COMPULSORY COURSE CONTENTS

 

      YEAR 1 – FALL

      1. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 1003 Philosophical Thinking

By addressing some of the most basic and enduring questions in philosophy, this course provides an understanding of what philosophical inquiry and philosophical thinking is. These questions are divided into three parts: reality, knowledge and values. It is not the purpose of this course to find an absolute answer for any of these. Instead, students are required to critically examine possible solutions referring to both historical and modern views, running out all permutations, and preferably, not to be easily content with any one of them.

Reference(s): Richard, E. Creel, Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue,Blackwell Publishers, Massachusetts, 2001.

Steven M. Cahn, Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.

PHIL 1005 Critical Thinking

The main objective of this course is to establish a well-articulated understanding of critical thinking skills. These skills play a crucial role in everyday life reasoning and scientific methodology, not to mention their significance in constructing philosophical arguments. At the end of the course you're expected to analyze arguments into premises and conclusions, evaluate deductive arguments for validity and soundness and evaluate inductive arguments for strength. In doing so you will be aware of the various fallacies (both formal and informal ones) committed in arguments. Consequently, you will become a person who does not just state opinions and beliefs but is also capable of defending them effectively in all areas of life. 

PHIL 1007 Philosophical Text Analysis I

This course aims at developing the necessary skills to read philosophical texts. These skills involve the ability to follow the arguments, correctly interpret them and then critically assess them. In addition, the course aims at getting students familiarized with philosophical writing. In combination with PHIL 1008, this course provides a foundation for your education in Philosophy both in terms of comprehending philosophical texts and in terms of writing philosophical papers.

SOC 1011 Introduction to Sociology I

The social and intellectual sources in the foundation of sociology as a science of modern society; the founders (Saint Simon, Comte, Durkheim, Toennies, Spencer, etc.) of sociology; comparative views about the structure of pre-modern and modern societies; key concepts for the sociological analyis of plural forms of society and culture.

Reference(s): Giddens, A. Sociology, 4th edition, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001. Macionis, J. J. & Benokraitis, N. V. Seeing Ourselves, Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1995. Macionis, J. J. Sociology, 11th edition., Pearson-Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2007. Baumann, Z. Thinking Sociologically. Mills, C. W. Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press, 1969. Ritzer, G. Classical Sociological Theory, The Mac-Graw Hill Companies, 1996. Additional readings will be handed out by the instructor.

ATA 121Atatürk İlkeleri ve İnkılap Tarihi I

Objectives of the Course: Ottoman Empire, structural characteristics and demolition period, Turkey before War of Independence, war-time years and political structure, social life, legislative perspectives, economic structure, cultural, education policies of the new period are discussed.

Course Content: General condition of the Ottoman Empire; General appearances of main European states before World War I; Relationship between Turkey and Europe, East Question, wars in 1911-1913; World War I, the position of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, fronts; Fronts, Dardanells Wars and its effects, partition plans on Empire during the World War I; Brest-Litowsk Treaty, principles of Wilson, other treaties with Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austurian-Hungary states; Peace Summit in Paris, end of the World War I, economical condition of Ottoman Empire and laborer movements Mondros Armistice, minorities, the state of Ottoman army, cabinets, occupation of Smyrna; The beginning of the new period and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, congresses, national assembly in Ankara; Fronts in independency wars, economical resources; Abrogation of regency, Lousanne Treaty and its importance, National Economic Congress, the foundation of parties, the announcement of Republic; The acceptance of secular law, social and cultural reforms, economical improvements, secular education and science; Principles of Ataturk and Turkish Republic, its content and concept.

TRD 121 Türk Dili I

Objectives of the Course: To provide general information about Turkish language and its history. To teach the rules of operation for Turkish language and provide examplesTo raise awareness in students about the problems of Turkish language. To provide students with the experience of expressing their thoughts and feelings by effective and formal ways both in verbal and written form. To provide students with exercises in correct spelling and punctuation To encourage reading books as a habit. Teaching students how to think scientifically, critically, creatively and interpretatively.

Course Content: Definition and characteristics of language; the place of Turkish among other worldly languages; historical development, correct usage, structure and grammar rules of Turkish language. Definition of language. Language, thinking and emotion relationships. Language-culture relationship: What is culture? Components and its specifications which constitute the culture. Changes in the culture. Language and society relationship. Languages of the World. The place of the Turkish language among World languages. Development of the Turkish language and its historical periods. Turkish dialects and accents. Verbal language and written language. The present situation of Turkish language its scope. An applied study on a text of any Turkish dialect or a comparative work on the texts of dialects. Spelling rules. Punctuation marks. Derivatives. Discussion and evaluation of examination papers. Discussion on a random issue. The ways to determine the verbal equivalents of concepts (derivation, combination etc.). Verbal and written expression. Qualities of a good expression. Observation, thinking, reading, good usage of parent language. Speech deficiencies. Stress in Turkish: stress on words, stress on groups, stress on sentences. Conversation, public speaking, meetings. Written expressions: Sentence, paragraph. Types of narration: to narrate, explanation, description, etc. Incoherent expressions (Mistakes in Turkish language exam and composition papers and other incoherent expression examples which were determined on television, journals and in the Media. Phrasal expressions: Proverbs and idioms (Form and concept specifications). Interlinguistic exchange: Historical relationships of Turkish language, the channel of the exchange among languages, types of adaptations.

