The Nature of Reason
Course 80-150
Fall
2000
The following syllabus is tentative, and only a rough outline. Most topics will overlap lectures. You will receive precise reading assignments in the weekly handouts. The syllabus will be posted on http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/syllabus1.html and the assignments will all be reachable over the internet from the syllabus.
Instructor: Peter Spirtes
135D BH
x88460
Office Hours: M, W: 10:30-12:00, or by appointment
Grader: David Meieran
143 BH
x8148
Office Hours: T 12:30-1:30, or by appointment
Textbooks: Thinking Things Through by Clark Glymour
Classics Of Western Philosophy, ed. by Cahn
Grading: 33% homework, 33% midterm, 33% final
8/28 Monday Overview and Example: Euclid’s geometry
Reading: TTT: Preface, and Chapter 1, pp. 3-15
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment1.html
8/30 Wednesday Examples: The existence of God, Reasoning about the Infinite
Reading: TTT: Chapter 1
Anselm,
excerpts from Proslogion (and
Guanilo’s Reply)
Aquinas, excerpts from Summa Theologica
Spinoza,
excerpts from The EthicsAncient
Philosophy
9/6 Wednesday Reading: TTT, Chapter 2, to p. 43
Plato,
Meno, and excerpts from The Republic
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment2.html
9/11 Monday Aristotle’s theory of logic and science
Reading: TTT, Chapter 2
Aristotle, excerpts from Categories, Physics, and
Metaphysics
9/13 Wednesday Ideas and combinations
Reading: TTT, Chapter 3
Hobbes, excerpts from Leviathan
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment3.html
9/18 Monday Ideas and combinations
Reading: TTT, Chapter 3
Descartes,
excerpts from Meditations on First
Philosophy
9/20 Wednesday Ideas and combinations
Reading: TTT, Chapter 3
Leibniz, excerpts from Monadology
9/25 Monday Boole’s theory of logic
Reading: TTT, Chapter 4
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment4.html
9/27 Wednesday Frege’s theory of logic
Reading: TTT, Chapter 5
10/2 Monday The rise of the scientific method
Reading: TTT, Chapter 7
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment5.html
10/4 Wednesday Hume’s skepticism
Reading: TTT, Chapter 7
Hume, excerpts from An Inquiry Concerning Human
10/9 Monday Understanding Probability
Reading: TTT, Chapter 8, to page 206
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment6.html
10/11 Wednesday Bayesian solutions
Reading: TTT, the rest of Chapter 8
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/study.html
10/16 Monday (midterm exam)
10/18 Wednesday Understanding Probability
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/prob.pdf
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/time.pdf
10/25 Wednesday Understanding Probability
Reading: Handout
10/30 Monday Kant
Reading: TTT, Chapter 9, to page 228
Kant,
excerpts from Critique of Pure Reason
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment7.html
11/1 Wednesday Kant
Reading: TTT, rest of Chapter 9
Kant,
excerpts from Critique of Pure Reason
11/6 Monday Modern philosophy of science
Reading: TTT, Chapter 10 to 266
Part III: Mind and Computation
11/8 Wednesday Modern philosophy of science
Reading: TTT, Chapter 10 to 266
11/13 Monday Theories of mind
Reading: TTT, Chapter 11
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment8.html
11/15 Wednesday Questions about the nature of mind
Reading: TTT, Chapter 11
11/20 Monday The theory of computation
Reading: TTT, Chapter 12
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/compute.pdf
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/Assignment9.html
11/27 Monday Undecidability and incompleteness
Reading: TTT, Chapter 12
11/29 Wednesday Undecidability and incompleteness
Reading: TTT, Chapter 12
12/4 Monday The Computational Theory of Mind
Reading: TTT, Chapter 13
12/6 Wednesday The Computational Theory of Mind
Reading: TTT, Chapter 13
12/11 Monday Summary and Conclusion
Reading: TTT, Chapter 13
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ps7z/study2.html