SYLLABUS

Week 1

Topic

Reading
T 01/17 Introduction to the class Meditations I & II
Th 01/19 Logic & Informal Fallacies Prof. Keeley’s Guide to Informal Fallacies
Week 2
T 01/24 The Problem Stroud, “The Problem of the External World”
Th 01/26 A Solution Moore, “Proof of an external world”
Moore, “Certainty”
Week 3    
T 01/31 “Externalist” Solution

Robert Nozick, selection from Philosophical Explanations
Gail Stine, “Scepticism, Relevant Alternatives and Deductive Closure”

Th 02/02

Arguments for the existence of God and His place in the universe

Pojman, Anselm & Gaunilo
Palmer, “St. Anselm”
Descartes, Meditation V
Week 4    
T 02/07 More critiques of the arg.

Kant, “Critique of the Ontological Argument”
Haight & Haight, “Ontological Argument for the Existence of the Devil”
Th 02/09 Intelligent Design Arguments William Paley, “The Watchmaker”
Phillip Johnson, “Evolution as Dogma: The Establishment of Naturalism”
Roger White, “Does Life’s Existence Call for an Explanation?”
Week 5  
T 02/14 Responses Listen to Penn Gillette piece on NPR (link on WebCT)
Robert Pennock, “Naturalism, Evidence, and Creationism: The Case of Phillip Johnson”
Th 02/16 The Strange Case of Conspiracy Theories

Brian Keeley, “Of Conspiracy Theories”
Lee Basham, “Malevolent Global Conspiracy”
Week 6  
T 02/21 In-Class Midterm

None
Th 02/23 Why is there something rather than nothing?

Michael Burke, “Introduction to Existence.”
Nicholas Rescher, “On Explaining Existence”
Week 7  
T 02/28 (Continued) Derek Parfit, “Why is Reality as It Is?”
Th 03/02 (Continued) Robert Nozick, “Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?”
Week 8  
T 03/07 Objectivity Richard Rorty, “From Epistemology to Hermeneutics”
Th 03/09 Feminist Epistemology Helen Longino, “Can there be a Feminist Science?”
Week 9    
T 03/14 Spring Break  
Th 03/16 Spring Break  
Week 10    
T 03/21 Consciousness as an argument for dualism

Descartes, Meditation VI
Th 03/23

TBA

TBA
Week 11  
T 03/28 What is it Like? Thomas Nagel, “What is it Like to be a Bat?”
Kathleen Akins, “What is it Like to be Boring and Myopic?”
Th 03/30 (Continued) None
Week 12  
T 04/04 Conceivability Arguments Saul Kripke, Lecture 3 of Naming and Necessity
Th 04/06 (continued) None
Week 13  
T 04/11 Modal Epistemology Peter Van Inwagen, “Modal Epistemology”
Th 04/13 (continued) Peter Kung, “Imaginability as a Guide to Possibility”
Week 14  
T 04/18 Neurophilosophy of Perception Brian Keeley, “Making Sense of the Senses”
Either Peter Ross or Richard Gray response
Th 04/20 Bugbears, Bogeymen & Bizarreness Dennett, “Don’t feed the bugbears”
Wegner, “The Illusion””
Week 15    
T 04/25 Determinism Baron D’Holbach, “Are we cogs in the universe?”
B.F. Skinner, “Freedom & the Control of Men”
B.F. Skinner, “Behaviorism”
Th 04/27 Libertarianism Robert Kane, “The significance of Free Will: Old dispute, new themes”
William James, “The Dilemma of Determinism”
Week 16    
T 05/02 Compatibilism R. E. Hobart, “Free will as involving determination and inconceivable without it”
Stace, “Resolving a Semantic Problem”
Th 05/04 Final Wrap-up None
Finals