 

     YEAR 1 – SPRING

     2. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 1002 Modern Logic

This course covers propositional logic and an introduction to first-order predicate logic. Students learn to translate arguments in ordinary language into symbolic notation, use rules of inference and truth tables to assess the validity of the arguments and do theorem-proving within propositional logic. The course ends by introducing the symbolic notation of first-order predicate logic. There is no prerequisite.

Textbook: Kalish and Montague, Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning, 2nd ed. 

PHIL 1004 Philosophy in Axile Ages     

During the years from 800 BCE to 200 BCE, unprecedented developments occurred in the centers of ancient civilizations mainly in China, India, Mesopotamia and Mediterranean basin ‘simultaneously’. This course examines the spiritual awakening and emergence of philosophical thinking in this remarkable process. The purpose of this subject is to enable students to gain an outline of the ancient civilizations in general and to introduce the philosophical, religious and ethical ideas of the most prominent thinkers of it in particular.

Ref.: Judson Knight, Ancient Civilizations Almanac, UXL, Detroit, London, Boston, 2000.

Brian Duignan, Ancient Philosophy, From 600 BCE to 500 CE, Britannica Educational Publishing, New York, 2011.

PHIL 1008 Philosophical Text Analysis II

This course should be seen as a continuation of Phil 1007 where students learn about the proper way of interpreting philosophical texts and writing philosophical papers.

SOC 1012 Introduction to Sociology II

Social interaction and everyday life, institutions, roles, norms and values; gender and sexuality; education; work and organization; law; government and politics; state and society; cities and urban spaces; social equality and inequality; globalization and social movements; post-industrial society; modernity-postmodernity; postmodernism and critical views about postmodernism and capitalism.

Reference(s): Hall, S. & Gieben, Bram. Formations of Modernity, Polity Press, 2001 (Text Book). Giddens, A. Sociology, 4th edition, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001. Macionis, J. J. & Benokraitis, N. V. Seeing Ourselves, Prentice Hall, 1995. Shelton, B. A. & Agger, B. Sociological Stories, Copley Publishing Group, Littleton, Massachusetts, 1987. Macionis, J. J. Sociology, 11th Ed., Pearson-Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2007. Perry, J. A. & Perry E. K. Contemporary Society. An Introduction to Social Science, 6th. edition, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1991. Castells, M. The Rise of Network Society. Additional readings will be handed out by the instructor.

ATA 122 Atatürk İlkeleri ve İnkılap Tarihi II

Objectives of the Course: Ottoman Empire, structural characteristics and demolition period, Turkey before War of Independence, war-time years and political structure, social life, legislative perspectives, economic structure, cultural, education policies of the new period are discussed.

Course Content: Turkish revolution and its basic characteristics; Other revolutions that effected Turkish revolution; The aim of Turkish revolution: Democratic Law State; Establishment of Turkish secular law system; Establishment of Turkish secular education system; Reconstruction of Turkish economy, national economy and globalization; Novelties that made the Turkish society contemporary; General qualities of Kemalist principles and republicanism; Nationalism; Etatism.

TRD 122 Türk Dili II

Objectives of the Course: To provide general information about Turkish language and its history. To teach the rules of operation for Turkish language and provide examples. To raise awareness in students about the problems of Turkish language. To provide students with the experience of expressing their thoughts and feelings by effective and formal ways both in verbal and written form. To provide students with exercises in correct spelling and punctuation. To encourage reading books as a habit. Teaching students how to think scientifically, critically, creatively and interpretatively.

Course Content: Types of oral and narrative expressions; methods of scientific research. Subject, aim, theme, plan. Writing a request. Report, essay. Column, article, critic, presentation. Letter, diary. Autobiography, biography. Travel log, conversation, interview, speech. Discussion about examination papers, evaluation of replies. Discussion on a random issue. Theatre, tale, poem. Story, novel. Conference, declaration, report, research paper. Scientific research methods: book, the usage of library and computer, reading, note taking. Formatting a book: Front cover, acknowledgements, inside cover, abbreviations, etc. Types, forms and rules of bibliographies. Footnotes.

 

     YEAR 2 – FALL

     3. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 2001Ancient Philosophy I: Plato     

Plato’s major influence on the history of philosophy is indisputable. Although this course focuses on Plato’ s dialogues, in the first weeks we will study his predessors Pythagoras, Parmenides, and Socrates, who had a notable impact on his work. The topics of this course include the beginnings of ontology, the role of mathematics for philosophy, the Socratic method, psychology, dialectic, theory of forms, the anology of the sun, the line, and the cave, education, and in particular Plato’s political and ethical theories.

Reference(s): Plato, Complete Works, ed. by John M. Cooper, Hackett, Indianapolis/Cambridge, 1997;

Manuel Knoll, “The Relation of Law and Virtue in Plato’s Politeia, Politikos, and Nomoi”, in: Michele Curnis/Christoph Horn/Jacub Jinek/ (eds.): Festschrift for Francisco Lisi, 2016.

PHIL 2003 Epistemology

This course examines the nature of knowledge and how it differs from belief. Topics will include scope and limits of the knowledge, the relation of knowledge to belief, the concept of certainty, skeptical challenges to knowledge claims, various forms of justification and sources of knowledge such as perception.

Reference(s): Pojman, Theory of Knowledge: Classic and ContemporaryReadings, 3rd edition, Wadsworth, 2002.

