17 Sept. |
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Course Introduction & Syllabus |
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Further |
Oliver Sacks, “What Hallucination Reveals about our Minds” |
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Unit 1 |
Illusion, Hallucination, & the Problem of Perception |
24 Sept.–1 Oct. |
1.1 |
Appearance & Reality |
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Prep. |
Wi-Phi, “The Argument from Illusion” |
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|
Wi-Phi, “The Argument from Hallucination” |
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Discuss |
Bertrand Russell, “Appearance and Reality” |
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Further |
BBC Horizon, “The McGurk Effect” |
3–10 Oct. |
1.2 |
What Are We Aware of When We Perceive? |
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Prep. |
Jessica Yu, “James Turrell (Art + Film Honorees)" |
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Discuss |
Selections from Arthur Eddintgon, The Nature of the Physical World |
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Further |
Director X, “Drake, ‘Hotline Bling’" |
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Unit 2 |
Conflicting Appearances & “Alternative Facts” |
15–24 Oct. |
2.1 |
Arguments from Conflicting Appearances |
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Prep. |
History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, “Healthy Skepticism: Sextus Empiricus” |
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Discuss |
Selections from Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism |
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Further |
Guardian News, “Yanni v Laurel” |
31 Oct.–7 Nov. |
2.2 |
“Alternative Facts” & Scientific Progress |
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Prep. |
Hi-Phi Nation, ``The Ashes of Truth’' | |
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Discuss |
Selections from Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions |
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Further |
Philosophy Overdose, “Thomas Kuhn Speaking” |
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|
Periscope Film, “The Discovery of Oxygen & Combustion” |
|
|
Crash Course, “The Creation of Chemistry” |
12, 14 Nov. |
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Review, Term Test 1 |
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Unit 3 |
Learning by Perceiving? |
19–26 Nov. |
3.1 |
Do Beliefs & Emotions Shape Our Experience? |
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Prep. |
CBS News, “Perceptual Learning” |
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Discuss |
Anderson et al., “The Visual Impact of Gossip” |
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Further |
Inc., “Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast vs. Thinking Slow” |
28 Nov.–5 Dec. |
3.2 |
“Cognitive Penetration” & “the Problem of Hijacked Experience” |
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Prep. |
The Harvard Implicit Bias Study |
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Discuss |
Susanna Siegel, “The Problem of Hijacked Experience” |
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Further |
PBS Newshour, “Police Training and Implicit Bias” |
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Unit 4 |
Appearance & Epistemic Authority, or: How to Spot Fake News |
10–17 Dec. |
4.1 |
Fake News & “Epistemic Injustice” |
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Prep. |
This American Life, “Anything Can Be Anything” |
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Discuss |
Aeschylus, Agamemnon |
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Further |
Think Nice, “Bullshit! Featuring Harry Frankfurt” |
18, 19 Dec. |
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Review, Term Test 2 |