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Readings

[RR] = Amazon logo Feinberg, Joel, and Russ Shafer-Laundau. Reason and Responsibility. 14th ed. Wadsworth Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 9781439046944.

Note: The two sets of page numbers given for articles from Reason and Responsibility refer to the 13th/14th editions. Occasionally an article appears in only one of these two editions of the text.

LEC # TOPICS READINGS
God
1 Existence of God

St. Anselm. "The Ontological Argument." From Proslogium. [RR], pp. 6/20.

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers. "On Behalf of the Fool." [RR], pp. 8/21.

Rowe, Wm. "The Ontological Argument." [RR], pp. 11/25.
2 Problem of evil

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. "Rebellion." From The Brothers Karamazov. [RR], pp. 72/86.

Johnson, B. C. "God and the Problem of Evil." [RR], pp. 97/113.

Schlesinger, G. "The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Suffering." [RR], p. 86. American Philosophical Quarterly 1, no. 3 (1964): 244-248.

Amazon logo Russell, Bruce. "The Problem of Evil: Too Much Suffering." In Introduction to Philosophy. 3rd ed. Edited by Louis P. Pojman. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780195171501.
3 Pascal's wager

Pascal, Blaise. "The Wager." [RR], pp. 119/135.

Blackburn, Simon. "Miracles and Testimony." [RR], pp. 122/138.
4 Decision puzzles and paradoxes  
Knowledge
5 Internal/external

Descartes, Rene. "First Meditation: What Can Be Called Into Doubt." [RR], pp. 166/184.

Pollock, John. "A Brain in a Vat." [RR], pp. 137/153.

Moore, G. E. "Proof of an External World." [RR], p. 216.
6 Past/future

Hume, David. "An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding." [RR], pp. 222/240.

Salmon, W. "An Encounter with David Hume." [RR], pp. 245/263.
7 Gettierology

Gettier, Edmund L. "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" [RR], p. 171 (14th ed.).

Amazon logo Nozick, Robert. "Knowledge and Skepticism." In Philosophical Explanations. Harvard University Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780674664791. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)
8 Epistemic puzzles and paradoxes  
Mind
9 Consciousness and felt experience

Jackson, Frank. "The Qualia Problem." [RR], pp. 297/315.

Carruthers, Peter. "The Mind is the Brain." [RR], pp. 301/319.
10 Materialist options Churchland, Paul. "Behaviorism, Materialism, and Functionalism." [RR], pp. 309/327.
11 Can machines think?

Turing, Alan. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." [RR], pp. 321/335.

Searle, John. "Minds, Brains, and Programs." [RR], pp. 330/344.
12 Puzzles and paradoxes of consciousness  
Identity
13 Soul and body

Locke, John. "The Prince and the Cobbler." [RR], pp. 365/373.

Perry, John. "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. The First Night." [RR], pp. 387/395.
14 Memory

Reid, Thomas. "Of Mr. Locke's Account of Our Personal Identity." [RR], pp. 368/376.

Perry, John. "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. The Second Night." [RR], pp. 394/402.
15 The self

Hume, David. "The Self." [RR], p. 371.

Parfit, Derrek. "Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons." [RR], pp. 373/381.

Perry, John. "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. The Third Night." [RR], pp. 401/409.
16 Puzzles and paradoxes of vagueness  
Freedom
17 Determinism

Rachels, James. "The Debate over Free Will." [RR], p. 478.

Holbach, Paul. "The Illusion of Free Will." [RR], pp. 458/451.
18 Compatibilism

Ayer, A. J. "Freedom and Necessity." [RR], pp. 414/475.

Stace, W. "The Problem of Freewill." From Religion and the Modern Mind. [RR], p. 419.

Frankfurt, Harry. "Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility." [RR], pp. 486/481.
19 Can science help?

Nahmias, Eddy. "Scientific Challenges to Free Will." Georgia State University, Department of Philosophy, 2009. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)

Vohs, Kathleen, and Jonathan Schooler. "The Value of Believing in Free Will." Pyschological Science 19, no. 1 (2008): 49-54. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)
20 Responsibility

Frankfurt, Harry. "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person." Journal of Philosophy 68, no. 1 (January 1971): 5-20.

Nagel, Thomas. "Moral Luck." [RR], pp. 493/487.
21 Supertasks  
Morality
22 Egoism

Feinberg, Joel. "Psychological Egoism." [RR], pp. 520/514.

Rachels, James. "Ethical Egoism." [RR], p. 532.
23 Relativism and subjectivism

Midgley, Mary. "Trying Out One's New Sword." [RR], p. 567.

Amazon logo Rachels, James. "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism." In The Elements of Moral Philosophy. Temple University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780877224051.

Shafer-Landau, Russ. "Ethical Subjectivism." [RR], pp. 555/540.
24 Utilitarianism

Mill, John Stuart. "Utilitarianism." Chapters 1-2. [RR], pp. 640/597.

Singer, Peter. "Famine, Affluence, and Morality." [RR], pp. 678/630.
25 Deontology

Kant, I. "The Good Will and the Categorical Imperative." [RR], pp. 625/590.

Sayre-McCord, Geoff. "Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Very Brief Selective Summary of Sections 1 and 2." (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)