CENTRE FOR PHILOSOPHY

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

JAWAHARLAL NEHARU UNIVERSITY
NEW DELHI

M.A. Programme in Philosophy

Aims and Objectives:

The Centre for Philosophy has proposed to introduce M.A. programme in philosophy from the
academic session 2013–2014. The aims and objectives of the programme are as follows:
1. The programme will acquaint the students with the distinctive character of philosophical
inquiry by introducing them to the foundational isssues in philosophy through a study of
debates in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, etc.
2. Since philosophical inquiry is not isolated but develops out of the basic questions in other
academic disciplines and social life, students will be encouraged to comprehend the
interdisciplinary character of philosophical studies.
3. The programme will review and attempt to overcome the received binaries and
dichotomies, such as, study of philosophy in terms of geographical, civilizational and
intra-disciplinary segregations.
4. An intensive study of philosophical texts for a critical appraisal of concepts and
arguments used by philosophers, and writing of philosophical essays will be an integral
part of the programme.
5. The programme is designed to develop philosophical aptitude and analytical skills among
the students through a rigorous training in the discipline.

Course Structure:
The course structure of the proposed programme is given below:
1. The students will be required to take 10 compulsory and 06 optional courses of 04 credits
each. Out of the 06 optional courses, students will be encouraged to take 02 courses from
other Centres/Schools.
2. The four courses in the First Semester are compulsory and address the foundational
character of philosophical studies. These are: (i) Philosophical Studies: Problems and
Perspectives; (ii) Epistemology and Metaphysics: Issues and Problems of Knowing and
Being; (iii) Moral and Social Philosophy; and (iv) Logic and Scientific Methods.
 3. The four compulsory courses in the Second Semester address the inter-disciplinary
character of philosophical studies, and also acqaint students to some of the important
developments in 20th century philosophy. These are: (i) Philosophy of Social Sciences;
(ii) Philosophy of Language; (iii) Readings in 20th century Indian Philosophy; and (iv)
Readings in Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology.
4. The remaining two compulsory courses, (i) Reading a Philosopher and (ii) Project on a
Philosophical Theme, will be seminar papers. These will be taken up in the Third and the
Fourth Semesters respectively. The former will engage the students in an intensive study
of selected text(s) of a philosopher, and the latter in writing a philosophical essay based
on their individual reseach project.
5. The optional courses are designed in view of the academic and research interests of the
faculty members of the Centre. These courses focus on the presuppositions and
implications of the on-going philosophical debates.
6. Each course has list(s) of essential/recommended/general readings. The details of
sections/chapters/excerpts/pages to be read from these readings will be specified by the
concerned teacher(s).

The details of the compulsory and optional courses are given as follows:

Monsoon Semester – I

Course Title: Philosophical Studies: Problems and Perspectives

Course No: PH401S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Satya P. Gautam (Rtd.) / Bhagat Oinam

The Course will provide an introduction to the distinctive nature of philosophical inquiry, with a
focus on relation of philosophy to (i) everyday life, and (ii) other academic disciplines in
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
The course will aim to enable the students to comprehend and appreciate the sources of
philosophical problems, characteristics of philosophical concepts, structure of philosophical
arguments and theories for clearing up some prevalent misconceptions of philosophy.
 Students will be trained to read and evaluate selected philosophical essays/texts listed below.
They will be expected to learn to comprehend, evaluate and respond critically to philosophical
arguments, methods and perspectives. At the time of conclusion of the course, the students will
be expected to have learnt to use their analytical skills for elucidating philosophical concepts and
theories.

Philosophy and Everyday Life

Philosophy is a reflective engagement to make sense of our life through a questioning of the
purposes/goals of our activities, institutions and practices as reflected in cultures, religions,
education, politics and morality. Following the path of the ancient quest for “self-knowledge”
and the Socratic advice that “an unexamined life is not worth living,” relevance of philosophy for
everyday life will be elucidated by focusing on the various facets of human condition. Issues
related to human finitude, such as suffering, injustice, quest for emancipation/liberation, god,
ideology, technology and good life will be taken up for discussion.

Philosophy and the Cognitive Enterprise

As an academic discipline, philosophy analyses the distinction between (i) “factual” and
“conceptual” issues, and (ii) “empirical” and “analytical” investigations. In diverse cognitive
pursuits, such as humanities, social studies and natural sciences, we use concepts to think and
learn about the world. In these studies, spread over various disciplines, “essentially contested”
concepts and theories often generate philosophically interesting conceptual and theoretical
puzzles. The distinctive character of philosophy in relation to other academic disciplines, such as
science(s), history and literature, will be discussed with a focus on the distinction between
“thinking about the world” and “thinking about thinking.”

Philosophy as a Transformative Critical Activity

In the light of the above discussion, an emphasis will be placed on the critical, transformative
and emancipatory character of philosophical studies.

Recommended Readings:
Baggini, Julian and Jermy Stangroom. What Philosophers Think? London: Continuum, 2007.
Carel and Gamez (eds.). What Philosophy Is? Contemporary Philosophy in Action. Delhi and
London: Viva-Continuum, 2007.
Danto, Arthur C. What Philosophy Is? A Guide to the Elements. Harmondsworth: Penguin,
1987.
Daya Krishna. The Nature of Philosophy. New Delhi: ICPR, 2009.
Edmonds, David and Nigel Warburton. Philosophy Bites. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2010.
Grayling, A.C. Thinking of Answers: Questions in the Philosophy of Everyday Life. London:
Bloomsbury, 2010.
Guttenplan, Samuel, Jennifer Hornsby and Christopher Janaway (eds.). Reading Philosophy:
Selected Texts with a Method for Beginners. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005.
Heidegger, Martin. What is Philosophy? Trans. with intro. J.T. Wilde and W. Kluback. Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1956.
Nagel, Thomas. A View from Nowhere. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

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Course Title: Epistemology and Metaphysics:

Issues and Problems of Knowing and Being
Course No: PH402S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: R.P. Singh

Epistemology and Metaphysics are important components of philosophy – the former is

concerned with “knowledge or process of knowing of objects and persons” and the latter with the
“First Principles” or the problematic of “being and/or becoming.” Whereas one cannot be
reduced to the other, there is definitely a unity between them. It is envisaged to give a
comprehensive account of different schools of epistemology, such as rationalism, empiricism,
transcendentalism, dialecticism and pragmatism. Contending and corresponding metaphysical
positions in terms of monism, dualism and pluralism with individual thinkers as the proponents
will also be discussed. The students will be encouraged to learn the relation between metaphysics
and epistemology through a discussion on possibility and validity of knowledge, doubt and
certainty, identity and change, unity and multiplicity/plurality, universals and particulars,
absence and presence, etc. The outline of the course content is given below:

Epistemology
– Possibility and Validity (Justification) of Knowledge
– Knower (Subject), Knowables (Objects) and Acts of Knowing (Sources and
Means/Modes)
– Certainty, Scepticism and Khyātivāda
– Theories of Knowledge

Metaphysics
– Being, Becoming and Nothingness
 – Appearance and Reality
– Self
– Theories of Metaphysics

Essential Readings:
Aristotle. Metaphysics. London: Fontana/Collins, 1978.
Audi, Robert. Epistemology: Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. London:
Routledge, 1998.
Cottingham, John. Rationalism. London: Thoemmes Pr, 1997.
Dutta, D.M. Six Ways of Knowing. Kolkata: Calcutta University Press, 1997.
Hamlyn, D.W. Metaphysics. London: MacMillan, 1980.
Madhavacharya. Sarvadarshana Sangraha. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Publications, 1980.
Mukherjee, A.C. The Nature of Self. Allahabad: The Indian Press Ltd., 1943.
Plato. Symposium, Phaedo, Republic, Theaetetus, Parmenides. London: Macmillan, 1948.
Raju, P.T. Structural Depths of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: South Asia Publications, 1983.

General Readings:
Bronowski, J. and Bruce Mazlish. The Western Intellectual Tradition (From Leonardo to Hegel).
New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.
Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad. A Popular Introduction to Indian Philosophy. New Delhi: PPH,
1964.
Dasgupta, S.N. History of Indian Philosophy, Vols. I and II. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
Fuller, B.A.G. and S.M. McMurrin. History of Philosophy. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1976.
Hiryanna, M. Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2009.
Krishna, Daya. India’s Intellectual Traditions: Attempts at Conceptual Reconstructions. New
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987.
Krishna, Daya. Indian Philosophy: A Counter Perspective. New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1992.
Lemos, Noah. An Introduction to Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2007.
Matilal, B.K. Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theory of Knowledge. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1986.
McKechnie, J.L. (ed.). Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1979 (second edn.).
Potter, Karl. Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy (Vol. I&II). London: George Allen& Unwin, 1923.
Russell, Bertrand. History of Western Philosophy. London: Unwin, 1979.
Sharma, C.D. A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976.

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Course Title: Moral and Social Philosophy

Course No: PH403S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Bhagat Oinam / Bhaskarjit Neog

This course aims to introduce the students with the basic moral issues that we come across in our
everyday life. It begins with the question “what is it to be moral?” and goes on to consider more
complex philosophical issues related to values, norms and principles of human conduct. These
will be dealt with analysis of moral concepts and theories from different philosophical
perspectives.
An attempt will also be made to acquaint the students with the intersection between moral
and social philosophy. In this context, relevant social issues will be taken up for evaluation from
moral perspectives.

What is it to be Moral? What makes us moral? Why be Moral?

What constitutes the idea of being moral deals with the issue of our being sensitive, sympathetic,
caring, and reflexive human persons in the lived world. This demands us of becoming
conscientious individuals with a reasonable frame of mind for delivering a sense of justice to the
other as well as to one’s own self. Students will be encouraged to examine the ways in which
becoming moral involves following of (i) norms based on religious and cultural practices and
beliefs, or (ii) rational and educational ideals and practices are adequate for the same.

Recommended Readings:
Blackburn, Simon. Being Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Korsgaard, Christine. The Sources of Normativity. Edit. O. O’Neill. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1996.
Miri, Mrinal. Identity and Moral Life. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Plato. Euthyphro. In The Last Days of Socrates, trans. Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant.
London: Penguin Books, 1993.
Williams, Bernard. Morality: An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1972.

Goodness and the Ideal of Good Life

The idea of goodness will be investigated with the help of ideas from different philosophical
traditions, such as eudemonia in Greek tradition, puruṣārtha and lokasamgraha in Indian
tradition, ren, yi and li in Confucianism, and khair and shar in Sufi tradition. While dealing with
the question of good, the students will be required to reflect upon binaries of moral concepts, e.g.
virtues and vices, good and evil, desirable and undesirable, and moral permissibility and
impermissibility.

Recommended Readings:
Allen, R.E. Plato’s Euthyphro and earlier theory of Forms. London: Routledge Kegan Paul,
1970.
Anscombe, G. E.M. “Modern Moral Philosophy.” Philosophy 33, 1959: 1–9.
Barlingay, S.S. A Modern Introduction to Indian Ethics. Delhi: Penman Publishers, 1998.
Do-Dinh, Pierre. Confucius and Chinese Humanism. New York: Funk & Wagnalis, 1969.
Foot, Philippa. Virtue, Vices and other Essays in Moral Philosophy. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1978.
Murdoch, Iris. The Sovereignty of Good. London: Routledge, 2001.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Sufi Essays. New York: SUNY Press, 1972.
Nussbaum, Martha. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and
Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Rajendra Prasad (ed.). A Historical-Developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of
Morals. New Delhi: CSC and Concept Publishing Co., 2009.

Self and Morality

The idea of morality is inextricably linked with our understanding of the self. The possibility of a
moral self needs to be seen in its relation to society, culture and civilization. In order to
understand the relation between self and morality, the students will be encouraged to grapple
with the process of the constitution of the moral self. In this respect the students will be required
to understand the theoretical formulations on the notions of the encumbered and unencumbered
self. Within the former, possibility of construing the idea of group or collective moral
responsibility will also be explored.

Recommended Readings:
Appiah, Anthony. Ethics of Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Sorabjee, Richard. Self: Ancient and Modern Insights about Individuality, Life, and Death.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2006.
Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Harvard: Harvard
University Press, 1989.

Human Condition, Freedom and Dignity

Investigating the moral demands of human conditions, we shall elaborately explore issues like
freedom and dignity, facticity and finitude, moral choice and moral dilemmas, and human
autonomy and moral responsibility.

