For this reason there is variation from one section to another. The course is intended more as a contribution to general education than as an introduction to technical work in Philosophy. This course is taught cooperatively with members of the History Department and students may register for it in either Department. The course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the nature of science and technology and to their place in modern culture. Each year the course will focus on several scientific issues, their historical development, and their Philosophical significance.
Issues vary from year to year.
This course develops tools for dealing with both everyday and more technical arguments and concepts and requires no previous familiarity with either logic or Philosophy. The course will be of interest both to Philosophy students and to others who are interested in sharpening their logical skills and in exploring the nature of reasoning. This course considers the practice of evaluation of arguments by examining the foundations of scientific reasoning. Through many examples, it investigates causal models and the evaluation of causal hypotheses, as well as other models of decision making. The course will be of interest not only to science students, but also to arts students and others who are interested in exploring the nature of reasoning.