geoff pynn
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Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
Northern Illinois University
g pynn @ niu . edu
fall 2011
philosophy 691: conditionals
This is a graduate course focusing on conditional statements and their meanings. For more detailed information, see the syllabus:
Syllabus changes
11/17-22
Please read Lycan, chs. 3 and 7 for 11/17, and ch. 8 for 11/22.
9/8
Sections 6.2 and 6.4-6.6 of Edgington are now recommended but not required. In addition, I now also recommend (but do not require) Milne, 'The Simplest Lewis-Style Triviality Proof Yet?' (follow the link below).
9/1
Whoops! The paper by Rieger is required. The papers by Hanson and Thomson are recommended but not required.
In addition, we will begin a brief introduction to probability theory. So it would be good for you to read sections 19-22 of Bennett's chapter 4. You may also find section 5 of Edgington's `On Conditionals' helpful. I will introduce the main ideas of probability theory in a slightly different (and, I think, more intuitive) way than either.
8/30
In Jackson, Conditionals, read pp. 8-16 (in Chapter 1) and 22-31 (in Chapter 2), with the rest of Chapter 2 recommended but not required.
Presentation schedule
9/15: Hecht / Smith
9/22: Gerard
10/4: Rienstra / Van Elswyk
10/11: Gularte / Yarmel
10/18: Bartolome / Seeley
10/27: Linsenbardt / Neufeld
11/3: Han / Kidd
11/10: McCourt
Quiz keys
Quiz 1 Key
Quiz 2 Key
Quiz 3 Key
Quiz 4 Key
Quiz 5 Key
Quiz 6 Key
Links to outside resources
Overviews
SEP: Conditionals (Dorothy Edgington)
SEP: The Logic of Conditionals (Horacio Arlo-Costa)
SEP: David Lewis's Theory of Counterfactuals (Brian Weatherson)
'Remarks on Indicative Conditionals' (Barbara Abbott)
Bibliographies
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Conditionals (Christopher Gauker; only accessible on campus)
Conditionals Bibliography (Doug Kutach)
PhilPapers: Conditionals
Courses
UC Berkeley, 2004 (Brandon Fitelson)
Rutgers, 2007 (Barry Loewer and Jason Stanley)
Links to course materials
Handouts
Glossary 1: Connectives and Conditionals
Handout 1: Bennett, Ch. 1: Intro
Handout 2: Bennett, Ch. 2: Grice
Handout 3: Bennett, Ch. 3: Jackson
Glossary 2: Probability Theory
Handout 4: Bennett, Ch. 4: The Equation
Errata: Bennett, Ch. 5
Handout 5: The Bombshell
Handout 6: Status Report; Gibbardian Standoffs
Handout 7: NTV
Handout 7b: Lycan on Conditional Assertion
Handout 8: Bennett, Ch. 10: Subjunctives-First Stepts
Handout 9: Stalnaker, Density, Limits
Handout 10: 'Might' Counterfactuals
Handout 11: More on Closeness
Handout 12: Hawthorne, Backtracking, and some Metaphysics
Handout 13: Stalnaker's 'Indicative Conditionals'
Handout 14: Stalnaker's Inquiry, ch. 6
Handout 14b: Rejecting an Open Conditional
Handout 15: Lycan, I (CORRECTED 11/21)
Handout 16: Lycan, II
Handout 17: Back On The Riverboat
Readings
If you are using the NIU network, you should be able to follow these links successfully. If you are off-campus, you will need to go to this page and search for the articles individually.
Robert M. Adams, 'Middle Knowledge and the Problem of Evil'
Stephen Barker, 'Towards A Pragmatic Theory Of "If"'
Eliza Block, 'Indicative Conditionals in Context'
Keith DeRose, 'The Conditionals of Deliberation'
Keith DeRose, 'Could It Be That It Would Have Been Even Though It Might Not Have Been?'
Keith DeRose and Richard Grandy, 'Conditional Assertion and "Biscuit" Conditionals'
Igor Douven and Sara Verbrugge, 'The Adams Family'
Dorothy Edgington, 'Counterfactuals'
Dorothy Edgington, 'On Conditionals'
Adam Elga, 'Statistical Mechanics and the Assymetry of Counterfactual Dependence'
Paul Grice, 'Indicative Conditionals'
William Hanson, 'Indicative Conditionals are Truth-Functional'
Frank Jackson, 'On Assertion and Indicative Conditionals'
Frank Jackson, Conditionals, Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 5
Frank Jackson and Philip Pettit, 'A Problem For Expressivism'
John Hawthorne, 'Chance and Counterfactuals'
Angelika Kratzer, 'Conditionals'
David Lewis, 'Counterfactual Dependence and Time's Arrow'
David Lewis, 'Probabilities of Conditionals and Conditional Probabilities'
David Lewis, 'Probabilities of Conditionals and Conditional Probabilities II'
E. J. Lowe, 'Conditional Probability and Conditional Belief'
Peter Milne, 'The Simplest Lewis-Style Triviality Proof Yet?'
Daniel Nolan, 'Defending A Possible-Worlds Account Of Indicative Conditionals'
Adam Rieger, 'A Simple Theory of Conditionals'
Robert Stalnaker, 'Probability and Conditionals'
Robert Stalnaker, 'A Theory of Conditionals'
Robert Stalnaker, 'A Defense of Conditional Excluded Middle'
Peter Strawson, 'If and Hook'
James Thomson, 'In Defense of Hook'
J. Robert Williams, 'Chances, Counterfactuals, and Similarity'
J. Robert Williams, 'Conversation and Conditionals'
J. Robert Williams, 'Defending Conditional Excluded Middle'