Recommended Readings:
Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 (first pub.
1958).
Barett, William. Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy. Anchor Books, 1990 (first
pub. 1962).
Mason, H.E. Moral Dilemmas and Moral Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Matilal, Bimal Krishna. Moral Dilemmas in the Mahabbaharata. Shimla: IIAS and Motilal
Banarsidass, 1989.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism and Humanism. London: Methuen, 2007.
Warnock, Mary. Existentialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Spheres of the Unjust

The idea of justice is better comprehended when we are pressed with issues like poverty,
inequality, underdevelopment, and oppression. It is envisaged in the course that the ideals of a
just society can be pursued better when we focus on the very idea of the unjust.

Recommended Readings:
Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999 (first pub.
1971).
Sterba, James P. Justice: Alternative Political Perspective. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002.
Nagel, Thomas. Equality and Partiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Ideology, Violence and the Moral Question

This section will deal with different world views that often yield not only the segregation and
exclusion of peoples and communities, but also legitimize some forms of violence in the social
space. These forms of violence often emerge through different types of religious, caste and
ethnic identity-assertions. Students will be required to examine these issues through prisms of the
moral standpoint.

Recommended Readings:
Gandhi, M.K. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1994. Free online access from Gandhiserve.
Andrews, C.F. “The Teaching of Ahimsa” (Chapter VII). In Mahatma Gandhi's Ideas Including
Selections from His Writings. Pierides Press, 2008 (first pub. 1930).
Ambedkar, B.R. Essential Writings. Jalandhar: Bhim Patrika Publications.
Bilgrami, Akeel. “Gandhi, the Philosopher.” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXVIII, No.
39, Sept. 27, 2003.
Raghuramaraju. Debating Gandhi. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Trans. Constance Farrington. New York: Grove
Weidenfeld, 1963 (first pub. 1961).

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Course Title: Logic and Scientific Methods

Course No: PH404S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Manidipa Sen / Smita Sirker

This course aims to introduce students to the developments in formal deductive as well as
inductive reasoning. The course will address problems concerning the nature of arguments and
logical consequence. The notion of logical consequence as well as that of an argument varies
from deductive to inductive logic. The course aims to familiarize students to some of the basic
concepts related to these two modes of reasoning. In view of this the course is structured in three
parts. In the first part some basic concepts in deduction and induction will be discussed, while in
the second and the third parts, some systems of deductive and inductive logic will be considered
respectively.

Concepts in Logic
The following nodal concepts from both deduction and induction will be discussed in order to
clarify the grounds for studying specific systems of logic.
 – Propositions: Categorical and non-categorical (including hypothetical, conjunctive
and disjunctive)
– Arguments: Deductive and inductive (involving the notions of necessity and
probability)
– Logical consequence and the nature of formal validity
– Induction and its paradoxes
– Causal Law and the Uniformity of Nature
– Hypothesis, Validation and Scientific explanation

Deductive Logic
After briefly introducing students to Aristotelian syllogisms and the limitations of the same, the
students will be introduced to the following two formal and symbolic systems of deductive logic
in greater detail.
– Propositional Logic/Calculus: Propositional logic allows for evaluation of more
complex argument forms than a classical syllogistic system. In propositional logic,
propositions are represented by symbols and connectors, so that the statements’
logical form can be assessed for cases of truth and falsity, which in turn, allows us to
assess the entire argument form for validity or invalidity. Here we will look at: Truth-
functional connectives and truth-tables, the three laws of thought, rules of inference,
rules of replacement and the formal proof of validity.
– Predicate Logic/Calculus: Acknowledging the limitations of Propositional logic,
which deals mainly with truth-functional connectives and propositions, Quantification
Theory, which takes care of arguments involving universal, particular and singular
statements, will be studied in this section.

Inductive Logic
Inductive logic is mainly concerned with how reasoning and argumentation operate at the level
of scientific enquiry. Inductive inference is probabilistic in nature, and thus the relationship
between the conclusion and the evidence supporting the conclusion is never necessary. Hence the
question arises: how can we at all justify inductive reasoning as a valid form of argumentation?
In this section the students will be required to study:
– Analogical reasoning and analysis of analogical arguments
– Causal reasoning and different methods of causal analysis
– The Theory of Probability
– Nature of Scientific Hypothesis, seven stages of forming scientific hypothesis, and
the role of scientific explanation

Recommended Readings:
Baronett, Stan and Madhucchanda Sen. Logic. New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2009.
Belnap, N. and A. Anderson. Entailment: The Logic of Relevance and Necessity. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1975.
Copi, I.M. Introduction to Logic. New Delhi: Pearson Education, 11th edition.
Copi, I.M. Symbolic Logic, New Delhi: Macmillan, 1968.
Haack, Susan. Philosophy of Logics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
Hurley, P.J. A Concise Introduction to Logic. London: Wadsworth, 2012 (11th edition).
Jackson, F. Conditionals. Oxford: Blackwell, 1987.
Kneale, William and Martha Kneale. The Development of Logic. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1966.
Quine, W.V.O. Methods of Logic. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.
Read, Stephen. Thinking about Logic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Strawson, P.F. Introduction to Logical Theory. London: Routledge, 2012.

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Winter Semester – II

Course Title: Philosophy of Social Sciences

Course No. : PH405S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Satya P. Gautam (Rtd.)

This course will focus on the philosophical issues that arise in our attempts to understand the
social world from scientific perspectives. The debates concerning the aims and methods of social
sciences/studies will be taken up for analysis and appraisal. The limits of positivist approach,
following Auguste Comte and the hermeneutic approach following Wilhelm Dilthey, will be
discussed to explore the new ways of doing social studies. Following issues will be taken up for
a detailed consideration:
– Distinction between “social” and “natural” facts
– Problems of description, interpretation and comprehension of social practices, traditions,
institutions and roles
– Individualistic and holistic perspectives
– Teleological and causal explanations
– Causal explanation, hermeneutic understanding and critique
– Rule-guided praxis and law-governed Processes: Rational and causal analysis of social
actions
– Value-neutrality, value-orientation and self-reflexivity in social sciences
– Looking beyond positivism and hermeneutics

Recommended Readings:
Bernstein, Richard. Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics and Praxis.
Minneapolis: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.
Bishop, Robert C. The Philosophy of the Social Sciences. London: Continuum, 2007.
Dilthey, W. Introduction to Human Sciences, Vol. 1. Edit. R.A. Makkreel and F. Rodi.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Gadamer, Hans G. Truth and Method. Trans. J. Weinsheimer and D.G. Marshall. New York:
Crossroad, Second edn., 1989.
Giddens, Anthony (ed.). Positivism and Sociology. London: Heinemann, 1978.
Guala, Fransesco and Daniel Steel (eds.). The Philoophy of Social Science Reader. London:
Routledge, 2011.
Habermas, J. Knowledge and Human Interest. Trans. Jeremy J. Shapiro. Frankfurt: Bacon Press,
1971.
Habermas, J. On the Logic of the Social Sciences. Trans. Shierry Weber Nicholsen and Jerry A.
Stark. Boston: MIT Press, 1991.
Hollis, M. The Philosophy of Social Science: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP, 1994.
Hollis, Martin and Steven Lukes (eds.). Rationality and Relativism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1976.
Louch, A.R. Explanation and Human Action. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.
Meurleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology, Language and Sociology. Edit. John O. Neill.
London: Heinemann, 1974.
O’Neill, John (ed.). Modes of Individualism and Collectivism. London: Heinemann, 1975.
Popper, Karl. The Poverty of Historicism. London: Routledge, 1969.
Ricoeur, Paul. Hermeneutics and Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action and
Interpretation. Edit. and trans. John B. Thompson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1981.
Searle, John. The Construction of Social Reality. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1993.
Winch, Peter. The Idea of A Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy. London: Routledge,
1998.
Wright, G.H. von. Explanation and Understanding. London: Routledge, 1980.

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Course Title: Philosophy of Language
Course No: PH406S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Manidipa Sen

The course on Philosophy of Language will focus on the key concepts concerning “meaning.”
Philosophers of language, from the very beginning, have been debating about what could be a
general a theory of meaning. The questions that will be the focus of our discussion are: What is a
theory of meaning or what form should a theory of meaning take? In what does knowledge of
meaning consist? Are there at all facts about meaning? And if so, what kinds of facts are there
about meaning? What is the connection between a theory of meaning and a theory of truth? Can
we say that a theory of meaning is also a theory of understanding? Is meaning natural or
conventional? What is the relationship between meaning and translation? In dealing with these
questions students will be required to study philosophers of language, like Russell, Frege,
Wittgenstein, and the logical positivists.They will also be required to study questions of meaning
dealt with by Plato (inCratylus)and the rich tradition of issues of language found in classical
Indian philosophy (in Bhartrihari’s Vakyapadiya and Kumaril and Prabhakara Mimamsakas).
The aim is to show that issues concerning meaning are not merely semantic, but integrally
related to that of ontology and epistemology.

Meaning and Reference

The most common way of understanding the meaning of a word is in terms of its reference to
something outside of language. But the notion of reference and the relation of language to
something outside of it, leads to questions concerning language-world relationship. So, we will
look at the problem of reference with special emphasis on proper names, definite descriptions,
problem of empty names and the distinction between sense and reference.

Recommended Readings:
Evans, Gareth. Varieties of Reference. Oxford: OUP, 1982.
Frege, G. “On Sense and Reference.” In P. Geach and M. Black (eds.), Translations from the
Philosophical Writings of GottlobFrge. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1970.
Matilal, B.K. The Word and the World: India’s Contribution to the Study of Language. New
Delhi: OUP, 1990.
Russell, B. “On Denoting.” Reprinted in his Logic and Knowledge. London: Allen and Unwin,
1905.
Meaning and Use
Is meaning natural or conventional, depending upon the way in which a term is used in a
particular context? That meaning is somehow conventionally determined cannot be denied, but
the question that arises is, whose convention are we talking about when we talk about meaning?
It certainly cannot be one particular person’s use. Hence we look at issues of use and following
rules, the public nature of language, realism versus anti-realism about semantic facts, and holism
about meaning.

Recommended Readings:
Locke, John. “Of Words.” An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Book 3). London:
Fontana/Collins, 1960.
Plato. Cratylus. Reprinted in with Landmarks in Linguistic Thought (Vol. 1). Commentary R.
Harris and T. Taylor. London: Routledge, 1997.
Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1953.

Meaning and the Means of Knowing

A theory of meaning has often been understood as a theory of understanding. And to understand
the meaning of any linguistic expression is to know what it stands for. Hence there is a close
connection between meaning, understanding and knowing. That is why testimony often is
considered as a mode of knowing just as perception is. The issues that will be of concerns are:the
nature of understanding as a means of knowing; the relationship between understanding,
interpretation and knowledge;the relationship between meaning and truth; and skepticism about
meaning.

Recommended Readings:
Bilimoria, P. Sabdapramana: Word and Knowledge. Dordtrek: Kluwer Academic Publishers,
1988.
Davidson, D. “Truth and Meaning.” In his Enquiries into Truth and Interpretation. Oxord:
Clarendon Press, 1984.
Ganeri, Jonardon. Semantic Powers (Chapters 1 and 2). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999.
Matilal, B.K. Logic, Language and Reality. Delhi: Matilal Banarasidass, 1985.

Meaning, Speech Acts and Convention

Traditional accounts of meaning have been challenged by philosophers in their attempts to
understand meaningsas acts that speakers perform in their use of language. In this section we will
deal with different theories of speech acts, relationship between intention, convention and the
social character of meaning.
Recommended Readings:
Austin, J.L. How to do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962.
Grice, P. “Meaning.” The Philosophical Review 66, 1957.
Mukhapadhyaya, P.K. Nyaya Theory of Linguistic Performance. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Co.,
1992.
Searle, J. “What is a Speech Act?” In his Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1971.

Meaning and Translation

The problem of translation is an important problem with regard to meaning. In case one
questions the very idea of determinate or determinable meaning associated with a linguistic
expression, one poses the problem of translation. The problem of translation is also closely
linked with the problem of interpretation. Issues related to interdimany of meaning and hence
interminacy of translation will be dealt with in this section.

Recommended Readings:
Chomsky, Noam. “Quine’s Empirical Assumptions.” In D. Davidson and J. Hintikka (eds.),
Word and Objection. Dordrecht: Springer, 1975.
Davidson, D. “Radical Interpretation.” Dialectica 27, 1973.
Quine, W.V.O. “On the Reasons for the Indeterminacy of Translation.” Journal of Philosophy
67, 1970.
Siderits, Mark. Indian Philosophy of Language (Chapters 2 and 3). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 1991.

