Phil. 181
Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments Philosophy 181 Spring Semester 2017 Prof. Dowden
	WEEK 1: Ontology and the Origin of the Universe. "Metaphysical Reasoning." (in SacCT within our class' folder called "Reading Assignments within SacCT") "Ontology."Section 1.3 in our textbook by Carroll and Markosian on pages 11-16. "Proof of the Big Bang". "Why is There Something Rather than Nothing?" by Eliot Sober, University of Wisconsin. "Why is There Something Rather than Nothing?" by Lawrence Krauss, Arizona State University. (optional viewing) "Why is There Something Rather than Nothing?" by Tim Maudlin, New York University. WEEK 2: Free Will and Determinism. "What is Determinism?" by Brad Dowden. "What is Determinism?" by Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology. Sections 3.1 to 3.6 in Carroll & Markosian. "Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility," by Harry Frankfurt, Princeton University, Journal of Philosophy, 1969, pp. 829-839.   WEEKS 3-4: Mind and Consciousness. "Mental States," by Neil Campbell, Wilfrid Laurier University. Sections 6.1 to 6.5 in Carroll and Markosian. "Can Consciousness be Non-Biological?" by Rodney Brooks, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Computational Theory of Mind," by Rodney Brooks, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The Chinese Room Argument," by The Open University. "The Mystery of Consciousness: An Exchange," by Daniel C. Dennett, Tufts University, with reply by John R. Searle, U.C. Berkeley, The New York Review of Books. "Reduction, Qualia, and the Direct Introspection of Brain States," by Paul Churchland, U.C. San Diego, The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 82, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 8-28, but read only section III (about Thomas Nagel, New York University) and section IV (about Frank Jackson, Monash University).   WEEK 5: Personal Identity. "To Be," by John Weldon, National Film Board of Canada.. Chapter 5 in Carroll and Markosian.   WEEK 6: Existence and Persistence. "Fallacy of Reification," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Sections 8.12 and 8.13 in Carroll and Markosian. "Nonexistent Objects," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, sections 1, 2 and 3.1 only. (optional reading) WEEKS 7-8: Properties, Universals, Particulars and Tropes. Distinct things appear to share properties; but what are properties and what is the best philosophical account of them? "Universals," by Simon Blackburn, Oxford University. Sections 9.1-9.3 in Carroll and Markosian. "On What There Is," by W. V. Quine, Harvard University, Review of Metaphysics, 1948, pp. 21-38. Sections 9.4-9.6 in Carroll and Markosian.   WEEKS 9-11: Time. "What is a Scientific Law?" by Bas van Fraassen, Princeton University. (5 minute video) Albert Einstein "Time Travel: A Botched Suicide," by Frank Arntzenius, Cambridge University, and Tim Maudlin, New York University. (optional reading) "Time" in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Opening summary and Sections 1 through 9c. No class Thursday April 6 for the Philosophy Department's Nammour Symposium. WEEKS 12-13: The Infinite. "To Infinity and Beyond," by Jim Holt, The New York Times. "How to Count Infinities,” by George Gamow, George Washington University. "Hilbert's Hotel in 60 Seconds,” by The Open University. "The Infinite," in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Read the Opening Summary and sections 1-4. WEEKS 14: Mathematical Objects. "Frege, Hilbert, Godel, and Quine on Mathematical Platonism." "Indispensability Arguments in the Philosophy of Mathematics," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Read the opening summary and section 1. Section 1 (Pre-Theoretic Realism)  in "Realism in Mathematics," by Penelope Maddy, Princeton University. Section 2 (Realism in Philosophy) is optional reading. WEEK 15: Review.   back to the main syllabus PROF. DOWDEN / PHILOSOPHY DEPT. COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS / CSUS The web address of this page is http://www.csus.edu/indiv/d/dowdenb/181/s17/181-s17-schedule.htm updated: May 4, 2017