Metaphysics and Epistemology

Fall 2022 Courses

Undergraduate Courses

PHIL 321 - Being and Knowing

This course explores important questions in metaphysics and the theory of knowledge. Metaphysics examines questions about the ultimate constitution, structure, and reason (if any) for the universe and all that it contains. Theory of knowledge (also called epistemology) examines the nature of knowledge and other desirable ways of believing and finding truth about ourselves and the world. In this course, we’ll look at prominent viewpoints in metaphysics and epistemology, as well as their relation to important contemporary questions in scientific cosmology and the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. Topics will include: the universe as a computer simulation, mind-body dualism, consciousness and the universe, the value of truth, ideal ways of effectively seeking truth, the nature of knowledge, and skepticism.

PHIL 350 - Philosophy of Science

Scientific claims might be objective in several ways; in particular, as being the result of a systematic and intersubjective procedure and as being supported by empirical data.

But science is not value-free. Lots of value judgments are involved in the production of scientific claims, and have to be. In this course, we will clarify what it means that science is not value-free and discuss examples that illustrate this claim.

We will distinguish between different kinds of values that are involved in science and reflect on why some value judgments are necessary to science. Lots of effort have been spent, in philosophy of science, in trying to rescue the value-free ideal of science. The goal of this course is to think about what a value-full ideal of science could be: what are the best ways in which values can be involved in science, what are the best effects that values can have on scientific development?

Course Attributes:

  • UD-B: Physical Life Science

PHIL 610 - Theory of Knowledge

This course will introduce you to influential contemporary approaches to the nature of knowledge. The course focuses on central issues in epistemology, such as epistemic justification, contextualism, and skepticism, with a particular emphasis on the so-called “naturalistic” approach. 

PHIL 621 - Minds, Brains and Computers

Contemporary theories of the mind as a brain process and as a computational process. Foundations and approaches in the cognitive neurosciences.

Course Attributes:

  • UD-B: Physical Life Science

Graduate Courses

PHIL 700 [02]

Seminar in Selected Problems (Topic: Myth of the Given)

Tuesday 4:00 – 6:45 p.m.
Humanities Building 108
Mohammad Azadpur

In this course, we begin with a study of Wilfrid Sellars’s famous attack on the Myth of the Given, followed by the appropriations of his alleged Hegelian project by the so-called “Pittsburgh School”. More specifically, we focus on the inferentialism of Robert Brandom and the neo-empiricism of John McDowell as two possible ways of inheriting from Sellars. We examine the central writings of Brandom and McDowell, their public debates, as well as their receptions by other important contemporary philosophers, such as Richard Rorty, Hubert Dreyfus, Jürgen Habermas, Sabina Lovibund, Akeel Bilgrami, Hannah Ginsborg and Anil Gupta. 

PHIL 828 [01]

Philosophical Issues in Artificial Intelligence

Thursday 4:00 – 6:45 p.m.

Humanities 108

Carlos Montemayor

This course will cover the implications of artificial intelligence for policy, industry, and society at large, including issues concerning social justice. The main question of the course is, in what sense(s) is artificial intelligence “artificial” and “intelligent.” We will explore this issue through the relation of two fundamental capacities of the human mind: phenomenal consciousness and attention. Ethical issues are normative, and the question of how phenomenal consciousness and attention are normative will be analyzed in detail, in the context of analogous questions regarding artificial intelligence.

Related Content

Our M&E Affinity Circle is a group of faculty and graduate students linked by the common interest in areas of Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Modern Philosophy and  Philosophy of Science broadly construed. Our goal is to create and cultivate an inclusive environment where all are valued, included, and empowered to succeed. Our affinity group is a safe space for our colleagues and graduate students to present their ideas and receive feedback, and to provide a setting to get to know one another better.
 

Faculty Leadership:

Arezoo Islami
Patrick Smith 
M&E Affinity Circle
  • PHIL 350 - Philosophy of Science
  • PHIL 351 - Philosophy of Risk
  • PHIL 430 - Topics in Contemporary Philosophy
    • Applicability of Mathematics
    • Transformative Knowledge
  • PHIL 605 - Metaphysics
  • PHIL 610 - Theory of Knowledge
  • PHIL 620 - Philosophy of Mind
  • PHIL 621 - Minds, Brains and Computers
  • PHIL 630 - Philosophy of Language 
  • PHIL 700 - Seminar in Selected Problems
    • Classification and Kinds
    • Embodied Cognition
    • Knowing the Unknown
  • PHIL 805 - Seminar in Metaphysics
    • Cognitive Perspectives on Space and Time 
    • Social Ontology
  • PHIL 890 - Seminar: Current Issues in Philosophy
    • Consciousness
    • Evidence and Reliability
    • Formal Epistemology
    • Philosophy of Experimentation
    • Realism and Naturalism
    • Science and Animal Cognition
    • Science and the Self