PHIL 241
Contemporary Metaphysics Spring 2023
Division II
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Class Details

Our focus in this class is going to be on the nature of causation. We make causal judgments constantly in our everyday lives and in scientific contexts. It turns out, however, to be surprisingly difficult to say what causation is. We will begin the course by looking at Hume’s and Kant’s discussion of causation. We will then turn to a variety of more recent attempts to give a clear characterization of causation. In addition to examining general accounts of causation, we will examine particular problems that come up in thinking about mental causation and causation in indeterministic contexts.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 10-15
Class#: 3970
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: one 10 page midterm paper and one 15 page final paper which will involve draft and revision, possible short response papers, and active participation in seminar
Prerequisites: one PHIL course; familiarity with formal logic helpful but not required; or permission of instructor
Enrollment Preferences: Philosophy Majors
Distributions: Division II
Attributes: PHIL Contemp Metaphysics + Epistemology Courses

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