12:45-2:00 pm TR @ Building 320, room 220

Branden Fitelson

fitelson@facstaff.wisc.edu (or fitelson@stanford.edu ) --> This is the best way to contact me <--

Building 90, room 92H

3-4 pm T, 3-5 pm W & Th, and by appointment.

We will cover much of the recent literature on (1) counterfactual theories of causation, (2) probabilistic theories of causation, and (3) more recent models of causation based on structural equations (and Bayesian Networks). We will begin with some historical stuff on Humean and other deterministic theories of causation, and then we will move on to (1) and (2). This should take us about 3/5 of the way through the quarter. The last 2/5 (perhaps a bit more than this) of the quarter will be spent on (3).

I will be using our class email list (phil269-all@lists.stanford.edu) to disseminate course information. Please check your email regularly! Students may not post messages to this list. And this list is not for discussion purposes. But, I do encourage students to communicate via email. I will post email addresses for course participants on our class roster page. I have also setup a (usenet) class discussion group. The course discussion group (su.class.phil269) is available through usenet. Click here for instructions on how to read Stanford usenet groups. The discussion group will be an integral part of the course, and its use for facilitating class discussions will be mandatory. See the syllabus and my welcome message to the group for details. All required (and most recommended) readings for the course will be posted on this website (see syllabus). The seminar will make fairly heavy use of the web as a means to facilitate discussion and to distribute materials and information. If this presents a problem for you, please see me immediately.