Fall 2008
Instructor: Brad Skow (follow link for contact information).
Mettings: Th 2-5, room 32-D461 (note room change).
Course Description: The plan is to cover the background on the three topics, and also touch on recent research.
Note on prerequisites: this course is for philosophy graduate students. Anyone else must obtain special permission to enroll.
Student Presentations: Students are encouraged but not required to give an in-class presentation.
Final Papers: Students must submit a draft of their term paper by the end of the semester. Also, please proofread the final draft of your paper for grammatical and typographical errors carefully.
Readings: Either linked below or available on the stellar site.
Visitors: Ned Hall and LA Paul, November 7th.
Note: this is tentative and subject to multiple revisions before labor day.
Recommended Background Reading.
Field, Causation in a Physical World.
Schaffer, The Metaphysics of Causation.
Sept. 4: Introduction; Counterfactual Analyses---the old school.
Lewis, Causation; Postscript.
Schaffer, Trumping Preemption.
Lewis, Causation as Influence.
Teatime, Sept. 4:
Sept. 11: Inspiration from Physics and Biology.
Maudlin, Causation, Counterfactuals, and the Third Factor.
Sober, Apportioning Causal Responsibility.
Sept 18: Structural Equations---the New Hotness.
Hitchcock, The Intransitivity of Causation Revealed in Equations and Graphs.
Hall, Structural Equations and Causation.
Sept 25: Causation and the Sciences of Complex Systems.
Elga, Isolation and Folk Physics.
Strevens, "How are the Sciences of Complex Systems Possible?"
Oct 2: Obligatory Frank Arntzenius Session.
Arntzenius, Reichenbach's Common Cause Principle.
Sober, Temporally Oriented Laws.
Oct 9: From the D-N model to the Causal Theory.
Salmon, Four Decades of Scientific Explanation, excerpt.
Lewis, Causal Explanation.
Oct 16: Non-Causal Explanations?
Batterman, Explanatory Instability.
Sober, Equilibrium Explanation.
Oct 23: Non-Causal Explanations?
Lange, Dimensional Explanation.
Oct 30: Background; Bayesian Confirmation Theory.
Hajek, Confirmation.
Strevens, Notes on Bayesian Confirmation Theory, chapters 6 (except 6.3), 7, 8.
Nov 7 (Friday!): Paul and Hall on Causation.
Nov 13: Susanna on The Problem of Old Evidence; Is Bayesianism too subjective?
Strevens, sections 8.3, 9, and 11.
Nov 20: Brian on prediction and accomodation; Greco on confirmational holism.
Collins, "Against the Epistemic Value of Prediction over Accomodation."
White, "The Epistemic Value of Prediction over Accomodation."
Christensen, "Confirmational Holism and Bayesian Epistemology."
Dec 4: Bootstrapping.
Glymour, "Bootstrapping and Relevant Evidence."
Christensen, "Glymour on Evidential Relevance."
Van Fraassen, "The Perils of Perrin."