2203 Readings

Readings for January 10 and 12:

  1. Peter van Inwagen, “Objectivity“.  (First 15 pages.)

2.  My notes, “What is required to make the world intelligible?

Readings for January 17 and 19:

3.  David Hume, selections from the Treatise of Human Nature.

4.  Elizabeth Anscombe, “Causality and Determination” (Selection)

(Extra reading, not required) Anscombe, “Causality and Determination” (Full text)

(Extra reading, not required) My notes on causation and determination.

(Extra reading, not required) Bigelow and Pargetter, “Metaphysics of Causation

Readings for January 24 and 26:

5.  William Rowe, “The Cosmological Argument and the Principle of Sufficient Reason

6.  Peter van Inwagen, “The Ontological Argument” (selection)

(Extra reading, not required)  Robert Adams, “Divine Necessity” (selection)

(Extra reading, not required) Alexander Pruss, “The Hume-Edwards Principle and the Cosmological Argument“.

Readings for January 31 and March 2:

7.  William Paley, Natural Theology (selection)

8.  Richard Dawkins, “The Improbability of God” (selection)

9.  Alvin Plantinga, Where the conflict really lies. (selection).

 (Extra reading, not required) Michael Behe, “Molecular Machines: experimental support for the design inference” (selection)

Reading for February 5 and 7:

10.  Peter van Inwagen, “Freedom of the will“, pp. 1-16.

Reading for February 12 and 14:

11.  Harry Frankfurt, “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility

12.  Harry Frankfurt, “Freedom of the will and the concept of a person

13.  Peter Strawson, “Freedom and Resentment

Reading for February 26 and 28

14.  Peter van Inwagen, “Freedom of the will“, pp. 16-25 (the rest)

15.  Robert Kane, “Free Will: new directions for an ancient problem“.

(Extra, not required) Roderick Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self

(Extra, not required) Robert Nozick, Philosophical ExplanationsSelection.

Readings for March 7 and 9:

16.  Daniel Dennett, Elbow Room, Chapter 6.

Readings for March 14 and 16:

17.  Barbara Montero and David Papineau, “Naturalism and Physicalism”, selection.

18. Van Inwagen, “Leibniz’s mill argument doesn’t favour dualism over physicalism“.

(Extra, not required) Barbara Montero, “Russellian Physicalism

(Extra, not required) David Papineau, “The Problem of Consciousness”, selection.

Readings for March 21 and 23:

19.  David Chalmers, “Can Consciousness be Reductively Explained?“, selection.  (N.B. this is a long reading, so only the first section is required, i.e. pp. 1-14.  But read it all if you can.)

20.  Laurence BonJour, “Against Materialism“.  (This is also long reading, so only the sections 1, 2 and 3 are required, i.e. pp. 1-17.  But read it all if you can.)

Readings for March 28 and 30:

21.  Derek Parfit, “Divided minds and the nature of persons

22.  Richard Swinburne, “Personal Identity: The Dualist Theory”.