2020 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Philosophy C
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Yusuke Nagato
- Class Format
- Lecture (Zoom)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Mon (W323) / 5-6 Thu (W323)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.H301
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2020
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Philosophy study consists in reading. By reading a text, you have to not only understand what is said, but also grasp the conceptual network which is behind that. In order to do so, you have to pay attention even to a minute expression that ordinarily you do not have to take into consideration.
In this course, we do this work by reading two unique and interesting papers.
One is "Death" (1970) by Thomas Nagel, and the other is "Sour Grapes" (1983) by Jon Elster.Both are excellent papers that discuss familiar but difficult subjects such as "irrationality" and death.
Course description and aims
At the end of the course, students will be able to read and interpret a text of philosophy in an accurate manner and understand how to discuss about philosophical issues.
Keywords
Irrationality, Adaptive Preference Formation, Value, Death, Harm
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
A Japanese translation will be distributed and all participants will have a discussion while reading it in turn.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction: How to read philosophy text. | Learn how to read philosophy. |
| Class 2 | Reading Nagel's "Death" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 3 | Reading Nagel's "Death" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 4 | Reading Nagel's "Death" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 5 | Reading Nagel's "Death" and further readings | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 6 | Reading Nagel's "Death" and further readings | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 7 | Midterm review of the course and exam. | Revise the first half of the course. |
| Class 8 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 9 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 10 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 11 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 12 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 13 | Reading Elster's "Sour Grapes" | Peruse the assigned pages of the course text before coming to class. |
| Class 14 | Final review of the course and exam. | Clarify philosophical points and make arguments |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
A pdf file of the textbook will be provided.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
None required.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Midterm (50%) and Final paper (50%).
Related courses
- LAH.H101 ： Philosophy A
- LAH.H201 ： Philosophy B
- LAH.S432 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences36:Philosophy
Prerequisites
None required.
Other
Should the number of applicants for this course exceed the limit, a lottery system will be used to determine which students are admitted. Be sure to attend the first class.