Teaching

Knowing, Being, Doing

I’ve helped create a syllabus for Examen Philosophicum (ExPhil). All students at the University of Oslo must take this introduction to ethics and the history of philosophy and science. This is a fantastic opportunity. Future immunologists, lawyers, business women, and school teachers: all learning the basics of philosophy. But what exactly should they all learn? How to get a 17th century idea into the 21st century? Together with my colleague Ingvild Torsen and the help of all others in our faculty, we have re-done the syllabus for this course from the ground up.

We have also written a new textbook (with Herman Cappelen). It’s called 'Knowing, Being, Doing’.

Some courses I teach

  • Metaphysics

    The philosophy classifying things seems like the most boring topic on the planet. But then think about who counts as a man or woman, and whether there are human races. In this course we visit some of the oldest problems of philosophy and some hot button topics.

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  • Philosophy of Biology

    What does biology, and especially the theory of evolution, teaches us about some of life’s biggest questions.? On sex, death, cooperation, cancer, and morality (and how they are related).

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  • Philosophy of mind

    Consciousness: why does it matter? Is is physical? What is its structure? Does it explain why there is a mind at all?

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  • Philosophy of Psychology

    How does the science of psychology work? What does it tell us about who we are? A special angle in the way I teach this course is that we look at both humans and other animals.

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  • Science and democracy

    From the coronavirus to the climate crisis, and from fake news to new support for authoritarian regimes: how can we think responsibly about science and democracy?

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Some Thoughts on teaching

I aim to strike a balance between teaching students about philosophy, teaching them how to do philosophy, and teaching them how to use philosophy.

  • First, students should walk away with significant knowledge about specific philosophical positions, arguments, and philosophical thinkers. These are intrinsically interesting and a rich resource for understanding both ourselves, and the world at large.

  • Second, students should acquire important skills, techniques, and tools. Through a philosophical education students can learn

    • how to argue with precision and clarity about problems that initially may seem intractable, confused, unstructured, and vague;

    • how to read critically and with understanding – by working through texts that are often difficult and written in foreign historical and cultural contexts;

    • how to navigate complex argumentative landscapes;

    • and how to respectfully and critically engaging with opposing views.

  • Third, students should learn that and how the tools of philosophy are useful beyond philosophy (and indeed the academy).

    • Many philosophical ideas and arguments form the unspoken background of how humans think about their personal development, of discussions and disagreements within our personal and professional life, as well as in debates in society.

    • My students should learn to use their philosophical training to go beyond the surface in those domains, rethink deep assumptions, and learn how to respectfully talk and argue across deep rifts between outlooks in search of fruitful dialogue.

All teaching since 2013

I have been on teaching leave since Fall 2021.

Spring 2021

  • Science and Democracy [syllabus available]. Beginning BA level

  • Examen Philosophicum (Lectures). Beginning BA level (Introduction to the history of philosophy and science, and ethics): Lectures on the Enlightenment Ideals, the Cartesian Project, the Mind-Body Problem, and Knowledge of Geometry

Fall 2020

Spring 2020

  • no teaching

Fall 2019

  • Science and Democracy. Beginning BA level

  • Examen Philosophicum (Seminar). Beginning BA level

  • MA Thesis Work in Progress Seminar. MA level (co-taught with Caj Strandberg)

Fall 2018-Spring 2019

  • On leave (guest professor at LMU Munich)

Spring 2018

  • Organizer of Philosophy Colloquium (Filosofisk Seminar)

  • Philosophy of Psychology and Neuroscience. PhD level lecture at Faculty of Social Science, Course on Methods in the Social Sciences.

Fall 2017

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

  • Organizer of Philosophy Colloquium (Filosofisk Seminar)

  • Statistics for Philosophers. PhD level Course organizer (with Jeroen Rijnders); course taught by Pål Ulleberg.

Spring 2017

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

  • Philosophy of Biology [syllabus available]. Mixed Upper level BA/MA level

  • Philosophy of Psychology and Neuroscience. PhD level lecture at Faculty of Social Science, Course on Methods in the Social Sciences.

Fall 2016

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

  • MA Thesis Work in Progress Seminar. MA level (co-taught with Bjørn Ramberg)

  • Philosophy of Psychology and Neuroscience. PhD level lecture at Faculty of Social Science, Course on Methods in the Social Sciences.

Spring 2016

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

Fall 2015

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

  • Epistemic Injustice. PhD level (co-taught with Ingvild Torsen and Tove Pettersen)

  • Metaphysics and philosophy of language [syllabus available]. MA level (course focused on Natural Kinds and Social Kinds)

  • Philosophy of Psychology and Neuroscience. PhD level lecture at Faculty of Social Science, Course on Methods in the Social Sciences.

Spring 2015

  • PhD Thesis Preparation Seminar. PhD level

Fall 2014

Fall 2013

  • Philosophy of Science. MA level (course focused on Evolution, Sociality, and Cognition. Co-taught with Katharine Browne)