As the capstone seminar, this course is required of all senior majors. For 2002-2003, the seminar will focus on the philosophy of Hilary Putnam, considered by many (including the professor of this course) to be the world's foremost living philosopher. Putnam is famous for both changing his mind and for the breadth of his interests. He was one of the earliest proponents of the view that human beings are importantly analogous to computers, and then later, one of the chief critics of that view. Putnam's works range from the philosophy of logic and physics to the philosophy of education and history. He has written on philosophers from Aristotle and Kant to Levinas and Dewey. He has examined both the consistency of mathematics and the consistency of religion. Students will be responsible for giving presentations and for a major final paper. Prerequisite: senior major status (or, in extraordinary cases, permission of instructor).