| List of Courses Taught at Washington and Lee
University: Note: Each syllabus consists of two main
pages, the home or syllabus page, and the reading schedule which is
linked from the home page. Only the most recent syllabus is linked.
PHIL 102 - Problems of Philosophy
(Fall)
This course has two main
goals: first, to cultivate students’ critical attitude towards reading,
writing, and daily life; second, to engage students with primary
philosophical texts. Plato, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Peirce, Russell,
Paley, Perry, Sagan, Ayer, Chisholm, and Dennett are among the authors I
have used. Each week students are responsible for readings and reading
questions to be answered out of class or in small in-class groups. These
assignments are designed to develop critical writing and thinking
skills, focus students’ reading, and prompt students to actively engage
the text prior to lecture and open discussion. Essay exams or short
papers are used for assessment.
Sample syllabus.
PHIL 106 - Introduction to Logic
(Fall, Winter)
In this course students are introduced to the concepts of logical
truth, logical equivalence, validity, etc. Students learn to apply these
concepts through the use of formal languages for truth-functional and
quantificational logic, truth tables, and formal derivations. Students
are encouraged to work together and approach the board to explain their
solutions. Students responsible for quizzes and exams.
Sample syllabus.
PHIL 180 — Freshman
Seminar: Science, Nature, Self, and Culture (Fall 07, 08)
Evolutionary theory, genetics, psychology, and neuroscience — all
have transformed and continue to transform how we understand what it
means to be human and lead a good, ethical life. This seminar examines
philosophical questions raised by these disciplines as we think about
human nature, morality, and the place of science and technology in
culture.
Sample Syllabus.
PHIL 205 - Philosophy of Language
(Alternate Winters)
Survey course covering authors such as Frege,
Russell, Strawson, Austin, Searle, Grice, Kripke, Putnam, Pierce, Saussure,
Wittgenstein, Whorf, Quine, Fodor,
Davidson, Chomsky, Cowey, etc.; and issues such as reference, meaning, truth,
speech acts, private language, innateness, the evolution of language,
etc.
Sample Syllabus.
Phil 206 - Problems in Logic
(Spring 07)
This course covers some elementary metatheory of first order logic,
including naive set theory, first order completeness, undecidability,
Gödel incompleteness, various paradoxes. We also cover alternate logics,
including modal logic, deontic logic, relevance logic, etc.
Sample Syllabus.
PHIL 255 - Philosophy of Science
(Alternate Winters)
This course is a survey of issues in the field,
including the demarcation problem; creationism and the status of evolutionary
theory; the natures of values, objectivity, and rationality in science; the
problem of induction and the nature of evidence; the natures of explanation
and laws; realism and its opponents. Authors read include: Popper, Kuhn,
Lakatos, Thagard, Laudan, McMullin, Longino, Okruhlik, Duhem, Quine, Hempel,
Carnap, Feyerabend, Kitcher, Nagel, Fine, et al.
Sample syllabus.
PHIL 313 - Philosophy of Mind
(Fall)
This course focuses on classical and contemporary issues in the
philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Issues addressed include
mind-body dualism of various types, materialism, eliminativism, modes of
psychological explanation (folk psychology, behaviorism, functionalism,
eliminativism), the language of thought hypothesis, the natures of
consciousness, intelligence, and intentionality, as well as the
possibility of artificial intelligence and its implications for our view
of ourselves. Competing approaches to these and other issues are
explored with an emphasis on their interconnectedness. Authors read
include Descartes, Dennett, Searle, Fodor, Clark, Churchland, Block,
Jackson, Putnam, Kim, et al.
Sample syllabus.
PHIL 395 - W. V. Quine
(Spring 2003)
An intensive seminar focusing on Quine’s views on meaning,
knowledge, reality, and naturalism.
Sample syllabus.
PHIL 395 - The Churchlands (Spring 04, 06)
An intensive seminar focusing on the epistemology,
philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science of (mainly) Paul and Patricia
Churchland. ’06 version included a class visit and public lecture by
Paul Churchland.
Sample Syllabus.
PHIL 395 - Consciousness, Cyborgs, and the Future of Human Mind (Spring
05, 08)
An intensive seminar focusing on the significance of human-technology
symbionts—cybernetic organisms, cyborgs. We are cyborgs and have been
for millennia. Cognitive integration with technology, extended
cognition, our cyborg nature, is arguably what sets us apart from other
terrestrial creatures. We investigate these and other related issues,
including materialist approaches consciousness, cognition, and the
promising advance of neuroscience. Authors read include Clark, Chalmers,
Dennett, Churchland, Searle, Dick. Films viewed include Memento
(2000); I, Robot (2004); Blade Runner (1982/1991);
Robosapiens (2003).
Sample Syllabus. |