DESCRIPTION: This course focuses on two questions: (1) What am I? And (2) who am I? The first question is the central problem in the personal identity literature—a core topic analytic philosophy. Philosophers have offered a wide variety of answers, including souls, persons, brains, human animals, and nothing at all, often through fantastical thought experiments. The second question concerns the self—the stable traits and characteristics that make you the sort of person you are and underwrite your choices and actions. In this course, we will examine the foundations of these topics, as well as their applications to issues like pregnancy, dementia, addiction, and attitudes towards death.

DESCRIPTION: This course focuses on a central feminist question: What significance do pregnancy and motherhood have for the lives of women? For most women globally and historically, the answer is quite a bit. Yet there is no single experience of pregnancy or motherhood. This course takes a multidisciplinary approach to capturing some of philosophical, bioethical, sociological, and political issues related to women’s experiences of reproduction and reproductive work. Among topics we discuss are the experiences of pregnant patients, pregnancy and marginalized groups, abortion, surrogacy, motherhood and the self, maternal regret, the distribution of reproductive work, and what recognition of and support for reproductive work looks like.