General Readings:
Carnap, R. Meaning and Necessity: A Study in Semantics and Modal Logic. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1956.
Devitt, M. and K. Sterelney. Language and Reality. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1999.
Devitt, Michael and Richard Hanley (eds.). The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Language.
Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.
Grice, P. Studies in the Way of Words. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Hale, B. and Crispin Wright (eds.). Blackwell Companions To Philosophy of Lanuguage. Oxord:
Blackwell, 1999.
Ludlow, P. (ed.). Readings in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1997.
Lycan, William G. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction. London: Routledge,
2008 (2nd edition).
Martinich, A. (ed.). The Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Martinich, Aloysius P. (ed.). The Philosophy of Language. Oxford: OUP, 2006.
Matilal, B.K. and A. Chakraborti (eds.). Knowing from Words. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 1994.
Mccrea, L. and Parimal Patil. Buddhist Philosophy of Language in India. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2010.
Miller, A. Philosophy of Language. London: UCL Press, 2000.
Moore, A. (ed.). Meaning and Reference. Oxford: OUP, 1993.
Palit, Piyali. Basic Principles of Indian Philosophy of Language. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 2004.
Patnaik, Tandra. Sabda: A Study of Bhatrihari’s Philosophy of Language. New Delhi: D.K.
Printworld, 2007.
Putnam, H. “Meaning and Reference.” The Journal of Philosophy 70 (19), 1973.
Raja, Kunjunni. Indian Theories of Meaning. Mysore: Adyar Library and Research Centre, 1969.
Saha, Sukharanjan, Perspectives in Nyaya Logic and Epistemology. Kolkata: K.P. Bagchi, 1987.
Siderits, M., M. Tilleman and A. Chakraborti (eds.). Apoha: Buddhist Nominalism and Human
Cognition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.

**********

Course Title: Readings in 20th Century Indian Philosophy

Course No. : PH407S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: R.P. Singh / Bhagat Oinam / Bindu Puri

This course will focus on the study of some of the 20th century Indian philosophers, both
academic and non-academic, who have influenced the social life and philosophical engagements.
The course will include the study of the specific works of Rabindranath Tagore, M.K. Gandhi
and B.R. Ambedkar on the one hand, and K.C. Bhattacharya, K.S. Murthy and Daya Krishna on
the other. Each of them in one way or another has responded to the challenges posed by the
colonial encounter, nationalistic and civilizational aspirations. The students will be required to
engage with these philosophers on the following issues:
– Self, Freedom and Knowledge
– Tradition, Modernity and Nationalism
– Swaraj, satyagraha and ahimsa
 – Exclusion, Inclusion and Integration
– Truth, Harmony and Social Justice
– Identity: Individual and Collective

Essential Readings:
Ambedkar, B.R. Essential Writings of Ambedkar. Edit. with intro. Valerian Roderigues. New
Delhi: OUP, 2004.
Bhattacharya, K.C. “Swaraj in Ideas.” www.scribd.com/doc/39859006/swaraj-in-Ideas-K-C-
Bhattacharya
Bhattacharya, K.C. Subject as Freedom. London: Unwin, 1933.
Gandhi, M.K. Hind Swaraj. 1909.
Krishna, Daya. Civilizations, Nostalgia and Utopia. New Delhi: Sage, and Shimla: IIAS, 2012.
Murthy, K.S. The Realm of Between. Shimla: IIAS, 1972.
Tagore, R. Surplus in Man, London, Unwin Ltd. 1986.
Tagore, R. The Religion of Man. Delhi: Harper Collins, 1994.

**********

Course Title: Readings in Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology

Course No.: PH408S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Bhagat Oinam / Manidipa Sen

Analytic philosophy and Phenomenology have been two significant movements in 20th century
Western philosophy. The aim of the course is to introduce students to their unique
methodological tools by engaging with select writings of some important contributors. Though
phenomenology and analytic philosophy are often seen as opposed to each other on substantive
issues and the methodologies they employ, in recent times philosophers have tried to argue
against this misplaced opposition. The course will also acquaint students with the literature
showing convergences in these two movements. Concepts such as intentionality, meaning,
essence, and embodiment will be discussed with the above focus.
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY:
Analytic philosophy is not a homogenous or monolithic school of thought, there have been at
least three major ways in which philosophers have engaged with the idea of analysis. Students
will be introduced to these three shifts within the broad framework of analytic philosophy
through a close reading of the selected texts.

The Early Analysts and a Critique of Idealism/Neo-Hegelianism

Moore, Russell and Wittgenstein have emphasized on conceptual analysis as a tool for
philosophizing. We will look at the following issues:
– Moore’s defence of common sense
– Russell’s theory of atomoism
– Wittgenstein on atomic facts and atomic propositions

The Positivist Turn and a Critique of Metaphysics

Logical positivists, influenced by philosophers belonging to Vienna Circle, tried to show that
metaphysical statements and questions, which constituted the heart of philosophical enquiry, are
meaningless. Following topics will be discussed:
– Ayer’s principle of verification as criterion of meaning
– Carnap on the empiricist account of meaning
– Quine on the rejection of analytic/synthetic distinction

Linguistic Analysis and the nature of Philosophical Enquiry

Following Frege and Wittgenstein, philosophers like Austin and Grice took the study of language
to be the most basic mode of philosophizing. Following themes will be discussed:
– Frege on the Sense/Reference distinction
– Wittgenstein on language-game, rule-following and use theory of meaning
– Austin on speech act and performatives
– Grice on conversational implicatures

Essential Readings:
Austin, J.L. How To Do Things With Words. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1975 (2nd
edition).
Ayer, A.J. “The Elimintation of Metaphysics” and “The Principle of Verification.” In R.
Ammerman (ed.), Classics of Analytic Philosophy. London: Hackett Publishinh Co., 1964.
Carnap, Rudolf. “Testability and Meaning.” In R. Ammerman (ed.), Classics of Analytic
Philosophy. London: Hackett Publishinh Co., 1964.
Frege, G. “On Sense and Reference.” In Philosophical Writings of GottlobFrege. Trans. and edit.
P. Geach and M. Black. Oxford: Blackwell, 1980 (3rd edition).
Moore, G.E. “A Defence of Common Sense.” In R. Ammerman (ed.), Classics of Analytic
Philosophy. Bombay/Delhi: Tata Mcgraw-Hill, 1965.
Quine, W.V.O. “Two Dogmas of Empiricism.”, In his From a Logical Point of View.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980 (first pub. 1953).
Russell, B. The Philosophy of Logical Atomism and Other Essays: 1914–1919. Edit. J.G. Slater.
London: Allen and Unwin, 1986.
Wittgenstein, L. TractatusLogico-Philosophicus. Trans. D.F. Pears and B.F. McGuinness. New
York: Humanities Press, 1961.
Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations. Trans. by G.E.M. Anscombe and R. Rhees, edit.
G.E.M. Oxford: Blackwell, 1953.

PHENOMENOLOGY:
Students will be introduced to this school of thought by capturing the trends of doing
phenomenology as they developed in history of philosophy. We shall also study the
characteristic shifts both in the axiomatic stands that these philosophers adopt as well as the
methodological tools that they employ in their phenomenological investigations. This will be
done by engaging in philosopher-focused study, by selectively picking up key concepts
associated with the following themes:

Pure Phenomenology (Transcendental Phenomenology):

– Brentano’s ideas of intentionality and time-consciousness
– Husserl’s ideas of intentionality, epoche, noema-noesis distinction, ego, different stages
of reduction, and eidos

Existential Turn (Existential Phenomenology):

– Heidegger’s existential turn; shift in phenomenology from epistemological enquiry to
ontological study; care structure, Dasein, resoluteness and temporality
– Sartre on intentionality, transcendence and ego; typologies of Being; facticity, bad-faith
and freedom
– Merleau-Ponty on phenomenology of perception and realism, the idea of “body-
subject”

Essential Readings:
Brentano, Franz. Descriptive Psychology. Trans. Benito Müller, London: Routledge, 1995.
Husserl, Edmund. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological
Philosophy – First Book: General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology. Trans. F. Kersten.
The Hague: Nijhoff, 1982 (first pub. 1913).
Husserl, Edmund. Cartesian Meditations. Trans. D. Cairns, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1988 (first pub.
1931).
Husserl, Edmund. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology. Trans.
D. Carr. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
Martin Heidegger, Being and Time. Trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson,
Southampton: Basil Blackwell, 1983 (first published 1962).
Martin Heidegger, The Basic Problems of Phenomenology, trans. A. Hofstadter, Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1982.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Psychology of the Imagination. Trans. Bernard Frechtman, London: Methuen,
1972.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Transcendence of the Ego: An Existentialist Theory of Consciousness.
Trans. and edit. Forrest Williams and Robert Kirkpatrick. New York: Noonday, 1957.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Trans.
Hazel E. Barnes, intro. Mary Warnock, London: Methuen, 1958.
Ponty, Merleau. Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Colin Smith. New York: Humanities
Press, 1962.

General Readings:
(This list consists primarily of texts which have contributed to the bridging of the gap between
Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology.)
Cavell, S. “Existentialism and Analytic Philosophy.” Daedelus 93, 1964.
Dummett, Michael. Origins of Analytic Philosophy. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Durfee H. (ed.). Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology. Martinus Nijhoff, 1976.
Erkinson S.A. Langauge and Being: An Analytic Phenomenology. Yale University Press, 1970.
Galaghar S. The Phenomenological Mind: Introduction to Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive
Science. Routledge, 2007.
McCulloch G. Life of the Mind: An Essay in Phenomenological Externalism. Routledge, 2003.
Mohanty, J.N. Husserl and Frege. Indiana University Press, 1982.
Petitot, P., F. Varela, B. Pachoud, and Jean-Michel Roy (eds.). Naturalizing Phenomenology.
Stanford University Press, 2001.
Peursen C.A. “Edmund Husserl and Ludwig Wittgenstein.” Philosophy and Phenomenological
Research 20, 1959.
Smith, D.W. and A. Thomasson. Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind. Oxford: OUP, 2005.
Thompson, Evan. Mind in Life Biology, Phenomenology and Science of the Mind. Belknap Press,
Harvard University Press, 2010.
Varela, F., Evan Thompson and E. Rosch. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human
Experience. MIT Press, 1992
Turnbull, R.G. “Linguistic Analysis, Phenomenology and the Problems of Philosophy: An Essay
in Metaphilosophy.” The Monist 49, 1965.
Zahavi, Dan. Subjectivity and Selfhood. Bradford Books, 2008.

**********

Monsoon Semester – III

&
Winter Semester – IV

Course Title: Seminar Course: Reading a Philosopher

Course No: PH409S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: End-sem seminar presentation
Course In-Charge: Faculty members (in rotation)

This Seminar course will require the students to engage in an intensive study of selected text(s)
of a specific philosopher out of those which will be announced by the Centre. Presently the
Centre is proposing the following philosophers and their texts:

Aristotle
The study will be devoted to a reading of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Through a close
reading of the text, the students will be required to understand linkages between ideas of good,
virtues and happiness. Attempts will also be made to comprehend the idea of “good” as
embedded in the collective life.

Essential Reading:
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. and commented by Sarah Broadie and Christopher Rowe,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Roger Crisp, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000.

--------------------
Sankara
The study will be devoted to a reading of Sankara’s Brahmasutra Bhasya. The text
comprehensively discusses the central issues concerning epistemology and metaphysics. The
specific issues to be studied are given below:
– General introduction to Prasthānatrayi
– Adhyāsa: Adhyāropa and Apavāda
– Brahman and Ātman

Essential Readings:
Sankara. Brahmasūtra Bhāsya (Chatusutri). Trans. Swami Gambhiraanda. Kolkata: Advaita
Ashram, 1965.

------------------------

Immanuel Kant - I
The study will be devoted to a reading of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. The following issues
will be taken up for a detailed discussion:
– Space and Time as “Forms of Intuition”
– Transcendental Deduction of Categories
– Paralogism, Antinomies and the Ideal of Reason

Essential Readings:
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. N.K. Smith. London: The Macmillan Press
Ltd., 1973.

--------------------------

Immanuel Kant - II
The study will be devoted to a reading of the development of Kant’s moral philosophy from the
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals to the Critique of Practical Reason. The following
issues will be taken up for a detailed discussion:
– Postulates of morality
– Categorical imperative
– Practical rationality

Essential Readings:
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Edit. Mary Gregor. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Practical Reason. Edit. Mary Gregor. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.
Kant, Immanuel. Practical Philosophy. Edit. Mary Gregor. Cambridge: Cambridge University
press, 1996.

-------------------------

John Stuart Mill

This study will be devoted to Mill’s On Liberty. The primary aim of this reading is to first
develop an adequate understanding of Mill’s ideas on liberty by taking into account the
intellectual background in which On Liberty was written, and secondly, to critically analyse the
influence and significance of his ideas in contemporary liberal political thoughts.
The following ideas will be discussed in the study: Liberty, utility and wellbeing, limits of
authority, the idea of harm, individuality, free speech, etc.

