Innate Ideas: I've Had a Few

Here are a couple articles by Steven Pinker that offer some psychological insights on the innate ideas debate we discussed in class:

The Brain’s Versatile Toolbox (1997)

Grammar Puss (1994)

But hey, why read when you can watch a video? With that in mind, here's his appearance on The Colbert Report (the second part is particularly relevant to innate ideas):

Pinker has a few books on this stuff, and a lot of other interesting articles, too.

So Important They Give It Away

The week of February 19th-23rd we'll be going over the debate in epistemology between rationalists and empiricists. Here's an advanced survey article on the debate from my favorite free online philosophy encyclopedia:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Rationalism vs. Empiricism

Yes, there is more than one free online philosophy encyclopedia.

Revised Schedule (Tuesdays/Thursdays)

Hey, Tuesdays/Thursdays classes! We're switching up schedules -- adding a section on Rationalism & Empiricism and a section on Ethics at the end. Here's the new schedule:

February 13—15
Tuesday: Epistemology | Hume & Induction (pages 104—113)
Thursday: QUIZ; Epistemology | Hume Wrap-up & Intro to Rationalism vs. Empiricism

February 20—22
Tuesday: Epistemology | Rationalism: Plato (pages 71—82)
Thursday: Epistemology | Empiricism: Locke (pages 88—96)

February 27—March 1
Tuesday: Does God Exist? | Aquinas & The Cosmological Arg (pages 306—316)
Thursday: Does God Exist? | Taylor & The Cosmological Argument (pages 317—322)

March 6—8
SPRING BREAK!

March 13—15
Tuesday: Does God Exist? | Ontological Argument (pages 337—342)
Thursday: Does God Exist? | Paley & The Design Argument (pages 322—325)
(Reading Response #2 due)

March 20—March 22
Tuesday: Does God Exist? | Hume & The Design Argument (pages 326—337)
Thursday: Does God Exist? | Design Arg Wrap-up & Review for Midterm

March 27—March 29
Tuesday: MIDTERM
Thursday: Does God Exist? | Camus & The Problem of Evil (pages 356—360)

April 3—5
Tuesday: Does God Exist? | Hick & The Problem of Evil (pages 360—372)
Thursday: Faith & Reason | Pascal (pages 342—347)
(Reading Response #3 due)

April 10—12
Tuesday: Intro to Ethics | Plato (pages 400—402 & 408—415)
Thursday: Ethical Relativism | Herodotus & Benedict (pages 415—427)

April 17—19
Tuesday: Utilitarianism | Intro (pages 454—458) & Mill (pages 461—466)
Thursday: Utilitarianism | Norcross (pages 466—472)
(Reading Response #4 due)

April 24—26
Tuesday: Deontological Ethics | Kant (pages 472-484)
Thursday: Deontological Ethics Wrap-up; Intro to Virtue Ethics (pages 490—498)

May 1—3
Tuesday: Virtue Ethics | Aristotle (pages 490-504)
Thursday: Virtue Ethics Wrap-up & Final Exam Review

May 8
Tuesday: FINAL EXAM

Revised Schedule (Mondays)

Hey, Monday Holy Cross class! We're switching up schedules -- adding a section on Rationalism & Empiricism and a section on Ethics at the end. Here's the new schedule:

February 12
-Epistemology | Hume & Induction (pages 104—113)
-QUIZ; Epistemology | Hume Wrap-up & Intro to Rationalism vs. Empiricism

February 19
-Epistemology | Rationalism: Plato (pages 71—82)
-Epistemology | Empiricism: Locke (pages 88—96)

February 26
-Does God Exist? | Aquinas & The Cosmological Arg (pages 306—316)
-Does God Exist? | Taylor & The Cosmological Argument (pages 317—322)

March 5
SPRING BREAK!

March 12
-Does God Exist? | Ontological Argument (pages 337—342)
-Does God Exist? | Paley & The Design Argument (pages 322—325)
(Reading Response #2 due)

March 19
-Does God Exist? | Hume & The Design Argument (pages 326—337)
-Does God Exist? | Problem of Evil Intro & Review for Midterm (pages 356—360)

March 26
-MIDTERM
-Does God Exist? | Hick & The Problem of Evil (pages 360—372)

April 2
-Faith & Reason | Pascal (pages 342—347)
-Intro to Ethics | Plato (pages 400—402 & 408—415)
(Reading Response #3 due)

April 9
-NO CLASS (Holy Cross closed)

April 16
-Ethical Relativism | Herodotus & Benedict (pages 415—427)
-Utilitarianism | Intro (pages 454—458) & Mill (pages 461—466)

April 23
-Utilitarianism | Norcross (pages 466—472)
-Deontological Ethics | Kant (pages 472-484)
(Reading Response #4 due)

April 30
-Virtue Ethics | Intro (pages 490—498) & Aristotle (pages 490—504)
-Virtue Ethics Wrap-up & Final Exam Review

May 7
FINAL EXAM

The Antidote to Humeanism

Do you find yourself obsessed with Hume's question of what could justify inductive reasoning? Boy, do I have a link for you:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Problem of Induction

Or, you could watch a dog puppet insult people waiting in line to see Star Wars:

Triumph vs. Star Wars Geeks

Hmmm... is Triumph justified in concluding that all Stars Wars fans are nerds?

3:30 Class: Room Change

To all the students in the 3:30-4:50 Tuesday/Thursday Philosophy class: we're changing classrooms.

Beginning this Thursday, class will be held in Room 112 of the Technology & Engineering Center (TEC). We'll be having class there for the rest of the semester.

TEC is right next to Laurel Hall at the Mt. Laurel Campus. Here's a map (click on it to enlarge):

NJ = OH Amplified?

Perhaps this is why my vacation to Ohio wasn't that exciting:

John Gorka - I'm From New Jersey
"I'm from New Jersey | It's like Ohio | But even more so | Imagine that"

The"more so" comparison is also used in the design argument for God's existence. We'll be discussing that later on this semester.

Oops. Sorry for turning this into a post about philosophy.

Reading Response #1

The first reading response is due Thursday, February 8th (if you're in a Tuesday/Thursday class) or Monday, February 5th (if you're in the Monday night Holy Cross class). In a 250- to 500-word response, you are to answer the following question:

What does Descartes say he cannot be certain of? What does Descartes say he can be certain of? Do you agree with Descartes? Why or why not?

The response is based on the reading from pages 58-71 of the textbook.

Link Tested, Keanu-Approved

Here's a trio of links. The first one is a guide to reading philosophy that might help you if you're having trouble understanding the assigned readings.

Jim Pryor's Guide to Reading Philosophy

The next two relate to epistemology and skepticism, which are what we'll be talking about starting with the Descartes reading. Both are about the movie The Matrix. The first is pretty straightforward (If Neo read it, he'd say 'whoa'), but the second is a little more advanced (If Neo read it, he'd say 'huh?').

The Matrix: Dream Skepticism
The Matrix: Brain-in-a-Vat Skepticism

By the way, if you have any links you think I or others in class might find interesting, let me know. And feel free to comment on any of these posts.