Below are various materials that I've used to teach throughout the years (2006-present). Feel free to use them as references or for your own courses. Acknowledgement for use of this work is a professional courtesy, and greatly appreciated. Since building these links requires going through lots of old files, this site will be under construction for a while. Please bear with me! If you're interested in any materials that aren't yet available, feel free to email me.
V. Other (Continental, Moral/Social/Political, Philosophy of Math)
A. Informal Reasoning
Argument Reconstruction Sinnott-Armstrong, W. & Fogelin, R. Understanding arguments: An introduction to informal logic. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 51-62. [PowerPoint]
Nolt, J. 1997. Logics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 6-12.Logic & Propositions Copi, I. M. and C. Cohen (2009). Introduction to logic. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 4-9. Deduction, Induction, & Truth Copi & Cohen, pp. 4-9; Khalifa, "Types of arguments" Validity & Counterexamples Nolt, J. 1997. Logics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 6-12. Recognizing & Analyzing Arguments Copi & Cohen, pp. 12-19; Khalifa, "How to read philosophically" and "Common argument forms." Language of Argument I: argument markers, standard form, validity, and soundness Sinnott-Armstrong, W. and R. Fogelin (2009), Understanding arguments: An introduction to informal logic. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 51-62. The Language of Argument II: assuring, guarding, discounting, and evaluative language Understanding Arguments, pp. 62-76,
B. Propositional Logic
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Symbolic language & basic operators | Copi, I. M. and C. Cohen (2009). Introduction to logic. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 315-327. |
| Conditional statements & material implication | Copi, pp. 331-339. |
| Validity & common argument forms | Copi, pp. 346-355. |
| Statement forms & material equivalence | Copi, pp. 357-361. |
| Chains of inference | Nolt, J. 1997. Logics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 79-81. |
| Simple inference rules | Nolt, pp. 82-89. |
| Hypothetical derivations | Nolt, pp. 89-101. |
| Theorems & shortcuts | Nolt, pp. 102-106. |
| Proof of invalidity | Copi & Cohen, pp. 421-423. |
C. Predicate Logic
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Quantifiers, predicates, and names | Nolt, J. 1997. Logics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 161-169. |
| Existential introduction | Nolt, pp. 224-227. |
| Existential elimination | Nolt, pp. 227-232. |
| Universal elimination | Nolt, pp. 233-234. |
| Universal Introduction and Quantifier Exchange Rules | Nolt, pp. 235-240. |
D. Modal Logic
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| The basics | Priest, G. (2008), An introduction to non-classical logic : from if to is. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 20-34. |
| Normal modal logic | Priest, pp. 36-60 (skip 3.7). |
E. Formal Semantics
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| What is meaning? |
Portner, P. What is meaning?... |
| Syntax, pragmatics, and semantics | Kearns, K. (2011), Semantics. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-20. |
| Basics of semantics | Kearns, pp. 24-44; Priest, G. (2008), An introduction to non-classical logic : from if to is. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. xxvii-19 (skip section 1.11). |
| Type theory | Kearns, pp. 57-62. |
| Lambda calculus | Kearns, pp. 62-75. |
| Justification of deduction | Dummett, “The Justification of Deduction.” in Truth and other enigmas. |
A. Scientific Reasoning
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| The scientific method | Copi, I. M. and C. Cohen (2009). Introduction to logic. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 515-536. |
| Problems of induction | Bonjour, L. “Problems of induction”; Achinstein, P. “Hempel’s paradox of the ravens" |
| Discovery vs. justification | Hempel, C. (1966). Philosophy of natural science. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, pp. 3-18; Kuhn. T.S. (1962). Structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-9. |
