HPS 322: Complexity, Order, and Emergence

Fall 2021 • University of Toronto

Course Description

In this course we will explore the notions of complexity, order, and emergence that have become important in the sciences (particularly biology and cognitive science) and their philosophical implications. Topics will include “strong” vs “weak” emergence, emergent levels of “being,” self-organization, and the emergence of life.

Required Texts

There are no required books for this course. All readings will be made available electronically on Quercus.

Course Mechanics

Lectures and Discussion: I lecture with slides. The slides will be used to focus discussion and organize complex material; they are not a substitute for the readings. The slides will be made available on Quercus a few days after lecture. Students are expected to take careful notes and will be held responsible for the material discussed in class not found on the slides or in the readings.

Reading Assignments: Students are required to read each selection prior to class. You should take notes while reading, keeping track of questions or issues that arise. You should bring both the reading and the notes/questions to class.

Online Discussion: Each week (except those when an exam or paper is due), students are required to post to the online discussion in Quercus. Each post must consist of at least 200 words and must demonstrate that you have done the entire reading(s) and thought seriously about them to receive full credit. If your post looks like something that you could have written after only reading a few sentences or paragraphs of the reading(s), you will not receive participation credit for that week.

Grading

• Participation: 10%, based on in-class participation and online discussion
• Exams 1 and 2: 20% and 30% (see below for explanation)
• Term paper: 40%

The two exams will be writing-intensive “take home” exams, i.e., you will turn them, as well as the final paper, in on Quercus.

If the student performs better on exam 1 than on exam 2, then exam 1 will count for 30% of the final grade, and exam 2 20%. Otherwise, exam 1 will count for 20% of the final grade, and exam 2 30%.

Course Policies

Attendance: There is no formal requirement for you to attend the lectures (though your participation grade will suffer if you are routinely absent). However, all of the exams include questions that are designed specifically to test whether you attended, paid attention, and took notes during the lectures (as opposed to just studying the readings and slides), so absences will result in a lower overall grade.

Lateness: The exams and final paper must be submitted to Quercus before the date/time they are due; otherwise they will be considered late. A late exam/paper will immediately result in a reduction of 1 full letter grade. For each additional 24 hours it is late, the grade will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade (B reduced to B-, C+ reduced to C, etc.). In fairness to students who make sacrifices to ensure that their work is turned in on time, no exceptions can be made to this policy unless you discuss it with me or Auguste well in advance of the due date.

Academic Integrity: All suspicions of academic misconduct will be reported in accordance with university policy. Academic misconduct is not just blatant cheating (e.g., copying off another student during an exam), but includes copying other students’ essays; copying or using old essays; forgetting to cite material you took from an outside resource; turning in work completed in total or in part by another. This is an incomplete list; if you have questions concerning academic misconduct it is your responsibility to ask me or Auguste for advice.

Tentative Reading Schedule (subject to change)