Graduate students can design their own interdisciplinary programs of study in logic, formal epistemology, or philosophy of science under the supervision of faculty in the LPS Research Group. The graduate requirements allow students to substitute appropriate science courses for philosophy courses, with the approval of the Graduate Director. The special interdisciplinary program in Philosophy and the Sciences associated with the former Committee for Philosophy and the Sciences (CPaS) is no longer offered by the Department.


Courses


Logic


Seminar in Logic and Philosophy of Sciences (PHIL 858): Graduate seminar, content varies. Previous seminars include
  • Default Logic and the Theory of Reasons (Horty, 2007)
  • Belief Revision and Belief Fusion (Horty, 2005)
  • Between Meanings and Truth Conditions (Pietroski, 2005)
  • Laws (Morreau, 2005)
Topics in Philosophical Logic (PHIL 478): Methods and results of philosophical logic, the application of logical techniques to the study of concepts or problems of philosophical interest. Content will vary, either treating a particular logical area in detail--such as modal logic, conditional logic, deontic logic, intuitionistic or relevance logic, theories of truth and paradox--or surveying a number of these different areas.

Logical Theory (PHIL 470): This course will treat a selection of the most important topics in modern logic: alternative proof-theoretic presentations of logical systems, completeness proofs for classical propositional and first-order logic, some basic computability theory, basic limitative results (such as Godel's incompleteness theorems), and some results concerning second-order logic. The primary focus of the course is a study of these fundamental topics, but we will also discuss some of the philosophical issues they raise.

Symbolic Logic (PHIL 370): A review of propositional and predicate logic and related topics and an introduction to the semantics and metatheory of first-order logic.

Introduction to Logic (PHIL 170): Development of analytical reasoning skills through study of formal logics, reasoning systems, and fallacious inference patterns.

General Philosophy of Science


Seminar in Logic and Philosophy of Sciences (PHIL 858): Graduate seminar, content varies. Previous seminars include
  • Quantum Mechanics and Metaphysics (Stairs, 2009)
  • Naming, Necessity, and Natural Kinds (Eaker, 2008)
  • Causation (Frisch, 2008)
  • Mechanisms and Evolutionary Theory (Darden, 2007)
  • Quantum Theory: The Everett Interpretation (Bub, 2007)
  • Problems in Metaphysics (Morreau, 2007)
  • Science and Values (Frisch, 2006)
  • Interpreting the Quantum World (Bub, 2006)
  • Laws (Morreau, 2005)
Topics in the Philosophy of Science (PHIL 458): A detailed examination of a particular topic or problem in philosophy of science.

Philosophy of Science I (PHIL 250): Main issues in the philosophy of science. Special attention to the ways scientific developments have influenced the philosophy of science and how philosophy of science has influenced scientific progress. Case studies of selected historical episodes in which science and philosophy have interacted significantly, focusing on the physical, biological, or social sciences.

Philosophy of Physics


Philosophy of Space and Time (PHIL 454): A non-technical investigation of philosophical issues in the foundations of physics. Topics may include traditional philosophical problems of space and time, metaphysical issues about the nature of particles and fields, and philosophical problems associated with the introduction of probability into physics, such as the problem of irreversibility in thermodynamics and the problem of objectivity in quantum theory.

Philosophy of Physics (PHIL 354): An introduction to current issues at the interface of physics and philosophy, associated with our current picture of the physical world as fundamentally quantum mechanical. Topics include the debate between Einstein and Bohr on the objectivity and completeness of the quantum description, nonlocality and Bell's theorem, realism and the measurement problem, irreversibility and the arrow of time.

Philosophy of Biology


Philosophy of Biology II (PHIL 456): Questions about concepts, reasoning, explanation, etc., in biology, and their relations to those of other areas of science. Case studies of selected aspects of the history of biology, especially in the twentieth century.

Philosophy of Biology I (PHIL 256): Issues in the discovery and justification of biological theories and models. Focus on cases from twentieth century biology, such as the genetic revolution or evolutionary theory.
 
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