14 subjects, from a graduate tutorial for a computer science audience to undergraduate introductions to logic and metaphysics. Syllabi and slides are linked where they exist.
La Trobe, from 2022; Undergrad
A large-enrolment first-year introduction to critical thinking, covering the reconstruction and diagramming of arguments, deductive and probabilistic reasoning, and the cognitive biases that distort everyday judgment. The final weeks turn to large language models, how they work, and what they can and cannot do with an argument.
La Trobe, from 2022; Undergrad
A second-year introduction to contemporary epistemology, covering the nature and value of knowledge, the standards for reasonable belief, the wisdom of crowds and the aggregation of judgments, and questions in legal epistemology such as standards of proof and the paradoxes of evidence. Taught into both the Philosophy major and the Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
La Trobe, from 2023; Undergrad
A gentle introduction to deductive logic, covering the formalisation of arguments, propositional and predicate logic, and the proof method of semantic tableaux. Later weeks go beyond the two classical truth values and touch on the logic of belief change.
IJCAI 2019/ PRICAI 2019; Postgrad/Faculty
3½-hour tutorial, co-written with Richard Booth, aimed at an advanced computer science audience. Covers the current state of the art in work on iterated belief change in the tradition of AGM.
Co-designed with Yuri Cath; La Trobe 2016; Undergrad.
A standard introduction to the early development of analytic philosophy, covering the work of major figures such as Moore, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Quine, Grice and Austin. Built around selections from Soames’ two-volume Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century.
Leuven 2012; Undergrad/Postgrad
An introduction to logic, providing an overview of basic propositional and predicate logic, as well as a cursory glimpse of some more advanced topics, such as many-valued logics. The course textbook was Restall’s Logic: An Introduction, supplemented with selections from Priest’s An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic. An earlier version, incorporating some modal logic, was co-taught with Lorenz Demey.
Bayreuth 2010-2011; Postgrad
A state-of-the-art introduction to the formal modelling of rational belief, which is a central concern to disciplines ranging from philosophy to AI, through economics and statistics. We covered (i) graded belief, (ii) full belief and (iii) the relation between the two. Regarding (i) we examined the main tenets of what is known as ‘objective Bayesianism’. We also reviewed the debate on probabilities of conditionals. Regarding (ii), we covered some of the principal topics in belief revision theory, as well as the Ramsey test for conditionals. We wrapped things up with (iii), and a look at the latest work on the lottery paradox.
Bayreuth 2010/2011; Postgrad
A chapter-by-chapter examination of Skyrms’ acclaimed work on the biological evolution of the social contract. We covered, back to back, both his Lakatos prize-winning The Evolution of the Social Contract and its follow-up, The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure.
Bayreuth 2010/2011; Undergrad/Postgrad
A tour of a large selection of fascinating puzzles and paradoxes that challenge commonly held views on practical and theoretical rationality. Paradoxes covered range from the Two-Envelope problem to the Doomsday paradox, through Pollock’s Ever Better Wine.
Leuven 2009; Postgrad
An introductory overview of classical decision theory, some of the associated difficulties and the potential points of contact with epistemology (Pascal’s Wager, decision-theoretic accounts of acceptance,…).
Glasgow 2008; Undergrad / Postgrad
An overview of various points of contact between evolutionary theory and philosophy, with some basic philosophy of biology thrown in. Covered various evolutionary approaches to mind, epistemology and ethics. The material is starting to look rather dated, but I’m posting it in case it turns out to be helpful to somebody.
Glasgow 2008; Undergrad / Postgrad
An introduction to the literature on degrees of belief and the rational constraints thereon, with a focus on the Bayesian literature. The aim was to provide the student with basic tools to engage with some of the more formal work in contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science. The material is starting to look rather dated, but I’m posting it in case it turns out to be helpful to somebody.
Glasgow 2007; Postgrad
A seminar-based course in metaphysics, co-taught with Nikk Effingham. Slides available on demand.
Birkbeck 2006; Undergrad
An introduction to some key issues in metaphysics, covering universals, substances, modality, causation, laws of nature, etc. A large chunk of the course was based on Loux’s Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction.