Elective and Optional Philosophy Courses Held in English: Spring 2019
FLFI.01.105 The Philosophy of Existence (3 ECTS)
Jaanus Sooväli
Thu 14-16 Jakobi 2-337
In the course of reading major texts of the philosophy of existence, the following topics will be focused on: (1) The cultural and philosophical context the philosophy of existence grows out of; (2) The fundamental philosophical problems and questions pertaining to the philosophy of existence; (3) The place of the philosophy of existence in the wider context of modern philosophy. For everybody interested in the topic.
FLFI.02.142 Political Philosophy Reading Group I: Religious Exemptions (3 ECTS)
Wael Wehbe
Wed 10-12 Jakobi 2-337
The topic of the weekly seminar for spring semester 2019 (3 credits) will be Religious Exemptions: Why we need them? Why are they interesting to look at? What is the debate surrounding them trying to achieve? What should we do about them? For everybody interested in the topic.
FLFI.02.154 Metaethics (6 ECTS)
Francesco Orsi
Mon 14-16 (Jakobi 2-337), Wed 14-16 (Jakobi 2-336)
What is it to make a moral judgment? On the one hand, moral judgments are an expression of our emotional and practical subjectivity. They certainly can express our attitudes and lead us to action. Yet they are not treated as mere matters of taste, and they seem to be objectively true or false, regardless of what anyone in particular may think. Analyzing this tension, the course will give a critical overview of the main questions and theories in contemporary metaethics, and relating these theories to issues in philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind. For everybody interested in the topic (some previous knowledge of ethics is expected).
FLFI.02.160 Social and Ethical Aspects of Engineering (3 ECTS)
Ave Mets et al.
Tue 10-14, Ravila 14A – 1100
Social and value dimensions of technologies. Overview of ethical theories. Environmental ethics and engineering. Research ethics and professional ethics. Moral relativism and cultural context of engineering. For everybody interested in the topic.
FLFI.02.164 A World Without Morality? (3 ECTS)
Francesco Orsi
Tue 12-14, Jakobi 2-327
The seminar will involve reading and critically discussing a series of texts on the following questions: Is a world without morality (without moral thought, concepts, sentiments, institutions etc.) possible and desirable? What would be lost? What would be gained? What is the peculiar role of morality in our individual and social lives? Is there room for a reduction of morality's importance? Is there room for different kinds of morality? The texts will be philosophical, but will include references to relevant scientific disciplines and theories (like psychology and evolutionary theory). For advanced BA and graduate students interested in the topic; philosophical background is desirable.
FLFI.02.166 From Human Vulnerability to Flourishing and beyond. Philosophy of Martha Nussbaum (3 ECTS)
Kadri Simm
Tue 16-18, Jakobi 2-337
Martha Nussbaum is undoubtedly one of the most influential amongst contemporary liberal philosophers. Her work is wide-ranging and interdisciplinary to the core as she has researched, taught and written on topics ranging from classics and literary theory, law, human and social development to issues in contemporary moral and political philosophy. During this course we will together read articles and chapters from a selection of her publications with the aim of gaining insights into her broad and influential corpus. Criticisms of Nussbaum will also be given space. For all the students interested in the subject matter.
FLFI.03.105 Science and the Deep Past (3 EAP)
Ave Mets
March 18-21, Jakobi 2-114
The deep past is difficult to study: the remnants of it are often scattered and incomplete, and the relevant sciences (palaeontology, archaeology, geology) cannot perform experiments. What explains the success of these sciences in the face of such challenges? Is there anything distinctive about historical sciences compared to other sciences? What do such sciences teach us about the nature of history? Are there lessons to be drawn about knowledge generally from our knowledge of the past?
For all the students interested in the subject matter. Participants are expected to read the book before the workshop: Currie, Adrian 2018. Rock, Bone and Ruin: An Optimist's Guide to the Historical Sciences MIT Press.
FLFI.04.054 Formal Semantics (6 EAP)
Alexander Davies
Mon 12-14 Jakobi 2-337, Wed 12-14 Jakobi 2-428
Formal semantics is the empirical project of providing and testing precise hypotheses about the semantic properties of linguistic expressions. These hypotheses are stated using the tools of formal logic and some related areas of mathematics. The course will introduce the methods of formal semantics by working through a variety of examples of linguistic expression, their semantic behaviour and attempts to construct models of this behaviour in light of the available evidence. For all the students interested in the subject matter.
FLFI.04.077 Formal Semantics: Supplement (3 EAP)
Alexander Davies
Mon 12-14 Jakobi 2-337, Wed 12-14 Jakobi 2-428
Supplement course for all the students taking the main course in Formal Semantics (FLFI.04.054).
FLFI.04.068 Philosophy of Language (6 EAP)
Juhani Yli-Vakkuri
Thu 18-20 Jakobi 2-336
The course covers main issues in the philosophy of language, introducing the theories of meaning, semantics, and communication. For all the students interested in the subject matter.
FLFI.04.075 Intellectual Conduct (3 EAP)
Bryan Frances
Wed 16-18 Jakobi 2-337
In this course we focus on the issue of how to conduct one's intellectual life. More specifically, we'll consider these fundamental themes: Knowledge, Truth, Evidence, Rationality, and Belief; Group Disagreements; Disagreement with or among Experts; Special Problems with Evidence; Cognitive and Social Bias; and Religious belief. For all MA and PhD students interested in the subject matter.
FLFI.04.076 Modal Logic: A Semantic Perspective (6 ECTS)
Amirhossein Kiani
Tue 12-14 Jakobi 2-336
This course will cover basic formal propositional modal logic plus certain modern notions, techniques and results in the vicinity of the semantics of modal logic. For all students with pre-requisite minimum knowledge of logic.
HVFI.01.002 Research Integrity: Framework Requirements, Values and Principles of Action (6 ECTS)
Margit Sutrop et al.
Thu 14-18 Jakobi 2-336
The aim of the course is to provide participants with an overview of the key issues of research integrity: making decisions about the authorship of a scientific publication in multi-author publications, obtaining informed consent, processing data, ensuring the protection of privacy and personal data of the subjects involved in the study, obtaining necessary permissions, consents and ethics committee approvals for research and understanding their meaning. The entire course is supported by an e-learning environment that brings together materials that are relevant to different fields of science. From them, the doctoral student chooses 6 EAP worth of assignments. The course is structured in such a way that doctoral students can choose topics and tasks appropriate for their specialty and specifics of research there. The course also includes seminars where doctoral students from different disciplines can experience disciplinary differences in interpreting the Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. For all doctoral students interested in the topic.
Additional info and late registrations:
Coordinator Ruth Jürjo
tel (+372) 737 5314
ruth.jurjo@ut.ee