Philosophy

Instructor: Chris Dorst

This course is designed to familiarize graduate students with some important metalogical results about sentential and predicate calculi. To that end, we will introduce a derivation system (modeled on the one developed by Kalish, Montague, and Marr), learn how to do derivations in that system, and then prove that the system is both sound and complete. We will do this for both sentential and first order predicate logic. Time permitting, we will also look at some related metalogical and mathematical results, including the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem and Cantor’s theorem.

Instructor: Bob Beddor

Instructor: Duncan Purves

This course surveys ethical concepts related to the design, development, and implementation of novel technologies. Special focus is given to emerging data-driven technologies, especially applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Topics include algorithmic fairness, proxy discrimination, the right to an explanation, and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Instructor: Greg Ray

Instructor: Cameron Buckner

Instructor: Chris Dorst

This course is designed to familiarize incoming graduate students with the expectations and standards of graduate level work in philosophy. In particular, it aims to develop the tools necessary to read, write, and converse about philosophy at the graduate level. We will study and discuss a wide range of papers, drawn from many areas of philosophy and written in a variety of philosophical styles.

Students will be asked to give a couple presentations on the readings, and to write a short paper each week in which they are not assigned to present. Students will also be required to write a longer final paper that develops an idea from one of their earlier short papers or presentations.

Syllabus

Instructor: Max Robitzsch

This course is dedicated to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 BCE. Aristotle developed his own unique philosophical ideas through the empirical study of the world around him, as well as in response to the theories of his teacher Plato and other early Greek philosophers. Aristotle’s extensive body of work covers all areas of philosophy and had a significant impact, especially during the medieval period when he was simply known as “the philosopher.” This course will provide an overview of Aristotle’s most important ideas, focusing on both his theoretical and practical writings. Readings will include selections from key works such as the Metaphysics, Physics, De anima (On the Soul), and Nicomachean Ethics.

Syllabus

Instructor: Amber Ross
What kinds of cognitive capacities must a mind possess in order to engage socially with others? In this interdisciplinary course, we will explore the social lives of nonhuman animals through the lenses of philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. From elephants consoling their companions to chimpanzees deceiving their rivals, the animal kingdom offers a rich variety of social behavior—raising profound questions about the kinds of minds that make such interactions possible.

We will investigate the building blocks of social cognition, including theory of mind, empathy, cooperation, communication, group coordination, and social learning. Drawing on case studies from comparative psychology, ethology, and cognitive neuroscience, we ask: Which animals recognize others as unique individuals who persist over time? Which animals see other creatures as intentional agents? What role does emotion play in animal societies? Can nonhuman animals be self-aware as well as socially-aware? And how do researchers distinguish between simple behavioral rules and genuinely mind-based interaction?

In addition to examining empirical studies, we consider philosophical debates about theory of mind, communication, and self-consciousness in social animals. Students will gain a clearer understanding of what it means for an animal to have a social mind, and how such minds illuminate the broader nature of cognition and personhood.

Syllabus

Instructor: Molly Gardner

If the future isn’t real, can we have moral obligations to future generations? Do merely possible people have moral standing? Which consequences, if any, are morally relevant—causal consequences, counterfactual consequences, or logical consequences? Can an action you perform today have morally relevant consequences for someone in the past? (And is this how it is possible to harm the dead?) In this course we will examine these and other issues at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics. We will consider both whether our moral judgments can inform our metaphysical theories of time, reality, and causation, and whether our metaphysical theories of time, reality, and causation can inform our moral judgments.

Syllabus

Instructor: Gene Witmer

Philosophy of religion has become over the last several decades an extremely active area of research in analytic philosophy given how it relates to core concerns in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. This seminar is designed to focus on two lines of argument that are widely considered to be the most powerful in current debates over theism: the teleological argument for theism based on the fine-tuning of physics and the argument for atheism based on the problem of evil.

The course will be broken roughly into three parts: the first will ensure a sufficient grounding in the contemporary landscape of philosophy of religion, reviewing major arguments for and against the existence of God; the second will look closely at the fine-tuning argument; and the third will focus on the problem of evil, focusing specifically on appeals to free will. I will be using multiple papers and the following three books:

• C. Stephen Layman (2007) Letters to Doubting Thomas
• James Waller (2019) Cosmological Fine-Tuning.
• Laura Ekstrom (2021) God, Suffering and the Value of Free Will

Students will be required to provide regular contributions to a Canvas discussion board, make one presentation to the class, write one shorter paper and one longer (conference-sized) paper. Readings may vary depending on student interest, and I welcome student suggestions of material we might read for the course.

Syllabus