X755: Laws of Nature

In this course we survey (mostly, contemporary) literature
concerning the concept of the laws of nature. We begin by
considering how the concept originated.  After that, we go on to
consider the myriad views/positions regarding laws: among them,
the "no laws" view, regularity accounts (both the so-called naive
regularity account and various sophisticated regularity accounts),
numerous necessitarian accounts, resiliency accounts, epistemic
accounts, laws as inference rules, the role of ceteris paribus
clauses, etc. Finally, depending on the interests of the seminar
participants, we consider the particular status/role of laws in
several special sciences: physics, biology, and the social sciences.

This class is a seminar, and the focus will be upon active
discussion of the readings and NOT upon lecture. Students will be
expected to do the weekly reading and to attend seminar prepared to
discuss the material. At least once during the semester, the student
will "be responsible" for some fraction of the week's readings,
which means that they will guide the class through the related
discussion. Grades for the course will be based upon such
presentation(s), as well as on written work for the course (format
TBA), and, of course, to some non-negligible extent, upon seminar
participation.