Essential Readings:
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. 1859.
John Stuart Mill. On Liberty and the Subjection of Women. Edit. Allan Ryan. London: Penguin
Books, 2006.
John Stuart Mill. On Liberty and Utilitarianism, New York: Bantam Classics, 1993.

--------------------------

Bertrand Russell
This study will be devoted to an intensive reading of Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy. In
this work, Russell deals with fundamental issues in epistemology and metaphysics. The study
will focus on an analysis of the distinction between appearance and reality, the problem of the
knowledge of the external world, problem of universals, possibility of apriori knowledge, limits
of philosophical knowledge and value of philosophy.

Essential Readings:
Russell, Bertrand. The Problems of Philosophy. London: Thornton Butterworth, 1937.

------------------------
Ludwig Wittgenstein
This study of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations
will aim at showing the continuity of his philosophical concerns through a close reading of the
selected sections of these two texts. The reading will focus on the evolution of Wittgenstein’s
conception of philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and ethics by addressing
the following themes:
– Nature of Philosophy
– Language and meaning: Reference and use
– Language games: Rules, Rule interpretation and Rule following
– Mind, language and world
– Self
– Freedom of the will
– Values and ethics

Essential Readings:
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus. Trans. D.F. Pears & B.F. McGuiness.
London: Routledge, 2007.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations. Trans. G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford:
Blackwell, 2010.

---------------------------

Jean-Paul Sartre
The study will focus on three philosophical texts of Sartre, viz. Being and Nothingness,
Existentialism Is a Humanism and The Problem of Method. The students will be required to
engage with Sartre’s understanding of the nature of freedom – in terms of ontology
(intentionality and nothingness), human existence (lived experience, situations and projects), and
collective agency (praxis, solidarity and individual autonomy).

Essential Readings:
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Trans.
Hazel E. Barnes, intro. Mary Warnock. London: Methuen, 1958.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism Is a Humanism. Trans. Carol Macomber, intro. Annie Cohen-
Solal. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Problem of Method. Trans. Hazel E. Barnes. London: Methuen, 1964.

-----------------------
Simone de Beauvoir
This study of selected writings of Simone de Beauvoir will focus on philosophical issues that
engaged her attention. The study will require the students to analyse following issues in the
writings of Simone de Beauvoir:
– Embodiment and Subjectivity
– Engendered Self
– Self and the Other
– Freedom and Engagement
– Abstract and Concrete Freedom
– Patriarchy and Feminism
– Ethics of Embiguity
– Narratives of the Self

Essential Readings:
Beauvoir, Simone de. Ethics of Ambiguity. Trans. Bernard Frechtman. New York: Citdel Press,
1976.
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Trans. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier.
London: Jonathan Cape, 2009.
Beauvoir, Simone de. She Came to Stay. Trans. Yvonne Moyse & Roger Senhouse. London:
Fontana Paperbacks, 1982.

-------------------------

W.V.O. Quine
This study of Quine’s Word and Object will focus on: criticism of empiricism and logical
positivism by questioning the analytic/synthetic distinction, issues in theories of meaning,
indeterminany of meaning and indeterminacy of translation, holism about meaning and scientific
theory.

Essential Reading:
Quine, W.V.O. Word and Object. Cambridge, Mass: MIT, 1960.

**********
Course Title: Seminar Course: Project on a Philosophical Theme
Course No. : PH410S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: End-semester seminar presentation
Course In-Charge: Faculty members

This course aims to develop students’ ability to choose a philosophical theme, under the
guidance of faculty, and write an essay of 8000 to 10000 words on the basis of research on the
chosen theme. Through teaching and tutorials, students will be trained (i) to identify topics of
philosophical significance for research project; (ii) to engage in review of literature on the
proposed project; (iii) to distinguish between different kinds of philosophical essays, such as
expository, analytical, historical, comparative, etc., and (iv) in skills of writing scholarly essays.

**********

OPTIONAL COURSES

The students will be required to choose 06 (six) optional courses from the following list of
courses:

Course Title: Contending Theories on Justice

Course No. : PH411S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: R.P. Singh

This course proposes to discuss the idea of justice which concerns with the proper ordering of
things and relations among persons within a society. It is envisaged that as a concept, justice has
been subject to philosophical, legal, political, moral, and theological reflections and debates
throughout history. Students will be engaged to address important questions surrounding justice;
such as, What is justice? What does it demand of individuals and societies? What are the
principles of distribution of wealth and resources in society: equality, equity, merit, status, or
some other criteria? There are myriad possible answers to these questions from divergent
perspectives on the philosophical and political spectrum; such theories like justice as harmony,
justice as fairness, minimizing injustices, retributive justice, distributive justice, etc. The outlay
of the course is as follows:
– General theories of justice
– Absolutistic notion of justice
– Minimizing injustices

Essential Readings:
Kant, Immanuel. “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” In J. Smidth (ed.), What
is Enlightenment? 18th Century answer 20th Century question. Berkeley: California University
Press, 1996.
MacIntyre, Alasadair. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? Notre Dame: University of Notre
Dame Press, 1998.
Plato. The Republic, Book IV. Trans. Desmond Lee. London: Penguin Books, 1955.
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971.
Sen, Amartya. The Idea of Justice. London: Penguin Books, 2009.

General Readings:
Fleischacker, S. On Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations: A Philosophical Companion. Princeton
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004.
Kant, Immanuel. Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. and edit. Lewis White Beck,
Indianapolis, NY: Bobbs-Merrill, 1959.
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. H.J. Paton. London:
Hutchinson, 1948.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A study in Moral Theory. Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.,
1981.
Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Moscow: Progress Publishers,
1978.
Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merill, 1957.
Nussbaum, Martha. Sex and Social Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Gerasimos, Santas. Goodness and Justice: Plato, Aristotle, and the Moderns. Malden: Blackwell,
2001.
Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Singh, R.P. (ed.). Applied Philosophy. New Delhi: Om Publications, 2003.
Taylor, Charles. After MacIntyre: Critical Perspectives on the work of Alsadair MacIntyre. Edit.
John Hortson and Susan Mendus. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994.
Urmson, J.O. Aristotle’s Ethics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988.

**********

Course Title: Philosophical Discourses on Modernity and Postmodernity

Course No.: PH412S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: R.P. Singh

The main purpose of the course is to make the students know the basic features of modernity
such as science, morals and art, the Enlightenment rationality, rights, tolerance, etc. on the one
hand and postmodernity as a critique of modernist grand narratives on the other. This is to enable
the students to appreciate that modernity breaks with the endless reiteration of traditional
(classical) themes, topics and myths; and postmodernity operates at the places of closure in
modernity, at the margins of what proclaims itself to be new and a break with tradition. It is
envisaged that to be modern means to search for new self-conscious expressive forms. To be
postmodern is to marginalize, delimit, disseminate and decenter the primary and often secondary
works of modernist inscriptions. It implies that the line of demarcation between modernity and
postmodernity remains a matter of uncertainty because postmodernity operates at the edge of
modernity. The following issues will be studied in detail:
– Modernity: Science, morals and art
– Postmodernity: A critique of modernist grand narratives (Enlightment rationality,
Panlogism, and Proletarian revolution)
– Postmodernity: A Re-writing of Modernity
– Anti-foundationaism, Anti- essentialism and Anti-teleology

Essential Readings:
Berger, Peter. Facing up to Modernity. New York, 1977.
Boyne, R. and A. Rattansi (eds.). Postmodernism and Society. London: MacMillan, 1990.
Derrida, Jacques. Margins of Philosophy. Trans. Alan Bass. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1985.
Foucault, M. “What is Enlightenment?” In Paul Rabinow (ed.), Foucault Reader. New York:
Pantheon Books, 1984, pp. 32–50.
Lyotard, F. Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Oxford: OUP, 1980.
Singh, R.P. Modernity and Postmodernity. New Delhi: Om Publications, 2002.
White, S.K. Political Theory and Postmodernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1991.

General Readings:
Kearney, Richard. Dialogues with Contemporary Continental Thinkers, the Phenomenological
Heritage. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984.
Lyotard, Jean-Froncois. Driftworks. New York: Semiotext,1982.
Lyotard, Jean-Froncois. “Reecrire la modernite.” In L Inhumain. Paris: Galilee,1988.
Silverman, H.J. Continental Philosophy III Postmodernism – Philosophy and Arts. New York
and London: Routledge, 1998.

**********

Course Title: Diversity of Cultures and Multiculturalism:

A Philosophical Study
Course No. : PH413S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: R.P. Singh

This course proposes to study the cognitive, connotive and evaluative features of culture. This is
to enable the students to understand that culture consists of the aspects of religion/dharma,
spirituality, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, archaeology and so on. Culture is the one people
inherit. They have either consciously adopted or uncritically accepted the culture or reflectively
revised in rare cases. It is envisaged in the course that there have been four debates on culture;
namely, Nature versus Culture during 18th century, Inter and Intra Cultural debates during 19th
century, Patterns and Diversity of Cultures in the 20th century and Multiculturalism since 1970s.
Multiculturalism involves a study of human life within historical and cultural framework,
culturally derived system of meaning and significance. Most importantly, multiculturalism
proposes to study diversity of cultures in terms of civil and democratic rights, property and
settlement, marriage and inheritance and above all citizenship so that people belonging to each
cultural community could be recognized as valid participants in the civil society and hence there
is a possible fusion of cultural horizon. The following issues will be discussed comprehensively:
– Nature versus Culture
– Patterns of Culture and Diversity of Cultures
– Multiculturalism and Fusion of Cultural Horizons
Essential Readings:
Gadamer, H. Truth and Method. New York: Crossroad, 1989.
Parekh, Bhikhu. “What is multiculturalism?” www.india- seminar.com/1999parekh.htm
Kroeber, A.L. and Klyde Kluchohn. Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions.
Cambridge, Mass.: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology, 1952.
Benedict, Ruth. Patterns of Culture. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1959 (first pub. 1934).
Sri Aurobindo. Foundations of Indian Culture. New York: Sri Aurobindo Library Inc., 1953.

General Readings:
Berger, Peter L. Facing up to Modernity. New York: Basic Books, 1977.
Huntington, S. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1996.
Kant, Immanuel. “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?” 1974.
Kroeber. A.L. “The Superorganic.” American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol.19, No.2, 1917,
pp. 163–213.
Kroeber. A.L. Anthropology: Race, Language, Culture, Psychology, Prehistory. New York:
Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., 1948 (revised edition).
Pandey, G.C. A Golden Chain of Civilizations: Indic, Iranic, Semitic and Hellenic upto c. 600
BC, Vol. I, Part I. New Delhi: PHISPC, 2007.
Schweitzer, Albert. The Philosophy of Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923.

**********

Course Title: Personal Identity

Course No. : PH414S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Manidipa Sen

The problem of Personal Identity arises with the questions, what is it to be a person and how are
we to identify a person as the same person over a period of time despite the fact that the person
may have gone through considerable physical as well as psychological transformations. The
course aims at introducing students to different theories of personal identity, as well as to the
skeptical challenges to the idea of the existence of an enduring person over a period of time. The
debates concerning personhood usually center around metaphysical questions like: Is there a
person over and above the body or the self? Is person a primitive notion such that we can ascribe
both mental as well physical predicates to it? Is the idea of a persistent person inhabiting an ever-
changing body a mere fiction? If it is not, how are we to understand this identity – is it
psychological continuity, or bodily continuity, or both? Answers to these ontological questions
have an important bearing on the idea of person as an agent – an agent who acts and is held
responsible for her actions. The course will, therefore, introduce students to the ways in which
philosophers have tried to articulate the relationship between personal identity, agency and moral
responsibility. The following themes will be taked up for detailed discussion:

Classical accounts of Personal identity

Here we will consider in detail the theories of John Locke and David Hume on the notion of
person. Their accounts have greatly influenced subsequent debates on how to understand
Personal identity. Hence it is important to introduce students to these classical accounts.

Recommended Readings:
Hume, D. Treatise of Human Nature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
Locke, J. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Edit. P. Nidditch. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1975.

Theories of Personal identity

The identity of a person over a period of time has been accounted for by philosophers Three
broad approaches are available in philosophical literature to understand what has been called
“the persistent problem.” They are: The psychological approach, the somatic/materialistic
approach, and the neutral/anticriterial approach. Students will be required to evaluate these
opposing theories of personhood by a close reading on some basic literature on these issues.

