PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS (Spring 2008)

SCHEDULE

Jan 14

Philosophical Methods, Philosophical Intuitions and the Philosopher’s Craft.

Alan Hajek on Bayesianism and David Lewis (WebCT)

In class exercise: Getting clear on our intuitions: Arrows Theorem and the possibility of democracy.

Jan. 21 (No class- Martin Luther King Day)

COMPUTABILITY AND PROOF

Jan. 28

Proof (Glymour Ch.1)

Proof (Epstein and Carnelli Ch.5)

Infinite Collections?  (Epstein and Carnelli Ch.6)

In class exercise: The status of reductio arguments.

Feb. 4

The Laws of Thought (Glymour Ch.4)

Frege’s New Logical World (Glymour Ch.5)

Modern Logic (Glymour Ch.6)

In class exercise:  Quantification and dependence relations, what counts as first-order?

Feb. 11

The Computable (Glymour Ch.12)

Algorithms (Epstein and Carnelli Ch. 8 and 9)

In class exercise: The busy beaver.

Feb. 18

Complexity (Read Part 1 of Complexity Theory: A Modern Approach  Arora and Barak)

The P versus NP problem (Cook)

In class exercise: What is the significance of P=NP

MODALITY

Feb. 25

Modal Language and Modal Logic (Melia Ch. 1 and Ch. 2)

Modal Logic Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Garson)

In class exercise:  Proofs with trees in modal logic

KNOWLEDGE

Mar. 3

Epistemic Logic Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Hendricks and Symons)

‘Where’s the Bridge? Epistemic Logic and Epistemology’ Philosophical Studies (2006)128:137-167 (Hendricks and Symons)

In class exercise: Logical omniscience and urns.

Mar.10

Skepticism (Glymour Ch.7)

Bayesian Solutions (Glymour Ch. 8)

Alan Hajek on Lewis, Probability and Bayesianism (WebCT)

In class exercise: Intuitions about probability and the nature of certainty.

Mar.17

Formal Learning Theory

Limiting Skepticism (Hendricks and Symons)

In class exercise:  Norms for a Kripkensteinian skeptic

Mar.24-28 Spring Break

METAPHYSICS

Mar.31

Two-Dimensional Semantics and Contemporary Metaphysics

 “Kripke's epistemic duplicates” (Chalmers 2004)
Reference and Description: The Case Against Two-Dimensionlaism, Soames (2005 Ch. 1 - 3)

Apr.7

Chalmers on The Foundations of Two-Dimensional Semantics

Nimtz on two-dimensionalism

Apr.14

The mathematical basis of possibility

Jacquette on logic and ontology

Bricker ‘The plenitude of possible structures’ Almog’s response.

Apr.21

Category theory and metaphysics

Lawvere An Introduction of Conceptual Mathematics

Apr.28

Concluding remarks/slack in the schedule.