different perspectives towards death and immortality. The third part of the course considers what, if anything, can make a life meaningful; how meaning may differ from other values such as happiness; and exploring the notion of the absurd or the possibility that life may be devoid of meaning. The fourth and last part of the course will focus on freedom and choice -- particularly, significant, life altering, transformative choices. Through the careful exploration of philosophical ideas and texts from various time periods and written in different styles, students will explore different perspectives on these existential issues while developing their skills in writing, reading, oral discussion and presentation, among others
STS 333 - Evolution and Ethics -- together with Kristin Johnson (Science, Technology, and Society; Interdisciplinary Humanities; Connections Core)
The study of evolution and ethics -- at the intersections between biology, the human sciences and philosophy -- has received a lot of attention in recent years. News stories abound that give, in sound byte form, the ethical implications of conclusions regarding evolutionary theory. Not surprisingly, discussions regarding the ways in which the theory of evolution seems to affect the study of ethics can be quite controversial. This course will provide students with an interdisciplinary framework from which to understand and study such debates. Drawing on historical and philosophical approaches, the course will examine the effects of the theory of evolution on ethical theories. We will explore a mix of descriptive and normative questions, alternating throughout the course between historical and modern case studies pertaining to different issues. Students are expected to use some of the tools obtained from this historical background in their discussions of normative questions. The examination of the normative implications of evolutionary accounts of morality will seek to analyze evidence for and explore the implications of evolutionary explanations of moral practices. Theories regarding the evolution of race and sex differences, and debates over group selection, altruism, and aggressive behavior will be used as central case studies. Students will be asked both to examine the historical context of previous responses to these issues, and analyze debates regarding the normative implications that may or may not result from different interpretations of the conclusions of evolutionary biology.
My courses, expanding from my research interests in how we make decisions, contribute to various university core requirements and interdisciplinary programs such as Science, Technology, and Society; Bioethics; Neuroscience; Latin American Studies; Latina/o Studies; Environmental Policy and Decision Making; Politics and Government; Gender and Queer Studies; and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Emphasis Pathways "Challenging Inequality, Leading Social Change: Issues of Gender," "Challenging Inequality, Leading Social Change: Issues of Race and Ethnicity," "Science and Values," and " Empire, Colonialism, and Resistance."
Brief descriptions of some of the courses I teach:
PHIL 250 - Moral Philosophy (Neuroscience, Bioethics)
This course examines a number of ethical theories - theories attempting to provide a systematic account of our beliefs about what is right and wrong, good and bad. The course examines a range of answers to questions like the following: What makes for a good life? What, if anything, is of value? What does morality require? Should we care about moral requirements and, if so, why? Is there a connection between morality and freedom? In addition to a careful study of various classic views, we will consider recent defenses and critiques of these views.
PHIL 285 - Environmental Ethics (Environmental Policy and Decision Making; Science, Technology, and Society; Bioethics; Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course focuses on ethical issues that arise in the context of human relationships to nature and to non-human living things. The course explores questions like the following: What is nature? Is nature intrinsically valuable? Should wilderness be preserved? What is biodiversity and should it be promoted? What are our moral obligations to non-human animals and to future generations? What is environmental racism? What ethical considerations arise in facing global poverty and overpopulation?
PHIL 286 - Ethics, Data, and Artificial Intelligence
This course focuses on social, economic, legal, and ethical issues that arise from the collection, analysis, and use of large data sets, especially when these processes are automated or embedded within artificial intelligence systems. The course explores the design of ethical algorithms by considering questions like the following: what kinds of biases are ethically problematic and how can they be avoided? what are the effects of automation on jobs and inequality? what are the privacy considerations that arise when collecting and using data? what is the ethical significance of transparency in automation? who owns data sets and who has the right to access information? who is responsible for actions that result from artificial intelligence systems? In thinking about these complex questions, students consider specific case studies of controversial uses of data and algorithms in fields such as medicine, biotechnology, military, advertising, social media, finance, transportation, and criminal justice, among others. In addition to relevant ethical theories, students are introduced to philosophical, legal, and scientific theories that play a central role in debates regarding the ethics of data and artificial intelligence. Readings are drawn from a number of classic and contemporary texts in philosophy, science and technology studies, law, public policy, and the emerging fields of "data ethics" and "robot ethics".
PHIL 312 - Latin American Philosophy (Latin American Studies, Latina/o Studies, Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course introduces students to philosophy in Latin America – broadly construed to include Indigenous philosophy and Latinx philosophy in the United States. The course will be especially focused on issues of identity in Latin American Philosophy, to include: 1) Latin American philosophers’ self-conscious discussion about whether there is such a thing as a Latin American Philosophy; 2) alternative conceptions of self, other, and community in selected indigenous conceptions of the world; 3) issues of gender, race, and identity in Latin American anti-colonial and independence philosophy, liberation philosophy, and Latinx philosophy in the United States.
PHIL 383 - Metaethics
This course is concerned with the study of epistemological, metaphysical, and psychological issues related to ethics. The course focuses on questions like the following: Are moral judgments objective or subjective? Are they relative to the speaker or to the community of the speaker? Are there moral facts? If so, what kind of facts are they (e.g., natural, non-natural, psychological)? What motivates moral action (is it reason, desire, a combination)? Does morality provide reasons for action? What is the relationship between freedom and moral responsibility? Is morality undermined by evolutionary theories regarding its origin?