Recommended Readings:
Noonan, H. Personal Identity. London: Routledge, 2003.
Shoemaker, S and Richard Swinburne, Personal Identity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984,
Strawson, P.F. Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics, London: Methuen, 1959
Williams, B. “Personal Identity and Individuation.” In his Problems of the Self. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1973
Williams, B. “The Self and the Future.” In his Problems of the Self, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1973.
Paradoxes of Personal identity
Difficulties arise in trying to understand personal identity either in terms of bodily continuity or
in terms of psychological continuity or in terms of both leading to the paradox of personal
identity. This, in turn, has lead some philosophers (e.g. Derek Parfit) to conclude that personal
identity really doesn’t matter for human beings. This influential as well as controversial position
will be taken up for discussion along with responses to it.

Recommended Readings:
Garrett, B. Personal Identity and Self-Consciousness. London: Routledge, 1998.
Parfit, Derek. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Rorty, Amelie Oksenberg (ed.). The Identities of Persons. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1976.

Personal Identity, Agency, and Moral Responsibility

What justifies our holding a person morally responsible for some past action? Why am I justified
in having a special prudential concern for some future persons and not others? In answer to the
question, how do we ought act and live our lives, we need to include both self-regarding as well
as other-regarding practical concerns. So, the aim is to initiate students problem as to how the
metaphysical views respond to practical concerns which are either self or other-oriented.

Recommended Readings:
Frankfurt, Harry. “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person.” Journal of Philosophy,
vol. 68, no. 1, 1971.
Fischer, J.M. and Mark Ravizza. Responsibility and Control: A Thoery of Moral Responsibility.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Glannon, Walter. “Moral Responsibility and Personal Identity.” American Philosophical
Quarterly 35, 1998.
Haksar, Vinit. Indivisible Selves and Moral Practice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1991.

General Readings:
Atkins, Kim. Narrative Identity and Moral Identity: A Practical Perspective. New York:
Routledge, 2008.
Baker, L.R. Persons and Bodies: A Constitution View. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000.
Behan, D. “Locke on persons and personal identity.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 9, 1979:
53–75.
Campbell, S. “The Conception of a Person as a Series of Mental Events.” Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research 73, 2006.
Chisholm, R. Person and Object. La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1976.
Dancy, Jonathan (ed.). Reading Parfit. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
Daniels, Norman. “Moral Theory and the Plasticity of Persons.” Monist, 1979.
Dhanda, Meena. The Negotiation of Personal Identity. Berlin: VDM Verlag and Co., 2008.
Hirsch, E. The Concept of Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Hudson, H. A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person. Cornell: Cornell University Press,
2001.
Lowe, E.J. Subjects of Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1996.
Ludwig, A.M. How Do We Know Who We Are? Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Martin, R. and J. Barresi (eds.). Personal Identity. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
Martin, R. Self Concern. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Miri, M. Identity and the Moral Life. New Delhi: Oxford Univesity Press, 2003.
Mohapatra, P.K. Personal Identity. New Delhi: Decent Books, 2001.
Perry, John (ed.). Personal Identity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
Rovane, Carol. The Bounds of Agency. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Shoemaker, S. “Persons and Their Pasts.” American Philosophical Quarterly 7, 1970.
Thomson, J.J. Identity, Consciousness, and Value. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

**********

Course Title: Philosophy of Mind

Course No.: PH415S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Manidipa Sen

Philosophy of Mind deals with metaphysical as well as epistemological issues which arise while
reflecting upon the nature mind. What is the true nature of mind and what are the different
theories that have tried to capture its nature? Is mind distinct from the body and the world that
surrounds it? If so, how are we to bridge the gap between mind and body one the one hand and
mind and world on the other? How are we to understand and explain mental phenomena? What
constitutes mental content? What is the relationship between mind, consciousness and
intentionality? The aim of the course is to introduce students to the debates centering around the
above questions by looking at the following three broad areas of enquiry:

Metaphysics of Mind
In this part students will be introduced to the different theories of mind, theories which have tried
to solve the well-known mind-body problem. In this regard, we will look at dualist theories,
varieties of materialistic accounts, including eliminative materialism, causal theories of mind,
and representational acoounts of the mind.

The Nature of Mental Content

Mental states are identified and individuated in terms of the mental content they have. In this part
we will consider the debates surrounding the nature of mental content and the relationship
between mind and its content on the one hand, and mental content and the world on the other.
Specific debates concerning externalist versus internalist accounts of mental content, the
phenomenal/intentional divide in mental content, the special nature of perceptual content, bodily
sensations and emotions will be taken up for detailed discussion.

Epistemology of Mind
One of the important questions concerning mind is how do we know the mind? Is there a special
or a distinctive mode of knowing it? Can we ever be said to know minds of other human beings?
If it is possible what explanation of knowledge of other minds can be given? These questions
will be dealt with in this part taking into consideration the debates between simulation theory and
theory theory account of knowing other minds.

Essential Readings:
Anscombe, E. “The Intentionality of Sensation: A Grammatical Feature.” In her Collected
Papers (Volume 2). In Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 1981.
Block, Ned. “What is Functionalism?” In Readings in Philosophy of Psychology. Cambridge,
Mass: Harvard University Press, 1980.
Burge, Tyler. “Individualism and the Mental.” In Uehling French and Wettstein (eds.), Midwest
Studies in Philosophy IV. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979.
Chalmers, D. “The Representational Character of Experience.” In B. Leiter (ed.), The Future for
Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Chalmers, D. The Conscious Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Churchland, Paul. “Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes.” Journal of
Philosophy 68, 1981.
Crane, T. “The Intentional Structure of Consciousness.” In Q. Smith and A. Jokic (eds.),
Consciousness: New Philosophical Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Crane, Tim. “The Non-conceptual Content of Experience.” In T. Crane (ed.), The Contents of
Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Davidson, D. “Thinking Causes.” In J. Heil and A. Mele (eds.), Mental Causation. Oxford: OUP,
1995.
Davies, Martin. “Individualism and Perceptual Content.” Mind 100, 1991.
Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. John Cottingham. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Goldman, A. Simulating Minds: The Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience of Mindreading.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Gordon, Robert. The Structure of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
MacDonald, C. “Weak Externalism and Mind-Body Identity.” Mind 99, 1990.
Putnam, Hilary. “The Meaning of Meaning.” In Philosophical Papers, Vol. II: Mind, Language,
and Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Zahavi, D. “Beyond Empathy: Phenomenological Approaches to Intersubjectivity.” Journal of
Consciousness Studies 8, 2001.

General Readings:
Amstrong, D.M. A Materials Theory of Mind. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1989.
Armstrong, D.M. Perception and the Physical World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961.
Brueckner, Anthony L. “Contents just aren't in the head.” Erkenntnis 58 (1), 2003.
Carruthers, P. and P. Smith (eds.). Theories of Theories of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1996.
Carruthers, Peter. Phenomenal Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Chalmers, D. “The Content and Epistemology of Phenomenal Belief.” In Q. Smith & A. Jokic
(eds.), Consciousness: New Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford: OUP, 2003.
Crane, Tim (ed.). The Contents of Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Crane, Tim. Elements of Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Davies, M. and T. Stone (eds.). Folk Psychology: The Theory of Mind Debate. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, 1995.
Davies, M. and T. Stone (eds.). Mental Simulation: Evaluations and Applications. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, 1995.
Davis, M. Empathy: A Social Psychological Approach. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.
Dokic, J. and J. Proust (eds.). Simulation and Knowledge of Action. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins, 2002.
Goldman, A. “Simulation Theory and Mental Concepts.” In J. Dokic and J. Proust (eds.),
Simulation and Knowledge of Action. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company, 2002.
Honderich, Ted. “The Argument for Anomalous Monism.” Analysis, 1982.
Koegler, H. and K. Stueber (eds.). Empathy and Agency: the Problem of Understanding in the
Social Sciences. Boulder: Westview Press, 2000.
Loar, Brian. “Social Content and Psychological Content.” In R. Grimm and D. Merrill (eds.),
Contents of Thought. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988.
Putnam, H. Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Rorty, Amélie (ed.). Explaining Emotions. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1980.
Ryle, Gilbert. The Concept of Mind. London: Hutchinson, 1949.
Sartre, J-P. The Emotions: Outline of a Theory. New York: Philosophical Library, 1948.
Shoemaker, Sydney. “Functionalism and Qualia.” In Identity, Cause and Mind. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Sternley, Kim. Representational Thoeries of Mind: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
Zahavi, D. “Expression and empathy.” In D.D. Hutto and M. Ratcliffe (eds.), Folk Psychology
Re-Assessed. New York: Springer, 2007.
Zahavi, D. Subjectivity and Selfhood: Investigating the First-Person Perspective. Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press, 2005.

**********

Course Title: Theories of Truth: Reading Quine, Davidson, Dummett and

Putnam
Course No.: PH416S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Manidipa Sen

The course aims at looking at different contested theories of truth proposed by four leading
philosophers belonging to the analytical tradition: W.V.O. Quine, Donald Davidson, Michael
Dummett and Hilary Putnam. This will be a philosopher oriented study where we shall take up
only those works of these philosophers which deal directly with the problem of truth. They have
not only provided important arguments in favour of their own conception of truth, but, being
contemporaries, have also responded to each other. Students will be required to engage with the
writings of these philosophers with a view to clarifying their understanding of the broader
debates in epistemology, metaphysics, logic and philosophy of language, and the linkages
between them. The course will focus on the following topics for detailed discussion:

The nature of truth

In this section we will see how theories of truth, in particular, correspondence, coherence and
pragmatist, have tried to capture the nature of truth, and how they vary from each other in their
definitions of truth.

Truth and the World

The relationship between the world and idea of truth has always been problematic. The question
whether there is a mind-independent objective reality which is captured by human beings has
been addressed by the above-mentioned philosophers by looking at out talk about the world, and
what kind of truth is captured in such talk. This leads to the debate between different forms of
realism and anti-realism.

Truth, meaning and language

The philosophers under study have also connected the question of truth with that of meaning, and
hence with language. Many important issues, such as, what is the primary bearer of truth, under
what conditions is a proposition true, the connection between theory of truth and theory of
meaning will be explored through an engagement with their writings.

Essential Readings:
Davidson, Donald. Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1984.
Davidson, Donald. “A coherence theory of truth and knowledge.” In E. Lepore (ed.), Truth and
Interpretation. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
Dummett, Michael. “Truth”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 59, 1959.
Dummett, Michael. “What is a theory of meaning? (II)” In G. Evans and J. McDowell (eds.),
Truth and Meaning. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976.
Dummett, Michael. “Language and Truth.” In Roy Harris (eds.), Approaches to Language.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1983.
Putnam, Hilary. Meaning and the Moral Sciences. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978.
Putnam, Hilary. Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Quine, W.V.O. Pursuit of Truth. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Quine, W.V.O. The Pursuit of Truth. New York: Open Court Publishing Company, 1974.
General Readings:
Alston, William P. A Realistic Conception of Truth. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996.
Armstrong, David M. A World of States of Affairs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1997.
Austin, J.L. Philosophical Papers. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961.
Baldwin, Thomas. “The Identity Theory of Truth.” Mind, 1991.
Barwise, Jon and John Perry. Situations and Attitudes. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.
Blanshard, Brand. The Nature of Thought. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1939.
Devitt, Michael. Realism and Truth, Oxford: Blackwell, 1984.
Haack, Susan. “The pragmatist theory of truth.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 27,
1976.
Horwich, Paul. Truth. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
James, William. “Pragmatism’s conception of truth.” In Pragmatism. New York: Longmans,
1907.
Strawson, Peter F. “Truth.” Analysis 9, 1949.
Wright, Crispin. Truth and Objectivity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992.
Wright, Crispin. Realism, Meaning and Truth. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993 (second edition).

**********

Course Title: Facets of Existentialism

Course No. : PH417S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In- charge: Bhagat Oinam

This course on existentialism will require the students to comprehend that existentialism is a
general name for a wide range of philosophizing where philosophers called “existentialists”
differ from one another in several ways.
The course will consist of two parts: (i) salient features of existentialism as a wide school of
thought, and (ii) focus on few select philosophers in the light of significations marked by
different presuppositions as well as trends of philosophizing among the existentialist
philosophers. The selection of these philosophers is done on the basis of classifying
existentialism as atheistic and theistic philosophies. Within the theistic, further classification will
be made to differentiate Christian and Jewish philosophies.
Existentialism: Salient features
– Existentialism as a protest movement
– Priority of existence over essence
– Givenness of human facticity as against teleological determinism
– Critique of traditional and scientific knowledge
– Highlight of human finitude, anguish and absurdity as inevitable aspect of life
– Individual freedom as against collective values, foreknowledge and commands
– The place of the moral as a complex discourse

Atheistic existentialism:
– Fredrich Nietzche: God is dead, revaluation of all values, idea of slave morality,
emergence of the overman
– Jean-Paul Sartre: Existence precedes essence, being-in-itself and being-for-itself, hell is
the other, freedom and authenticity, bad faith, freedom of choice and humanity

Theistic existentialism:
– Martin Buber: Religious consciousness, idea of evil, biblical hermeneutics,
relationships to God
– Sφren Kierkegaard: The leap of faith and faith as passion, angst and guilt, infinite
qualitative difference, three stages of life.

