In this course you will read and think about different understandings of the world around us, nature, and what we mean when we talk about existence. Have you ever wondered what are the fundamental components of nature and reality? Is reality something we create or something of which we are a part? Our readings will incorporate main areas of contemporary philosophy among them: Scientific realism, Time, Laws of Nature, and Causality. You will engage the contemporary literature and answer some of the following questions: Do physics and chemistry give us the only real properties of nature or is there more than the material world? If all the properties that exist are the scientific ones (protons, electrons, neutrons, magnetic fields, etc.) then how do we understand or explain the every day objects we encounter, including ourselves and other human beings? What does it mean to say that something exists, and exists as we perceive it? Is there such a thing as Time and if so, is it static or is it ever changing (for instance, the present)? What does it mean to say that the laws of nature hold by necessity? We seem to agree that scientific laws are explanatory, but what makes them explanatory?
- Teacher: Eva Cadavid