Bachelor of Arts (BA) - The University of Hong Kong

280PHIL2140.Philosophy of social science (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)How should we understand and explain human life and activities? This course will examine differentmodels of explanation in the social sciences, and will proceed by case studies. Which cases are takenwill depend on the interests and knowledge of those who enrol for the course.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).There are no prerequisites for this course.Group II: Mind and LanguagePHIL2220.The mind (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)This course will focus on some central issues in the philosophy of mind, issues which arise when wethink of the relations between mind and the world. Among the issues to be discussed in the course arethe following: What does having a mind enable us to do? Do non-human animals have minds? What isthe relationship between mind and rationality?Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).PHIL2510.Logic (6 credits)(This course is also offered to non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadening purposes.)This is an introductory course on basic formal logic. We shall study basic logical concepts, as well asformal systems of logic including sentential and predicate logic. We shall learn how logical notationscan be used to identify logical truths, and to formalize and evaluate arguments. If we have time wemight discuss more advanced topics such as the connection between computation and logic, and Gödel'sTheorems.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).The prerequisite for this course is PHIL1006. Elementary logic.PHIL2520.Philosophy of logic (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)When thinking about inference, a number of concepts come to our attention, such as truth, logicalconstants, propositions, necessity, consequence, logical form. Various questions with which the coursedeals include: 'What is the relation of Logic to reasoning?'; 'What does the existence of paradoxes tell usabout our accepted logical principles?'; 'What is the best way to represent arguments in ordinarylanguage if we wish to study the validity of such arguments?' 'Are there types of discourse which are bynature fuzzy, demanding a fuzzy logic for their representation?'; 'Must logic fit empirical facts, or is it a'pure' discipline?'Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).The prerequisite for this course is PHIL1006. Elementary logic.