Essential Readings:
Buber, Martin. I And Thou. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970.
Kierkegaard, Soren. Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fregments. Trans.
Howard V. Hong. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and Trembling. Edit. C. Stephen Evans and Sylvia Walsh. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. Trans. Marion Faber. Oxford: Oxford World’s
Classics, 1998.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Will to Power. Trans. W. Kaufman & Hollingdale. New York: Vintage,
1968 (first pub. 1883).
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness. Trans. Hazel E. Barness. New York: Washington
Square Press, 1966 (first pub. 1956).
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism and Humanism. Trans. Philip Mairet. London: Methuen, 1973
(first pub. 1948).
General Readings:
Anderson, Thomas C. Sartre's Two Ethics: From Authenticity to Integral Humanity. Chicago:
Open Court, 1993.
Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 (1958).
Barett, William. Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy. Anchor Books, 1990 (1962).
Bell, Linda A. Sartre’s Ethics of Authenticity. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1989.
Berkovits, Eliezer. A Jewish Critique of the Philosophy of Martin Buber. New York: Yeshiva
University, 1962.
Bloom, Harold (ed.). Søren Kierkegaard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.
Flynn, Thomas R. Sartre and Marxist Existentialism: The Test Case of Collective Responsibility,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Friedman, Maurice. Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue, Chicago, 1955.
Howells, Christina (ed.). Cambridge Companion to Sartre. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992.
Manser, Anthony. Sartre: A Philosophic Study. London: The Anthlone Press, 1966.
Mooney, Edward F. On Soren Kierkegaard: Dialogue, Polemics, Lost Intimacy and Time.
Hampshire: Ashgate, 2007.
Owen, David. Nietzsche’s Geneology of Morality. Stocksfield: Acumen, 2007.
Rudd, Anthony. Kierkegaard and the Limits of the Ethical. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
Schacht, Richard. Nietzsche. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1983.
Schroeder, W.R. Continental Philosophy: A Critical Approach. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
2005.
Warnock, Mary. Existentialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970.
Zank, Michael (ed.). New Perspectives on Martin Buber. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006.

**********

Course Title: Discourses on Value

Course No: PH418S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Bhagat Oinam
The aim of the course is to acquaint the students with significance of the idea of value and its
application in everyday life, starting from personal likes and dislikes to more complex social
norms and practices, and further to creative sensibilities. The course will also highlight not only
the complexity in making sense of a singular conception of value, but also several theoretical
positions from which problems of values have been comprehended.
Two major philosophical perspectives, through which value dimensionalities are being
captured, viz. ethical and aesthetic, shall be the other focus of the course. Of course, prior
highlight of the non-ethical and the non-aesthetic values will also be made. The course will also
take up inter-cultural and inter-civilizational understanding of value.

General problem of value

Discourse on value begins with the basic distinction and dichotomy of “fact and value.”
Statements of value are seen as statements of judgment and evaluation. In the light of this, focus
will be on how “value” is differently conceived: as essence, attribute and goal/purpose. The
distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic values will also be highlighted. Correspondingly,
various theoretical positions will be taken up for discussion. This further takes us to an important
question if value should be seen in the light of “family resemblances.” It will also be shown how
the conception of value is conceived in other disciplines.

Ethical perspective
Ethical or moral statements, as statements strongly reflecting the idea of the “desirable,” will be
foremost focus in the section. This will be followed by discussions on the “is-ought” dichotomy
and value discrepancy. Ethical values as embedded in the idea of “good” will also be deliberated.
The debate whether ethical value statements are anthropocentric or cosmocentric will be
taken up. Contemporary debates on development discourse by Deep Ecologists and traditional
Indian theories will be highlighted.

Aesthetic perspective
Aesthetic values inbuilt in the idea of beauty, sublime and rasa will be discussed. The question
whether aesthetic valuing is constitutive or evaluative, or both will be considered. Finally,
aesthetic value as anthropo-cosmic will also be debated.

Recommended Readings:
Barlingay, S.S. A Modern Introduction to Indian Aesthetic Theory: The Development from
Bharata to Jagannatha. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld Ltd., 2007.
Bradley, Ben. “Two Concepts of Intrinsic Value.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 9, 2006:
111–130.
Brady, E. “Aesthetics in Practice: Valuing the Natural World.” Environmental Values 15, 2006:
277–291.
Goldman, A. Aesthetic Value. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001.
Irvin, S. “Aesthetics as a Guide to Ethics.” In R. Stecker and T. Gracyk (eds.), Aesthetics Today:
A Reader. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2010.
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. Mary Gregor. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997 (1785).
Krishna, Daya. The Art of the Conceptual. New Delhi: ICPR, 1989.
Langer, Susan. Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art. 1953.
Langton, Rae. “Objective and Unconditioned Value.” Philosophical Review, 116, 2007: 157–
185.
Lemos, Noah. Intrinsic Value. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Mackie, J.L. Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. New York: Penguin, 1977.
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. In Collected Works of John Stuart Mill. Edit. J. M. Robson.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1861.
Moore, G.E. Principia Ethica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993 (revised edition).
Prasad, Rajendra. A Conceptual-Analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals. New
Delhi: CSC.
Rönnow-Rasmussen, Toni. Personal Value. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Ross, W.D. The Right and The Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1930.
Wittgenstein, L. “A Lecture on Ethics.” The Philosophical Review 74, 1965: 3–12.
Wittgenstein, L. Culture and Value. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Wittgenstein, L. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief.
Edited by C. Barrett. Oxford: Blackwell, 1966.
Zimmerman, Michael. The Nature of Intrinsic Value. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001.

**********

Course Title: Ethics in Practice

Course No: PH419S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Bhaskarjit Neog

The aim of this course is to introduce some of the major ethical issues of our modern societies
which have emerged in recent times largely as a result of developments in science, technology
and increasing consumerism. Students will be required to examine practical moral issues like
abortion, female foeticide, surrogate motherhood, genetic manipulation, (dis)honour killing,
dowry, organ donation, suicide and euthanasia in the light of theoretical insights and precepts.
The students will be required to directly participate and deliberate upon the issues proposed in
the classroom.
Two models of ethical justification, (i) top-down model (the approach of coming from the
abstract to the concrete particulars), and (ii) bottom-up model (the approach of going from the
discrete particular cases to the abstract formulation of norms and principles) will be considered.
The themes for detailed discussion are as follows:

Medical Ethics
This section will deal with practical issues related to human health and wellbeing. In recent
times, issues like genetic manipulation, euthanasia, surrogate motherhood, abortion, female
foeticide, suicide and organ donation have raised enormous debates and discussions in our public
life. Students will be required to deliberate upon the arguments available in the literature and to
formulate their position for or against each issue.

Animal and Environmental Ethics

Today ethics is no longer a discipline focusing merely on the moral concerns of human beings.
The discussions and debates in ethics now not only cover the issues of all living entities but also
address ethical issues related to our environment and eco-systems. In this section, students will
be familiarized with issues, such as, animal rights, use of animals for research and food,
pollution and ecological crisis, depletion of natural resources and rights of future generations.

Business Ethics
Business has emerged as a controversial domain where we frequently confront ethical problems.
Issues like corporate social responsibility, fiduciary responsibility, profit-making means, and
professional commitment versus personal commitments often come to the table of public debate.
Moral aspects of systems of production, labour relations, public relations, social and economic
accounting, consumption, marketing, advertising and organizational behaviour and other issues
will be taken up for study.

Ethics in Everyday life

Our everyday ordinary life is often confronted with many ethical concerns to which we do not
seem to pay much attention. In this section we shall be concerned with issues like sexuality,
infidelity, race, dowry, (dis)honour killing, civic sense/responsibility and the like. Students will
be required to openly debate and discuss such issues in the classroom and subsequently frame
ethical arguments for or against each issue.
Essential Readings:
Cohen, Andrew L. and Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.). Contemporary Debates in Applied
Ethics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005.
Gruen, Lori. “Animals.” In Peter Singer (ed.), A Companion to Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991:
343–53.
Harman, Elizabeth. “Creation Ethics: The Moral Status of Early Fetuses and the Ethics of
Abortion.” Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 28: 4, 1999: 310–324.
Howsepian, A.A. “Who or What Are We?” Review of Metaphysics. Vol. 45, No. 3, 1992: 483-
502.
Jamieson, Dale. “Utilitarianism and the Morality of Killing.” Philosophical Studies. Vol. 45,
1984: 209-21.
Kohl, Marvin. “Euthanasia,” In Lawrence C. Becker and Charlotte B. Becker (eds.),
Encyclopedia of Ethics. New York: Garland, 1992: 335-39.
LaFollette, Hugh (ed.). Ethics in Practice. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2002.
McShane, Katie. “Environmental Ethics: An Overview.” Philosophy Compass. Vol. 4: 3, 2009:
407–20.
O’Neill, Onora. “Between Consenting Adults.” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 14:3, 1985: 252-
77.
Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012.
Regan, Tom. “Treatment of Animals.” In Lawrence Becker (ed.), Encyclopedia of Ethics, Vol. I.
New York: Garland Publication, 1992: 42–46.
Scheman, Naomi. “Sexual Abuse and Harassment.” In Lawrence C. Becker and Charlotte B.
Becker (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ethics, Vol. II. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1992: 1139–
41.
Singer, Peter (ed.). Applied Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Soares, C. “Corporate vs Individual Moral Responsibility.” Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 46,
2003: 143–50.
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “A Defense of Abortion.” Philosophy & Public Affairs. Vol. 1, no. 1,
Fall, 1971.
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem,” The Monist. Vol. 59,
1976: 204–17.
Velleman, J. David. “Against the Right to Die.” The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Vol.
17(6), 1992: 665–81.
Whiteford, Linda M. and Marilyn L. Poland (eds.). New Approaches to Human Reproduction.
Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.
General Readings:
Beauchamp, Tom L. and James F. Childress. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001 (5th Edition).
Butalia, Urvashi and Navsharan Singh. “Challenging Impunity on Sexual Violence in South
Asia.” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLVII, No. 28, 2012.
Callicott, J. Baird. In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy. Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1988.
Chadwick, R. F. (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Applied Ethics. London: Academic Press, 1997.
Chadwick, Ruth F. (ed.). Ethics, Reproduction, and Genetic Control. London: Croom Helm,
1987.
Driver, Julia. Ethics: The Fundamentals. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
French, Peter (ed.). Individual and Collective Responsibility. Rochester, VT: Schenkman, 1998.
French, Peter. Collective and Corporate Responsibility. New York: Columbia University Press,
1984.
Frey, R.G. “Moral Standing, the Value of Lives, and Speciesism.” Between the Species, Vol. 4,
No. 3, Summer, 1988.
Frey, R.G. and Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.). A Companion to Applied Ethics. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, 2004.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Miller, Harlan B. and William H. Williams (eds.). Ethics and Animals. Clifton, New Jersey:
Humana Press, 1983.
Richardson, Herbert Warren. On the Problem of Surrogate Parenthood: Analyzing the Baby M
Case. Lewiston, N.Y: E. Mellen Press, 1987.
Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publications, 1993.
Shiva, Vandana (ed.). Bio-diversity: Social and Ecological Perspectives. United Kigdom: Zed
Press, 1992.
Soble, Alan (ed.). The Philosophy of Sex. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.

**********

Course Title: Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy

Course No: PH420S
Credit: 4
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 Credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentation)
End Semester Examination of 2 Credits
Course In-Charge: Bhaskarjit Neog

The course will provide a critical overview of the debates in the contemporary political
philosophy. The problematic of the relationship between individual, society and the state has
invited several contested questions of moral concern. Questions concerning rights and duties,
freedom and equality, law and justice, etc. are grounded in moral considerations. The course will
introduce political philosophy as an extension of moral philosophy.
A few theoretical positions and their recent developments which have shaped the edifice of
the political philosophy of contemporary times will be discussed. The basic aim here is to
introduce a comprehensive and refined view of the ideals of politics given by both classical and
contemporary schools of thought.
The contents and the arrangement of this course have been made by partially following a
rationale that is echoed in the writings of Will Kymlicka. Students are required to use
Kymlicka’s Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction as a background text.

