Phil 460: Final Exam Study Guide
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Format of the final exam:
This exam will consist of three essay questions, each split into five parts. You will be asked to pick two of those essay questions; I estimate that you will need to write about a paragraph for each part, giving a total of 2-3 pages per question. I'll provide you with blue books to write your answers (and also to make any rough plans or notes).
Exam topics and suggested readings:
A. Teleological explanations in scholasticism, and the treatment of such explanations as occult and unintelligible in the “mechanical philosophy” of the early scientific revolution (including both atomists and plenists). Application to philosophy of biology: how might the theory of evolution be seen as appealing to teleological explanations (or not)?
B. The logic of the relationship between (i) God as a perfectly wise creator, (ii) the PSR, and (iii) the PII. Leibniz's deployment of these principles to argue against absolute space, and his further argument that we are living in the best of all possible worlds. Connection to the philosophy of biology: is “adaptationism”, as described by Gould and Lewontin, fairly described as a “Panglossian paradigm” (or not)?
C. Descartes as a rationalist: his method of skeptical doubt, his conception of matter, and his argument against the possibility of a metaphysical vacuum. Boyle as an empiricist and his experimental treatment of the vacuum (and how Boyle doesn't actually make contact with Descartes on this issue). Application to the philosophy of biology: is Darwin a clear example of an empiricist, or a rationalist, or a hybrid of the two?
D. A clear and concise summary of the theory of evolution by natural selection and a summary of the range of evidence that Darwin appealed to in support of it (and why Darwin was not an “adaptationist”).
This exam will consist of three essay questions, each split into five parts. You will be asked to pick two of those essay questions; I estimate that you will need to write about a paragraph for each part, giving a total of 2-3 pages per question. I'll provide you with blue books to write your answers (and also to make any rough plans or notes).
Exam topics and suggested readings:
A. Teleological explanations in scholasticism, and the treatment of such explanations as occult and unintelligible in the “mechanical philosophy” of the early scientific revolution (including both atomists and plenists). Application to philosophy of biology: how might the theory of evolution be seen as appealing to teleological explanations (or not)?
- Shapin, The Scientific Revolution, pp.28-37.
- Smith, “The methodology of the Principia”, p.139.
- Excerpts from the SEP article, “Teleological Notions in Biology”.
B. The logic of the relationship between (i) God as a perfectly wise creator, (ii) the PSR, and (iii) the PII. Leibniz's deployment of these principles to argue against absolute space, and his further argument that we are living in the best of all possible worlds. Connection to the philosophy of biology: is “adaptationism”, as described by Gould and Lewontin, fairly described as a “Panglossian paradigm” (or not)?
- Huggett, Space from Zeno to Einstein, pp.160-166.
- Excerpts from the SEP article, “Principle of Sufficient Reason”.
- Gould and Lewontin, “The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm”, pp.150-151 (or pp.584-585).
C. Descartes as a rationalist: his method of skeptical doubt, his conception of matter, and his argument against the possibility of a metaphysical vacuum. Boyle as an empiricist and his experimental treatment of the vacuum (and how Boyle doesn't actually make contact with Descartes on this issue). Application to the philosophy of biology: is Darwin a clear example of an empiricist, or a rationalist, or a hybrid of the two?
- Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, Part One §§1-10, and Part Two §§11-18.
- Shapin and Shaffer, Leviathan and the Air-Pump, pp.40-45.
- Darwin, The Origin of Species, pp.350-353.
D. A clear and concise summary of the theory of evolution by natural selection and a summary of the range of evidence that Darwin appealed to in support of it (and why Darwin was not an “adaptationist”).
- Lewens, Darwin, pp.95-99.
- Darwin, The Origin of Species, pp.343-353, and other excerpts.
- Gould and Lewontin, “The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm”, pp.155-156 (or pp.589-590), and other excerpts.