Outline

Overview

This unit will explore the distinctive philosophical outlook known as "Pragmatism" which many see as a third way beyond the analytic-continental divide. After a brief survey of classical American Pragmatism (C.S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey) we will consider in depth neo-pragmatism (Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam), linguistic pragmatism (Robert Brandom, Huw Price), and methodological pragmatism (David Macarthur). Key issues will include realism, empiricism, naturalism, scientism, metaphysical quietism, the fact/value distinction, and the agent point of view in philosophy.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	PHIL3615
Academic unit	Philosophy
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	PHIL3015
Prerequisites ?	12 credit points in Philosophy
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	David Macarthur, david.macarthur@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Final Essay Written; submitted online.	50%	- Due date: 22 Jun 2021 at 23:55	2500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Tute Presentation Written; presented in tute and submitted online	15%	Ongoing	500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Take Home Assignment Written; submitted online. You must answer 3 of 6 questions. 500 words each	35%	Week 08 Due date: 03 May 2021 at 23:55	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

1)Tute Presentation

Either:

Explain James’s theory of truth. Why is it a pragmatist theory of truth? Why does he call it an instrumental theory? Does it provide a justification for wishful thinking i.e. if it is good for one to believe something then it is true.

Or:

Explain Peirce theory of truth. Why is it a pragmatist theory of truth? Why is it called a convergence theory? Does it imply that inquiry will come to an end in the future?

2)Take Home Assignment

This is a comprehension exercize. You are required to show understanding of the issues but you are not asked to engage in critical discussion and there is no need for secondary literature. The course reader is all you need.

3)Final Essay

This is a critical essay in which you are asked to engage in a critical discusison of the issues and to use secondary literature as appropriate.

Assessment criteria

See Coursework Policy 2014 Schedule 1 for common result grade descriptors.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

2 marks per day

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Method & Background: Link to British Empiricism and Kant’s Problem of Metaphysics. Reading: James, “What Pragmatism Means”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 02	Pragmatism’s attack on Representationalism: The correspondence theory of truth. James’s “Instrumentalist” theory of truth. Russell’s criticism of James and his reply. Read: James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth”; Russell, “William James’ Conception of Truth”; James, “Two English Critics” & “The Will to Believe”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 03	Peirce’s Method of Inquiry. Alternative to analysis. Pierce’s Convergence Theory of Truth. Analysis vs explication. Read: James, “What Pragmatism Is”; Peirce, "The Fixation of Belief"	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 04	Dewey’s attack on substance metaphysics and certainty. The spectator view of knowledge. Foundationalism. Read: Dewey, “The influence of Darwin on Philosophy”; “The experimental theory of knowledge”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 05	Pragmaticism’s attacks on skepticism: Pierce vs Descartes; Dewey vs Russell. Read: Peirce, “Some Consequences of Four Incapacities” Russell, Our Knowledge of the External World, ch. 3; Dewey, “The Existence of the World as a Logical Problem”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 06	Quine & Davidson. Pragmatism against the a priori and representationalism. Read: Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”; Davidson, “A coherence theory of truth and knowledge”.	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 07	Rorty on truth and justification. Putnam's & Price's criticisms considered. Read: Rorty, “Pragmatism, Davidson and Truth”; Putnam, “Richard Rorty on Reality and Justification”; Price, “Truth as Convenient Friction”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 08	Method in philosophy. Attack on hyper-objectivity: essentialist metaphysics. Compare with logical positivism. Read: James, “Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered”; Rorty, Intro to Consequences of Pragmatism.	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 09	Rorty's attack on Objectivity. Read: Rorty “Solidity vs Objectivity?”; McDowell, “Towards Rehabilitating Objectivity”; Rorty: Reply to McDowell.	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 10	Object-based vs non-object-based ontology. Dewey’s liberal naturalism. Indispensability arguments. Read: Quine, “On What There Is”; Putnam: excerpt on propositional attitudes.	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 11	The Putnams' attack on the fact/value dualism. Read: H. Putnam “The Entanglement of Facts and Values”; Smart, “Putnam and the Fact/Value Distinction”; R.A. Putnam, “Weaving Seamless Webs”.	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 12	Normativity and Non-reductive (liberal) naturalism. Read: Brandom “Freedom and Constraint by Norms”	Block teaching (2 hr)
Week 13	What is contemporary about pragmatism? An overview. Re-read James, "What pragmatism means" "What pragmatism is"	Block teaching (2 hr)

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Week 1 – James, “What Pragmatism Means”

Week 2 – James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth”

Russell, “William James’ Conception of Truth”

James, “Two English Critics”

James, “The Will to Believe”

Week 3 – James, “What Pragmatism Is”

Peirce, “The Fixation of Belief”

Week 4 – Dewey, “The influence of Darwin on Philosophy

Dewey, “The experimental theory of knowledge”

Week 5 – Peirce, “Some Consequences of Four Incapacities”

Russell, Our Knowledge of the External World, ch. 3

Dewey, “The Existence of the World as a Logical Problem”

Week 6 – Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”

Davidson, “A coherence theory of truth and knowledge”

Week 7 – Rorty, “Pragmatism, Davidson and Truth”

Putnam, “Richard Rorty on Reality and Justification”

Price, “Truth as Convenient Friction”

Week 8 – James, “Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically

Considered”

Rorty, Intro to Consequences of Pragmatism

Week 9 – Rorty “Solidity vs Objectivity?”

McDowell, “Towards Rehabilitating Objectivity”;

Rorty’s reply to McDowell

Week 10 – Quine, “On What There Is”

Putnam excerpt on propositional attitudes

Week 11 – Putnam “The Entanglement of Facts and Values”

R.A. Putnam, “Weaving Seamless Webs”

Smart, “Putnam and the Fact/Value Distinction”

Week 12 – Brandom “Freedom and Constraint by Norms”

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. This unit of study will acquaint students with a way of approaching and understanding contemporary pragmatism. Students will critically engage with key texts from historical and modern sources in the field of pragmatism. This course will challenge students to think about the topics of truth and objectivity from a pragmatist perspective, as well as considering the fruitfulness of this approach in contrast to other philosophical approaches. Generically, this unit of study will impart new understandings of pragmatism, enhance reflective thinking skills, and improve the ability to speak and write critically, independently, and clearly.
LO2. Identify, formulate and assess philosophical problems and demonstrate an understanding of important conceptual distinctions.
LO3. Demonstrate disciplinary expertise in several major areas of philosophy, such as epistemology, ethics, the history of philosophy, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of science, and political philosophy.
LO4. Express themselves precisely and demonstrate an ability to make rationally persuasive arguments.
LO5. Demonstrate sensitivity, intellectual honesty, generosity and cultural competence in textual interpretation and argument.
LO6. Effectively apply philosophical knowledge and approaches to issues encountered in an interdisciplinary context.
LO7. Read, understand and critically engage with philosophical texts both historical and contemporary.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

The class has not been offered since 2017. The only change is to lecture 13 which discusses contemporary relevance.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

PHIL3615: Contemporary Pragmatism

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect