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Current Courses (W20)
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If you are a UM student and have questions about enrolling in one of the courses below, feel free to email me for more information!
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Introduction to Metaphysics: Art and Ontology (Phil 298) -- This an introductory survey course that — in collaboration with UMMA — uses art objects to explore some of the core questions of analytic metaphysics. For example, how many objects do we encounter in Endless Line Series II 6 Holes by Hatakeyama Norie? Is the art work just the box or does it include the flat material used to construct it? What about the holes named in the title? Are they “absences”, or things? Students will consider this and other works on display in the special collection as case studies, to better understand central debates in metaphysics. This course was selected for the UMMA Curriculum/Collection project.
Modal Logic (Phil 416) -- Modal logics extend the languages of propositional and predicate logic with modal operators, and have equipped philosophers to formalize a huge range of questions about metaphysical possibility, knowledge and belief, obligation and permission, provability, determinacy and indeterminacy, and more. This course will focus on developing technical familiarity with systems of propositional and quantified modal logic and exploring some of their applications in philosophy. (The overall emphasis will be slightly more on the fun of the technical methods and metatheory than on their philosophical applications, but those with interest in the philosophical applications will hopefully still find the course useful!)
Modal Logic (Phil 416) -- Modal logics extend the languages of propositional and predicate logic with modal operators, and have equipped philosophers to formalize a huge range of questions about metaphysical possibility, knowledge and belief, obligation and permission, provability, determinacy and indeterminacy, and more. This course will focus on developing technical familiarity with systems of propositional and quantified modal logic and exploring some of their applications in philosophy. (The overall emphasis will be slightly more on the fun of the technical methods and metatheory than on their philosophical applications, but those with interest in the philosophical applications will hopefully still find the course useful!)
Past Courses
Honors Introduction to Logic (F20) -- A fast-paced introduction to propositional and predicate logic, with emphasis on developing familiarity with formal systems.
Introduction to Philosophy (W20, F20) -- A introductory philosophy course covering personal identity, moral responsibility, transformative experiences and hard decisions, moral and epistemic partiality, skepticism, and trust. In lieu of more traditional course papers, students responded to questions submitted to a (fictional) philosophical advice column. In advance of Fall 2020, I worked with Angela Sun to expand the online-only version of this course, supported by a Rackham Supplemental Block Grant for PhD Student Engagement. As a part of this project, Angela built a huge resource bank for introductory courses (available here) and developed the asynchronous MultiTrack Assignment (Angela's version here). I am working with Laura Soter to develop a version of this course with an outreach component, in partnership with Michigan's Philosophy With Kids program. (COVID-pending)
Revisionary Ontology (W19) -- (Syllabus) Graduate seminar in metaphysics surveying contemporary debates in ontology by focusing on the weird, radical, and revisionary theories they sometimes give rise to. Students were given options to complete assignments from a number of different categories (writing referee reports, creating syllabi, writing for a public audience, etc). These assignments are described in more detail in the Short Assignment Guide.
Introduction to Philosophy (W20, F20) -- A introductory philosophy course covering personal identity, moral responsibility, transformative experiences and hard decisions, moral and epistemic partiality, skepticism, and trust. In lieu of more traditional course papers, students responded to questions submitted to a (fictional) philosophical advice column. In advance of Fall 2020, I worked with Angela Sun to expand the online-only version of this course, supported by a Rackham Supplemental Block Grant for PhD Student Engagement. As a part of this project, Angela built a huge resource bank for introductory courses (available here) and developed the asynchronous MultiTrack Assignment (Angela's version here). I am working with Laura Soter to develop a version of this course with an outreach component, in partnership with Michigan's Philosophy With Kids program. (COVID-pending)
Revisionary Ontology (W19) -- (Syllabus) Graduate seminar in metaphysics surveying contemporary debates in ontology by focusing on the weird, radical, and revisionary theories they sometimes give rise to. Students were given options to complete assignments from a number of different categories (writing referee reports, creating syllabi, writing for a public audience, etc). These assignments are described in more detail in the Short Assignment Guide.