Nature and Culture
Graduate seminar, Fall Semester 2023, Monday 1-3:40pm, including special weekend session on October 28-29 (block course on Matter featuring Jobst Landgrebe)
PHI 579SEM Special Topics Class Number 23815
- Graduate [1]
Venue: Park 141
Instructors:
Prerequisites: Open to all persons with an undergraduate degree and some knowledge of philosophy
Office hours: By appointment via email at phismith@buffalo.edu
The Course
Course Description: Monism is the view that there is only one kind of entity in the universe, namely (on many versions of monism, at least) matter. Dualism is the view that there is a second kind of entity, namely mind. On a simple account, we might identify nature with the sum total of what is material, and culture with the creations of the mind. This course will take this simple account as its starting point, focusing especially on questions such as:
- what is nature?
- what is culture?
- how do we treat cultural entities -- such as laws, debts, works of music, theorems in mathematics and models in physics -- which are not made of matter?
- what does it mean to say that something is made of matter?
- is everything in nature made of matter?
- to what degree is nature itself a product of the mind?
The course will have a strong ontological emphasis. In the block seminar on matter on October 28-19 it will also dig deeply into matters of physics.
Course Structure: This is a three credit hour graduate seminar.
The final session will be structured around powerpoint presentations by the students in the class. These presentations will be recorded.
Target Audience: The course is open to all interested students with an undergraduate degree and some knowledge of philosophy.
Draft Schedule
August 28: Introduction to the Course
- Book list
- The natural attitude of common sense
- Primary vs secondary theory
- Relation to ontology
- of services
- of documents
- of planned environments
- of mind/body continuum
- of crime
- of art
- of science (physics), of measurement
- Relation to AI, ChatGPT
- Relation to multiculturalism
September 4: Labor Day Observed
September 11: Husserl, Reinach, Stein, Ingarden and Gehlen on the Ontology of Cultural Entities
Capabilities
Making Space
Created Artifacts
Background videos
Readings:
- The natural, cultural, cognitive and social niches of human activity
- A political ontology of territorial boundaries
- Environments Inside and Outside the Organism
- The Justice and Ontology of Gastrospaces
- Husserl: Nature and Spirit
- Reinach and Edith Stein on the State
- Ingarden and the Ontology of Cultural Objects
- Ingarden on the Ontology of Social Reality
- Gehlen, Man
- Gehlen on Institutions
- Gehlen on Culture and Institutions
Reading: Scott Shapiro, Massively Shared Agency"
Video: Massively Planned Social Agency
October 2: Culture, AI and the Digital Realm: Are We Living in a Simulation?
Modes of existence: fictions and virtual reality
Oct 9: Fall Break
October 16: No class
October 23: BFO and the Ontology of Physics and Mathematics
October 28-29: Matter (with Jobst Landgrebe) (weekend block course)
Saturday
- 09:00 Matter and physics: What we can we learn about nature from physics?
- 10:15 Break
- 10:30 Overview and history of matter since Democritus; Nancy Cartwright on physics as theater
- 12:00 Lunch
- 12:30 The metaphysical foundations of physics. What is the reality of physics?
- 13:45 Break
- 14:00 How we study matter today
- 15:15 Break
- 15:30 Measurement in physics
- 17:00 Close
Sunday
- 09:00 Basics of quantum mechanics and its problems
- 10:15 Break
- 10:30 Our theory of matter
- 12:00 Lunch
- 12:30 Metaphysical consequences: Mind, matter, Penrose
- 13:45 Break
- 14:00 Matter: What next?