PHIL 2005 History and Philosophy of Science  

This course aims to explore “science” as a philosophical phenomenon in the classic, modern, and contemporary ages in a comparative way. The content of this course consists of two main categories: On the one hand it deals with the history of science from ancient to modern. Historical part focuses mainly on the transition process from Aristotelian worldview to the Newtonian. On the other hand it deals with the philosophical dimension i.e., the character, content and limits of scientific endeavor and distinctive features of scientific theories. Questions this course addresses include: What is the definition, scope and role of science? Is it possible to gain absolute/accurate knowledge by scientific method? Does science describes Reality? Does science conflict with religion?

Reference(s): Peter Godfrey Smith, Theory and Reality, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London, 2003.
Readings in the Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Postmodernism, edited by Theodore Schick, JR., Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California, London, Toronto, 2000.

PSYC 1001 Introduction to Psychology

History and major theoretical perspectives and of Psychology. Research methods. Occupations in psychology. The biological foundations of behavior (the nervous system; sensation and perception) Learning and memory. Cognition (thought, language, intelligence). Motivation and emotion development. Health and illness. Personality, psychopathology, psychotherapy.

Reference(s): Feldman, R. S. (2011) Essentials of Understanding Psychologyninth ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

      YEAR 2 – SPRING

      4. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 2002 Ancient Philosophy II: Aristotle

Like Plato, Aristotle is one of the most influential figures in the history of philosophy. This course focuses on his practical philosophy, but we will also study the main doctrines of his theoretical philosophy. The topics of the course include Aristotle’s division of the sciences, his metaphysics and philosophy of nature, the docrine of the four causes, theology, psychology, human flourishing (eudaimonia), ethical and intellectual virtues, the life of contemplation and the life of politics, political “anthropology”, theory of constitutions, and the city according to our wishes.

Ref.: The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. by J. Barnes, Volumes I and II, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1984;

1. Barnes, Aristotle. A Very Short Introduction, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, 2000;

Manuel Knoll, “The Meaning of Distributive Justice for Aristotle’s Theory of Constitutions”, in: ΠHΓH/FONS. Revista de estudios sobre la civilizatión clásica y su recepción, I (2016), pp. 57–97.

PHIL 2004 Ontology

This course examines the basic problems ontology and the rival ontological systems in the history of metaphysics. As a discipline that investigate being qua being, ontology’s research area consist of the most common and essential determinations of beings. Among the topics to be discussed are the nature of attributes, universals, concrete particulars, causality, identity in addition to questions of ontology, i.e. the kinds of things that exist, and ontological commitment. By the end of the course students will able to understand basic concepts of ontology and to capacity for critically evaluate fundamental ontological claims.

Reference(s): Dale Jacquette, Ontology: Central Problems of Philosophy, Acumen, 2002.

Brian Garrett, What is this thing called Metaphysics, Routledge, New York, 2006.

Fadlou Shehadi, Metaphysics in Islamic Philosophy, Caravan Books, Delmar, New York, 1982.

PHIL 2006 Arabic/Islamic Philosophy I

Starting from the birth and rise of theoretical thinking in Islamic World and the Grand Translation Movement to Arabic in Abbasid Era (Bayt al-Hikmah) and ending with the rise of modern philosophy and its arrival to Islamic World, this course focuses on the formation and interrelated development of different major theoretical schools within Islamic Philosophy, like Falasifah (Philosophers), Mutakallimun (Theologians) and Mutasawwifun (Sufis), considering also their different sub-schools, differing characteristics, methodologies and positions.

The aim of this course is to give a historical outlook for the philosophical movements in Islamic World, and, additionally, to supply the required background information for the course ˝PHIL 3003 Arabic/Islamic Philosophy II: Ibn Sina˝, which specifically focuses on Ibn Sina, a cornerstone philosopher in the development of Islamic Philosophy.

SOC 1008 Philosophy of Social Sciences

This course is designed as an introductory course to the philosophy of social sciences. The students learn to distinguish various social sciences according to their object-formation. In addition to that the course aims to introduce the student to four traditions of social sciences: positivism, hermeneutics, critical theory and genealogy. The student is expected to learn how a scholar working in each of these traditions think and see the world.

Reference(s): Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation”, Daedalus 87(1): 111-134, 1958. Eleonora Montuschi, The Object of Social Science, London & New York: Continuum, 2003. Scott Gordon, The History and Philosophy of Social Science, London & New York: Routledge, 1991. Yvonne Sherrat, Continental Philosophy of Social Science– Hermeneutics, Genealogy, and Critical Theory - from Middle Ages to the Twenty First Century, Cambridge, et.al.: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

 

     YEAR 3 – FALL

     5. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 3001 Early Modern Philosophy

This course aims to introduce students the texts of continental philosophers of the early modern period, which begins with Descartes. The course predominantly focuses on basic concepts and problems of Descartes,  main characteristics of Cartesian philosophy, as well as Spinoza and Leibniz’s criticism and re-evaluation of a set of central concepts of this period like; substance, God, mind, matter and freedom. In order to make a comparison between rationalism and empiricism, this course focuses on the Locke and Hume’s philosophy as well.  By the end of the course students enable to gain a critical understanding of the metaphysical and anti-metaphysical systems of early modern Western philosophy.

