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Cursus: FRRMV16011
FRRMV16011
Topics in Epistemology and Philosophy of Science
Cursus informatie
CursuscodeFRRMV16011
Studiepunten (EC)5
Cursusdoelen
The intended purpose of this Topics Seminar is for the participating student (1) to become familiar with positions taken in the current debates over the specific topic area of the course; (2) to appreciate the arguments for and against the positions; and (3) to develop an independent judgment about the most promising approach in this area. 
   
Inhoud
Belief comes in degrees – we're more certain of some things than others. Suppose, for example, that I am more certain that it will rain in Utrecht tomorrow than that it will not rain. Often, we can assign numerical values between 0 and 1 to these degrees of belief. My degree of belief in the proposition that it will rain in Utrecht tomorrow, for example, could have the value 0.6. What, then, should be my degree of belief in the proposition that it will not rain in Utrecht tomorrow? Given that the probability of a negation is one minus the probability of what's being negated, a natural answer would be: 1 - 0.6 = 0.4. Now suppose that I learn that it rained earlier today. I'm fairly certain, say with degree 0.8, that it will rain on the next day given that it has rained today. So how should my degree of belief in rain in Utrecht tomorrow change in light of the new evidence? The natural answer would be that it should change from 0.6 to 0.8. This is, more or less, the story a Bayesian would tell.
In this course, we'll study the philosophical and technical fundamentals of Bayesian epistemology. We'll cover: the formalism of Bayesianism (subjective probability theory), basic Bayesian techniques (conditionalization), the standard arguments in favor of Bayesianism (representation theorems, Dutch book arguments, accuracy arguments), applications of Bayesian epistemology (confirmation theory, decision theory), and problems for Bayesian epistemology (the problem of the priors, logical omniscience). At the end of the course, you'll be familiar with the cornerstones of Bayesian epistemology, its pros and cons, and you'll be able to apply the Bayesian formalism to philosophical issues in epistemology and philosophy of science.
     
This course is for students in the RMA Philosophy programme and History & Philosophy of Science; students from other M.A. programmes (such as Applied Ethics), should check with the course coordinator or the RMA Philosophy coordinator (j.h.anderson@uu.nl), before enrolling, to ensure that they have the requisite philosophical background. The entrance requirements for Exchange Students will be checked by International Office and the Programme coördinator. Therefore, you do not have to contact the Programme coördinator yourself.
 
 
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