Contemporary Anglo-‐American Philosophy (B-‐KUL-‐W0EB2A) LECTURE Wednesdays 4-‐6pm Room: PSI 02.51 2nd Semester 2014/15 5.0 ECTS Points SEMINAR Thursdays 11-‐12pm Room: PI 00.38 INSTRUCTORS •
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Dr. Cameron Boult, [email protected] Mona Simionescu, [email protected] OFFICE HOURS •
CB: Wednesdays 2-‐3pm, PI 1.18 COURSE DESCRIPTION This course introduces a number of topics in contemporary Anglo-‐American philosophy. More specifically, we will be looking at debates on five philosophical issues: (1) The debate between incompatibilism and compatibilism about freedom of the will. (2) The debate between dualism and physicalism in the philosophy of mind. (3) The debate on radical scepticism in epistemology. (4) The debate between descriptive and direct accounts of reference in the philosophy of language. (5) The debate between theism and atheism in the philosophy of religion. COURSE READINGS All required readings for this course can be found in the course reader, which will be made available for purchase during the first lectures. Additionally, all required readings and some optional readings will be made available on Toledo. 1 Many of the optional readings can be found in one of the following two online encyclopedias of philosophy: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu COURSE CALENDAR Week 1, 11 Feb: Welcome and Introduction PART 1: FREEDOM OF THE WILL Week 2, 18 Feb: Incompatibilism Required Reading: Ch.’s 1-‐3 of Kane, R. 2005. A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Optional Readings: o Vihvelin, K. 2011. ‘Arguments for Incompatibilism.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/incompatibilism-‐arguments/ o Timpe, K. 2006. ‘Free Will.’ In: Fieser, J. and Dowden, B. eds. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu/freewill/ o Balaguer, M. 2010. Free Will as an Open Scientific Problem. Cambridge/MA: MIT. o Van Inwagen, P. 1983. An Essay on Free Will. Oxford: Clarendon. Week 3, 25 Feb: Compatibilism Required Reading: Ch.’s 8 and 9 of Kane, R. 2005. A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Optional Readings: o McKenna, M. 2009. ‘Compatibilism.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/compatibilism/ o Frankfurt, H. 1969. ‘Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility.’ o Fisher, J. and Ravizza, M. 1998. Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2 PART 2: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND Week 4, 4 Mar: Dualism Required Reading: Ch. 2 of Heil, J. 2004. Philosophy of Mind, A Contemporary Introduction, Second Edition. New York: Routledge • Optional Readings: o Calef, S. 2005. ‘Dualism and Mind.’ In: Fieser, J. and Dowden, B. eds. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu/dualism/ o Robinson, H. 2011. ‘Dualism.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/ o Descartes 1641/1986. Meditations on First Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. o Jackson, F. 1982. ‘Epiphenomenal Qualia.’ Philosophical Quarterly 32: 127-‐36. o Chalmers, D. 1996. The Conscious Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Week 5, 11 Mar: Physicalism Required Reading: Ch. 6 of Heil, J. 2004. Philosophy of Mind, A Contemporary Introduction, Second Edition. New York: Routledge • Optional Readings: o Stoljar, D. 2009. ‘Physicalism.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/physicalism/ o Feigl, H. 1967. ‘The “Mental” and the “Physical”’. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. o Smart, J. 1959. ‘Sensations and Brain Processes.’ Philosophical Review 68: 141-‐56. o Putnam, H. 1975. ‘The Nature of Mental States.’ In: Mind, Language and Reality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. o Lewis, D. 1980. ‘Mad Pain and Martian Pain.’ In: Block, N. ed. Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Vol. 1. Cambridge/MA: Harvard University Press. 3 PART 3: EPISTEMOLOGY Week 6, 18 Mar: Scepticism: Overriding Responses Required Reading: Ch. 1 of Pritchard, D. Forthcoming. Epistemic Angst. Princeton University Press. • Optional Readings: o Moore, G.E. 1939. ‘Proof of an External World’. Proceedings of the British Academy. 25: 273-‐300. o Stroud, B. 1984. The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism (chapters 1 and 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press. o Nozick, R. 1985, Philosophical Explanations (chapter 3, part 2). Cambridge/MA :Harvard University Press. o DeRose, K. 1995. ‘Solving the Skeptical Problem’, Philosophical Review. 104: 1-‐52. o Sosa, E. 1999. ‘How to Defeat Opposition to Moore’. Philosophical Perspectives. 13: 141-‐154. Week 7, 25 Mar: Scepticism: Undercutting Responses Required Reading: Williams, M. 1996. ‘Understanding Human Knowledge Philosophically.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 56: 359-‐378. • Optional Readings: o Wittgenstein, L. 1969. On Certainty. Anscombe, G. E. M. and von Wright, G. H. ed. Oxford: Blackwell. o McGinn, M. 1989. Sense and Certainty: A Dissolution of Scepticism. Oxford: Blackwell. o Williams, M. 1991. Unnatural Doubts. Cambridge/MA: Blackwell. o Pritchard, D. 2002. Two Forms of Epistemological Contextualism. Grazer Philosophische Studien. 54: 19-‐55. o McDowell, J. 1995. ‘Knowledge and the Internal’. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 55: 877-‐893. Week 8, April 1: No lecture 4 April – 19 April: Easter Holiday 4 PART 4: PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE Week 9, 22 Apr: Descriptive accounts of reference Required Reading: Ch.’s 1 and 3 of Lycan, W. 2008. Philosophy of Language. A Contemporary Introduction, Second Edition. London: Routledge. • Optional Readings: o Reimer, M. 2009. ‘Reference.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reference/ o Wolf, M. 2006. ‘Language, Philosophy of’ In: Fieser, J. and Dowden, B. eds. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu/lang-‐phi/ o Russell, B. 1972. The Philosophy of Logical Atomism. London: Routledge. o Searle, J. 1979. Expression and Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Week 10, 29 April: Direct reference Required Reading: Ch. 4 of Lycan, W. 2008. Philosophy of Language. A Contemporary Introduction, Second Edition. London: Routledge. • Optional Readings: o Kripke, S. 1972. Naming and Necessity. Cambridge/MA: Harvard University Press. o Kaplan, 1975. ‘How to Russell a Frege-‐Church.’ Journal of Philosophy 72: 716-‐29. o Putnam, H. 1975. ‘The Meaning of Meaning.’ In: Mind, Language and Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. PART 5: PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Week 11, 6 May: Theism Required Reading: Ch.5 of Murray, M. and Rea, M. 2008. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 5 •
Optional Readings: o Meister, C. 2012. ‘Philosophy of Religion.’ In: Fieser, J. and Dowden, B. eds. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu/religion/ o Taliaferro, C. 2010. ‘Philosophy of Religion.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-‐religion/ o Plantinga, A. 1974. The Nature of Necessity. Oxford: Clarendon. o Rowe, W. 1975. The Cosmological Argument. Princeton: Princeton University Press. o Swinburne, R. 1979. The Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Week 12, 13 May: Atheism Required Reading: Ch. 6 of Murray, M. and Rea, M. 2008. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Optional Readings: o McCormick, M. ‘Atheism.’ In: Fieser, J. and Dowden, B. eds. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.iep.utm.edu/atheism/ o Smart, J. ‘Atheism and Agnosticism.’ In: Zalta, E. ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-‐agnosticism/ o Flew, A. 1976. The Presumption of Atheism. London: Pemberton. o Martin, M. 1990. Atheism. A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Week 13, 20 May: Review lecture 6