Philosophy 100 - Introduction To Philosophy
Fall
2017
04
4.00
Ryan Olsen
TU TH 11:30AM 12:45PM
UMass Amherst
33338
Content varies somewhat depending on instructor; students are encouraged to read the detailed descriptions published each semester on the Department's website. The following are typical. (1) Introduction to philosophical thinking, stressing the formulation and evaluation of logical arguments, with readings from Plato and Descartes, and recent works on good and evil, immortality, and personal identity. (2) Introduction to argument analysis and the interpretation of philosophical texts, with skepticism the central theme; topics include the structure of skeptical arguments, skeptical worries about sense perception and the intellect, and the problem of induction. (3) Introduction to some basic problems of philosophy, including knowledge and scepticism, personal identity, causation, and universals. Readings from Plato, Descartes, Berkeley, Hume, and Russell. (4) Discussion of historically important philosophical issues that continue to be important in contemporary thought, including human knowledge, God and religious belief, mind and body, and human freedom. (Gen.Ed. AL)
Open to Scientific Thinking RAP students in Mary Lyon Hall. PHIL 100-04
See http://www.umass.edu/rap/scientific-thinking-rap
What is the aim of science? Broadly speaking, the answer seems obvious?science seeks out knowledge of the world around us. Yet the obviousness of that answer belies deep, philosophical questions, including:
(1) What is knowledge? What does it take to have it?
(2) What is the nature of the world around us, such that we may come to know it through scientific investigation?
(3) If in principle events can be predicted with startling accuracy?as our best science suggests?then it seems our future actions can similarly be predicted. But if so, do we really have any choice in how we act? Are our actions really free?
(4) How do we, as persons with minds, fit into the world studied by science? Are minds just another part of physical reality, or something else entirely?
(5) Can the scientific method?and so scientific knowledge?be justified? That method rests on the assumption that future events can be successfully predicted from prior observations. But why think that assumption is true? That is, why think the future will resemble the past?
In this course, we'll do three things: we'll explore these and related philosophical questions; we'll consider some of the answers that have been proposed, both old and new; and finally, we'll work together to evaluate and articulate which answers we think are best and why. Along the way, students will develop their abilities to reason cogently and express themselves clearly?two essential skills for college and beyond, whatever one's pursuits.
See http://www.umass.edu/rap/scientific-thinking-rap
What is the aim of science? Broadly speaking, the answer seems obvious?science seeks out knowledge of the world around us. Yet the obviousness of that answer belies deep, philosophical questions, including:
(1) What is knowledge? What does it take to have it?
(2) What is the nature of the world around us, such that we may come to know it through scientific investigation?
(3) If in principle events can be predicted with startling accuracy?as our best science suggests?then it seems our future actions can similarly be predicted. But if so, do we really have any choice in how we act? Are our actions really free?
(4) How do we, as persons with minds, fit into the world studied by science? Are minds just another part of physical reality, or something else entirely?
(5) Can the scientific method?and so scientific knowledge?be justified? That method rests on the assumption that future events can be successfully predicted from prior observations. But why think that assumption is true? That is, why think the future will resemble the past?
In this course, we'll do three things: we'll explore these and related philosophical questions; we'll consider some of the answers that have been proposed, both old and new; and finally, we'll work together to evaluate and articulate which answers we think are best and why. Along the way, students will develop their abilities to reason cogently and express themselves clearly?two essential skills for college and beyond, whatever one's pursuits.