In this subject we examine some of the central problems that have captivated philosophers throughout millennia, as well as those that scientific advances and cultural changes have only recently brought to our attention. These might include: where did the universe come from? Might a machine think? Is time travel possible? Is it morally acceptable to eat meat, or to design children genetically? Does the world suggest the existence of a designer, a God? Students will focus on examining the merits of the various arguments on these issues, dealing with each philosophical problem for a week. Students will be introduced to most of the major philosophical areas, including epistemology (what can we know?), metaphysics (what is the nature of reality?), ethics, personal identity, and philosophy of mind.
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In this subject we examine some of the central problems that have captivated philosophers throughout millennia, as well as those that scientific advances and cultural changes have only recently brought to our attention. These might include: where did the universe come from? Might a machine think? Is time travel possible? Is it morally acceptable to eat meat, or to design children genetically? Does the world suggest the existence of a designer, a God? Students will focus on examining the merits of the various arguments on these issues, dealing with each philosophical problem for a week. Students will be introduced to most of the major philosophical areas, including epistemology (what can we know?), metaphysics (what is the nature of reality?), ethics, personal identity, and philosophy of mind.
Do we know that others have minds? This lecture considers two main types of response to the “problem of other minds”: those that are inferential in nature and argue that perception of others alone is an insufficient justification, requiring either an argument by analogy, or an inference to the best explanation; those that are non-inferential in nature, advocating either direct perception of others in some core emotions, or the view that certain experiences that we do have (e.g. shame) presuppose the existence of others.
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Philosophical Problems
In this subject we examine some of the central problems that have captivated philosophers throughout millennia, as well as those that scientific advances and cultural changes have only recently brought to our attention. These might include: where did the universe come from? Might a machine think? Is time travel possible? Is it morally acceptable to eat meat, or to design children genetically? Does the world suggest the existence of a designer, a God? Students will focus on examining the merits of the various arguments on these issues, dealing with each philosophical problem for a week. Students will be introduced to most of the major philosophical areas, including epistemology (what can we know?), metaphysics (what is the nature of reality?), ethics, personal identity, and philosophy of mind.