Reference(s):Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, ed. By John Cottingham, Cambridge university press,1996

G.W. Leibniz, Monadology, tr. Nicholas Rescher, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991

Spinoza, Complete Works(especially Ethics), tr, by Samuel Shirley, Hackett, 2002.

1. Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, The Pennsylvania State University, 1999.
2. Hume, Treatise on Human Nature, The floating press, 2009
3. Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Oxford University Press, 2007.

 

PHIL 3003 Arabic/Islamic Philosophy II: Ibn Sina

This course aims to give students an understanding of the historical development and create a philosophical interest of the philosophy produced in the Arabic-speaking world, focusing on the period from al-Kindî (9th century) to Ibn Rushd (12th century), which one might call the "classical" period of Arabic/Islamic philosophy. The course will provide this understanding based on Ibn Sînâ’s (d. 1037) philosophical system, which is the culminating point of this period.

Reference(s): The Cambridge Companion to Arabic philosophy, edited by Peter Adamson, Richard C. Taylor, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Dimitri Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian tradition: introduction to reading Avicenna's philosophical works, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988.

PHIL 3005 History of Christian Philosophy

This course aims to familiarize the students with some of the basic figures, premises, problems and questions of Christian philosophy. It will provide the students with an overview of early, Byzantine, medieval and modern Christian philosophy, but will mainly focus on the seminal Western medieval philosopher and theologian St Thomas Aquinas (13th century). The course will begin with a survey of the basics of Christianity and move on to the Cappadocians (4th century) and the first Ecumenical Councils. Ensuing this study, we will focus on St Thomas Aquinas’ thought and, through it, Western medieval Christian philosophy. Subsequently we will turn our attention to St Maximus the Confessor’s philosophy (7th century), finding in it a recapitulation of early Byzantine philosophy. The course will be completed with a survey of modern and contemporary Christian philosophy. The study of passages from our primary sources will comprise an important aspect of this course, as will the engagement with the particular philosophical issues addressed therein and, to a certain extent, their relevance today.

 

     YEAR 3 – SPRING

     6. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 3002 Modern Philosophy: Kant

Kant’s Critique of Pure Reasoncan be seen as one of the most important book in modern Western philosophy. Kant provides a new foundation for modern philosophy by determining the capacities and the limits of reason. He has been a constant source of inspiration as well as object of severe criticism for philosophers of practically all schools of western thought. Modern philosophy cannot be understood without understanding the basis of Kant’s philosophy.

This course aims to examine Kant’s theoretical philosophy, by intensively studying his Critique of Pure Reason. The course will begins with some of the central claims of the Transcendental Aesthetic, and then will focus on the Transcendental Analytic and the Transcendental Deduction. Therefore, the central issues of the course are Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology.

Reference(s):  Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999.

PHIL 3004 Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics

This course focuses on the nature and significance of art and its relation to philosophy. Topics may include aesthetic judgment, beauty in art and nature, the relation of art and morality, the sublime, depiction and cognition, fictions and emotions, imagination, originality and forgery, intention and interpretation, artistic style, and freedom of expression.

Ref.:The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, ed. by B. Gaut and D.M. Lopes (Routledge Philosophy Companions, Second Edition, Abington, 2005.

 

     YEAR 4 – FALL

     7. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 4001 Contemporary Philosophy I

This course examines some important contemporary philosophical debates and philosophers. At the centre of the debates are classic philosophical questions such as being, language, technics,  ethics, justice, and the possibility of freedom, as they still concern us today. The topics will vary from semester to semester. Possible themes will range throughout the schools of contemporary philosophy like existentialism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind.

Reference(s):

Derrida Jacques, Margins of Philosophy, Sussex, The University of Chicago, The Harverster

Martha C. Nussbaum, Creating Capabilities. The Human Development Approach, Cambridge, Mass./London: Belkant Press of Harvard University Press, 2011.

Ricoeur Paul, Freud and Philosophy, An Essay on Interpretation, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1970.

PHIL 4003 Ethics

This course gives an introduction to ethics as a sub-discipline of philosophy. The course covers the main ethical theories like virtue theory (Plato and Aristotle), Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill), and deontological theories (Kant). It also examines the question of whether there exist moral principles that are objective and valid for all people and societies or whether the validity of such principles depends on culture or even on individual choices as relativists claim. Other topics of the course include psychological and ethical egoism, the nature of values, and the questions of why to be moral and how to live a good life and achieve happiness. The course aims at helping students to reflect on a variety of moral and ethical problems about which everyone constantly has to make choices and decisions throughout one’s life.

Reference(s): Louis P. Pojman/James Fieser, Ethics. Discovering Right and Wrong, 6th Ed., Wadsworth 2009.

 

   YEAR 4 – SPRING

   8. SEMESTER

 

PHIL 4002 Contemporary Philosophy II

As the continuation of Contemporary Philosophy I, the course focuses on the main philosophical theories and problems of the 20th and 21th centuries. It includes both philosophers from analytic and continental traditions. Starting with Nietzsche, philosophers and topics in the continental tradition include existentialism, phenomenology, and Paul Ricoeur’s analysis of ethics and the philosophy of language. From the analytic tradition, the course also includes John Searle’s Philosophy of Mind and John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice.

Reference(s): 

Searl John, Mind, A Brief Introduction, New York, Oxford University Press, 2004

Existentialism. The Basic Writings, ed. by C. Guignon/D. Pereboom, Second Edition, Hackett, 2001.

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice. Revised Edition, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999.