| Falsifiability | Popper, K. (1963). “Science: conjectures and refutations” pp. 33-59 in Conjectures and refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge. London: Routledge. |
| Mill's methods | Copi & Cohen, pp. 469-514 |
| Inference to the best explanation | Thagard, P. (1978). “The best explanation: criteria for theory choice." Journal of Philosophy 75: 76-92; Lipton, P. (2004) “The causal model” and “Inference to the best explanation,” pp. 30-70 in Inference to the best explanation, 2nd ed. London: Routledge. |
| Critique of inference to the best explanation | Van Fraassen, B. 1989. “Inference to the Best Explanation: Salvation by Laws?” in Laws & Symmetry. Oxford: Clarendon: pp. 131-150. [PowerPoint] |
| Mill's methods vs. Inference to the best explaantion | Rappaport, S. (1996) “Inference to the Best Explanation: Is It Really Different from Mill's Methods?” Philosophy of Science 63: 65-80. |
| Bayesianism | Hacking, I. (2001), pp. 37-78 in Introduction to inductive logic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Talbott, W. "Bayesian Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2006 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2006/entries/epistemology-bayesian/; Salmon, W. (1990). “Rationality and objectivity or Tom Kuhn meets Tom Bayes,” pp. 175-204 in C. Wage Savage, ed., Scientific Theories. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press |
| Critiques of Bayesianism | Glymour, C. (1980). “Why I am not a Bayesian,” pp. 63-93 in Theory and Evidence. Princeton: Princeton University Press. |
| Theoretical models | Giere, R.N., Bickle, J., and Mauldin, R.F. (2006). Understanding Scientific Reasoning, 5th edition. Toronto: Wadsworth Publishing, pp. 1-8. |
| Evaluating theoretical hypotheses | Giere et al., pp. 29-47. |
| Statistical models & probability | Giere et al., pp. 113-144. |
| Basic statistical evaluation | Giere et al., pp. 147-159. |
B. Scientific Realism
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Philosophy of science in a nutshell | |
| Overview | Chakravartty, A. “Scientific realism” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2009 Edition), E. Zalta (ed.) |
| The No Miracles Argument | Putnam, H. (1978), “Lecture II” in Meaning and the moral sciences, International library of philosophy and scientific method. London: Routledge, 18-24. (Skip Sections 3 through 5) |
| Critique of No Miracles Argument | Frost-Arnold, G. (2010), "The no-miracles argument for realism: inference to an unacceptable explanation", Philosophy of Science 77 (1): 35-58. |
| The Pessimistic Induction | Laudan, L. (1981), "A confutation of convergent realism", Philosophy of Science 48 (1):19-49. |
| Structural realism | Worrall, J. (1989), "Structural realism: the best of both worlds?", Dialectica 43 (1-2):99-12. |
| Realist critique of structural realism | Psillos, S. (1995), “Is structural realism the best of both worlds?,” Dialectica 49 (1):15-46. |
| Critique of selective realism | Stanford, P. Kyle (2003), "Pyrrhic victories for scientific realism", The Journal of Philosophy 100 (11):553-572. |
| Realist critique of logical empiricism | Maxwell, Grover (1962), "The ontological status of theoretical entities", in Herbert Feigl and Grover Maxwell (eds.), Scientific explanation, space, and time, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 3-27. |
| Constructive empiricism | van Fraassen, B. C. (1980), “Arguments concerning scientific realism” in The scientific image. New York: Clarendon Press; reprinted in Curd, Martin, and J. A. Cover (1998), Philosophy of science: the central issues. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton. |
| Realist critique of constructive empiricism | Psillos, S. (1999), “Constructive empiricism scrutinized” in Scientific realism: how science tracks truth, Philosophical issues in science. London: Routledge. |
| Critique of the observable-unobservable distinction | Hacking, I. (1985), "Do we see through a microscope?", in P.M Churchland and C.A. Hooker (eds.), Images of Science: Essays on Realism and Empiricism, with a Reply from Bas C. Van Fraassen, Chicago: University of Chicago, 132-152. |
| Entity realism | Hacking, I. (1982), "Experimentation and scientific realism", Philosophical Topics 13:71-88. |
