Phil 161: Inductive Logic II Syllabus
Catalog Description: PHIL 161. Inductive Logic II.3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Phil 61 Inductive Logic I or instructor permission.
Further study of inductive logic. Topics include: the nature of uncertainty, probability and inductive rationality, Bayes' Theorem, the nature of utility, expected value theory, decisions under uncertainty, game theory, strict and weak dominance, decision-theoretic paradoxes, pure and mixed strategy Nash equilibria.
All of our decisions require employing logic, or rules of inference. Deductive logic focuses on validity, or those arguments that, if their premises were true, would guarantee the truth of their conclusion. Inductive logic focuses on forms of reasoning that involve risk, uncertainty, and that can, at best, make their conclusion likely to be true. Probability theory gives us a set of formal rules for modeling and quantifying decisions made by rational agents operating without certainty. The cannon of inductive logic underlies the procedure and method of scientific reasoning.
This course explores theories about what reason is, how we acquired the faculty, and how it operates in humans. It surveys decision theory, decisions under ignorance, probability theory, Bayes theorem, expected value theory, utility theory, and game theory.
More generally, this course studies human rationality and irrationality. Rationality, purportedly, is the cognitive faculty that, more than any other feature, sets humans off from other animals. What is it and how does it function? Instrumental rationality seeks the best or optimal means for achieving some end. It does not focus on whether some ends are better than others. Practical rationality is the normative study of what it would be best to do, given a set of options with various pros and cons. Theoretical rationality concerns itself with what rationality is, what is its structure, what are its limitations. Bounded rationality is the analysis of making the optimal decisions given limitations on time, cognitive resources, and the prioritization of different ends.
This course will focus on a series of central questions:
What is the nature of human rationality?
What is reason for?
How does rationality function?
What are the limits of rationality?
Did we evolve to belief falsehoods?
How should we make decisions when we have little information about the outcomes?
How should we make probabilistic or inductive decisions?
How should we weigh decision options?
What are we trying to attain with our decisions?
How should we reason when dealing with other people?
Required Texts:
Assigned articles on the schedule.
Peterson, Martin. An Introduction to Decision Theory, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017
Spaniel, William. Game Theory 101: The Complete Textbook. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Sept. 2011
Specific reading assignments are all listed on the course schedule below.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the course, students who pass the class will understand:
advanced undergraduate concepts, tools, and theories of rationality.
advanced undergraduate application of reasoning and decision making.
advanced undergraduate comprehension of accounts of the limits of human rationality.
philosophical concepts. arguments, theories, and disputes regarding theories of rationality, axioms of rationality theories, utility, and value.
the basic concepts, tools, and theory of decision theory including:
the maximin principle, lexi-min principle, minimax principle, decisions under risk and uncertainty, decision theoretic paradoxes, and so on
the basics concepts, tools, and theories of game theory, including:
strong and weak dominance, pure and mixed strategies, Nash equilibria, solution strategies for zero sum, non-zero sum, cooperative, coordinated, simultaneous, and iterated games, backward and forward induction, and other important concepts in the field.
Student Assessment:
Students' abilities to meet these outcome goals will be evaluated with homework assignments, quizzes, tests, midterm, and final exams. There will be no makeup work and no extra credit.
Course Schedule: Inductive Logic II Weekly Course Schedule
Course Policies: Office hours, attendance policies, being tardy, late and missed assignments, makeup policy, cheating, intellectual property rights, students with disabilities, laptop policy are all listed here. https://sites.google.com/site/mccormickphilosophy/
Academic Honesty Policy: No cheating of any sort will be tolerated in this course. All sources in papers must be cited and given appropriate credit. The author of any information from the Internet or another student from class must be given credit; using such information without indicating the source is stealing someone else's hard work and it is immoral. Cutting and pasting someone else's work is not acceptable. It is also unacceptable to make minor revisions in language to disguise someone else's sentences/ideas. From the university policy manual: Plagiarism at Sacramento State includes but is not limited to:
The act of incorporating into one’s own work the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substance of another’s work without giving appropriate credit thereby representing the product as entirely one's own. Examples include not only word-for-word copying, but also the "mosaic" (i.e., interspersing a few of one’s own words while, in essence, copying another’s work), the paraphrase (i.e., rewriting another’s work while still using the other’s fundamental idea or theory); fabrication (i.e., inventing or counterfeiting sources), ghost-writing (i.e., submitting another’s work as one’s own) and failure to include quotation marks on material that is otherwise acknowledged; and
Representing as one’s own another’s artistic or scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, paintings, drawing, sculptures, or similar works.
Students are allowed to discuss lectures and assignments with each other. Students are encouraged to collaborate on many assignments. But every students must do his or her own work. Be cautious of sharing your notes, ideas, work, assignments, or papers with other students. Once you have given them a copy of or access to your work, you cannot control what they might do with it. If two or more students' work are found to violate the policy, all of the students will receive the same punishment, even if one did the work and the other plagiarized.
Here is the university policy on academic honesty:
"The attempt by a student to cheat on an exam or other academic assignment or to engage in plagiarism is a violation of a fundamental principle of academic honesty and integrity and will not be tolerated in the University. Formal procedures exist for dealing with these cases and penalties will be imposed on students who are found guilty of academic dishonesty. In the event of expulsion, suspension or probation, a notation is made on the student’s transcript. Suspension and probation notations remain on the transcript for the life of the suspension/probation. For information, contact the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs."
All students will be responsible for reading and following the university honesty, plagiarism, and cheating policies. They are posted at:
http://www.csus.edu/umanual/AcademicHonestyPolicyandProcedures.htm
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability and require accommodations, you need to provide disability documentation to SSWD, Lassen Hall 1008, 916-278-6955.
http://www.csus.edu/sswd/index.html
Please discussion your accommodation needs with me after class or during my office hours early in the semester.