Nature and Culture

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Nature and Culture

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:

Barry Smith
Jobst Landgrebe

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
Robin Horton
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 [https://buffalo.box.com/v/Culture-is-what-makes-you-free 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

Space
Document Acts


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

September 25: Massively Planned Shared Agency

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?

Simulation Hypothesis (Bostrom)
Intellectually simulating
The philosophy of the metaverse
Taking Simulation Seriously
Review of Reality+
Scott Adams on "The World is a Simulation"
Our world might be a simulation. Would that be so bad?

Modes of existence: fictions and virtual reality

Philosophy and the Metaverse
Mimesis as Make-Believe
Pleasure and its modifications

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

Feynman's Lectures on Physics, volumes 1-3
t'Hooft: Ontology in quantum mechanics
Roger Penrose on the emperors new mind

Monographs

Nancy Carwright: How the laws of physics lie
Brigitte Falkenburg: Particle Metaphysics
Review by Steven French
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 7 - about now start to discuss by email 1. your book report choice, and 2. the content of your essay with Dr Smith
Sep 25 - submit book review choice and 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.

Available resources on sexual assault: UB is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking. If you have experienced gender-based violence (intimate partner violence, attempted or completed sexual assault, harassment, coercion, stalking, etc.), UB has resources to help. This includes academic accommodations, health and counseling services, housing accommodations, helping with legal protective orders, and assistance with reporting the incident to police or other UB officials if you so choose. Please contact UB’s Title IX Coordinator at 716-645-2266 for more information. For confidential assistance, you may also contact a Crisis Services Campus Advocate at 716-796-4399.

Counselling services: As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. These might include strained relationships, anxiety, high levels of stress, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, health concerns, or unwanted sexual experiences. Counseling, Health Services, and Health Promotion are here to help with these or other concerns. You learn can more about these programs and services by contacting:

Counseling Services: 120 Richmond Quad (North Campus), phone 716-645-2720
Health Services: Michael Hall (South Campus), phone: 716-829-3316
Health Promotion: 114 Student Union (North Campus), phone: 716- 645-2837