Senior Seminar (3810/6810)

Teachers - Dr. Lau, Professor Hansen, Dr. Martin, Dr. Ci, Dr. Hawley

This is an advanced seminar for undergraduate students and first-year postgraduate students. We shall be reading a list of classic and recent philosophical papers. The aim of the course is to provide an in-depth introduction to philosophical methodology and analytical skills. Students should do the assigned reading before coming to class.

• Assessment: 75% - Writing exercises, 25% - Class participation
• See this page for advice about reading and writing papers.

Provisional schedule

• Dr Lau (2 weeks)
  • Introduction - philosophical style and methodology
  • Hempel - "Problems and Changes in the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning"
  • Study questions on Hempel
  • Writing exercise #1
• Dr Martin (2 weeks)
  • Quine "Two Dogmas of Empiricism"
  • Quine "Epistemology Naturalized"
• Dr Hawley (2 weeks)
  • David Lewis "Elusive knowledge"
  • Keith DeRose "Solving the skeptical puzzle"
  • Excerpts from Jason Stanley (2005) Knowledge and Practical Interests OUP
  • Writing exercise #2
• Dr Ci (2 weeks)
  • "Justice, Incentives, and Selfishness", "Where the Action Is: On the Site of Distributive Justice" Both are chapters from G. A. Cohen (2000) If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? Harvard.
  • Writing exercise #3
• Professor Hansen (2 weeks)
  • Darwall, Gibbard and Railton "Toward a Fin de siècle Ethics: Some Trends"
  • Scanlon "Contractualism and Utilitarianism"