Ricoeur Paul, Oneself as Other, London, The University of Chicago Press, 1992

PHIL 4004 Political Philosophy

This course aims at studying the basic problems and concepts of political philosophy from both a historical and a systematic perspective. It examines the questions of who should rule in the political community, of what is a good constitution, and of how the abuse of political power can be prevented. Other topics of the course include the mixed constitution, political anthropology, the relation of politics and ethics, the ideal of republicanism, the separation of powers, the sovereignty of the people, the relation of politics and economics, and irreconcilable conceptions of social and political justice.

Reference(s): Aristotle, Politics, transl. C. Lord, Second Edition, University of Chicago Press, Chicago/London, 2013;

 N.P. Barry, An Introdution to Modern Political Theory, Third Edition, Macmillan Press, 1995;

Manuel Knoll, “An interpretation of Rawls’s difference principle as the principle of the welfare state”, in: Sofia Philosophical Review, No. 2, Vol. VII, 2013, pp. 5–33;

1. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999; J. Wolff, An Introdution to Political Philosophy, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.

 

PHIL 4006 Graduation Project

Graduation project arranged between a student and faculty members. The aim of the project is to produce a scientific paper and present a project based on the knowledge acquired during undergraduate studies, under the supervision of a faculty member. Each student will write an article according to his/her knowledge about a particular, self-selected topic. The purpose of the Graduation Project is to assure that the students have acquired the skills, knowledge and concepts necessary to perform well when they leave the university.

 

 

 

ELECTIVE COURSE CONTENTS

 

GRE 101 Greek

This course aims at teaching the students basic philosophical concepts of ancient Greek language. Learning Classical Greek will help the students to read the philosophical texts that are originally produced in ancient Greek language.

LAT 101 Latin

This course aims at teaching the students basic philosophical concepts of Latin Language. Learning Latin language will help the students to read the philosophical texts that are originally produced in Latin Language.

PHIL 2012 Anthropology

Course Description: This course explores basic concepts needed for an understanding of anthropology and its close ties with philosophy. Topics include family and kinship, trading, social and political organization, religion, language and symbolic communication. The goal of this course is to identify major findings of contemporary disciplines of anthropology and understand how cultural beliefs and social structures vary from place to place.

PHIL 2013 Chinese Philosophy

This course aims a historical introduction to the main phases of Chinese philosophical development, and a comparative study for the basis and essentials of Chinese philosophy and its differences from other Eastern religions or philosophies. Topics will cover both major Chinese philosophical and religious traditions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism.

Ref.:  Haiming Wen, Chinese Philosophy, 3rd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

PHIL 2014 Indian Philosophy

This course examines the emergence and development of main Indian philosophical traditions and some of the central topics, concepts, strategies, and styles of these traditions. The aim of this course is to describe general characteristics of “Indian philosophy” and to look at some central themes that occupied all classical Indian traditions.

PHIL 2015 Philosophy of Literature and Poetry

This course focuses on the relation of literature, poetry, and philosophy. It analyses philosophical topics and influences in literature and poetry. Philosophical issues in literature and poetry include the origin of good and evil in human beings, the nature and extent of human freedom and responsibility, and the diverse forms of linguistic expression. The course will study works of internationally renowned authors such as Balzac, Dostoyevsky, Hesse, Thomas Mann, Tolstoy, Miller, Camus, and modern Turkish authors such as Ahmet Mithat, A. H. Tanpınar, Ahmet Haşim, and Peyami Safa.

Reference: Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Literature, ed. by R. Eldridge, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009.

PHIL 2016 Mysticism and Philosophy

This course aims to give an understanding about the relationship between mysticism and philosophy throughout the history of thought.

Ref.: W. T. Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy, Los Angeles, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1987.

PHIL 2017 Philosophy of Nature

This course focuses on “the idea of nature” throughout the history of philosophy/science and examines the basic concepts of philosophy of nature such as matter, motion, space, and time. Topics will contain wide range of instances, from the classical cosmological theories to the theories of modern physics.

Reference(s):R.G. Collingwood, The Idea of Nature, Oxford University Press, London, Oxford, New York, 1960.

İshak Arslan, Çağdaş Doğa Düşüncesi, Küre Yayınları, İstanbul, 2011.

PHIL 2018 History of Religion

This course is designed as an introduction to the study of religion through the examination and comparison of concepts and themes central to human cultures. Students will focus primarily on comparisons with examples from contemporary non-literate cultures, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, China and Japan, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Students are challenged to think in broad comparative terms, bringing together both details and generic categories. In its attempts to compare diverse cultural products and generalize about the human condition, the history of religions is more appropriately described in relation to anthropology rather than theology.

PHIL 2019 Mythology

This course analyses the philosophical relevance of the widely diverse mythologies of the world – including ancient Greek stories about heroes, gods, and the universe – that are mostly older than systematic philosophy. The course also investigates the influence of these myths on philosophy, science, art, literature, and culture of the modern world.

Reference(s): W. Hansen, Classical Mythology. A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans, Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press, 2005;

Hesiod,Works and Days, ed. with prolegomena and commentary by M. L. West, Oxford 1978.

