Grad Seminar Reading Schedule

AUG 30

Course Introduction

SEP 6

Readings on Method

• Jones, "Phenomenological Method"
• Nagel, "What is it Like to Be a Bat?" (recommended if you haven't read it.)
• Dennett, "What it is like to be a bat"
• Haug, "Introduction: Debates about methods: from linguistic philosophy to philosophical naturalism" and first four essays, p. 1-42.

• Haug, "Two Dimensions of methodological debates: methodological naturalism and the fate of armchair methods."
• Timothy Williamson, "What is naturalism?"
• Alex Rosenberg, "Why I am a naturalist"
• Timothy Williamson, "The Unclarity of Naturalism"
• Alex Rosenberg, "Can Naturalism Save the Humanities?"

Review major wiki pages on method

• Philosophical Methodology [1]
• Socratic Method [2]

Introduction to Philosophical Projects:

• Alfino. See my page for this: Alfino Projects. Focus on the first project for this class. Please read the conference paper referenced there and do some browsing on the topic.

SEP 13

Readings on Method

• David Woodruff Smith, "Phenomenological Methods in Philosophy of Mind," 335-352.
• Matthew Ratcliffe, "Some Husserlian Reflections on the contents of experience," 353-378.

• Continue track on either or both: naturalism / phenomenology. With naturalism, we could give Haug a chance, but we can also add in material around him from critics of naturalism, for example. With phenomenology, well, this is just some textbook material. We could look for a more scholarly treatment that focuses on Husserl and also something that starts to tell the story, how existential and hermeneutic phenomenology come about. For each step, we should try to find the latest critical sources with emphasis on methodology. Please look for material and copy me on anything you can find. I have things on these topics, but I would like to use the seminar format to see if we can collectively find better and more recent material. This is also a test of our research skills!

• Let's leave room in the schedule for up to three of you to present on your projects. Check with me on your plan for doing that.

Introduction to Philosophical Projects:

• I can add my project #2 to the schedule if there are not enough grad student presenters yet.

• Philosophical Writing and Style

• Pinker, The Sense of Style, Intro and Chapter 1

SEP 20

Readings on Method

Introduction to Philosophical Projects:

Writing & Style in Philosophy

SEP 27

Readings on Method

Introduction to Philosophical Projects:

OCT 4

Readings on Method

Introduction to Philosophical Projects:

NOV 22

t day pre

DEC 13

last week of semester