This page contains syllabi, lecture notes, homework assignments, study questions, and some reading materials for past, present, and future classes I am teaching.

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145 Philosophy of Science (Link active now!)

What is science and what distinguishes it from "pseudoscience"? What is the "scientific method", if there is any, and on what basis can it claim to ensure the objectivity of scientific results? How does science explain our observations and experiences? Does scientific knowledge progressively grow in a linear fashion or is its evolution dominated by radical revolutions? Are the scientists' grounds for rejecting an old idea and for replacing it with a novel theory completely rational and logically reconstructible or are they substantially influenced by irrational factors? Do scientific theories give literally true accounts of the world as it is, or should we regard even the most elaborate and well-confirmed theory merely as a useful tool to systematize our experience?

285 Heat, Time and Roulette Wheels (Link active now!)

In this course we will learn about the philosophical foundations of statistical physics. We will tackle philosophical questions such as the nature of theory reduction, the direction of time, the interpretation of probability in natural science, and more. The primary focus will be on issues squarely within philosophy of physics, but given the nature of the subject, philosophers with more general interests may also wish to attend. For example, philosophers interested in reductionism may be interested in the closest thing to a reduction, the putative reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics; the material on probability in natural selection and games of chance may interest philosophers of biology and others; and philosophers interested in the nature of time will be interested in better understanding what if anything follows from one of the more pervasive temporally asymmetric processes in the world. Various topics in the history of science, especially 19th century science, will also be considered.

14 Introduction to Philosophy: Metaphysics, Winter Quarter 2009

This link is not active yet. Come back in December 2008.

15 Introduction to Philosophy: Theory of Knowledge, Spring Quarter 2009

This link is not active yet. Come back in March 2009. For an older version of this course, see below. I plan to overhaul the course significantly.

146 Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Mechanics, Winter Quarter 2009

This link is not active yet. Come back in December 2008. Unlike the spacetime version I taught in Fall 2007, this course will be on the foundations of quantum mechanics. How much technical background is needed for this course? The course is self-contained in the sense that all the physics necessary for doing well in the course will be taught in class. Many humanities majors, for instance, have excelled in earlier versions of this course.

246 Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Mechanics, Spring Quarter 2009

This link is not active yet. Come back in March 2009. This will be a graduate seminar on similar topics as Phil 146 just above. Prerequisites: Phil 146 just above or equivalent qualification.

12 Logic and Decision Making (Fall 2007)

15 Theory of Knowledge (Spring 2007)

87 Freshman Seminar: Paradoxes (Fall 2007)

145 Philosophy of Science (Winter 2007)

This course is no longer online; go to the more recent version above.

146 Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time (Fall 2007)

285 Philosophy of Space, Time, and Spacetime (Spring 2007)

Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics (upper-division), Summer Semester 2006

This class introduced and discussed the most important contemporary debates in the philosophy of physics. The first part treated the philosophical foundations and consequences of relativity theory, both special and general. In particular, we have covered some philosophy of space and time, the geometry of our universe and the interpretation of general relativity. The second part turned to foundational issues in statistical physics and thermodynamics, particularly the issue of finding a direction of time based on statistical physics. The third and longest part addressed the foundations of quantum mechanics. Most importantly, we looked at the measurement problem and the interpretation of quantum mechanics, as well as at the non-locality of quantum-mechanical systems, the EPR-experiment and Bell`s inequality. The fourth and last part raised what is arguably the most pressing philosophical issue in cosmology: the anthropic principle and its role, its justification, and its consequences.

Einstein 1905 (upper-division), Summer Semester 2005

UNESCO declared 2005 as the "World Year of Physics". The reason for the particular choice of 2005 can be found in Albert Einstein`s "annus mirabilis" of 1905. In 1905, Einstein published four ground-breaking scientific articles within less than a year. He later received the Nobel prize for one of these works, although there can be little doubt that his scientific output for the year 1905 alone should have earned him three Nobel prizes! The class focused on reading these original articles as well as some secondary literature chosen such that the student was able to understand the main innovations of the original works. The last three meetings of the class studied the history of Einstein`s transition from special to general relativity.

Paradoxes (upper-division), Winter Semester 2004/05

In philosophy, a paradox is characterised as an argument which deduces from seemingly acceptable premises by seemingly accceptable rules of inference a seemingly inacceptable conclusion. The resolution of a paradox can thus proceed in three different ways: either we reject at least one of the premises or at least one of the rules of inference, or we accept the conclusion. By exposing inconsistencies in the foundations of a science and by thus explicating the hitherto tacitly held prejudices, paradoxes have often exerted a stimulating influence on the development of foundational issues in many sciences. It was the goal of this class to gain an insight into the mechanisms of philosophical argumentation and the methods of mathematical and scientific reasoning by scrutinising a vast array of paradoxes. These paradoxes included paradoxes of vagueness (sorites), of infinity and countability, of set theory, of statistics and probability, of space and time, of philosophy of language, and of physics and cosmology. P.S. This sentence is false.

Philosophy of Time and Spacetime (upper-division), Summer Semester 2004

What is time? What is space? This course treated these questions and studied some of the answers given in contemporary philosophy. In particular, it emphasised results from the most important physical theories of the (early) twentieth century, i.e. relativity theory and quantum mechanics, and how they constrain the range of possible notions of space and time.

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