Sample Curriculum:

Decision and Rational Choice

Game theory and decision theory have spread from the social sciences into ethics, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence. The department's concentration in Decision Theory and Ratioanl Choice reflects the department's special strength in social philosophy, game theory and foundations of decision theory. This concentration reflects the research interests of four Philosophy faculty members, Horacio Arlo-Costa, Cristina Bicchieri, Teddy Seidenfeld, and Peter Vandeschraaf.The interdisciplinary thrust of the concentration is underscored by philosophy faculty jointly appointed in the department of Statistics and in the department of Social and Decision Sciences. A number of research grants in the area of Game Theory provide ample research opportunities for interested students.

This sample curriculum is offered to illustrate how the core requirements of the program can be met by a student interested in Decision and Ratioanal Choice. Students are encouraged to design programs attuned to their own interests.

Fall First Year

• Research Seminar: Introduces students to research topics in the department.
• Minds, Machines and Knowledge: Implications of the computational model of mind for epistemology, and vice-versa
• Logic and Computability: Syntax and semantics of first-order logic.
• Elective: e.g., Rational choice

Spring First Year

• Probability and Artificial Intelligence: An introduction to contemporary probabilistic methods in AI including Bayes nets.
• Computability and Incompleteness: Godel's theorems, computability, and their epistemological significance.
• Elective: e.g., Probability and Mathematical Statistics I: Research tools for social science
• Elective: e.g., Game Theory

Fall Second Year

• Elective: e.g., Intermediate microeconomicsPhilosophy, Politics, and Economics
• Elective: e.g., Causality in the Social Sciences
• Elective: e.g., Probability and Mathematical Statistics II: Research tools for empirical psychology
• Elective: e.g., Behavioral Decision Making

Spring Second Year

• Elective: e.g., Political Philosophy
• Elective: e.g., Research symposium: Students present their master's thesis projects.
• Elective: e.g., Seminar on Epistemology
• Elective: e.g., Computational Modelling of Organizations, Technology and Society

Fall Third Year

• Directed Reading
• Dissertation Research
• Elective: e.g., Philosophy of Social Science
• Elective: e.g., Cognitive and social supports for Irrational Beliefs

Spring Third Year

• Directed Reading
• Dissertation Research
• Elective: e.g., Seminar on Social and Political Philosophy
• Elective: e.g., Seminar on Foundations of Decision Theory