Phil 184: Topics in Metaphysics
UCLA, Fall 2012
Course Information
MW 9-10:50
Public Affairs 1337
Instructor Information
Katie Elliott
379 Dodd
kelliott@humnet.ucla.edu
310.825.7496
Office hours: MW 3-4
Required Text
(i)
The Oxford Handbook of Causation, edited by Helen Beebee, Christopher
Hitchcock, and Peter Menzies. Oxford University Press: 2009.
(ii)
All additional assigned readings are available on our course website:
https://ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/12F-PHILOS184-1
Evaluation
Papers: You will hand in two 6 to 9 page papers during the quarter. Ultimately,
your topic for these papers is up to you, but you will meet with me before writing the
paper so that I may approve your topic. Your papers are due on Monday,
November 5th and Wednesday, December 14th.
PLEASE NOTE: Late papers will be accepted, but you will lose 10% of your paper
grade for every 24-hour period that the paper is late. (For example, if the paper is
due Monday and you fail to hand it in, you have until 9:00 AM on Tuesday to turn it
in for a loss of only 10% of your paper grade, until 9:00 AM on Wednesday for a loss
of only 20%, and so on.) In very special circumstances, paper extensions will be
granted, but you must notify me about your situation before the paper is due, as soon
as it is practical to do so.
Attendance and Participation: Discussion is an essential feature of any good
philosophy course. You will learn much more, and have much more fun, if you’re
actively engaged in class. With the hope of encouraging your involvement in
discussion, I will use your attendance and participation record to make adjustments
to borderline grades.
If there is anything that I can do to make you personally feel more
comfortable interacting during class, do not hesitate to let me know
Conduct Code: In accord with the UCLA Student Conduct Code (available in full
at http://www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu/Code_choice.php), take care to submit only
work that is your own.
Undergraduate Writing Center
The Undergraduate Writing Center offers UCLA undergraduates one-on-one
sessions on their writing. The Center is staffed by peer learning facilitators (PLFs),
undergraduates who are trained to help at any stage in the writing process and with
writing assignments from across the curriculum.
Our Services
Scheduled appointments
 50-minute appointments in A61 Humanities
 30-minute appointments in Reiber 115 (for dorm residents only)
 work in person with a Peer Learning Facilitator (PLF)
Walk-in appointments
 walk-in appointments available in A61 Humanities & Reiber 115
 first-come, first-served
Online Writing Center (OWC):
 50-minute appointments
 submit your paper online, using Google Docs
 discuss your paper with a Peer Learning Facilitator, using Google
Voice Chat
What you should bring to the Writing Center:
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A draft if you have one
Preliminary notes or writing if you don’t have a draft
A copy of the assignment
Instructor or peer comments on your paper
Copies of readings or research related to the assignment.
Locations
A61 Humanities; Mon. – Thurs. 10AM – 6PM; Fri. 10AM – 3PM
Reiber 115; Sun. – Thurs., 7 – 9 PM (for dorm residents only) .
Appointments
Students can walk-in but appointments are preferred. Visit our website:
www.wp.ucla.edu.
Click on “UCLA Writing Center/Make an Appointment.”
Contact
310-206-1320; wcenter@ucla.edu
Reading Schedule
While I will do my best to keep us on the following reading schedule, it is subject to
change (with the following exceptions: paper assignment due dates will never be earlier than
the schedule indicates). At the end of each class, I’ll announce the reading for next lecture.
All readings are either from your book, or are available on our class website.
Topic 1: Theories of Causation
Monday, October 1st
Course Introduction
Wednesday, October 3rd
Chapter 7: Regularity Theories
Monday, October 8th
Lewis, D. (1973). ‘Causation’, Journal of Philosophy 70: 556-67
Wednesday, October 10th
Chapter 8: Counterfactual Theories
Monday, October 15th
Chapter 9: Probabilistic Theories
Salmon, W.C. (1980). ‘Probabilistic Causality’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 61: 50-74; repr. in Salmon
(1988), 208-32
Wednesday, October 17th
Harré, R. and Madden, E.H. (1973). ‘Natural Powers and Powerful Natures’, Philosophy 48: 209-30
Chapter 12: Causal Powers and Capacities
Monday, October 22rd:
Woodward, J. (1990b). ‘Supervenience and Singular Causal Statements’ in D. Knowles (ed.),
Explanation and Its Limits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 211-46
Chapter 13: Anti-Reductionism
Topic 2: Theories of Laws of Nature
Wednesday, October 25th:
Swartz, Norman. (1995). ‘A Neo-Humean Perspective: Laws as Regularities’. Laws of NatureEssays on the Philosophical, Scientific, and Historical Dimensions, ed. Friedel Weinert, pp.
67-91
Armstrong, D. (1983). What Is a Law of Nature?, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 1
Monday, October 29th:
Armstrong, D. (1983). What Is a Law of Nature?, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 2.1-2.3, 2.6-2.7, Chapter 4
Wednesday, October 31st:
Lewis, D., (1974). Counterfactuals, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp 72-77.
------------ (1983). “New Work for a Theory of Universals”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy,
61: 343-377 Laws and Causation Section
------------ (1994) “Humean Supervenience Debugged”, Mind, 103: 473-490 Sections 1 and
3.
Monday, November 5th:
Armstrong, D. (1983). What Is a Law of Nature?, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 5.1, 5.2, 5.4
van Fraassen, B. (1989). Laws and Symmetry, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Chapter 3
FIRST PAPER DUE
Wednesday, November 7th:
Carroll, J., (1994), Laws of Nature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.3
Shaffer, Jonathan. (2008) “Causation and Laws of Nature: Reductionism” in T. Sider, D.
Zimmerman, and J. Hawthorne (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics. Oxford:
Blackwell, 82-107
Monday, November 12th: HOLIDAY
Wednesday, November 14th:
Armstrong, D. (1983). What Is a Law of Nature?, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 6.1-6.3, 6.7
Dretske, F. (1977) “Laws of Nature” Philosophy of Science, 44: 248-268
Monday, November 19th:
van Fraassen, B. (1989). Laws and Symmetry, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Chapter 5.1-5.3 &
5.6
Wednesday, 21st:
Carroll, J. (1990). “Nailed to Hume’s Cross?” in Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics, J.
Hawthorne, T. Sider, and D. Zimmerman, (eds.), Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Topic 3: A Small Sample of Related Issues
Monday, November 26th:
Cartwright, N. (1980). “Do the Laws of Physics State the Facts?” in Philosophy of Science: The
Central Issues, M. Curd & J.A. Cover (eds.) Norton.
Wednesday, November 28th:
Chapter 18: Platitudes and Counterexamples
Monday, December 3rd:
Chapter 20: The Time-Asymmetry of Causation
Wednesday, December 5th:
Wrap up day/ end of class activities/unless I add a reading...
Wednesday, December 14th:
FINAL PAPER DUE