PHIL 2020 History of Philosophy

This course will provide students with an overview of Western philosophy from the Presocratics up to Renaissance philosophy. Topics that will be covered include the Milesian School, Pythagoreanism, Heraclitus and Parmenides. After a survey of the Pluralists and Atomism, the relationship between Sophists and Socrates will be investigated, continuing with a study of Plato and Aristotle. Subsequently, the course will focus on Hellenistic Philosophy, Epicureanism, Stoicism and Cynicism, arriving at Neo-Platonism (Plotinus, Proclus, Maximus the Confessor). A study of Augustine and Aquinas as Christian philosophers will be followed by a look into Machiavelli as a representative of Renaissance Philosophy.

Reference(s): Julian Marias, History of Philosophy, New York: Dover Publication Inc, 1967.

Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

PHIL 2022 Philosophy in Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity represents a multi-faceted threshold in philosophy. During the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages in mainland Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the Middle East, a number of philosophical traditions emerged and flourished. In this course, we will acquire an overview of the philosophical production from the beginning of the 3rd up to the 9th century AD, touching upon a number of philosophers and schools, including Origen, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Proclus, John Philosponus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Boethius, Maximus the Confessor, and John Scotus Eriugena. Understanding Late Antiquity as a time of transition will be the epicentre of our perspective.

Textbook: Lloyd P. Gerson (ed.),The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity, two volumes. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

PHIL 2023 Advanced Logic

This course examines the scope and limits of propositional and predicate logic by covering topics such as syntax, semantics, axiomatics, and completeness.

PHIL 2025 Arabic

This course aims at teaching the students basic philosophical concepts of Arabic language. Learning Arabic will help the students to read the philosophical texts that are originally produced in Arabic language.

PHIL 2026 Early Greek Philosophy

This course focuses on the early Greek philosophers who are usually called the “presocratics”. The study of these philosophers – among them Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus – is difficult because most of their works are lost. The fragments that are left are just testimonies or consist of only a number of phrases or passages from their works. Among the early Greek philosophers there are also thinkers such as Protagoras and Gorgias who founded the sophistic movement and were born one generation before Socrates. This is one of the reasons why the term “presocratics”, under which both of these philosophers are usually subsumed, is inadequate.

Reference: Geoffrey S. Kirk/John E. Raven/ Malcolm Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers, Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983

PHIL 3010 Philosophy of Religion

Defining philosophy of religion and identifying its task. Faith and Reason, strong rationalism, fideism and critical rationalism. Religious Experience. What God is like? I. Arguments for the existence of God II. Problem of Evil III. Miracles and the natural order. Religious Language: I. Religious Language II. Religions and Science III. Approaches to Religious Diversity.

PHIL 3011 British Empiricism: Locke&Berkeley&Hume

The works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, labelled under the name of British Empiricism have created a substantial track in the history of modern philosophy. In this course, in addition to gaining an overview of the development of early modern empiricism, we will try to dig more deeply into a number of central issues, arguments, and controversies, such as theory of knowledge and ideas, personal identity, human soul and agency, causation, morality, and political tolerance.

Reference(s):Robert G. Meyers, Understanding Empiricism, Routledge, 2006.

PHIL 3012 German Idealism: Fichte&Schelling&Hegel

19thcentury German philosophy had a great impact on history of Modern Western Philosophy. Beginning with Kant’s critical philosophy that demonstrated the transcendental conditions of human knowledge it was elaborated by Reinhold’s Elementary Philosophy that sought to find a unifying principle of human cognitive capacities, and was deepened by Fichte’s theory of subjectivity. Schelling and Hegel follow this path and attempt to integrate nature and history into these developments. The course aims at helping students to understand basic problems of German Idealism and to introduce Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel's philosophical systems.

Reference(s): Terry Pinkard: German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism, Cambridge University Press, 2002

PHIL 3013 Topics in Islamic Philosophy

This course is a comprehensive survey of the philosophical/theological heritage of Islamic intellectual history. It examines the major issues, key figures, concepts, and seminal texts of “Islamic philosophy” in its broadest sense. The emergence, historical rise and development of Islamic philosophy, and its interaction with other thoughts and traditions are among the topics. It deals with the central figures of Islamic philosophy such as Kindi, Farabi, Ibn Sina, Ghazali, al-Razi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Bajjah, Suhrawardi etc., with a focus on the theories they articulated and the movements they engendered.

Reference(s):  M. Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy,New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

PHIL 3014 Phenomenology

Contemporary phenomenology forms the dominant approach in continental philosophy today, and in this course we will focus both on its development as a philosophical stance uniting the four major pillars of philosophy (ontology, epistemology, logic, and ethics) in a particular method of inquiry, as well as on current trends. We will focus on eminent philosophers in phenomenological tradition such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty.

Textbook: Robert Sokolowski, Introduction to Phenomenology, Cambridge University Press, 1999

 David Cerbone, Understanding Phenomenology, Routledge Press, 2006.

PHIL 3015 Philosophy of Language

This course tries to introduce students with philosophy of language, which concerns diverse topics, including meaning, truth, content, reference, the syntax and semantics of various linguistic constructions, the nature and role of presupposition in communicative interchange, speech acts, figurative uses of language, questions about the ontology of languages, the epistemology of language understanding and language learning, the mental/psychological basis of linguistic understanding and use, and so on.

Reference(s):  Peter Ludlow (ed.), Readings in the Philosophy of Language, MIT Press, 1997.

PHIL 3016 Selected Philosophical Texts

In this course we will focus on important texts from the history of philosophy or on contemporary works in the analytic or continental tradition. The course engages in a thorough joint reading of the central paragraphs of the selected texts and on their interpretation. Texts will vary with the instructor.

