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 9	Explanation of assignments and topics.	James Wilkinson's talk, "Undergraduate Education" McCloskey, "Intuitive Physics"
Sept 11	Discussion of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Rationalism, Empiricism	Plato, beginning of The Republic, Book VII. Read the first 10% or so, until you get to the more obviously political discussion. Campbell, Ch. 1.
Sept 14	Descartes' Cogito argument; Santayana's extension of Descartes' argument; The Infallibility of the Sense-Data; Hume's Psychology. Concepts: Dualism, Skepticism, Idealism, Solipcism, Solipcism of the Present Moment, Idealism, Divine Harmony, Epiphenomenalism, Necessary, Contingent, A priori, A posteriori, Analytic, Synthetic	It's a good idea to read Descartes' Meditation #1 and #2, especially the 3rd paragraph More discussion of this by Lex Newman. Hume, "An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding," Parts II, III, and IV (paragraphs 11-33) Peek at Spinoza's Ethics to get a feel for how rationalists try to use Euclidean methodology to philosophize.
Sept 16	Empiricism, Logical Positivism, Phenomenalism, Operationalism	Campbell, Ch. 2.
Sept 18	Atomism, Spacetime, Time, Temporal Passage, and Change Concepts: Atomism, Perdurance, Static vs. Dynamic Conceptions of Time, Determinism	Campbell, Ch. 3, 4.
Sept 21	Influence over the Past Concepts: Influence, Causation, Counterfactual Dependence	No reading necessary.
Sept 23	Identity over Time of Physical Composites Concepts: Numerical v. Qualitative Identity, Diachronic Identity, Fission, Fusion	No reading necessary. (Optional background reading for further research: Identity over Time)
Sept 25	Personal Identity	Egan, "Learning to Be Me"; Parfit, "Personal Identity"; (Optional background reading for further research: Personal Identity, Personal Identity and Ethics)
Sept 28	The Value of Survival	Nagel, "Death" Podcast Plan due (10 PM)
Sept 30	Fatalism	Taylor, "Fatalism"
Oct 2	Free Will Concepts: Liberty, Voluntary Action, Influence, Compatibilism, Incompatibilism, Libertarianism	Excerpt from John Locke's Essay; Ayer, "Freedom and Necessity" (Optional background reading for further research: Free Will, Arguments for Incompatibilism, Incompatibilist (Nondeterministic) Theories of Free Will).
Oct 5	Free Will and Determinism	No reading assignment. (Optional advanced background reading for further research: Strawson, "Freedom and Resentment")
Oct 7	Time Travel towards the Past Concepts: Compossibility, Personal and External Time	Dummett, "Bringing about the Past" Lewis, "The Paradoxes of Time Travel" (Optional background reading: Egan, "The Hundred-Light-Year Diary")
Oct 9	Concepts: (Philosophical) Behaviorism, Intentionality, henomenal Properties, Qualia	Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
Oct 14	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: Representationalism, Functionalism	First Paper due Searle, "Is the Brain's Mind a Computer Program?"
Oct 16	Artificial Intelligence	Paul and Patricia Churchland, "Could a Machine Think?" The second half of section IV of Wilfrid Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (Just the discussion of behaviorism)
Oct 19	Perception Workshop Concepts: Orthodox Conceptual Analysis, Necessary and Sufficient Conditions, Causal Theory of Perception, Direct Realism, Indirect Realism	No reading
Oct 21	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 Why the manifest image and scientific image do not fit together; example of the pink ice cube.	Section IV and V of Wilfrid Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" We will focus on section 5 and in today's class. Do not worry if you are having a hard time with it. Sellars is subtle and vague at several points.
Oct 23	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. Campbell, Ch. 5.
Oct 26	Continued discussion of primary and secondary qualities. Concepts: Sense-data, Illusion, Hallucination	Averill, Perception and Definition
Oct 28	Survey of various positions on the status of colors Concepts: Color Fundamentalism, Color Physicalism, Relationism, Projectivism, Eliminativism, Dispositionalism	Hardin, excerpt from "Color for Philosophers". Read as much as you can for this Wednesday, but if you do not have enough time, you can catch up by reading the rest for Friday.
Oct 30	The phenomenal structure of the color Concepts: Inverted Spectrum Argument	Hardin, "Reinverting the Spectrum" Optional Resubmission of 1st Paper due
Nov 2	Challenges to Physicalism Concepts: Phenomenal Properties, Qualia, Physicalism, Reductive Explanation, Conceivability Argument, Zombies	Nagel, "What is it Like to be a Bat?"
Nov 4	Challenges to Physicalism Concepts: Necessary a posteriori identities	Levine, "The Explanatory Gap"
Nov 6	Challenges to Physicalism	Kripke, Excerpt from "Identity and Necessity" (Optional Additional Background Reading, J. J. C. Smart, The Identity Theory)
Nov 9	The Knowledge Argument Concepts: de se belief, Indexicality	Initial Podcast Submission Due Have your submission uploaded to the system by 10 PM! 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")
Nov 11	Physicalist Responses to the Challenges Concept: Empirical Analysis, Strict vs. Relaxed Standards	No reading.
Nov 13	The threat to Atomism from Quantum Mechanics	No reading.
Nov 16	QM: Explaining the Experimental Results	Second Paper due QM Notes
Nov 18	QM: The Measurement Problem	QM Notes
Nov 20	QM: Two Solutions	QM Notes Evaluations of Others' Podcasts Due
Nov 23	QM: Many Worlds	QM Notes
Nov 25	Skepticism
Nov 30	Insulation of the Derivative from the Fundamental	Chalmers, "The Matrix as Metaphysics"
Dec 2	Finding meaning in fundamental reality	Nagel, "The Absurd"
Dec 4
Dec 10		Final Podcast Submission Due Thursday Midnight
Dec 12-21	Final Exam (Smith Buonanno Hall 201)