Description

This class is an introduction to the central topics of philosophy: logic, knowledge, mind-body relation, moral freedom, and God. In addition to learning what distinguishes philosophy from other disciplines and what makes philosophy worthwhile, here you will develop the skills needed to think analytically and charitably about the central questions of these topics. What is an argument? What makes for a successful argument? What are some effective tools for assessing whether the reasons provided for a claim adequately support that claim? What is knowledge? Is knowledge possible? Does knowledge come from reason or experience? What is free will? Do humans have free will? Is free will compatible with determinism? Are mind and body identical? Are they different entities entirely? Is the mind-body relation like that between software and hardware? What is the nature of God? Does God exist? Is God’s existence compatible with the extreme suffering of innocent creatures? The goal of this course, in effect, is for you (1) to understand the merits and resourcefulness of the various positions on these and related questions, (2) to develop arguments for positions while accommodating the insights of competing positions, (3) to consider objections to your arguments, and (4) to formulate replies to those objections.

Learning Outcomes

•  Acquaintance with common rules of inference (modus ponens, modus tollens, hypothetical syllogism, and so on), the basic concepts of argument evaluation (valid, sound, deductive, and so on), and the basic concepts of philosophy (a priori, a posteriori, teleology, and so on).

•  Understanding of (1) philosophy and its relation to other areas of inquiry, (2) the central topics of philosophy, (3) the central questions involved in these topics, (4) the main competing views on such questions, (5) the main arguments for such views, and (6) the strengths and weaknesses of such views and arguments.

•  Appreciation of the relevance that many philosophical problems may have for each other. For example, what bearing questions concerning God have on questions concerning knowledge.

•  Insight into the philosophical methods employed by contemporary analytic philosophers.

•  Familiarity with the main factors for deciding between metaphysical positions: parsimony, explanatory power, predictive power, commonsensicality, and so on. 

•  Awareness of philosophy as a discipline interesting to study in its own right, not just for the sake of improving one’s power to think analytically, critically, creatively, and charitably.

•  Preparation for (1) courses probing deeper into the topics surveyed here, (2) entrance exams to graduate or professional school (LSAT, GRE, MCAT), (3) careers where reasoning skills are prerequisite for success, and (4) responsible and intelligent participation in community affairs. 

Daily Discussion Questions

Philosophy Day 1: Intro to the course

What are the goals for the course?

How do you succeed in the course?

How will grades be evaluated?

What is philosophy?

Philosophy Day 2: What is philosophy?

What is philosophy (continued)?

What are some misconceptions about philosophy?

What are the branches of philosophy?

Logic Day 1: Deductive Logic #1

What are the basic concepts of logic: premises, conclusion, argument, statements, validity, logical possibility, deduction, induction?

Logic Day 2: Deductive Logic #2

What is a sound argument and how does it differ from an unsound argument?

Logic Day 3: Deductive Logic #3

What are some of the most common valid argument forms?

What is the famous forms method for assessing deductive arguments and what are its limitations?

Logic Day 4: Deductive Logic #4

What are some of the most common invalid argument forms?

What is the counterexample method for assessing deductive arguments and what are its limitations?

Logic Day 5: Inductive Logic

What are the basic concepts of inductive logic: strong argument, weak argument, cogent argument, uncogent argument?

What are some of the most common inductive argument forms and what makes for successful substitution instances of those forms?

Logic Day 6: Logic Test Review

Knowledge Day 1: Traditional Definition of Knowledge

How does propositional knowledge differ from other forms of knowledge?

How does a real definition of a concept differ from a lexical definition of a concept?

How does one go about finding the real definition of a concept?

What is the traditional definition of knowledge and why does it seem to be a real definition?

What is Gettier’s challenge to the traditional definition of knowledge

Knowledge Day 2: Response to Gettier and Skepticism #1

What is the infallibilist response to the Gettier problem and what drawbacks does it have?

What is the defeasibility response to the Gettier problem and what drawbacks does it have?

What is the truth-tracking response to the Gettier problem?

What is the difference between global skepticism and local skepticism?

What are some objections to global skepticism? Are they effectual?

What is the argument from ignorance and what is the rationale behind its premises?

Knowledge Day 3: Skepticism #2

What is the Moorean solution to the argument from ignorance and does it work?

What is the Contextualist solution to the argument from ignorance and does it work?

What is the Truth-Tracking solution to the argument from ignorance and does it work?

Why do most philosophers agree that, even if the argument from ignorance is sound, global skepticism would not follow?

What are the three main strategies to deal with skepticism’s onslaught and how does Descartes carry out one of these strategies?

Why does it seem reasonable to lower the standard of justification down from the evil-demon standard?

Knowledge Day 4: Empiricism #1

What is empiricism?

What makes empiricism attractive as a theory of justification?

What is the theories-of-perception problem for empiricism?

