This class is an introduction to some classic work in analytic philosophy -- specifically work in metaphysics and epistemology. The primary aim of the class is to teach students how to write and discuss philosophy rigorously and at an advanced level. The secondary aim is for student to gain familiarity with key concepts and ideas that are influential in analytic philosophy. Thirdly, the course will involve work on professionalization, so students should start to gain familiarity with basic research skills and process of developing work submitting to conferences and journals.
Instructor Harjit Bhogal Class Room SKN 1116 Class Time Tue 9:30-12:00
HB Office Hours Friday 9-11 on Zoom, or by appointment HB Zoom ID 663 599 6109 HB Email bhogal@umd.edu
Readings are below. They are all very easily accessible on the internet. Find them!
Apart from the first week you will have a writing assignment each week. For the first few weeks it will be a short piece, either summarizing or raising an objection to one of the readings. Later we will mix in some other types of assignments.
You will also be expected to participate actively every session -- you should come to class having done the reading carefully and be prepared to share your thoughts.
Your grade will be based equally on completion of the writing assignments and participation. Everyone who does the writing and participates well in each session will recieve an A.
Policies relevant to graduate courses are found here. Topics that are addressed in these various policies include academic integrity, student and instructor conduct, accessibility and accommodations, attendance and excused absences, grades and appeals, copyright and intellectual property.
9/2: Ontology
Quine -- On What There Is
Carnap -- Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology
9/9: Necessity
Kripke -- Naming and Necessity, Lectures 1 and 2
9/16: Modal Realism
Lewis -- On the Plurality of Worlds, Chapter 1
9/23: Hyperintensional Metaphysics
Goodman -- Fact, Fiction, and Forecast, chapter 3
Lewis -- New Work for a Theory of Universals
9/30: Grounding
Schaffer -- On what grounds what
Rosen -- Metaphysical Dependence: Grounding and Reduction
10/7: Being a Grad student: Organization and getting things done
https://korman.faculty.philosophy.ucsb.edu/gradschool.pdf https://sites.google.com/view/heatherdemarest/productivity https://sites.google.com/view/eleonoreneufeld/resources https://elisewoodard.org/resources
10/14: FALL BREAK
10/21: Causation and Explanation
Lewis -- Causation
Railton -- Probability, Explanation, and Information
10/28: Levels and Supervenience
Jaegwon Kim, Supervenience and Supervenient Causation
Stephen Yablo, Mental Causation
11/4: Explanation
Strevens, Depth, Chapters 2 and 3
11/11: Knowledge
Nozick, Philosophical Explanations, 3.1-3.2
11/18: Skepticism
Pryor -- The Skeptic and the Dogmatist
11/25: Underdetermination
Van Fraassen -- The Scientific Image Chapter 2
12/2: Social Epistemology
Elga -- Reflection and Disagreement
Christensen -- Epistemology of disagreement: The good news
12/9: Being a Grad student: Conferences and Journals