Induction (2018 Fall)

• Instructor: Jun Otsuka (jotsuka@bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
• Class: Tuesday 14:45-16:15 at
• Office hour: Tuesday 10:30-12:00 at L408, or by appointment.

The problem of induction has haunted philosophers ever since Hume: how can we justify predicting future based solely on past evidence? Based on classical as well as contemporary philosophical literature, this seminar explores the nature and puzzles of induction with a special focus on its ontological implication and assumption.

In this class, students will learn

1. dimensions of philosophical issues and implications raised by riddles of induction; and
2. how to read and analyze philosophical papers.

Evaluation is based on

• Participation to in-class discussions (30%)
• Synopsis of the term paper (10%)
• Term paper (60%)

All reading materials will be posted on PandA:

Oct 2. Orientation and introduction

• No readings

Oct 9. Hume

• Hume (1748), An enquiry concerning human understanding, 4.1 - 5.1

Oct 16. Berkeley

• Berkeley (1710), A treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge, 1-6, 23-33

Oct 23. Goodman 1

• Goodman, N. (1955). Fact, Fiction, and Forecast, Ch. 2 (Ch. 1 optional)

Oct 30. Goodman 2

• Goodman, Ch. 3 (Ch. 4 optional)

Nov 13. Goodman 3

• Peter Godfrey-Smith (2011), Induction, Samples, and Kinds, in Carving Nature at its Joints: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Volume 8, MIT Press, pp. 33-52.

Nov 20. IBE

• Harman, G. (1965). The inference to the best explanation. The Philosophical Review, 74(1), 88–95.
• van Fraassen, B. C. (1989). Laws and Symmetry. Oxford University Press., pp. 142-150.

Nov 27. Natural kinds 1

• Quine, W. V. (1970). Natural Kinds. Essays in Honor of Carl G. Hempel, 5, 41–56.
• Optional: Boyd, R. N. (1991). Realism, anti-foundationalism and the enthusiasm for natural kinds. Philosophical Studies, 61(1-2), 127–148.

Dec 4. Natural kinds 2

• Cartwright, N. (1999). The Dappled World. Cambridge UP, Ch. 2

Dec 11. Symmetry 1

• Rosen, J. (2008). Symmetry Rules. Berlin: Springer.

Dec 18. Symmetry 2

• Jantzen, B. C. (2015). Projection, symmetry, and natural kinds. Synthese, 192(11) 3617–3646.

Jan 8. TBD