Utilitarian Consequentialism
Hedonism and its forms; Maximization of the greatest happiness; Equal consideration of
interests: Critique: Overdimandingness, the Distinction between Persons
Kantianism
Right to Freedom as Innate, Autonomy, Respect for Persons, the Original Contract
Liberal Equality
The Rawlsian project-Original Position; The First Principle of Justice; The Second Principle of
Justice; Politics of Liberalism
Marxism
Communist justice; Exploitation, Needs and Alienation; Politics of Marxism
Communitarianism
Individual Rights versus Common Good, Encumbered versus Unencumbered Self, Politics of
Communitarianism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism and Nation-building Process, Models of Multiculturalism, Politics of
Multiculturalism
Feminism
Sex-Gender; Gender Inequality and Gender Discrimination, Ethic of Care, Politics of Feminism

Essential Readings:
Appiah, Anthony. The Ethics of Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Bentham, J. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Garden City:
Doubleday. 1961 (1789).
Butler, Judith, and J.W. Scott. Feminists Theorize the Political. New York: Routledge, 1992.
Gutmann, Amy and Charles Taylor (eds.). Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of
Recognition. Princeton: New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Held, Virginia. Justice and Care: Essential Readings in Feminist Ethics. Boulder, Colo.:
Westview Press, 1995.
Kant, Immanuel. Perpetual Peace, and Other Essays on Politics, History, and Morals. Trans.
and edit. Ted Humphrey. Hackett Pub Co, 1983.
Kymlicka, Will. Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2001 (1990).
Kymlicka, Will. Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.
MacKinnon, Catharine A. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1989.
Marx, Karl. Selected Writings. Edit. David McLellan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and Utilitarianism. New York: Bantam Classics, 1993.
Parekh, Bhikhu. Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory. Harvard,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999 (1971).
Sandel, Michael J. Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1982.
Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1992.

General Readings:
Plato. Republic. Trans. with intro. R.E. Allen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State and Utopia. New York: Basic Books, 1974.
Cohen, G.A. Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1995.
Gauthier, David. Morals by Agreement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Knowles, Dudley. Political Philosophy. London: Routledge, 2001.
Miller, David. Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University
Press. 2003.
Pojman, Louis P. (ed.). Political Philosophy: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Simon, Robert L. (ed.). The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy. Oxford:
Blackwell, 2002.
Jaggar, Alison M. and Iris Marion Young (eds.). A Companion to Feminist Philosophy. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1998.
Goodin, Robert E., Philip Pettit and Thomas Pogge (eds.). A Companion to Contemporary
Political Philosophy, Vol. I and II. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
Carver, Terrell (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Marx. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1994.
Singer, Peter. Marx: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Sidgwick, H. The Methods of Ethics. London: Macmillan, 1907 (1874).

**********

Course Title: Philosophy and Feminism

Course No: PH421S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Satya P. Gautam (Rtd.)

This course will be devoted to a consideration of feminist approaches to philosophy through an

exploration of feminist questioning of “masculine” orientation in the practice of philosophy. The
focus of the course will be on feminist critiques of patriarchal structures and practices of
subordination, oppression and exclusion of women in various human spheres, including
philosophy. Feminist concerns about following issues will be taken up for discussion:
– Construction of Gender
– Embodiment and Engendered Self
– Sexism and Gender-stereotyping
– Politics of Gender
– Work and Family
– Feminist Ethics of Care
– Women as Subjects in Political Philosophy
– Autonomy and Gender-Justice
Recommended Readings :
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Trans. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier.
London: Jonathan Cape, 2009.
Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. London: Routledge, 2004.
Butler, Judith and Joan W. Scott (eds.). Feminists Theorize the Political. London: Routledge,
1992.
Cole, Eve Browning and Susan Coultrap-McQuin (eds.). Explorations in Feminist Ethics:
Theory and Practice. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.
DiQuinzio, Patrice and Iris Marion Young. Feminist Ethics and Social Policy. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1997.
Doeuff, Michele Le. Hipparchia’s Choice: An Essay Concerning Women, Philosophy, etc.
Fine, C. Delusions of Gender. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010.
Fricker, Miranda and Jennifer Hornsby. The Cambridge Companion to Feminism in Philosophy.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Friedman, Marilyn. Autonomy, Gender, Politics. New York: OUP, 2002.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Vooice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development.
Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1993.
Kruks, Sonia. Retrieving Experience: Subjectivity and Recognition in Feminist Politics. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 2001.
McCann, Carol and Seung-Kyung Kim (eds.). Feminst Theory Reader: Local and Global
Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2009.
Moi, Toril. Sexual/Textual Politics. London: Routledge, 2003.
Moitra, Shefali. Feminist Thought: Androcentrism, Communication and Objectivity. Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal in collaboration with CASP, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 2002.
Narayan, Uma. Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions and Third-World Feminism, New
York: Routledge, 1997.
Nussbaum, Martha. Sex and Social Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Nussbaum, Martha. Women and Human Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1993.
Okin, Susan. Justice, Gender and the Family. New York: Basic Books, 1989. Trans. Trista
Selous. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Tuana, Nancy and Rosemarie Tong (eds.). Feminism and Philosophy: Essential Readings in
Theory, Reinterpretation and Application. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
Tuana, Nancy. Women and the History of Philosophy. St. Paul, MN: Paragon Press, 1992.
Witt, Charlotte. The Metaphysics of Gender. New York: OUP, 2011.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. London: Dover Publications, 1996
(1792).
Young, Iris Marion. Throwing Like A Girl and Other Essays in Feminist Philosophy and Social
Theory. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1990.
Zack, Naomi. Women of Color and Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.

**********

Course Title: Philosophy and Literature

Course No: PH422S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Satya P. Gautam (Rtd.)

This course will be devoted to a study of the significant intersection between philosophy and
literature in terms of their common concern of making sense of human life, its puzzles,
paradoxes and dilemmas. Both philosophy and literature draw our attention to the distinctions
between real and imaginary, truth and falsity, good and evil, right and wrong, sense and
nonsense, meaningfulness and absurdity. These concerns are pursued in philosophy and
literature in different ways. It is generally believed that philosophers doubt and question, reason
and argue, whereas writers imagine and explore possibilities of different ways of life and
experience. Acknowledging a similarity between the aims and functions of philosophy and
literature, the students will be required to explore the differences between the two in terms of the
limits and possibilities of philosophical forms of writing. The following issues will be taken up
for detailed consideration:

Philosophy on Literature
Problems of reading, interpretation of literary texts, issues of meaning and truth, literature as
expression, literature as exploration of imaginary possibilities and ways of life, truth in/of
literature.

Philosophy through Literature

A philosophical reading of selected literary works will be done for enabling the students to learn
the ways of studying literature for exploring the central philosophical issues. The students will be
required to explore philosophical themes as implicitly or explicitly presented in the literary texts
selected for reading and discussion. Philosophical issues, such as self-knowledge and self-
deception, alienation, exclusion and self-exile, absence and presence, belonging and solidarity,
acknowledgement of love, avoidance and denial of love, longing and disenchantment,
commitment and betrayal, moral responsibility for unintended actions, guilt and shame, regret
and remorse, use and abuse of language will be taken up for discussion from the literary works
selected for study.

Literature as Philosophy and Philosophy as Literature

Students will be required to comprehend the implications of convergence of philosophical and
literary concerns in view of their shared aims, functions that influence their distinctive styles.

Essential Readings:
The students will be required to engage in an intensive study of the following novels for an
exploration of the philosophical issues mentioned above:
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy. Trans. Paulette
Moller. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007 (1952).
Kerr, Philip. A Philosophical Investigation. New York: Penguin Books, 2010 (1994).
Hyder, Qurt-ul-Ein. A River of Fire. New Delhi: Penguin India, 2003.
Saraogi, Alka. Kalikatha Via Byepass. New Delhi: Rupa and Co., 2002.
Anantha Murthy, U.R. Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man. New Delhi: OUP, 2012.

General Readings:
Cunningham, Anthony. The Heart of What Matters: The Role for Literature in Moral
Philosophy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Eileen, John and Dominic McIver Lopes (eds.). Philosophy of Literature: Contemporary and
Classical Readings. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
Hogan, Patrick Colm. Philosophical Approaches to the Study of Literature. Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 2000.
Lloyd, Genevieve. Being in Time: Selves and Narrators in Philosophy and Literature. London:
Routledge, 1993.
Ortony, Andrew (ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Ricouer, Paul. Time and Narrative. Trans. K. McLaughlinand D. Pallaeur. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1985.
Punter, David. Metaphors. London: Routledge, 2007.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. What is Literature? Trans. Bernard Frechtman. London: Methuen University
Paperbacks, 1967.

**********
Course Title: Nagarjuna’s Critique of Essence (Svabhava)
Course No: PH423S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Ajay Verma

Aims and Objectives:

In classical Indian philosophical traditions, validity of a cognition is mainly fulcrummed upon
the means of knowledge (pramana) employed for that cognition. Depending upon the central
tenets of a particular system, these pramanas could range from one to six in number. Contrary to
all these schools of classical Indian Philosophy Nagarjuna presents a compelling critique of
pramana theory and a powerful defense of his non-essentialist no-thesis stance in
Vigrahavyavartanl Is it possible to propose any soteriological program in complete absence of
any epistemological framework? This question is answered in an interesting way in the
concluding section of the text.
This optional course would be focused on a study of theory of knowledge proposed by
Nyaya, MTmamsa and Buddhist school of thought and critique of their epistemology as
presented by Nagarjuna in his Vigrahavyavartanl Both Nyaya and MTmamsa schools maintain
that an object has a certain set of characteristics that are inherent in it because of which it is
cognized as so and so. In other words an object is essentially of such and such nature (svabhava)
because of a certain set of characteristics that actually inhere in that object. This is a kind of
realist worldview that is shared by many schools of classical Indian philosophy specially
belonging to orthodox traditions and does not seem to have any direct counterpart among the
different kinds of realism proposed in the western philosophical traditions.
Interestingly Vigrahavyavartanl begins with the critique offered by classical Indian
Realist against the possibility qf a philosophical position where one denies essence (svabhava) to
any object in the world. The Realist argues that one can deny only something of which one
already has knowledge. It is impossible to deny something that one is not even aware of.
According to the Indian Realist there is one to one correspondence between the knowability
(jheyatva), nameability (abhideyatva) and reality (yatharthata) of an object which suggests that
one knows only something that exists and vice versa. Nagarjuna problematizes several such
assumptions of the classical Indian Realist in this text. This course is aimed at a study of the
following themes.

Topics for detailed discussion:

1. Theory of knowledge in classical Indian Philosophy : Definition of Prama and Pramana,
Svatahpramanyavada & Pratahpramdnyavada, Pramana Vyavastha and Pramana
Samplava, Samanyalaksana and Svalaksana, Knowledge oiAbhava (absence),
examination of Pratyabhijhd (remembrance) as knowledge, awareness of a knowledge-
act, apohavada.
 2. Different types of arguments and what counts as a good argument in Nyaya system.
3. Purvapaksa (opponent’s standpoint) in VigrahavyavartanJ: Realist's arguments against
Nagarjuna's contention that he has no philosophical system to propose, realist's argument
that one cannot have a counter-argument without assuming some philosophical position
of one's own.
4. Nagarjuna’s response to questions raised by the realist: Nagarjuna’s argument against
realist theory of knowledge, Nagarjuna’s critique of pramana system.
5. Nagarjuna’s answer to the question that no soteriological proposal is possible without
assuming some philosophical positions.

Essential Readings:
Bhatttacharya K., E.H. Johnston, A. Kunston. The Dialectical Method of Nagarjuna:
VigrahavyavartanJ. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Publisher, 2004.
Chatterji, S.C. Nyaya Theory of Knowledge. Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, 1978.
Garfield, Jay L. The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995.
Stcherbatsky, Theodore. Conception of Buddhist Nirvana: With Sanskrit text of Madhyamaka-
Karika. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2011.
Westerhoff, Jan. The Dispeller of Disputes: Nagarjuna’s VigrahavyavartanJ. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2009.

Secondary Readings:
Burton, David. “Is Madhyamaka Buddhism Really the Middle Way?” Western Buddhist Review,
Vol. 3. http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/knowledge.htm
Chattopadhyaya, D.P. Lokayata: A Study in Ancient Indian Materialism. Delhi: People’s
Publishing House, 1959.
Garfield, Jay L. “Dependent Arising and the Emptiness of Emptiness: Why did Nagarjuna start
with causation?” Philosophy East & West, April 1994, Vol. 44, Issue 2, pp. 219–32.
Garfield, Jay L. and Graham Priest. “Nagarjuna and the Limits of Thought.” Philosophy East &
West, Vol. 53, No. l, 2003.
Huntington, C.W. and Geshe Namgyal Wangchen. The Emptiness of Emptiness: An Introduction
to Early Indian Madhyamika. The University of Hawaii Press, 1989.
Murti, T.R.V. The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. London: George Allen and Unwin, 2nd
edition, 1960 (1955).
Nayak, G.C. Madhyamika Sunyata – A Reappraisal of Madhyamika Philosophical Enterprise
With Special Reference to Nagarjuna and Candrakirti. New Delhi: ICPR, 2001.
Prasad, H.S. The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism: Exploratory Essays. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers, 2007.
Siderits, Mark. “On the Soteriological Significance of Emptiness.” Contemporary Buddhism,
Vol. 4, No. 1, 2003
Sprung, Mervyn. Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way. Boulder: Prajna Press, 1979.
Westerhoff, Jan. Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2009.

