This seminar is designed to be responsive to student interests. However, I intend to center it around the themes of expressivism and pragmatism, both as they arise in connection with obvious practical subjects and in the philosophical landscape more generally. Any students with interests in ethics, political philosophy, modality, or aspects of meaning would be welcome. Background reading might include some of my own papers, and contemporary work on pragmatism as represented in Cheryl Misak’s collection New Pragmatists. Significant figures in this area include Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, Robert Brandom and Huw Price.

This seminar fulfills the Metaphysics & Epistemology requirement.

Simon Blackburn’s webpage