PHIL 390 - Gender and Philosophy (Gender and Queer Studies, Politics and Government, Interdisciplinary Humanities)
This course is a study of a number of philosophical questions related to gender. In investigating these questions, the course will consider a diversity of perspectives, exploring the intersectionality between gender and other social categories such as race or class and contrasts such as those between liberal feminism and radical feminism, between gender essentialism and gender pluralism, and between gender standpoint theories and varieties of social constructivism. The course will be concerned first, with some metaphysical issues concerning gender: What is gender? How many genders are there? Is there an essence of womanhood or manhood that goes beyond certain physical characteristics? Are ‘woman’ and ‘man’ purely natural categories or are they to some extent socially constructed? Second, with epistemological issues that relate to gender difference: Do women, for example, see the world differently from men? What kind of implications does this have for scientific and philosophical knowledge? Are there specifically female ways of thinking or reasoning? If so, to what extent are they marginalized? Finally, with ethical issues related to gender: Granted that everyone has an equal right to flourishing regardless of gender, is a woman’s flourishing, for example, different from a man’s? To what extent are we culturally biased when we think that women or those who don’t conform to gender norms living in other cultures are oppressed?
PHIL 387 / PG 348 - Philosophy of Law (Politics and Government, Bioethics)
This course is concerned with the nature of law and the relationship between law and morality. The course is centered on questions like the following: What is the law? What is the connection between law and morality? Is it morally wrong to break the law? Is breaking the law sometimes morally permissible or even morally required? Should morality be legally enforced? To what extent, if at all, should legal decisions be influenced by moral beliefs? What are the relationships between legal, constitutional, moral, and political rights? How can legal punishment be morally justified? While pursuing answers to these questions through the work of leading legal philosophers, students read a number of actual court cases and discuss specific issues like hate speech and capital punishment, among others.
PHIL 403 - Topics in Value Theory (Senior Seminar, topics vary)
Topic for Spring 2016: The Constitution of the Self
This course is focused on the idea that the self is in some sense constituted and the consequences of that idea for theories of practical reason. Different theories of self-constitution have been recently developed in response to the classic problem of personal identity -- the problem of what, if anything, makes each one of us the same person throughout our lives. The course starts with an overview of the problem and Derek Parfit's Humean solution to the problem in Reasons and Persons. Parfit's view, which he compares to the Buddhist view, denies the existence of a self that survives throughout a person's life. This view, Parfit argues, has consequences for prudential and ethical reasoning (his view will allow us to see ourselves as more connected to others and in some sense, less connected to our later selves.) In response to Parfit's view, there have been several recent attempts to argue that the self is constituted in various ways throughout a person's life. The rest of the course is focused on the following three theories: Christine Korsgaard's Kantian view in The Constitution of Agency and Self Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity; Marya Schechtman's existentialist view in The Constitution of Selves; and Paul Katsafanas' Nietzschean view in Agency and The Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism. As we examine each of these theories, we consider whether they present plausible alternatives to Parfit's view and explore the consequences of each theory for thinking about practical reason. In addition to reading large selections from these books mentioned above, we read a number of articles criticizing their views or applying them in various ways. These included Galen Strawson’s critique of the narrative view, Maria Lugones’ discussion of agency under oppression, Hilde Lindemann Nelson’s treatment of the role of the body in narrative views, and Catriona Mackenzie’s discussion of narrativity in relation to cases of mental illness.
SI1 111/SI2 111 - Life, Death, and Meaning (First Year Seminar)
The course will be centered on a number of existential issues and different attempts, past and present, to address these issues. The first part of the course focuses on different conceptions of the good life and the roles played by pleasure and reason in achieving happiness. The second part of the course is centered on different perspectives towards death and immortality. The third part of the course considers what, if anything, can make a life meaningful; how meaning may differ from other values such as happiness; and exploring the notion of the absurd or the possibility that life may be devoid of meaning. The fourth and last part of the course will focus on freedom and choice -- particularly, significant, life altering, transformative choices. Through the careful exploration of philosophical ideas and texts from various time periods and written in different styles, students will explore different perspectives on these existential issues while developing their skills in writing, reading, oral discussion and presentation, among others
STS 333 - Evolution and Ethics -- together with Kristin Johnson (Science, Technology, and Society; Interdisciplinary Humanities; Connections Core)
The study of evolution and ethics -- at the intersections between biology, the human sciences and philosophy -- has received a lot of attention in recent years. News stories abound that give, in sound byte form, the ethical implications of conclusions regarding evolutionary theory. Not surprisingly, discussions regarding the ways in which the theory of evolution seems to affect the study of ethics can be quite controversial. This course will provide students with an interdisciplinary framework from which to understand and study such debates. Drawing on historical and philosophical approaches, the course will examine the effects of the theory of evolution on ethical theories. We will explore a mix of descriptive and normative questions, alternating throughout the course between historical and modern case studies pertaining to different issues. Students are expected to use some of the tools obtained from this historical background in their discussions of normative questions. The examination of the normative implications of evolutionary accounts of morality will seek to analyze evidence for and explore the implications of evolutionary explanations of moral practices. Theories regarding the evolution of race and sex differences, and debates over group selection, altruism, and aggressive behavior will be used as central case studies. Students will be asked both to examine the historical context of previous responses to these issues, and analyze debates regarding the normative implications that may or may not result from different interpretations of the conclusions of evolutionary biology.