***********

Course Title: Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Science

Course No: PH424S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Smita Sirker

This course on the philosophical foundations of cognitive science will be an introduction to the
interdisciplinary approach characteristic of cognitive science. Being an interdisciplinary subject,
there is no single approach to the study of cognitive science and its development. The subject can
be introduced through the different disciplines that contributed to its development. In this course,
we will study the historical development of the subject from the perspective of philosophy, as
many of the critical debates in cognitive science emanates from the theoretical claims regarding
the nature and functioning of the mind. Several theoretical developments in philosophy of mind
have contributed substantially to many of the key theories of mind and cognition in cognitive
science. Philosophy being one of the key contributing disciplines, we will study the
philosophical foundations of cognitive science.
The course will provide (i) a historical trajectory of the development of cognitive science
(particularly from the perspectives of philosophy of mind and psychology); and (ii) an
introduction to some of the key concepts and debates in cognitive science. There are two possible
ways to form a historical narrative of the development of cognitive science:
(i) By following the major events that initiated the germination of the
interdisciplinary research area of cognitive science;
(ii) By following the developments in terms of important or landmark shifts in
theoretical understanding of several concepts like:- cognition; mind; computation;
etc. followed by experimental works to corroborate the theories.
The course will introduce the students to these kinds of historical narratives. These historical
narratives will be key to showing how theories of mind in philosophy of mind, like identity
theory and functionalism were considered as prominent trajectories to enter debate concerning
the nature of mind and cognition.
The course will further introduce some of the key questions like – what is the nature of
cognition; what does a cognitive system do; how should a cognitive system be analysed and
synthesized, etc.
The following categories of sections are not water-tight, but they do give us an idea of the
logical trajectory of our course discussions.

A. Theories of Mind in Philosophy: A Precursor to Cognitive Science

- History and development of the mind-body problem
- Dualism and its varieties
- Behaviourism and its varieties
- Identity theory and its varieties
- Functionalism and its varieties

B. What is Cognitive Science?

- Definitions of Cognitive Science
- What is cognition?
- Aims in Cognitive Science Research

C. History and Development of Cognitive Science

- Theoretical perspectives of mind
- 19th century thoughts as antecedents to modern cognitive science
• Neurophysiologists
• Evolution Theorists
• Creation of Modern Experimental Psychology

D. Approaches to study cognition

- Cognitivist Approach (Based on symbolic information processing
representational systems)
- Emergent Systems Approach (Embracing connectionist systems, dynamical
systems and enactive systems)

E. Minds and Machines

- Computational/ Representational Theory of Mind (and its critique)
- Connectionist Theory of Mind (and its critique)
- Language of Thought and Modularity of Mind
- Embodied Mind

Essential Readings:
Bermudez, José Luis. Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Block, Ned. “Troubles with Functionalism.” In David Rosenthal (ed.), The Nature of Mind. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Carruthers, Peter. The Nature of the Mind: An Introduction. UK: Routledge, 2004.
Churchland, Paul M. Matter and Consciousness: A Contemporary Introduction to Philosophy of
Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.
Crane, Tim. The Mechanical Mind. UK: Penguin Books, 1995.
Fetzer, J.H. Philosophy and Cognitive Science. New York: Paragon House, 1991.
Fodor, Jerry A. Language of Thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987.
Fodor, Jerry A. The Modularity of Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1983.
Frankish, Keith and William M. Ramsey (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Science.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Gardner, Howard. The Mind’s New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution. USA: Basic
Books, 1987.
Kim, Jaegwon. Philosophy of Mind (Dimensions of Philosophy). Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
2005.
Maslin, K.T. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: Polity, 2001.
Neil, Stillings, et al. Cognitive Science – An Introduction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987.
Ravenscroft, Ian. Philosophy of Mind: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2005.
Robbins, Philip and Murat Aydede (eds.). Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Searle, John R. Mind: A Brief Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Shapiro, Lawrence. Embodied Cognition. USA: Routledge, 2011.
Thagard, Paul. Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Science, 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2005.

Recommended Readings:
Anderson, Michael L. “How to Study the Mind: An Introduction to Embodied Cognition.”
http://cogprints.org/3945/1/bes_ec.pdf
Beakley, Brain and Peter Ludlow (eds.). The Philosophy of Mind: Classical
Problems/Contemporary Issues. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
Becthel, H. and G. Graham (eds.). A Companion to Cognitive Science. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers, 1998.
Clark, Andy. Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2001.
D’Andrade, Roy G. The Development of Cognitive Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995.
Dawson, M.R.W. Understanding Cognitive Science. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998.
Fodor, Jerry A. Psychosemantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988.
Fodor, Jerry A. Representations: Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science.
Sussex: The Harvester Press, 1981.
Guttenplan, Samuel (ed.). A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers, 1996.
Lowe, E.J. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000.
Putnam, Hilary. “Minds and Machines.” In Mind, Language and Reality: Philosophical Papers,
vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Romney, A. Kimball and Carmella C. Moore, “Toward a Theory of Culture as Shared Cognitive
Structures.” Ethos 36(3): 314-337, 1998.
Shapiro, Larry. “The Embodied Cognition Research Programme.” Philosophy Compass, 2/2,
2007, pp. 338-346.
Smith, Brian Cantwell. “Situatedness/Embeddedness.” In MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive
Science. 1999.
Sterelny, Kim. The Representational Theory of Mind: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell,
1990.
Varela, Francisco J., Evan T. Thompson and Rosch Eleanor. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive
Science and Human Experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.

*********

Course Title: Philosophical Explorations of Indian Modernity

Course No: PH425S
Credit: 04
Mode of Evaluation: 2 Mid Semester Sessionals of 1 credit each
(Comprising of two term papers cum seminar presentations)
End Semester Examination of 2 credits
Course In-Charge: Bindu Puri

This course will explore the social and political aspects of contemporary Indian philosophy. While
contemporary /modern Indian philosophy is perhaps best read as an exploration of some very
important ideas in the disciplines of logic and epistemology, as well as responses to modern
Western Science, this course will confine itself to philosophical discussions about the social and
political aspects of the human condition. It will begin with Kant's seminal essay on the meaning
of the enlightenment and go on to focus on the writings of some significant figures in Indian
modernity-Gandhi,Tagore,Aurobindo, Coomaraswamy, Ambedkar and K C Bhattacharya. It will
be interested chiefly in concepts that were central to Indian modernity and to the intellectual
engagements of these thinkers-Swarq/, renaissance, caste, Religion, rights, equality and
Nationalism. This course will bring out the distinctive notion of an Indian modernity which
emerged as the “old world Indian mind” engaged with the European ideas of the enlightenment and
individual liberty.A substantial literature has developed on the related concepts of Multiple
Modernities and Alternative Modernities.This course will attempt to bring out the specificities of
the Indian modernity by reading thinkers like K.C. Bhattacharya, Ambedkar, Gandhi, Tagore,
Aurobindo and Coomaraswamy.

Topics identified for detailed discussion:

– The idea of Multiple/Alterative Modernities

Essential Readings:
Eisenstadt, S. N. “Multiple modernities.” Daedalus, Winter 2000; 129,1.
Gaonkar, Dilip Parmeshwar (ed.). Alternative Modernities. Duke University Press, 2001.
Pathak, Avijit. Modernity. Globalization and Identity Towards a Reflexive Quest. New Delhi:
Aakar Books, 2006.

– Enlightenment freedom and morality

Essential Readings:
Bhattacharya, K.C. “‘Freedom and Morality’ in ‘Studies in Kant’.” In Gopinath Bhattacharya (ed.),
Krishnachandra Bhattacharya: Studies in philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983, pp. 702–
11.
Kant, I. “An Answer to the Question What is Enlightenment.” In H Reiss (ed.), Political Writings.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

– Renaissance in India

Essential Readings:
Ghosh, Aurobindo. “The Renaissance in India” (1918) in Nalini Bhushan and Jay L. Garfield (eds.)
Indian Philosophy in English: From Renaissance to Independence. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011: 37–65

– Swaraj: Political, intellectual and spiritual freedom

Essential Readings:
Bhattacharya, K.C. “Swaraj in Ideas.” Indian Philosophical Quarterly, (Special Number), No. 4,
Oct–Dec 1984.
Gandhi, M.K. Hind Swaraj and other Writings. Edit. A. Parel. New Delhi: Cambridge University
Press, 1997.

– Nation and Nationalism

Essential Readings:
Coomaraswamy, A K. “Indian Nationality.” (1909). In Nalini Bhushan and Jay L. Garfield (eds).
Indian Philosophy in English: From Renaissance to Independence. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011: 69–73.
Gandhi, M.K. “Nationalism.” In V.V.R. Murti (ed.), Gandhi: Essential Writings. New Delhi:
Gandhi Peace Foundation, 1970: 202–241.
Tagore, R. “Nationalism in the West.” In Rabindranath Tagore Omnibus, New Delhi: Rupa and
Co., 2012.

– Religion, Religious community and conversion

Essential Readings:
Ambedkar, B.R. “Religion and Dhamma.” In V. Rodrigues (ed.), Ambedkar: The Essential
Writings, Chapter 2. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ambedkar, B.R. “Conversion.” In V. Rodrigues (ed.), Ambedkar: The Essential Writings, Chapter
18. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Gandhi, M.K. “Religion.” In V.V.R. Murti (ed.), Gandhi: Essential Writings. New Delhi: Gandhi
Peace Foundation, 1970: 82–135.

– Critique of caste hierarchies

Essential Readings:
Ambedkar, B.R. “Castes in India.” In V. Rodrigues (ed.), Ambedkar: The Essential Writings,
Chapter 19. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ambedkar, B.R. “Annihilation of Caste.” In V. Rodrigues (ed.), Ambedkar: The Essential
Writings, Chapter 20. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.

– Gandhi – the philosophy behind the politics

Essential Readings:
Bilgrami, Akeel. “Gandhi's Integrity: The Philosophy Behind the Politics.” In A. Raghuramraju
(ed.), Debating Gandhi: A Reader. New Delhi, OUP, 2006.
Sorabji, R. Gandhi and the Stoics: Modern Experiments on Ancient Values. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
Further Readings:
Berlin, I. “Two concepts of Liberty.” In The Proper Study of Mankind. London: Pimlico, 1998.
Brown, Judith M. “Gandhi and Human Rights: In search of true Humanity.” In Anthony J. Parel
(ed.), Gandhi, Freedom and Self-rule. New Delhi: Vistaar Publications, 2002: 87–102.
Chatterjee, Debi. Up Against Caste: Comparative study of Ambedkar and Periyar. Chennai:
Rawat Publications, 2004.
Chatterjee, Partha. Nationalist Thought and Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1986.
Guru, Gopal and Sunder Sarukkai. The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on Experience and
Theory. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Nandy, A. “The Intimate Enemy: Loss and recovery of Self Under Colonialism.” In Exiled at
Home. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Nandy, A. The Illegitimacy of Nationalism: Rabindranath Tagore and the Politics of the Self.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Pandian, J. Caste, Nationalism, and Ethnicity. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Private Ltd., 1987.
Pantham, Thomas. “Against Untouchabihty: The Discourses of Gandhi and Ambedkar.” In
Gopal Guru (ed.), Humiliation. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009: 179–209.
Parekh, B. Gandhi's Political Philosophy: A Critical Examination. London: Macmillan, 1989.
Parel, Anthony (ed.). “Introduction.” In Gandhi: Hind Swaraj and Other Writings. New Delhi:
Cambridge University Press. 1997.
Periyar, Ramasami. Religion and Society: Selections from Periyar’s Speeches and Writings.
Madras: Emerald Publishers, 1994.
Ramanujan, A.K. “Is there an Indian way of thinking: An Informal Essay.” Contributions to
Indian Sociology, 1989: 41–58.
Said, E. Culture and Imperialism. London: Vintage, 1994.
Singh, Yogendra. Modernization of Indian Tradition. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 1984.
Skaria, Ajay. “Relinquishing Republican Democracy: Gandhi's Ramarajya.” Postcolonial
Studies, Vol.14, No.2: 203–29, 2011.
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