Kevin Dorst
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Courses

I've helped teach the following courses at MIT:
  • The Ethics of Climate Change (Spring 2018)
  • Moral Problems and the Good Life (Fall 2017)
  • Justice (Spring 2017)
  • Ethics (Fall 2016)
  • ​Problems of Philosophy (Fall 2015)
During MIT's 2017 "Interim Activities Period" I taught a crash course in two common formal methods used in epistemology: probability and epistemic logic. The goal was to develop an intuitive understanding of these methods, as well as their potential applications and limitations. Here are the handouts for each day:
  • Formal Methods in Epistemology: Probability
  • Formal Methods in Epistemology: Epistemic Logic

Handouts

Here are some handouts I've made while giving (opinionated) presentations on a number of well-known papers/chapters. (Caveat: I no longer hold many of those opinions.)
Epistemology:
  • Bikchandani et al. 1992, On Information Cascades
  • Christensen 2010, "Higher-Order Evidence"
  • Christensen 2010, "Rational Reflection"
  • DeRose 1995, "Solving the Skeptical Problem"
  • Horowitz 2014, "Epistemic Akrasia"
  • Joyce 1998, "A Non-Pragmatic Vindication of Probabilism"
  • Kelly 2008, On Biased Assimilation of Evidence
  • Konek & Levinstein 2018, "The Foundations of Epistemic Decision Theory"
  • Moore 1960, "A Proof of the External World"
Language/Logic
  • Frege against the formalists (Grundgesetze, Frege-Hilbert correspondence)
  • Grice 1957, "Meaning"
  • Quine 1960, Word and Object (Ch. 1)
  • Stalnaker 1984, Inquiry (Ch. 1)
  • Wright 1997, "On the Philosophical Significance of Frege's Theorem"
Metaphysics/Philosophy of Science
  • Carnap 1950, "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology"
  • Goodman 1955, Fact, Fiction, and Forecast (The New Riddle)
  • Hosiasson-Lindenbaum 1940, "On Confirmation"
  • Kripke 1980, Naming & Necessity (Necessity vs. A Priority)
Ethics:
  • Anscombe 1957, Intention
  • Barcan Marcus 1980, "Moral Dilemmas and Consistency"
  • Gibbard 1990, Wise Choices, Apt Feelings (Ch. 1)
  • Moore 1903, Principia Ethica (Ch. 1)

Writing

In 2012 I interviewed professors on how they wanted their undergraduates to write philosophy papers. The results are distilled into this handout, which I've found helpful in teaching undergraduates:
  • How to Write Philosophy Papers
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