Here is a list of courses I designed and taught as sole instructor at Duke University and Bilkent University. For a full teaching portfolio, please contact me.
Introduction to Philosophy
In this course, we cover some of the most central problems in philosophy. We discuss questions in epistemology (theories of knowledge, skepticism), metaphysics (idealism, physicalism, dualism), the philosophy of science (the problem of induction, falsificationism), the philosophy of mind (the mind-body problem), ethics (deontological and utilitarian moral theories), and the philosophy of language (the nature of meaning and reference). Course taught in Spring 2017 and Spring 2016.
Logic
This course covers the basics of sentence and predicate logic. In sentence logic, we start by learning about truth-functional connectives, translations, natural deduction, and truth trees. In predicate logic, we look at quantifiers, functions, identity, translations, natural deduction, and truth trees. We conclude by discussing some meta-logic. We use the textbook A Modern Formal Logic Primer by Paul Teller. Course taught in Summer 2017, Summer 2016, and Fall 2015.
Philosophy of Language
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of language. We discuss some of the most important authors in the field. Topics include: semantics (natural and non-natural meaning, definite descriptions, theories of reference), pragmatics (performatives, implicatures, slurs), propositional attitude reports de se and de dicto belief ascriptions, Kripke's puzzle about belief), and game-theoretic models of signaling. Course taught in Fall 2016.
Philosophy of Science
This course offers an introduction to the philosophy of science. The course provides a detailed treatment of induction (Hume's problem of induction, Goodman's new riddle), the nature of science (falsificationism, Quine-Duhem thesis), explanations (Hempel's two models, causal account, unificationism), the realism debate (constructive empiricism, experimental realism), and the question of values in science (theory choice, the problem of bias). Course taught in Fall 2018 and Fall 2019.
Philosophy of Social Science
This is an introduction to the philosophy of the social sciences. We first examine the historical background to debates about individualism, holism, and hermeneutics. We then consider the role of rational choice theory, mechanistic explanations, and pluralism. We also look at recent work in cultural evolution together with some of its challenges. We conclude by exploring modeling techniques, as well as questions about experimentation and reproducibility. Course taught in Spring 2019.
Social and Political Philosophy I
In this course, we discuss classic texts in the history of political philosophy from Classical Antiquity to the Renaissance. We cover Plato's views on justice in The Republic, Aristotle's treatment of virtues in the Nicomachean Ethics, Lucretius' account of how politics originated in On the Nature of Things, Machiavelli's political philosophy, and Christine de Pizan's defense of the moral worth of women in The City of Ladies. Course taught in Fall 2018 and Fall 2019.
Social and Political Philosophy II
In this course, we discuss classic texts in the history of political philosophy from the Early Modern era to the 19th century. We cover Hobbes' the state of nature in the Leviathan, Locke's account of justice in his Second Treatise on Government, Hume's views on social virtues in the Principles of Moral, Rousseau's Social Contract, and Mill's treatment of morals in Utilitarianism. Course taught in Spring 2019.