PHIL

Einstein’s revolutions in physics led to fundamental changes in how we understand the universe. Among other things, we seem to have learned from Einstein about the existence of black holes and gravitational waves, that time is not absolute but relative, that the universe is expanding, that gravity is not a force. But how is someone who doesn't know much physics to figure out if this or that moral really is vindicated by Einstein's work? This course covers just enough of Einstein's work at an elementary level to help answer such questions. High school math is required but we will provide an understanding of special and general relativity at a conceptual level, without calculations or problem sets. (B)

We will begin by trying to explicate the manner in which science is a rational response to observational facts. This will involve a discussion of inductivism, Popper's deductivism, Lakatos and Kuhn. After this, we will briefly survey some other important topics in the philosophy of science, including underdetermination, theories of evidence, Bayesianism, the problem of induction, explanation, and laws of nature. (B) (II)

This course is an introduction to the central ideas of Wittgenstein--in philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics and logic, philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of religion, metaphilosophy, and other areas of the subject. We will attempt to understand, and to evaluate, these ideas. As part of this attempt, we will explore Wittgenstein’s relation to various others figures—among them Hume, Schopenhauer, Frege, and the logical positivists. (B)

In this course we will explore some of the central questions in epistemology and metaphysics. In epistemology, these questions will include: What is knowledge? What facts or states justify a belief? How can the threat of skepticism be adequately answered? How do we know what we (seem to) know about mathematics and morality? In metaphysics, these questions will include: What is time? What is the best account of personal identity across time? Do we have free will? We will also discuss how the construction of a theory of knowledge ought to relate to the construction of a metaphysical theory-roughly speaking, what comes first, epistemology or metaphysics? (B)

This course will focus on the history and science of the development of AI from the cybernetics movement, to logic and expert systems GOFI period, recommender systems and deep neural networks (both in their initial and contemporary manifestations). Students will learn how these systems actually work, what tasks they were envisioned to be useful for, and what a study of these systems was and is thought to tell us about cognition, intelligence, and the world. In parallel, students will engage with literature in the philosophy of AI that seeks to interpret and challenge the science and rationale of these systems as well as ask and attempt to answer novel questions concerning the epistemology of deep neural networks. Students will also engage directly and philosophically with actual scientific literature that uses artificial intelligence.

This course will examine modern non-Bayesian ways of understanding non-deductive inference. Topics include the problem of induction, Pierce’s theory of abduction, inference to the best explanation, and the general connection between explanation and non-deductive inference. (III)

This course will involve a close reading of the sections devoted to the topic of rule following in two of Wittgenstein’s best known later writings, Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics and Philosophical Investigations, as well an examination of some of the most influential secondary literature on those sections, including texts by Brandom, Bridges, Diamond, Dummett, Finkelstein, Floyd, Goldfarb, Kripke, McDowell, Stroud, and Wright. (III)

This course will provide an advanced introduction to the moral, social, and political philosophies of Kant, Hegel, and Marx. Our guiding theme will be freedom. We will ask: What kind of freedom is required for morality? In what sense, if any, are moral laws self-legislated or laws that we give ourselves? What is the relation between our freedom as individuals and the social world around us? Under what social and psychological conditions are we free, exactly, and under what conditions are we unfree? Are workers in a capitalist society free, for example? And why should we value freedom, anyway? Our main text for the course will be Hegel's Philosophy of Right. (A) (V)

Though unfinished, Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit is one of the most influential contributions to 20th century philosophy. In it, Heidegger proposes nothing less than an exposition (in fact, a restatement) of the question of Being --- a question whose subject matter is inherently intertwined with the concerns and affairs of the inquirer. Systematizing and indeed radicalizing ideas from Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Husserl, Sein und Zeit is at the same a critique of the Western philosophical tradition’s neglect of the Seinsfrage. In this course we will proceed systematically through Sein und Zeit, seeking to understand its basic moves, motivations, and key arguments. (B)

This course is designed to provide MAPH students – especially those interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy – with an introduction to some recent debates between philosophers working in the analytic tradition. The course is, however, neither a history of analytic philosophy nor an overview of the discipline as it currently stands. The point of the course is primarily to introduce the distinctive style and method – or styles and methods – of philosophizing in the analytic tradition, through brief explorations of some currently hotly debated topics in the field.