| Critique of entity realism | Resnik, D. B. (1994), "Hacking’s experimental realism", Canadian Journal of Philosophy 24 (3):395-411. |
| Natural ontological attitude (NOA) | Fine, A. (1984), "The natural ontological attitude", in Jarrett Leplin (ed.), Scientific Realism, Berkeley: University of California Press, 83-107. |
| Realist critique of NOA | Musgrave, A. (1989), "NOA's Ark--Fine for Realism", Philosophical Quarterly 39 (157):383-398. |
C. Underdetermination
A. The analysis of knowledge
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Defining knowledge | |
Gettier, E. L. (1963). "Is justified true belief knowledge?" Analysis 23(6): 121-123. |
|
| Epistemologists' methodology | Ludwig, K. (2013), "Methods in analytic epistemology", in M. Haug (ed.), Philosophical methodology: the armchair or the laboratory?, London: Routledge, 217-240. |
| Problems of Knowledge | Pollock, John L., and Joseph Cruz. 1999. Contemporary theories of knowledge. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, Ch.1. [PowerPoint] |
B. Skepticism
1. Pyrrhonian skepticism
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Ancient (Pyrrhonian) Skepticism | Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrronhism, Book I, i-xv [PowerPoint]; |
| Pyrrhonian critique of foundationalism | Fogelin, R. (1994), Pyrrhonian reflections on knowledge and justification. New York: Oxford University Press, Ch.7. [PowerPoint] |
| Pyrrhonian critique of coherentism | Fogelin, R. (1994), Pyrrhonian reflections on knowledge and justification. New York: Oxford University Press, Ch.8. [PowerPoint] |
2. Cartesian skepticism |
|
| Descartes' Skepticism | Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (Meditations 1 and 2) [PowerPoint] |
| Contemporary Cartesian Skepticism | Stroud, B. (1984), “The problem of the external world,” in The Significance of Philosophical Skepticism. Oxford, Clarendon Press: ch.1. reprinted in E. Sosa and J. Kim (eds.), (2000), Epistemology, An Anthology, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 6-23. |
| Contemporary responses to skepticism (comprehensive review) | Pritchard, D. (2002), "Recent Work on Radical Skepticism", American Philosophical Quarterly 39 (3): 215-257. [PowerPoint] |
| Neo-Moorean response to skepticism | Greco, John (2007), “External World Skepticism,” Philosophy Compass 2 (4): 625-636. |
| Critiques of Neo-Mooreanism | Stroud, B. (2000), "Understanding Human Knowledge in General" in Understanding Human Knowledge: Philosophical Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press: Ch.8. [PowerPoint] |
| Contextualist solutions to skepticism | DeRose, K. "Skepticism & knowledge attributions" |
| Contextualism: pro & con | Conee, Earl and Cohen, Stewart. (2013). “Is Knowledge Contextual?” In Steup, Matthias, John Turri, and Ernest Sosa, eds., Contemporary debates in epistemology. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 60-84. |
| Explanationist response to skepticism: pro & con | Vogel, Jonathan and Fumerton, Richard (2013). “Can skepticism be refuted?” In Steup, Turri, and Sosa, pp. 107-132. [PowerPoint] |
| Neopragmatist response to skepticism | Williams, M. (1988). “Epistemological Realism and the Basis of Scepticism” Mind 97 (387): 415-439. |
C. Theories of justification
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Epistemic rationality & the structure of justification | Pritchard, Duncan (2013), What is this thing called knowledge? London: Routledge, “The Structure of Knowledge” and “Rationality” |
| Foundationalism | Pollock, John L., and Joseph Cruz. 1999. Contemporary theories of knowledge. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, Ch.2. [PowerPoint] |
| Coherentism | Pollock & Cruz, Ch.3. [PowerPoint] |
| Externalism: Reliabilism | Pollock & Cruz, Ch. 4, Sections 1,4, and 5. [PowerPoint] |
| Probabilism & Bayesianism | Pollock & Cruz, Ch.4, Sections 1-3. [PowerPoint] |
| Epistemic Norms (Critique of Externalism) | Pollock & Cruz, Ch. 5 [PowerPoint] |
| Internalism vs. Externalism | Greco, John and Feldman, Richard (2014). “Is justification internal?” In Steup, Turri, and Sosa, pp. 324-350. |
| Epistemology & Rationality | Pollock & Cruz, Ch. 6 [PowerPoint] |
