A systematic study of Aristotle's philosophy.

Enforced Prerequisites:

PHIL 181, 196, 202, 232, 234, or 297 with a grade of C- or better, or graduate.

Reqs: BS

This course surveys the formal tools used in contemporary philosophy. It covers elements of propositional and quantified modal logic, formal semantics, counterfactuals, probability theory, and decision theory. Each class begins with an introduction to formal material and ends with a contemporary philosophical paper that presupposes that material. Requirements include six problem sets and a final exam.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Satisfaction of QR/1 with either 2nd semester calculus, an advanced course in logic, a course in statistics above STATS 265, or a course in economics.

Reqs: BS

This is a general philosophy of science course, in which we will consider a variety of epistemological issues (concerning warranted belief and knowledge) and metaphysical issues (concerning what exists, what existing things are like, and how existing things are related) pertaining to scientific theory and methodology. We'll explore what counts as a scientific explanation, and consider the role various types of inferences (inductive, deductive, statistical and abductive) play in such explanations. We'll become acquainted with the historical motivations for attempts to distinguish between science and other disciplines, and with the empiricist's influential take(s) on how this could be done. Relatedly, we'll study several accounts of scientific theories, on which these are instruments for making predictions, realistic statements about the world, or social constructions, respectively; and we'll consider how these accounts bear on whether we can take scientific claims about unobservable entities at face value.

Finally, we'll consider the question of how entities in different sciences are related, and become acquainted with both reductive and non-reductive accounts of these relations. Requirements for the course include two midterms, one medium-length paper, and weekly one-page summaries of the assigned reading.     

Advisory Prerequisites:

One course in Philosophy or Science at the 300 level or higher with a grade of C- or better; or graduate standing.

Descartes' System

An investigation of the philosophical system of Descartes, based upon a careful reading of his major philosophical works and selected secondary literature.

The course will cover most of the following topics: epistemology and metaphysics before the Meditations, skepticism with regard to the senses, clear and distinct perception, the causal arguments for the existence of God, the Cartesian circle, error and the will, the ontological argument, sense-perception and the nature of body, the mind's essence and the real distinction between mind and body, the substantial union and interactionism, error in sensation, animal minds and the human intellect, laws of nature and scientific explanation, occasionalist tendencies, necessity and the eternal truths, and innateness.

Primary source readings will include the Meditations and selections from the Rules for the Direction of the Mind, The World, Treatise on Man, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conduction the Understanding, Optics, Objections and Replies to the Meditations, Principles of Philosophy, Passions of the Soul, and Descartes' correspondence.

Undergraduates will be expected to write two 7-10 page papers, and to take one in-class exam. There will be no final examination. (These requirements are revised from earlier postings.) Requirements for graduate students are to be arranged on an individual basis.

MODIFIED ADVISORY PREREQUISITE. The standing advisory prerequisite for PHIL 463 is either PHIL 388 or 389. Background at the intermediate level in epistemology and metaphysics (e.g., PHIL 345 or 383), or in 400-level surveys in 17th or 18th century philosophy (PHIL 461 or 462) would also be helpful. If you do not satisfy at least the advisory prerequisite, you are strongly encouraged to consult with the instructor before enrolling. Because PHIL 463 this Winter is an intensive survey of a single figure, philosophy concentrators are strongly discouraged from utilizing this offering to meet a distribution unit in the history of philosophy unless they have prior experience in PHIL 388, 389, 405, 406, 458, 461, 462, or 463.

Advisory Prerequisites:

PHIL 388 or 389, or permission of instructor.

This course provides an examination of the logic of social science research through the writings of philosophers and social scientists. The philosophy of social science is a discipline that attempts to analyze the logic, methodology, modes of explanation, and methods of inquiry of the social sciences. The past dozen years have witnessed an explosion of valuable debate about foundational issues in sociology and other social sciences. The course is based on the assumption that both philosophers and social scientists will benefit from a better understanding of the conceptual and methodological issues that arise in the conduct of social science research. One of the goals of the discipline is to allow us to come to some judgments about the degree of validity and credibility that various social science theories have as assertions about the nature of the social world we experience. The course is premised on the assumption that the philosophy of social science should develop its theories and analyses by working closely with strong examples of good social science research. We should frame the defining questions of the philosophy of social science by reflecting upon the large conceptual and methodological issues that have actually been important to social scientists as they conduct their research and theory construction. The course will make use of recent writings by such social scientists as Abbott, Mahoney, Sewell, Steinmetz, Adams, Lieberson, and Shapiro as we explore recent debates about the foundations of social science explanation. Central topics will include the logic of comparative social science, the role of rational choice theory, the cultural turn, the utility of causal mechanisms, hidden assumptions in quantitative reasoning, and the nature of the social.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Graduate standing.

A faculty-directed independent study.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Graduate standing and permission of instructor.

Other: Independent

A faculty-directed candidacy reading course in which a student – having already successfully completed an independent literature survey in the area of his or her projected dissertation – works toward identifying a specific thesis topic and writing a dissertation prospectus, and begins to write material which can be expected to represent some component of the dissertation. If the reading course is to commence in the Fall, students should arrange for faculty direction the preceding April; if it is to commence in the Winter, students should arrange for faculty direction no later than the preceding November. Faculty service in this capacity does not commit the student to asking the faculty member to serve on his or her dissertation committee, nor does it commit the faculty member to agreeing to do so. A student wishing to elect PHIL 599 must submit a proposed plan of study no later than the beginning of the term for which the course is elected. (Students are urged to consult with their advisors and prospective faculty sponsors as early as possible during the planning of their Reading Course). The plan must be accepted by the faculty sponsor of the course within a week of the beginning of the term. A plan will normally not be acceptable if it overlaps significantly with a departmental course.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Graduate standing and permission of instructor.

An episodic introduction to philosophy of physics, which will strive to be interesting and accessible even to those not already invested in physics.

Interesting: I will try to focus on topics in philosophy of physics that resonate with issues philosophers who aren't interested in physics might care about — issues like causation, determinism, reference, and scientific realism.

Accessible: I will try to minimize the technical apparatus required to approach these topics, and to equip students with that apparatus as the need for it arises.

Topics to be covered may include:

• quantum non-locality and the quantum measurement problem;
• determinism and time travel in special and general relativity;
• statistical physics and the direction of time;
• explanation in cosmology; and
• the semantic implications of theory change.

Registered students will have the option of completing the course either by writing a series of short papers or by writing one substantial paper.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Graduate standing.

The Moral and Political Philosophy of John Stuart Mill

This seminar will attempt to give an overview of Mill's thought, focusing on his views in moral and political philosophy but also including other relevant aspects of his thought. (Students especially interested in Mill's empiricism, psychology, political economy, and other views will be encouraged to pursue them independently.) We will read his most famous work (On Liberty, Utilitarianism, System of Logic, Subjection of Women, the essays on Bentham) and also some that is less well known (such as his essays on religion, Coleridge, Whewell, Compte, and on Civilization, the Corn Laws, the US Civil War, and the French Revolution). Our goals will be both historical and problem-oriented, in that we will try to reconstruct a coherent viewpoint to attribute to Mill, but we will also consider how well his views stand up to philosophical and empirical scrutiny. Students may write either primarily exegetical or theoretical term papers, or papers that combine these approaches.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Graduate standing.

Graduate School authorization for admission as a doctoral Candidate. N.B. The defense of the dissertation (the final oral examination) must be held under a full term Candidacy enrollment period.

Enforced Prerequisites:

Graduate School authorization for admission as a doctoral Candidate. With permission of instructor.