Phil303 Course Outline, Semester 1, Term 1, 2010
Evolutionary Moral Realism
Instructor:
Prof John Collier
Room:
MTB 280
Email:
collierj@ukzn.ac.za
Phone:
x3248
Office
Hours: Wednesday AM 10:30 on, or by appointment (catch me before or after
class) I am usually in my office all day.
The first topics we will cover are evolutionary theory and game theory. Try to read some introductory books if you have not already read one. Good examples are:
Books more relevant directly to Evolutionary Morality are:
On
human nature,
Wilson, Edward O. Harvard University Press, 1978
The
chapter on aggression is the main one.
The
Woman that never evolved,
Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer, Harvard University Press, 1981
Selections
to be copied. There are copies at Pietermaritzburg and
Westville
Darwin
and the emergence of evolutionary theories of mind and behavior,
Richards, Robert John, University of Chicago, 1987
We
will look only at the appendix. You can make copies for yourself, but
there is a copy at Westville.
Vaulting
ambition : sociobiology and the quest for human nature,
Kitcher, Philip, MIT Press, 1985.
The
last chapter is what we will study
Unto
others : the evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior,
Sober, Elliott and Wilson, David Sloane, Harvard University Press,
1998
Plus there will be some articles. Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to read all of the above; they are merely resources, but you must read Darwin for Beginners.
The required reading for the second term is Ken Binmore, Natural Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Please make sure that you get this book.
I will put up more instructions as I go. Assessment rules are here. The School's plagiarism policy is located here. Make sure you read and understand it.
The first assignment is now available. It will not be graded, but it is required for a DP in this section of the course. Due date is Monday 22 February 2010. You can find a copy here.
The second assignment is now available. It is due Monday, March 15. You can find it here.
Weeks 1 and 2 (February 8 to 17): Background to evolutionary theory, Darwin's argument and Population Biology. Notes can be found here. These are somewhat mathematical, and I don't expect you to know the details perfectly. The main parts to know are Mendel's principles, HW equilibrium, and additional principles added to get change. I will apply these to "Dawin's Finches" to show how the theory is verified for individual cases. Note that the Wikipedia article on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is unusually good. I will also discuss the notion of genetic determination.
Week 3 (February 22 and February 24) Notes on game theory are here. I don't intend to go into detail, but this makes a connection to the second term. I'll discuss the role of such approaches in biology. The main one is in determining evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) which are important in discussions of the biological basis of morality.
I have put up some general notes on approaches to theories that you may want to review, since I am presupposing much of this. The notes contain a brief account of the syntactic and semantic approaches to theories, and some of the relevance to biological theory. These are not required for the course. You may want to look especially at the last part on a good test of a theory. I briefly describe why finding intermediate forms is a good test Darwin's theory (though it does not rule out Lamarckian evolution, but Darwin actually accepted this).
Week 4 (March 1 and March 3) Biological function. Wright on function. Function notes.Week 5 (March 8 and March 10) Sociobiology.
Readings: Wilson, Hrdy, de Waal (get from Yolanda). Wilson's ladder.
Week 7 (March 19 and 24) Note that March 19 is a Friday with a Monday schedule.
One of the main objections to EMR is the "naturalistic fallacy". We
will review this supposed fallacy and show how it can be avoided.
Reading, Prior, The
naturalistic fallacy: the logic of its refutation.
Collier
and Stingl, Evolutionary moral realism
(draft paper)
Exam is 67% of grade. I will require an ungraded report on a topic covering evolutionary theory to ensure that you understand the basic issues. It is required for a DP. The other requirements are one five page answer on a specific topic, worth 25% of the class grade, and a 10-15 page essay (longer can be negotiated with me) due at the end of term, worth 75% of the class grade. You must negotiate with me on a topic, but I will give suggestions. Once the topic on the essay is selected, you must make and outline that you show me, and we will discuss further reading or any problems with the plan. I am willing to look over drafts, but this is not required. Your grade on the essay will depend mostly on your final version, but I will also take into consideration how you deal with the choice of topic and the outline, and how you deal with suggestions. There is an assignment cover sheet here that I would like you to use. The School's plagiarism policy is here. You should read it and make sure you understand it.
The first assignment is now available. It will not be graded, but it is required for a DP in this section of the course. Due date is Monday 22 February 2010. You can find a copy here.
The second assignment is now available. It is due Monday, March 15. You can find it here.