X3655 Office Hours: Monday 10-11 (RH), Thursday 11-12 (All), Friday 1-2 (All) or by appt

Joe Rouse Spring 2013

Email:---jrouse@wesleyan.edu Phone: x3655

Office Hours:Monday 10-11 (RH), Thursday 11-12 (All), Friday 1-2 (All) or by appt (RH)
Texts (Broad St.): Harold Morick, ed., Challenges to Empiricism

Wilfrid Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind

Saul Kripke, Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language

Texts (On Line):

Otto Neurath, “The Scientific Conception of the World” (Vienna Circle Manifesto)

W.v.O. Quine, "Language and Truth" (Word and Object, ch. 1)

Wilfrid Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man"

Donald Davidson, "Mental Events"

Daniel Dennett, "True Believers"

Donald Davidson, "Thought and Talk"

Donald Davidson, "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme"

Hilary Putnam, "The Meaning of 'Meaning'"

Robert Brandom, "Freedom and Constraint by Norms"

Robert Brandom, Making It Explicit, pp. 586-601

Huw Price, “Truth as Convenient Friction”

Huw Price and Richard Rorty, “Exchange on Truth as Convenient Friction”

John Haugeland, "Truth and Rule-Following" sections 1-5

John Haugeland, "Authentic Intentionality”

Supplementary Texts on Feminism and Post-Analytic Philosophy:

L. H. Nelson and J. Nelson, eds., Feminist Interpretations of W.V. Quine, 24 hr Olin Reserve B945 .Q54 F46 2003

Sharyn Clough, ed., Siblings Under the Skin (notably papers by Sobstyl on Sellars and Clough on Davidson) — Olin Ebook

L. Antony and C. Witt, eds., A Mind of One’s Own, 24 hr Olin Res HQ1190 .M56 1993

Rebecca Kukla, “Objectivity and Perspective in Empirical Knowledge” E-Res
Selected Commentaries on Reserve or EBook: (This course presumes that students only need to read and think about the primary assigned texts. Experience shows, however, that students will sometimes consult secondary literature for guidance or further exploration. I have thus placed on reserve a few secondary sources that might be useful aids for first approaches to these particular texts, for those who choose to consult them):

Mario de Caro and David MacArthur, Naturalism and Normativity (E-book)

Willem deVries and Timm Triplett, Knowledge, Mind and the Given (Sellars)

Gary Ebbs, Rule-Following & Realism (Quine ch. 2,5; Putnam ch 7, Kripke, ch 1)

Peter Hylton, Quine

Jeff Malpas, Donald Davidson and the Mirror of Meaning

James O’Shea, Wilfrid Sellars

Bjørn Ramberg, Donald Davidson’s Philosophy of Language

2) Two short papers (~5-7 pp. each); topics open, but must be relevant to readings or class discussions.

2a) With permission, students may substitute a term paper (~10-15 pp.) for the shorter papers; to write a term paper, a proposed topic area or issue must be submitted for advice and approval by Monday, April 8, and an abstract or detailed outline submitted for comments by Monday, May 6; otherwise the assignment reverts to the shorter papers. Senior Philosophy majors are encouraged to propose a term paper topic; sophomores need a very compelling case to substitute the term paper.
HONOR CODE: All course assignments are submitted under the Honor Code, as a commitment to the ethos of an academic community. Philosophical work is collaborative, but you must then take responsibility for your own contribution to that common conversation. Reference to or use of published or posted materials outside of the assigned readings must be properly cited. Please include the following pledge at the end of all graded assignments:

In accordance with the Honor Code, I affirm that this work is my own and all content taken from other sources has been properly acknowledged.
Course Expectations: The course material is conceptually challenging. Students should come to class having read the assigned passages carefully, to recognize the central themes and issues being addressed and pick out central concepts and claims. While the instructor will sometimes lecture, class time will often be directed discussion to elicit central issues and arguments. You should come prepared to respond to questions about the material and to pose your own questions. Students are strongly encouraged to reread assigned passages after discussion in class.
SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Th Jan 24 Reading: Otto Neurath, “The Vienna Circle, or the Scientific World-Conception”

Tu Jan 29 Reading: Carnap, "Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology" (Morick) p. 28-46

Th Jan 31 Reading: Quine, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (Morick) p. 46-60

Tu Feb 5 Reading: Quine, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (Morick) p. 60-68

Th Feb 7 Reading: Quine, "Language and Truth" (OL)

Tu Feb 12 Reading: Quine, "Meaning and Translation" (Morick) p. 70-95

Th Feb 14 Reading: Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (OL) p. 1-25

Tu Feb 19 Reading: Sellars, "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (OL) p. 25-40

Th Feb 21 Reading: Sellars, "Empiricism and Philosophy of Mind" I-VII p. 13-64

Tu Feb 26 Reading: Sellars, "Empiricism and Philosophy of Mind" VII-IX p. 64-85

Th Feb 28 Reading: Sellars,"Empiricism and Philosophy of Mind" X-XVI p. 85-117

Tu Mar 5 Reading: Davidson, "Mental Events" (OL)

Th Mar 7 Reading: No new reading; reread "Mental Events"

F Mar 8 Assignment: EXPOSITORY ESSAY DUE BEFORE BREAK

SPRING BREAK

Tu Mar 26 Reading: Dennett, "True Believers" (OL)

Th Mar 28 Reading: Davidson, "Thought and Talk" (OL)

Tu Apr 2 Reading: Davidson, "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme" (OL)

Th Apr 4 Reading: Davidson, "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme"

M Apr 8 Assignment: TERM PAPER TOPIC APPLICATIONS DUE, 5 p.m.

Tu Apr 9 Reading: Putnam, "The Meaning of Meaning" (OL) p. 215-245

Topic: Natural Kinds and Semantic Externalism

Th Apr 11 Reading: Putnam, "The Meaning of Meaning" (OL) p. 245-271

M Apr 15 Assignment: FIRST OPEN-TOPIC PAPER DUE 9 a.m.

Tu Apr 16 Reading: Kripke, "The Wittgensteinian Paradox," Kripke p. 7-62

Th Apr 18 Reading: Kripke,86-113; Brandom,"Freedom and Constraint by Norms" parts I-II Topic: Facts and Normativity

Tu Apr 23 Reading: Brandom, "Freedom & Constraint... " part III (and re-read earlier parts)

Topic: Normativity, Freedom, and Constraint

Th Apr 25 Reading: Brandom, Making It Explicit, (OL) p. 586-601

Tu Apr 30 Reading: Price, “Truth as Convenient Friction” (OL)

Th May 2 Reading: Haugeland, "Truth & Rule-Following" (OL) sect 1-5, &"Authentic Intentionality” (OL)

M May 6 Assignment: Abstract or outline of term paper topics due on Moodle, noon