PHIL 3017 Contemporary Philosophical Texts

In this course we will focus on important texts from the history of philosophy or on contemporary works in the analytic or continental tradition. The course engages in a thorough joint reading of the central paragraphs of the selected texts and on their interpretation. Texts will vary with the instructor.

PHIL 3018 Philosophy and Theology/Kalam

This course aims to analyze the relationship between philosophy and kalam/theology, especially in Islamic civilization, and to evaluate their common problems and different answers.

Reference(s): William Montgomery Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology: An Extended Survey, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 1992. 

PHIL 3019 Philosophy of Economics

Economists and philosophers have many overlapping concerns, such as the rationality and the relations between reasons and choices, welfare, justice, liberty, and rights, at least insofar as these are connected to features of economic institutions, processes, or outcomes. This course focuses on philosophical aspects of political economy by reading classics such as Adam Smith, Ricardo, Locke, Marx, and Veblen, and by introducing some important economic models of human actions such as rational-choice theory, game theory etc.

Reference(s): Daniel Hausman, The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology, Cambridge University Press; 3rd Edition, 2007.

Julian Reiss, Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction, Routledge, 2013.

PHIL 3021 Philosophy of Mathematics

This course examines the nature of mathematics, its fundamental concepts and method and considers the question of how mathematical knowledge relates to and differs from other types of knowledge.

PHIL 3022 Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis initiated by Freud principally as a new way of treatment of neurotic mental cases has revolutionized our conception of the human psyche, by showing that a great amount of human thinking and will are caused by unconscious mental processes. Studying on the psychic apparatus, Freud has drawn many philosophical conclusions concerning human nature, formation of ethics, society, and religion. Students will read main philosophically significant texts of Freud, and also psychoanalytic interpretations in contemporary philosophy for authors such as Marcuse, Lacan, Althusser, Zizek, and Ricoeur.

Reference(s): Peter Gay (ed.) The Freud Reader, W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1995.

Paul Ricoeur, Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation, Yale University Press, 1977.

PHIL 4011 Philosophy of Cognitive Science

This course relates empirical research concerning the study of the mind to philosophical issues regarding the nature of the mind. It involves the perspective of various disciplines such as experimental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and linguistics.

PHIL 4012 Philosophy of Natural Sciences

This course examines the philosophical or conceptual issues that arise in and about natural sciences such as physics, biology, and chemistry, and their factual findings. Topics will be chosen from the philosophy of biology (e.g., theory of evolution), philosophy of physics (e.g., relativity theory and quantum mechanics), and philosophy of chemistry (e.g., issues of symmetry and chirality in nature).

PHIL 4013 Existentialism

This course analyzes existentialist thinking and writing. It includes both religious and atheistic versions of this movement, which focuses on the concrete existence of individual human beings. Topics of the course include freedom, responsibility, anxiety, death, despair, the absurd, and the claim that for the human being existence precedes essence. Readings will be chosen from the works of existentialist or pre-existentialist philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, Sarte, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Merleau-Ponty.

Reference:Existentialism. The Basic Writings, ed. by C. Guignon/D. Pereboom, Second Edition, Hackett, 2001.

PHIL 4014 Hermeneutics

Course Description: This course will focus primarily on the background of philosophical hermeneutics in modern philosophy, especially its close ties with Kantian perspective. Then, it will follow the hermeneutic tradition in philosophy as it develops in the twentieth century, through a philosophical examination of the works of influential hermeneutical philosophers, especially Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas, and Ricoeur.

PHIL 4015 Topics in Contemporary Philosophy

This course examines selected topics from a variety of different areas of contemporary philosophy. The course may include a specific concept, a philosophical problem, or a philosopher himself. Topics, methods, and resources will vary with the instructor.

PHIL 4016 Philosophy of Technology

While the distinction between physisand technehas been made since antiquity, technical devices have been immensely effecting our lives ever since the industrial revolution. In modern times, technology has changed our contact with the world. Technology has intensified our sensational and cognitive capacities, opened up new ways of communication, but also confronted us with unprecedented ethical, political, social, and ecological problems, which have never conceived before. This course examines the impact of new technologies, such as, internet, tele-technologies, cameras, medical operations, drugs, and scientific research, on human nature and society from various perspectives.

Reference(s):Robert Scharff  & Val Dusek (ed.) Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition: An Anthology, 2nd Edition, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2014.

David Kaplan (ed.) Readings in the Philosophy of Technology, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004.

PHIL 4017Philosophy of Mind

This course examines the nature of mind, what is unique about the human mind and the nature of mental states by raising questions such as whether the mind has a place in the natural world, if it is possible for machines or non-human living organisms to have minds and what the relation of personhood is to having a mind.

PHIL 4018 Artificial Intelligence

Course Description: This course focuses on the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence theory. Fundamental concepts and issues raised by ‘thinking machines’ will be discussed throughout the courses. Topics include cognitive processing; the computational theory of the mind; personhood of robots; functionalism vs. reductionism; the problems of meaning in the philosophy of mind and so on.

PHIL 4019 Contemporary Turkish Thought

This course aims to give a general picture about the history of Turkish thought and its primary representatives since the Tanzimat (political/juristical and cultural reforms made in the late Ottoman Empire).