| Internal coherence | Lehrer, K. 2000. Theory of Knowledge. 2nd ed. Oxford: Westview Press. [PowerPoint] |
| Coherence and truth | Lehrer |
| Isolation objection | Conee, E. “Isolation and Beyond” |
| Reliabilism | Goldman, A. “Discrimination and perceptual knowledge” |
| Internalist critique of reliabilism | Lehrer, Ch. 8 |
| Neopragmatist critique of reliabilism | Brandom, R. “Insights and Blindspots of Reliabilism” |
D. Epistemic relativism
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Preliminaries | Boghossian, P. (2006), Fear of knowledge: against relativism and constructivism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Ch. 1-2 |
| Defense of epistemic relativism | Boghossian, Ch.5. |
| Critique of epistemic relativism | Boghossian, Ch.6. |
| Another critique of epistemic relativism | Boghossian Ch.7. |
| Kuhn and epistemic relativism | Kuhn, T. "Objectivity, Value Judgment, and Theory Choice" in The essential tension: selected studies in scientific tradition and change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. |
| Rational explanations of belief | Boghossian, Ch. 8. |
A. Realism & antirealism
Topic |
Recommended Readings |
| Core questions |
Brock, S., and E. D. Mares (2007), Realism and Anti-realism, Central Problems of Philosophy. Montreal: McGill Queens University Press, Ch.1. |
| Defense of realism | Devitt, Michael (1997), “Why be a common sense realist?” in Realism and truth. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 60-82. |
| Existence: overview | Brock and Mares, Chapter 2. |
| Ontological commitment | Quine, W.V.O. (1948), "On what there is", The Review of Metaphysics: 21-38. |
| Critique of parsimony arguments | Thomasson, A. (2007), “Parsimony and ontological commitment” in Ordinary Objects. Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
| Independence: overview | Brock and Mares, Chapter 3 |
| Idealism | Brock and Mares, Chapter 4 |
| Kantianism | Brock and Mares, Chapter 5 |
| Kantianism & relativism | Putnam, H. (1992), “Relativism” in Realism with a human face. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: 18-29. |
| Relativism defended | Rorty, Richard (1993), "Putnam and the relativist menace", Journal of Philosophy 90 (9): 443-461. |
| Critique of relativism | Boghossian, P. (2006), “Relativizing the facts” in Fear of knowledge: against relativism and constructivism. Oxford: Clarendon Press. |
A. Continental Philosophy
What is continental philosophy? Critchley, S. Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phenomenology & the sciences What is phenomenology? Sokolowski, R. An Introduction to Phenomenology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-65.
Phenomenological method Why does phenomenology matter? Being and Time, Part I Heidegger, M. Being and Time, Part I
Being and Time, Part II Being and Time, Part V Adorno vs. Husserl Habermas vs. Heidegger Habermas, J. Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, “The Undermining of Western Rationalism Through Metaphysics: Martin Heidegger”
Critical theory: introduction Dialectic of enlightenment Habermas vs. Horkheimer-Adorno Habermas' metaphilosophy Postructuralism: introduction “Structuralism” in Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy; Foucault, “Critical Theory/Intellectual History”
Foucault on power Habermas vs. Foucault Foucault vs. Habermas More on enlightenment Habermas, “Taking Aim at the Heart of the Present: On Foucault’s Lecture on Kant’s What is Enlightenment?” in C&P
Derrida Derrida-Habermas debate Habermas, “Leveling the Genre Distinction between Philosophy and Literature”; Derrida, “Is there a Philosophical Language?” in DHR
More Derrida vs. Habermas Critchley, “Frankfurt Impromptu”; Derrida “Performative Powerlessness”; Habermas, “How to Respond to the Ethical Question” in DHR
B. Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy
Abortion Moral relativism Consequentialism Hausman, pp. 1-29, “Consequentialism,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Social & political philosophy: introduction Affirmative Action “Affirmative Action” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Egalitarianism “Equality” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hausman, pp. 174-197
Immigration C. Philosophy of Mathematics
Kareem Khalifa