Proseminar (Fall 2015 | Rutgers | Philosophy)

Time/Location:

Tuesdays, 9:50 – 12:50
106 Somerset St., 5th floor seminar room

Instructors:

Frankie Egan
Branden Fitelson

Description:

Philosophy proseminar, geared toward first-year graduate students in philosophy at Rutgers.
We will study several key debates in philosophy of mind and epistemology.

Requirements:

  • class partiticpation (50% of grade)
    • one central "debate" each week (see schedule below)
      • students will serve as "debaters" and also as moderators
      • 15 minute presentations + 15 minute replies, followed by group discussion
    • 2-day mini-conference at end of term (see schedule below)
      • students present their (proposed) term-papers (30 minute talks + 30 miniute group discussions)
  • term paper (50% of grade)

Schedule (subject to change):

 
9/1: Introduction/Overview
9/15:

Skinner, Science and Human Behavior & About Behaviorism (excerpts)
v.
Chomsky, "On Cognitive Capacity"

9/22:

Foley, "The Epistemology of Belief and the Epistemology of Degrees of Belief"
v.
Ryan, "The Epistemic Virtues of Consistency"

9/29:

Fodor, "The Persistence of the Attitudes"
v.
Horgan & Graham, "In Defense of Southern Fundamentalism"

10/6:

Boyd & Nagel, "The Reliability of Epistemic Intuitions"
v.
Alexander & Weinberg, "The 'Unreliability' of Epistemic Intuitions"

Update (2015): Machery et al, Gettier Across Cultures

10/13: Millikan, "Biosemantics"
v.
Fodor, “A Theory of Content: Part 1” & “Deconstructing Dennett’s Darwin”
10/20: Jenkins, "What can we know a priori?"
v.
Devitt, "We don't learn about the world by examining concepts"
10/27:

Clark & Chalmers, "The Extended Mind"
v.
Adams & Aizawa, "Defending the Bounds of Cognition"

11/3:

Baehr, "Knowledge Need Not Be Virtuously Motivated"
v.
Zagzebski, "Knowledge and the Motive for Truth"

11/10:

Byrne, “Intentionalism Defended”
v.
Block, “Mental Paint”

11/17:

Elgin, "Non-Foundationalist Epistemology: Holism, Coherence, And Tenability"
v.
Van Cleve, "Why Coherence Is Not Enough: A Defense of Moderate Foundationalism"

11/24:

Kriegel, "Two notions of Mental Representation"
v.
Rupert, "The Sufficiency of Objective Representation"

12/1:

Mini-Conference: Day 1

  • Pre-reads TBA
12/8:

Mini-Conference: Day 2

  • Pre-reads TBA