Benjamin Callard is a Lecturer in Philosophy. He received his BA from Brandeis, his MA from Tufts, and his PhD (2007) from Berkeley. Ben’s areas of specialization are ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. He also has strong interests in the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
Selected Publications
Papers:
“The Conceivability of Platonism,” Philosophia Mathematica 15, no. 3 (October 2007): 347-356
Recent News
Ben debated Jason Bridges on the question "Do Minds Exist" in the 2018 Night Owls event series, and gave a talk, "The Value of Freedom," at the 2017 Humanities Day Conference.
Recent Courses
PHIL 20000 Introduction to Philosophy of Science
An introductory exploration of some of the central questions in the philosophy of science. These will include: what is (the definition of) a science--such that the natural, formal, and social sciences all count as sciences, but (for example) philosophy and literary criticism do not? How, in the natural sciences, do theory-building and observation relate to each other? Can some of the sciences be reduced to other sciences? (What is reduction of this kind supposed to involve?) What is evidence? What are the old and new problems of induction? What is a scientific (or indeed any other form of) explanation? What is a law of nature? Do the sciences make real progress? (B)
PHIL 24599 Introduction to Frege
Gottlob Frege is often called the father of analytic philosophy, but the real reason to study him is not his historical significance, but, rather, that in his work one encounters a philosophical intelligence of the very first order. This course is an introductory survey of his most important ideas, in philosophy of mathematics, logic, philosophy of language, and metaphysics. To help us in our project of understanding and assessing these ideas we will read discussions of Frege by Michael Dummett, Tyler Burge, Joan Weiner, Nathan Salmon, Michael Resnik, Danielle Macbeth, Hans Sluga, Patricia Blanchette, John Searle, Crispin Wright, and others. (B)
PHIL 26000 History of Philosophy II: Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy
A survey of the thought of some of the most important figures of this period, including Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
Completion of the general education requirement in humanities required; PHIL 25000 recommended.
PHIL 23000 Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology
In this course we will explore some of the central questions in epistemology and metaphysics. In epistemology, these questions will include: What is knowledge? What facts or states justify a belief? How can the threat of skepticism be adequately answered? How do we know what we (seem to) know about mathematics and morality? In metaphysics, these questions will include: What is time? What is the best account of personal identity across time? Do we have free will? We will also discuss how the construction of a theory of knowledge ought to relate to the construction of a metaphysical theory-roughly speaking, what comes first, epistemology or metaphysics? (B)
For full list of Ben Callard's courses back to the 2012-13 academic year, see our searchable course database.