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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
This course will vary in topics related to philosophy of science from semester to semester. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
This course focuses on the historical roots of neuroscience as well as its contemporary developments. Topics include: (1) the nature of explanatory strategies in neuroscience; (2) the relation between neuroscience research and higher-level disciplines such as psychology; and (3) the epistemology of the investigatory tools of neuroscience. Prerequisite: one previous course in Philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
This advanced course focuses on causal and statistical inference. How can we discover causal relations? How can we distinguish causal relations from mere correlations? Can we discover causal relations without performing experiments? Exploring these questions requires an investigation of the relationship between causality and probability, a critical assessment of the assumptions involved in causal inference and an examination of possible interpretations of the fundamental concepts. The course discusses how modern approaches to causal inference address the traditional problems related to induction and confirmation. This course will vary in topics related to philosophy of science from semester to semester. Prerequisite: completion of Phil 321 (Philosophy of Science), graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
This course examines a number of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological issues that arise in the attempts of biologists to explain living systems. One sort of problem concerns the relation between biology (and biological descriptions and explanations) and physics and chemistry. Biological phenomena often have seemed very different from ordinary physical phenomena in being telelogical or goal oriented. Vitalists, accordingly, resisted the attempt to invoke physics and chemistry in the attempt to explain biological phenomena. But recently biology has come more and more to draw upon physics and chemistry; we examine the conceptual frameworks that underlie these efforts. Another sort of problem concerns the adaptiveness of living organisms. Charles Darwin offered one naturalistic explanation of this feature, an explanation that was further developed in this century as the synthetic theory of evolution. A number of controversial issues have arisen within this context of adaptation, and the range of levels at which selection can occur. The ubiquity of evolution, moreover, has been challenged in recent years, as a number of nonselectionist explanations have recently been put forward. We consider the arguments for the synthetic theory and these alternatives.
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3.00 Credits
Concepts are the building blocks of thought. They are implicated in just about every cognitive task. Beyond that, there is little consensus. What information do concepts encode? How are they acquired? How are they combined to form thoughts? How are they related to perception and imagery? Each of these questions has been answered in numerous ways. In this course, we explore competing theories of concepts that have been proposed by philosophers, psychologists, and other cognitive scientists. No prior acquaintance with these issues is required. Prerequisite: one previous course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
An examination of metaphysical and epistemological issues in ethics. Topics include: the nature of the good and the right, the meaning of ethical terms, the logic of moral argument, and the status of moral knowledge. We consider philosophical works written since 1900 by such authors as Moore, Ross, Stevenson, Ayer, Foot, Hare, Brink, Harmon, Blackburn, and McDowell. Prerequisite: one previous course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
An exploration of the three major normative ethical theories debated by philosophers in the past hundred years: Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, and virtue theory. Authors covered in the course may include: Henry Sidgwick, R.M. Hare, R.B. Brandt, John Rawls, Bernard Williams, Philippa Foot, Thomas Nagel, Christine Korsgaard, Michael Slote, and Barbara Herman. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
An investigation of the work of the great British moral philosophers of the 17th to19th centuries, especially Hobbes, Hume, and Mill. Other figures may include Reid, Butler, Hutcheson, Bentham, and Sidgwick. In considering these philosophers, we explore the relations between normative ethics, moral psychology, and political philosophy, and may include a discussion of legal, social, and economic philosophies as well. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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3.00 Credits
Same as PNP 4332
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3.00 Credits
A careful consideration of selected issues regarding the experience of visual art, architecture, music, or literature, as well as of the power or beauty of nature, people, and artifacts. For example, is there a special form of aesthetic experience or aesthetic attitude? In what do aesthetic power and beauty consist? Are they different in art and nature? Do the artists' intentions matter? Some central concerns are: how do visual art and literary texts have "meaning," what role do the viewer's or reader's interpretations play, and how might recent work in cognitive science and social theory shed light on these issues? Prerequisite: one course in philosophy at the 300 level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
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