What would be the problem with empiricism adopting naïve realism as its theory of perception?

What would be the problem with empiricism adopting sophisticated realism as its theory of perception?

Knowledge Day 5: Empiricism #2

What would be the problem with empiricism adopting idealism as its theory of perception?

What is the so-called “problem of induction” that empiricism faces?

Knowledge Day 6: Rationalism

What is rationalism?

What makes rationalism attractive as a theory of justification?

What are the main problems for rationalism and how might rationalism respond?

Mind-Body Problem Day 1: Options in the Debate

What is the mind-body problem?

Why is the mind-body problem even considered a problem?

What are the main options in the debate?

What are main forms of dualism and what are the main forms of antidualism?

Mind-Body Day 2: Problems for Dualistic Interactionism #1

Why does it seem that mental-material interaction is impossible if dualistic interactionism is true, and what are some ways that dualistic interactionism might respond to such a problem?

Why does it seem that dualistic interactionism violates the principle of the conservation of energy, and what are some of the ways that dualistic interactionism might respond?

Mind-Body Day 3: Problems for Dualistic Interactionism #2

Why does it seem that the role of the mental in bringing about material happenings is superfluous on dualistic interactionism if physical determinism is true, and how might dualistic interactionism deny this?

Why does it seem that the role of the mental in bringing about material happenings is superfluous on dualistic interactionism if physical determinism is false, and how might dualistic interactionism deny this?

Mind-Body Day 4: Noneliminative Materialism #1

What are the main forms of materialism and how do they differ from one another?

What are the main forms of reductive materialism and how do they differ from one another?

What is identity theory, what are some problems that it faces, and how might identity theory respond?

What is behaviorism, what are some problems that it faces, and how might behaviorism respond?

What is functionalism?

Mind-Body Day 5: Noneliminative and Eliminative Materialism

What are the problems that functionalism faces and how might functionalism respond?

Why does it seem that all forms of reductive materialism fail to account for qualia, and how might reductive materialism respond?

What is nonreductive materialism and what problem does it face?

What is eliminative materialism and what problem does it face?

Mind-Body Day 6: Panpsychism

What is panpsychism?

What makes panpsychism attractive?

What problems does panpsychism face?

Moral Freedom Day 1: Hard Chronological Determinism

What is freedom?

What is determinism?

What is the rationale for each premise of the argument for Hard Chronological Determinism?

Moral Freedom Day 2: Compatibilism

What is compatibilism and how does it respond to the HCD argument?

What are the main arguments for compatibilism?

What is the difference between the main types of compatibilism?

What problems does compatibilism face?

Moral Freedom Day 3: Incompatibilism

What is incompatibilism?

What is the main argument for incompatibilism?

What is the difference between the two versions of the consequence argument?

What are the main problems that incompatibilism faces?

Moral Freedom Day 4: Libertarianism

What is libertarianism and how does it respond to the HCD argument?

What is the difference between simple libertarianism and decision libertarianism?

What are the main problems that these two forms of libertarianism face?

What is agent libertarianism and how does it differ from the two previous forms?

What are the main problems for agent libertarianism and how might agent libertarianism respond?

Moral Freedom Day 5: Hard Chronological Determinism Revisited

What are the main problems for HCD?

How might HCD respond to these problems?

God Day 1: Divine Experience

What is God and what is the proper understanding of the features attributed to God?

How might one argue for the existence of God based on experience?

What are some problems with arguing for the existence of God on the basis of experience?

God Day 2: Cosmological Argument Part 1

What is the Kalam cosmological arguments for the existence of God?

What is the Past-Agnostic cosmological arguments for the existence of God?

What problems do these arguments face?

God Day 3: Cosmological Argument Part 2 and Teleological Argument

What is the necessitarian cosmological argument?

What is the design argument for the existence of God and what problems does it face?

What is the fine-tuning argument for the existence of God and what problems does it face?

God Day 4: Ontological Argument

What is Descartes’s version of the ontological argument, what is the rationale for each premise, and what problems does it face?

What is Anselm’s version of the ontological argument, what is the rationale for each premise, and what problems does it face?

What is the Modal version of the ontological argument, what is the rationale for each premise, and what problems does it face?

God Day 5: Cosmo-Ontological Case for the God of Classical Theism

What reasons are there for thinking that there is a self-necessary being serving as the sufficient condition for all of reality?

What reasons are there for thinking that a self-necessary being serving as the sufficient condition for all of reality has the most perfect collection of whatever attributes of perfection there are?

What reasons are there for thinking that a self-necessary being serving as the sufficient condition for all of reality has the attributes commonly ascribed to the God of classical theism?

God Day 6: Problem of Suffering

Why does the existence of suffering seem to serve as evidence against the existence of God?

What are some of the common theodicies and what problems do they face?

What is Pascal’s Wager and what are some problems that it faces?