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  • Philosophy 412: Advanced Topics in Epistemology

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Analyticity and the A Priori Full course for one semester. Most contemporary work in epistemology has focused on empirical or a posteriori knowledge and the nature of the warrants we need in order to possess it. Traditionally, however, it has been assumed that we can also possess nonempirical or a priori knowledge and warrants. This claim came under intense critical scrutiny in the 20th century with challenges regarding the nature, the scope, and even the possibility of such knowledge. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in and sympathy for the possibility of a priori knowledge. In this course, we will explore some of the more central moments in this debate, paying particular attention to strategies for explicating and defending the possibility of a priori knowledge by appeal to the notion of analyticity. We will focus on debates about how to draw the distinction both between the a priori and the a posteriori and between the analytic and synthetic-and whether there are ultimately any coherent distinctions to be drawn. We will consider various naturalistic worries about how we could ever learn anything a priori as well as various rationalist arguments that purport to show that appeal to a priori knowledge is unavoidable. Prerequisites: Philosophy 311, or consent of the instructor. Conference. Computation for Philosophers Full course for one semester. A selective survey of computational results and methods that play an increasingly important new epistemological role in philosophical argumentation. Topics covered include: Turing machines, Chomsky hierarchy, run time complexity, Shelling's model, cellular automata, the Game of Life, Tierra, Packard's bugs, and DPD protocells, among others. Prerequisites: Two 300-level philosophy courses, or consent of the instructor. Conference.
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  • Philosophy 414: Advanced Topics in Contemporary Philosophy:Information and Possibility

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one semester. The concept of information is usually characterized in terms of possibilities: to acquire information is to eliminate possibilities. In this course, we will examine kinds of information that seem to resist this characterization. Possible topics include mathematical and logical information, information about identities, information about possibilities, information about one's location in space and time, and information about the qualitative character of experiences. Possible readings include texts by Frege, Perry, Lewis, Kripke, Stalnaker, Fine, Millikan, Jackson, Fiengo and May, and others. Prerequisites: One 300/400-level upper division philosophy course, or consent of the instructor. Conference.
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  • Philosophy 415: Major Figures in Philosophy:Wittgenstein

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one semester. This variable-topics course focuses on the work of a major figure in philosophy. In 2009-10 the topic is Wittgenstein. Prerequisites: One 300/400-level upper division philosophy course, or consent of the instructor. Conference.
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  • Philosophy 470: Thesis

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one year.
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  • Philosophy 481: Individual Work in Special Fields

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    One-half or full course for one year. Prerequisite: approval of instructor and division.
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  • PHYSICS 100: General Physics I

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one year. Fall semester: calculus-based introduction to the classical mechanics of particles and systems-kinematics, laws of motion, conservation principles, rotational dynamics, oscillators, gravitation. Spring semester: electricity and magnetism, optics, and other topics at the discretion of the instructor. Corequisite: Mathematics 111 or equivalent. Lecture-conference-laboratory.
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  • PHYSICS 200: General Physics II

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one year. Fall semester: AC circuits, damped and driven vibrations, coupled oscillators, waves. Related mathematical methods are introduced: complex numbers, ordinary differential equations, linear algebra, and Fourier analysis. Weekly laboratories provide an introduction to basic electronics, from filters and voltage dividers to transistors and operational amplifiers. Spring semester: thermal physics, modern physics-introduction to special relativity and quantum mechanics, with applications to atomic, nuclear, and particle physics, and condensed matter, as time permits. Weekly laboratories include an introduction to Mathematica, the Millikan oil drop experiment, measurement of the speed of light, determination of Planck's constant, the charge-to-mass ratio of the electron, and blackbody radiation. Prerequisites: Physics 100; Mathematics 111 (or equivalent) and 112; Mathematics 211-212 should be taken concurrently. First-year students who have successfully completed the equivalent of Physics 100 at the college level may petition the physics department to take Physics 200 in their first year. The petition must offer evidence of proficiency in calculus-based electricity and magnetism. Lecture-conference-laboratory.
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  • PHYSICS 311: Classical Mechanics I

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one semester. Careful examination of the foundations and limitations of Newtonian mechanics leads to development of the Lagrangian formulation, variational principles, and Hamiltonian mechanics. Applications to the motion of rigid bodies, systems of coupled oscillators, and celestial mechanics are treated as time permits. Prerequisite: Physics 200. Lecture.
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  • PHYSICS 321: Electrodynamics I

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one semester. Electrostatics and magnetostatics in vacuum and in matter, electromagnetic induction, force and energy in electrodynamics, Maxwell's equations. Mathematical methods introduced include multivariable calculus and the solution of partial differential equations by separation of variables. Prerequisite: Physics 200. Lecture.
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  • PHYSICS 322: Electrodynamics II

    3.00 Credits
    Reed College

    Full course for one semester. A continuation of Physics 321, this course emphasizes time-varying electric and magnetic fields. Topics include radiation from point charges and dipoles; propagation of electromagnetic plane waves in vacuum and in matter; reflection, refraction, and dispersion; and the relativistic formulation of electrodynamics. Prerequisite: Physics 321. Lecture.
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