Teaching Documents by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
This course focuses on ethical issues in the practice of medicine, biological and medical researc... more This course focuses on ethical issues in the practice of medicine, biological and medical research, the allocation of medical resources, public health policy, and related issues. We will first consider the foundations of the ethical study of these topics, by gaining a fluency in the basic language and tools of philosophy and by considering several theories of ethical decision-making. Then, we will consider some of the core concepts and principles that govern the field of bioethics, before turning to specific topics.
This course provides an introduction to ethics, or moral philosophy. Ethics is the philosophical ... more This course provides an introduction to ethics, or moral philosophy. Ethics is the philosophical study of the nature of right or good actions, behaviors, and human lives. This topic is studied at different levels of generality. We focus on normative ethics-the study of what theory provides the best account of right and wrong as such-and applies ethics-the application of ethical theories to particular cases. We will also cover a few topics in metaethics-the study of the fundamental status of moral concepts, values, and language. Regarding normative ethics, we will perform an in-depth study of the three most important ethical theories: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. Our study of applied ethics will focus on topics in biomedical ethics as well as topics that are to be determined by student interest.
Logic is often characterized as the study of arguments. This is not incorrect, but it is far from... more Logic is often characterized as the study of arguments. This is not incorrect, but it is far from complete. It is true that, in this course, we will study arguments, to understand what their components are and how they work. But treating logic as merely the study of argument might lead one to think that there are arguments out there in the world, just ready for us to describe.
Papers by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Conferences by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
The Lacanian claim that ‘the real can only be inscribed on the basis of an impasse of formalizati... more The Lacanian claim that ‘the real can only be inscribed on the basis of an impasse of formalization,’ and Badiou’s own claim that ‘the pass of the real’ is conditioned by ‘the breach opened up by formalization’ perhaps only have philosophical or ontological weight to the extent that formalization is a justified method or framework. Without this, the impasse of formalization threatens to become no more than a reductio argument against formalization that leads nowhere. In this regard, a common critique of the use of formal methods and frameworks in philosophy involves that claim that formalization necessitates an abstraction from the concrete content of the terms involved – an abstraction which renders the truth of the form external to the being of the content, and which thereby leaves their relation ungrounded. This criticism, which is occasionally leveled against Badiou’s work, can be traced back to Hegel’s critique of the abstractness of formal logic. I argue that, far from neglecting this objection, Badiou’s response to it occupies a central, if hidden, position within his onto-logical deployment of formalization and mathematics. I claim that Badiou implicitly draws a distinction between an abstract formalization and a concrete formalization, a distinction which dislocates the supposedly necessary connection between formality and abstraction. This distinction is hidden across the span of Badiou’s work, but emerges most significantly in his engagement with the distinction between syntax and semantics. I will first consider an outline of a critique of formalist abstraction, through its exemplary statement in Hegel, and then I will trace the development of Badiou’s response from The Concept of Model to Briefings on Existence, the latter of which seems to contains a complete dismissal of formalization and syntax tout court. I will conclude by suggesting that Badiou’s account has much in common with Hegel’s own account of a concrete universal logic.
Book Reviews by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Karen Houle and Jim Vernon (eds.)
Review for: Continental Philosophy Review
March 2014
Editorial Projects by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
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Teaching Documents by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Papers by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Conferences by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Book Reviews by Amrit Mandzak-Heer
Editorial Projects by Amrit Mandzak-Heer