Proseminar in Philosophy: Causation

PHLC99S

Text:  Causation: A Users Guide, Laurie A. Paul and Ned Hall.

Plan of Course:

My goal is to get through all of our text book at a pace of approximately 25 pages per week, which should not be too onerous. Please check below in the "Where are we?" section for our current readings. There may be some additional readings as well if necessary as we go along.

Evaluation: The final grade will be based upon three short essays (each worth 30% of the final grade), a set of weekly exercises (worth altogether 5% of the final grade), and general class participation (worth 5% of the final grade).

The Short Essays: these will be on topics to be provided on this web page. They should be no more than 2000 words long and no less than 1800 words long. Note also that late essays are not acceptable unless you have a valid reason for not being able to produce the essay in a timely fashion. Essays should be submitted through blackboard, https://portal.utoronto.ca.

The Weekly Exercises: these will be sets of questions about the current readings. The questions will mostly be obvious and based entirely on the readings. Your answers will not be graded - you will receive credit for handing in your work ON TIME so long as a good faith effort has been made. Altogether, they are worth 5% of the final grade so you needn't feel devastated if you miss one. But it's an easy 5% and will help you keep up with the reading.

Important Dates

• Thursday, January 9, 2014: First meeting of PHLC99S, 12:10 @ AA206.
• Sunday, January 19, 2014: Last day to add S courses.
• Thursday, February 13, 2014: First Essay Due! (Topics here.)
• Friday, February 14, 2014: Last day to confirm intention to graduate at the 2014 Spring Convocation.
• February 17-21, 2014: Reading Week (no classes).
• Thursday, March 20, 2014: Second Essay Due! (Topics here.)
• Sunday, March 23, 2014: Last day to drop S courses without penalty.
• Thursday, April 3, 2014: Final Class.
• Thursday, April 10, 2014: Third Essay Due! (Topics here.)
• April 5-9, 2014: Study Break.
• Wednesday, April 9, 2014: Last day to drop UTSC S courses and have them remain on the
  transcript with a grade of LWD indicating withdrawal without academic penalty.
• April 10-26, 2014: Final Examination Period.

Where are we?

• Week of Jan. 6: Intro to course (group Hume reading).
• Week of Jan. 13: Reading *Causation*, pp. 1-24.
• Week of Jan. 20: Reading *Causation*, pp. 21-42.
• Week of Jan. 27: Reading *Causation*, pp. 43-69.
• Week of Feb. 3: Reading *Causation*, pp. 70-92.
• Week of Feb. 10: Reading *Causation*, pp. 93-112.
• Week of Feb. 17: Reading Week (no class).
• Week of Feb. 24: Reading *Causation*, pp. 113-129 (plus some catchup).
• Week of Mar. 3: Reading *Causation*, pp. 129-161.
• Week of Mar. 10: Reading *Causation*, pp. 162-182.
• Week of Mar. 17: Reading *Causation*, pp. 182-208.
• Week of Mar. 24: Reading *Causation*, pp. 209-231.
• Week of Mar. 31: Reading *Causation*, pp. 232-end.

Current Assignment

• Assignment 1, due at class, Thursday, Jan. 16. (Get assignment 1.)
• Assignment 2, due at class, Thursday, Jan. 23. (Get assignment 2.)
• Assignment 3, due at class, Thursday, Jan. 30. (Get assignment 3.)
• Assignment 4, due at class, Thursday, Feb. 6. (Get assignment 4.)
• Assignment 5, due at class, Thursday, Feb. 13. (Get assignment 5.)
• Assignment 6, due at class, Thursday, Feb. 27. (Get assignment 6.)
• Assignment 7, due at class, Thursday, Mar. 6. (Get assignment 7.)
• Assignment 8, due at class, Thursday, Mar. 13. (Get assignment 8.)
• Assignment 9, due at class, Thursday, Mar. 20. (Get assignment 9.)
• Assignment 10, due at class, Thursday, Mar. 27. (Get assignment 10.)
• Assignment 11, due at class, Thursday, Apr. 3 (Get assignment 11.)