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Syllabus Paradoxes - 15245
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Last update 27-07-2019
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: Philosophy

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Casper Storm Hansen

Coordinator Email: casper_storm_hansen@hotmail.com

Coordinator Office Hours: By appointment

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Casper Storm Hansen

Course/Module description:
This course will cover paradoxes concerned with (1) time, space, and infinity, (2) language, self-reference, and vagueness, and (3) rationality.

Course/Module aims:

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Explain each paradox as a way to generate a contradiction from apparently true premises using apparently correct inferences
- Identify the philosophical issues that the paradoxes reveal to be badly understood
- Outline and criticize the major proposed solutions
- Formulate and defend their own positions regarding the paradoxes
- Assess the costs and weaknesses of their own positions
- Write a clear and well-argued paper
- Utilize constructive feedback on their writing
- Give constructive feedback to other students’ writing

Attendance requirements(%):
None, but grade depends on attendance

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: The course will be organized so that, in most cases, a new topic is introduced by the lecturer in the last half of each session and discussion about it follows in the first half of the next session. The students must write a paper at the end of the course about a paradox of their choice, and they will be given the opportunity to get feedback on several draft versions before then. The grade will be based on both the paper and participation in discussion

Course/Module Content:
- Zeno's paradoxes and supertasks
- Paradoxes of sets and infinity
- The liar and other semantic paradoxes
- The St. Petersburg paradox
- The two envelopes paradox
- Newcomb's paradox
- The Sleeping Beauty paradox
- The surprise exam
- The sorites paradox

Required Reading:
TBD

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 25 %
Project work 75 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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