Instructor: Majid D. Beni
email: mbeni 'a' metu 'dot' edu.tr
Course Overview:
This graduate-level course explores key themes in the philosophy of science, focusing on concepts of agency, causality, and theories of explanation. The course will engage with major works, including Huw Price’s projectivist approach, various theories of causality, and the role of agency in scientific explanation. Additionally (in the last three session), it will address contemporary issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and agency, probing how AI challenges and informs our understanding of causality and explanatory frameworks.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Critically analyse key philosophical theories of agency, causality and explanation. Examine the role of agency in scientific reasoning and explanation. Explore the implications of AI for theories of agency and causality. Develop and articulate philosophical arguments, both in writing and discussion.
Assessment:
Required Texts:
Price, H., 1996. Time's arrow & Archimedes' point: new directions for the physics of time. Oxford University Press, USA.
List, C., 2019. Why free will is real. Harvard University Press.
Ismael, J., 2016. How physics makes us free. Oxford University Press.
Beni, M.D., 2024. Scientific explanation, causality, and agency: a free energy account. Taylor & Francis.
Selected readings from contemporary AI and agency literature (to be provided)
Week 1: Introduction to Agency and Causality in Philosophy of Science
Reading:
List, C., 2019. Why free will is real. Harvard University Press.
Week 2 and 3: The physical world
Readings:
Landauer, R. (1961). Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process, IBM Journal of Research and Development 44, 1-2 (1961): 261-269.
Norton, J. (2005). Eaters of the lotus: Landauer's principle and the return of Maxwell's demon. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36, 2 (2005):375-411
Ladyman, J. (2018). Intension in the Physics of Computation: Lessons from the Debate about Landauer’s Principle. In Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics,
Week 4: Freedom and Determinism in a physical world
Reading: Ismael, J., 2016. How physics makes us free. Oxford University Press.
Week 5: Freedom and Determinism in the Physical World continued
Reading: Ismael, J., 2016. How physics makes us free. Oxford University Press.
Week 6: Global laws, Local laws, and Thermodynamics of Computation
Readings:
Bennett, C. (1982). The thermodynamics of computation—a review. International Journal of Theoretical Physics volume 21, (1982): 905–940. - (2003). Notes on Landauer’s principle, reversible computation, and Maxwell’s Demon. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 34(3), 501–510.
Ladyman, J; Presnell, S; Short, A. and Groisman, B. (2007). The connection between logical and thermodynamic irreversibility. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (1):58-79.
Week 7: Mid-term
Week 8: Agency Theories of Causation
Reading:
Collingwood’s and Gasking’s views on causation.
Woodward, James. "Causation with a human face." (2007).
Week 9: Agency and Causal Asymmetry
Reading: Price, H., 1996. Time's arrow & Archimedes' point
Norton, J. (2018). Maxwell’s Demon Does not Compute. In Michael E. Cuffaro and Samuel C. Fletcher, (eds.), Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics. Cambridge University Press.
- (2011). Waiting for Landauer. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42 (3), 184-198.
Week 10: Projectivism in Philosophy of Science
Reading:
Beebee, H., 2007. Projectivist Interpretation. Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality: Russell's Republic Revisted
Week 11: Thermodynamics, Computation, and Biology
Reading:
Collier, J. (2008). Information in biological systems. Handbook of philosophy of science, 8, 763-787.
Beni, M. D. (2024). Structural Realism About the Free Energy Principle, the Best of Both Worlds. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 1-15.
Week 12: TBA
Week 13: TBA
Week 14: TBA