Reference(s): Şerif Mardin, The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought: A Study in the Modernization of Turkish Political Ideas, Princeton: Princeton University, 1962.

PHIL 4022 Contemporary Islamic Thought

This course explores the major tendencies in Islamic World since the beginning of the 20th Century, such as Modernism, Traditionalism, Salafism, Sufism, Islamization of Knowledge etc.

Reference(s): Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’, Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual History, London: Pluto Press, 2004.

PHIL 4023 Philosophy of Cinema

This course will study the philosophical influences that can be traced in modern cinematography as well as the philosophical implications that can be drawn therefrom. Students are expected to study the films that will form each term’s particular syllabus and then engage in coordinated philosophical enquiry with the instructor, leading to a typology of philosophical themes and approaches. As the film program will change every term, students are kindly requested to contact the instructor for each particular term’s list of movies.

PHIL 4024 Topics in Analytical Philosophy

This course studies the central texts, figures, and traditions in the development of analytical philosophy. Major figures may include Carnap, Frege, Russell, Moore, Quine, Wittgenstein, and Kripke. Alternatively, instead of zooming in on the development of analytical philosophy, the instructor may choose to examine a particular theme in the analytical tradition such as philosophical naturalism. Topics, methods, and resources will vary with the instructor.

PHIL 4025 Topics in Continental Philosophy

This course focuses on the main topics and concepts of philosophers who lived and worked in Continental Europe in the later 19th and 20th century. Readings will be chosen from philosophers such as Marx/Engels, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas, Levi-Strauss, Foucault, Lyotard, and Derrida. Topics and methods will change according to the instructor.

Reference(s):Simon Glendinning(ed.), The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, Routledge Press, 1999.

Simon Critchley &William R. Schroeder (ed.), A Companion to Continental Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999.

PHIL4026 Topics in History of Philosophy

While a course in the history of philosophy would focus on philosophical trends and, most importantly, figures as they unfold in the linear progression of history, this course will focus on particular philosophical topics and subjects,examining how these unfold in the different periods of the history of philosophy and comparing them. During each semester, we will focus on different philosophical trends, topics, problems, and subjects and on their historical emergence (please consult the instructor on this semester’s particular epicenter).

PHIL 4027: Topics in Social and Political Philosophy

This course examines a number of main concepts, approaches, and debates in social and political philosophy. Course material are organized around a specific theme, for example: diversity and inclusion, multiculturalism, epistemic injustice, public justification, deliberation, public religion, citizenship, toleration, populism, global justice, race and gender. The course also examines and assesses different political methodologies or ways of thinking, for example: ideal versus non-ideal theory, liberal versus republican versus agonistic, comparative political theory. While the course focuses on the Western tradition, it adds a comparative component from Islamic, Indian, Chinese, or African traditions.

PHIL 4028 Topics in Critical Social Theory

This course introduces, engages with, and assesses the contemporary relevance of foundational texts, debates, and approaches in the critical theory tradition. The course will have a particular thematic lens through which it examines social and political issues including but not limited to: social critique; freedom; progress; democracy; power and legitimacy; ethics and politics; theory and praxis; subject-object; religion and secularism; social, political and individual pathologies. This course construes critical theory broadly, and while it might have an emphasis on the Frankfurt School it is not restricted to it.

PHIL 4029 Topics in Islamic Political Thought

This course introduces, engages with, and assesses the contemporary relevance of key figures, texts, debates, and views in the Islamic tradition, both classical and contemporary, with a particular focus on social and political issues. The course will have a thematic lens through which it conducts its examinations which includes but is not limited to: virtue and power, divine and political sovereignty, perfect and imperfect regimes, the caliphate, revelation and law, the state, democracy, modernity, pluralism.

PHIL 4030 Argumentation: Theory and Practice

Argumentation theory is a rather new interdisciplinary field of study that, roughly and broadly, analyses and evaluates argumentation as an interactive activity of giving and receiving reasons within contexts of doubt or disagreement. This course introduces and examines theoretical and practical aspects of argumentation. Initially, the course aims to introduce the three main recognizable approaches in argumentation theory (logic, rhetoric, dialectic), as well as the main controversies within and between these approaches. In addition, the course will look into the relation between argumentation theory and specific and contemporary problems such as the environmental crisis, artificial intelligence, and crisis of democracy. Finally, the course aims to develop and hone students’ abilities to engage in argumentative disputes.

PHIL 4031 Consciousness

This course examines the nature of consciousness by raising questions such as how conscious mental states differ from non-conscious ones and how consciousness should be explained. To do that, different conceptions of consciousness such as state consciousness, creature consciousness, phenomenal consciousness etc. and different theories of consciousness such as first order theories and higher order theories will be examined. We’ll also consider the question of whether machines or living organisms other than humans are capable of consciousness or not.

PHIL 4032 Bioethics

Bioethics considers the ethical principles and values relevant to life, and their application to the use of technology (particularly medical technology) to maintain, extend, and even produce human life. This course is an introduction and survey course in Bioethics. In this course, students will first be given the tools with which they can analyze ethical arguments. Next, we will make a brief survey of the defining issues in the field of bioethics. Students will be introduced to the substantial and philosophically rigorous debates in the field and try their hand at participating in these debates. The student will benefit from this course such that he or she will be more skilled in recognizing flawed arguments and how to improve these arguments. Additionally, the student will be challenged to provide adequate reasons for holding particular positions in a debate.