PHIL 0210 Schedule

Philosophy of Physics, Science, and Metaphysics at Brown University

Schedule for PHIL 0210 Science, Perception, and Reality

Links to Papers

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Sept 5	Explanation of assignments and topics.	James Wilkinson's talk, "Undergraduate Education"
Sept 7	Discussion of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.	Plato, beginning of The Republic, Book VII. Read the first 10% or so, until you get to the more obviously political discussion.
Sept 10	Practical Application of distinction between objective reality and subjective reality: the example of risk.
Sept 12	Defining the manifest image and scientific image; the manifest image evolves by induction and re-categorization; the scientific image improves by theoretical postulation; the scientific image is of a unified science, reduction Concepts: Reduction, Bridge Laws, Physicalism, Supervenience Advanced Concepts: Emergence, Multiple Realizability	Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" You don't need to read the whole thing right away. I discussed section 1 during the first class. We will focus on the first half of section 4 in today's class. Do not worry if you are having a hard time with it. Sellars is subtle and vague at several points. Advanced Reading: "The Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis," Paul Oppenheim and Hilary Putnam, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science vol. 2; and Jerry Fodor, "Special Sciences (or: The disunity of science as a working hypothesis)" Synthese, 28(2) October 1974. (No links available for these papers. I will very briefly summarize these in class.) Ned Block has a clear review of some of the issues in "Anti-Reductionism Slaps Back." Daniel Stoljar offers an excellent (but more advanced) clarification of physicalism.
Sept 14	Mind-Body Problem: Descartes' Cogito argument; Santayana's extension of Descartes' argument; The Infallibility of the Sense-Data. Concepts: Dualism, Skepticism, Transcendental argument, Idealism, Solipcism, Solipcism of the Present Moment	It's a good idea to read Descartes' Mediation #1 and #2, especially the 3rd paragraph (...denique statuendum sit hoc pronuntiatum, Ego sum, ego existo, quoties a me profertur, vel mente concipitur, necessario esse verum. ...that this proposition `I am, I exist,' is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind.) to get a feel for his transcendental argument. More discussion of this by Lex Newman.
Sept 17	Concepts: Phenomenal Properties, Qualia	Nagel, "What is it Like to be a Bat?"
Sept 19	The Knowledge Argument	Jackson, "What Mary Didn't Know" (Optional Additional Background Reading, Qualia: The Knowledge Argument; Jackson's paper is a response to Paul Churchland, "Reduction, Qualia, and the Direct Introspection of Brain States")
Sept 21	The Knowledge Argument Concepts: de se belief, Indexicality
Sept 24	Artificial Intelligence: Arguments for and against functionalism; how functionalism connects the manifest and scientific images; Turing's argument for something almost behaviorist; Mental and Physical is like Software and Hardware; Chinese Room argument Concepts: (Philosophical) Behaviorism, Representationalism, Functionalism, Intentionality	Searle, "Is the Brain's Mind a Computer Program?", Paul and Patricia Churchland, "Could a Machine Think?" (Optional Additional Background Reading: Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"; Searle, "Minds, Brains, and Programs")
Sept 26	Mechanics of Podcast Assignment; Artificial Intelligence Continuied
Sept 28	Artificial Intelligence Review	The second half of section IV of Wilfrid Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (Just the discussion of behaviorism)
Oct 1	Skepticism, Reference and Meaning	Putnam, "Brains in a Vat"; Chalmers, "The Matrix as Metaphysics"
Oct 3	Skepticism, Reference and Meaning Continued
Oct 5	First Exam
Oct 8	Holiday. No Class.
Oct 10	Perception Workshop Concepts: Conceptual Anaylsis, Necessary and Sufficient Conditions, Causal Theory of Perception
Oct 12	Why the manifest image and scientific image do not fit together; example of the pink ice cube. Concepts: Phenomenalism, Sense-data	Podcast Plan due Section V of Wilfrid Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man"
Oct 15	Concepts: Numerical vs. Qualitative Identity	Averill, Perception and Definition
Oct 17	Inverted Spectrum argument. Concepts: Direct Realism, Indirect Realism, Illusion, Hallucination, Intentionalism, Inverted Spectrum.	Hardin, "Reinverting the Spectrum" (Readings on Color, Ch 15) (Optional Background Reading: The Problem of Perception, Sense-Data, Crane, Theories of Perception)
Oct 19	Descartes on Color; Locke on Primary and Secondary Qualities; Hume's Psychology; Colors as unanalysable Concepts: Primary and Secondary Qualities, Simple and Compound Ideas.	Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, Book I, no. 70. Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, Chapter 8, no. 8-26.
Oct 22	Introduction to the Philosophy of Color	Hardin, Color for Philosophers, p. 1-66. Barry Maund, "Philosophy of Color", sections 1 and 2.
Oct 24	Color Physicalism	Hardin, Color for Philosophers, p. 67-112. "Colors and Reflectances" (also appears in Readings on Color, Ch 14)
Oct 26	Color Physicalism
Oct 29	Color Primitivism	Readings on Color, Ch 10.
Oct 31	Color Dispositionalism and Sense-data theories	Readings on Color, Ch 7. Hardin, p. 155-186.
Nov 2	Color Relationism	Cohen, A Relationist Manifesto, It's Not Easy Being Green
Nov 5	Second Exam
Nov 7	Time, Temporal Passage, and Change Concepts: Tensed vs. Tenseless theories of time, 3D vs. 4D conceptions of change.
Thursday Nov 8	(No Phil0120 Class on Thursdays!) Just have your submission uploaded to the system by 10 PM!	Initial Podcast Submission Due
Nov 9	Causation	Price and Menzies, "Causation as a Secondary Quality" Demonstrations of the Flash-lag effect: first, second, third.
Nov 12	The Value of Survival	Nagel, "Death"
Nov 14	Identity over Time of Physical Composites Concepts: Numerical v. Qualitative Identity, Diachronic Identity	Egan, "Learning to Be Me" (Optional background reading for further research: Identity over Time)
Nov 16	Personal Identity Concepts: Fission, Fusion	Parfit, "Personal Identity"; (Optional background reading for further research: Personal Identity, Personal Identity and Ethics)
Nov 19	Personal Identity	Evaluations of Others' Podcasts Due
Nov 26	Free Will Concepts: Liberty, Voluntary Action	Excerpt from John Locke's Essay; (Optional background reading for further research: Free Will, Arguments for Incompatibilism, Incompatibilist (Nondeterministic) Theories of Free Will).
Nov 28	Free Will and Determinism Concepts: Determinism, Compatibilism, Incompatibilism
Nov 30	No Class
Dec 3	Free Will	Ayer, "Freedom and Necesity"
Dec 5	Free Will, Personal Identity, and Time Travel towards the Past Concepts: a priori/a posteriori, Compossibility, Counterfactual Dependence, Personal and External Time	Lewis, "The Paradoxes of Time Travel"
Dec 7	Free Will	Strawson, "Freedom and Resentment"; Egan, "The Hundred-Light-Year Diary"
Dec 16		Final Podcast Submission Due Sunday Midnight
Dec 18, 9AM	Final Exam (Smith Buonanno Hall 201)