Suggested Reading
Online
Monographs
- Nancy Carwright: How the laws of physics lie
- Brigitte Falkenburg: Particle Metaphysics
- J.S. Bell: Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics (Extract)
- R. Griffiths: Consistent Quantum Mechanics
October 30: Searle on Money
November 6 Nature, Culture and Mathematics
November 13 To be announced
November 20 Student Projects
Student Learning Outcomes
| Program Outcomes/Competencies | Instructional Method(s) | Assessment Method(s) |
|---|---|---|
| The student will acquire a knowledge of the philosophy of both the natural and social sciences. | Lectures and class discussions | Review of reading matter and associated online content and participation in class discussions |
| The student will acquire experience in using the methods of philosophical argument, in formulating complex propositions on the interrelations between between matter and mind and between nature and culture | Participation in practical experiments | Review of results |
| The student will acquire experience in formulating ideas using powerful persuasive prose. | Creation of documentation and youtube presentations | Review of results |
How to Write an Essay
- Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style, Penguin Books, 2014
- Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
- Harvard's guide to writing philosophy
- Jim Pryor's guide to writing philosophy
- Jordan Peterson's Essay Writing Guide
- How to Use ChatGPT to write an essay
Important Dates
| Sep 11 | - submit book review choice, and start to discuss the content of your essay with Dr Smith |
| Sep 25 | - submit proposed title and abstract of your essay |
| Oct 2 | - last day to present book summary |
| Oct 23 | - submit a table of contents of your essay and 300 word summary plus draft of associated ppt slides |
| Oct 30 | - submit first draft of essay (~1000 words) and associated powerpoint (~10 slides) |
| Nov 13 | - submit second draft of essay (~2000 words) and associated powerpoint (~10 slides) |
| Nov 20 | - class presentation |
| Dec 10 | - submit final version of essay and powerpoint slides and upload final version of video to youtube |
Grading
Grading will be based on two factors:
I: understanding and criticism of the material presented in classes 1-13
All students are required to take an active part in class (and where relevant on-line) discussions throughout the semester.
II: preparation of an essay, and associated powerpoint slides and recorded presentation.
Content and structure of the essay should be discussed with Dr Smith.
Grading Policy: Grading follows standard Graduate School policies. Grades will be weighted according to the following breakdown:
Weighting Assignment
- 20% - class discussions
- 15% - youtube video presentation
- 15% - powerpoint slides
- 50% - essay
Final Grades
Percentages refer to sum of assignment grades as listed above
Grade Quality Percentage
| A | 4.0 | 90.0% -100.00% |
| A- | 3.67 | 87.0% - 89.9% |
| B+ | 3.33 | 84.0% - 86.9% |
| B | 3.00 | 80.0% - 83.9% |
| B- | 2.67 | 77.0% - 79.9% |
| C+ | 2.33 | 74.0% - 76.9% |
| C | 2.00 | 71.0% - 73.9% |
| C- | 1.67 | 68.0% - 70.9% |
| D+ | 1.33 | 65.0% - 67.9% |
| D | 1.00 | 62.0% - 64.9% |
| F | 0 | 61.9% or below |
An interim grade of Incomplete (I) may be assigned if the student has not completed all requirements for the course. An interim grade of 'I' shall not be assigned to a student who did not attend the course. The default grade accompanying an interim grade of 'I' shall be 'U' and will be displayed on the UB record as 'IU.' The default Unsatisfactory (U) grade shall become the permanent course grade of record if the 'IU' is not changed through formal notice by the instructor upon the student's completion of the course.
Assignment of an interim 'IU' is at the discretion of the instructor. A grade of 'IU' can be assigned only if successful completion of unfulfilled course requirements can result in a final grade better than the default 'U' grade. The student should have a passing average in the requirements already completed. The instructor shall provide the student specification, in writing, of the requirements to be fulfilled.
The university’s Graduate Incomplete Policy can be found here.
Related Policies and Services
Academic integrity is a fundamental university value. Through the honest completion of academic work, students sustain the integrity of the university while facilitating the university's imperative for the transmission of knowledge and culture based upon the generation of new and innovative ideas. See http://grad.buffalo.edu/Academics/Policies-Procedures/Academic-Integrity.html.
Accessibility resources: If you have any disability which requires reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources in 60 Capen Hall, 645-2608 and also the instructor of this course during the first week of class. The office will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations, which can be found on the web here.
University suppert services: Students are often unaware of university support services. For example, the Center for Excellence in Writing provides support for written work, and several tutoring centers on campus provide academic success support and resources.
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- Counseling Services: 120 Richmond Quad (North Campus), phone 716-645-2720
- Health Services: Michael Hall (South Campus), phone: 716-829-3316
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