2021 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences36:Philosophy
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Takamitsu Yamamoto
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Wed
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.S432
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
What you can do and what you can't do.
When you put it into words like this, it seems obvious.
But in fact, it is not so easy to distinguish what you can do and what you connot do. For example, can you consciously remember your past experiences? There are some memories that you can recall immediately, while there are others that you have experienced but connot recall. On the other hand, there are some memories that come to mind when you smell something while walking down the street. Besides, if we could remember things freely, we souldn't have any trouble in exams!
If you think about what you can and can't do in a wide range, including your own body and mind, other people, animals and plants, nature, society, and technology and so on, you will realize that questions that seemed simple at first are quite complex.
In this lecture, we will try to think about philosophy from the perspective of what we can do / can't do.
Course description and aims
The goal of this course is that you will be able to:
1) understand what philosophy is.
2) appropriately consider what we can / can't do.
Keywords
philophy, question, what you can / can't do, Epictetus, Stoic philosophy
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This class consists of lectures and discussions between instructer and students.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Prologue: Overview | Understand the aim of this lecture and class flow. |
| Class 2 | Philosophy of "what we can / can't do" | Understand the philosophy of what we can / can't do. |
| Class 3 | What I can / can't do: Individual | Understand the philosophy of "what I can / can't do". |
| Class 4 | What we can / can't do: Society | Understand the philosophy of "what we can / can't do". |
| Class 5 | What computers can / can't do: Technology | Understand the philosophy of "what computers can / can't do". |
| Class 6 | "What you can / can't do" will change | Understand the possibilities and conditions under which "what we can / can't do" can change. |
| Class 7 | Epilogue: Review | Review the lecture. |
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)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Course materials are provided during class.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Term-end report (60%), short report (30%), and Contribution to the lecture (comments, question, etc. 10%)
Related courses
- LAH.H101 ： Philosophy A
- LAH.H201 ： Philosophy B
- LAH.H301 ： Philosophy C
Prerequisites
None required.