Shawn Standefer
@standefer.bsky.social
Philosophical logician at North Carolina State University
Thanks for sharing the syllabus! It looks very interesting.
November 28, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Thanks for sharing the syllabus! It looks very interesting.
My non-intro courses have been at most 1/3 philosophy students, with the remainder made of up of a mix of math, CS, linguistics, and electrical engineering, and a handful from law and assorted programs.
November 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
My non-intro courses have been at most 1/3 philosophy students, with the remainder made of up of a mix of math, CS, linguistics, and electrical engineering, and a handful from law and assorted programs.
Based on my experience teaching CS students, many programmers get a lot out of a logic course. Of course, there are many logic-oriented CS courses that cover similar stuff, but the theory does add something to the nitty gritty of programming.
November 26, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Based on my experience teaching CS students, many programmers get a lot out of a logic course. Of course, there are many logic-oriented CS courses that cover similar stuff, but the theory does add something to the nitty gritty of programming.
The course I do is metatheory, but we also cover a bit of modal and 2d logic. I don't really see how those are in conflict.
I'm a little surprised that lambda calculus stuff is of interest to people. Is that in the context of quantified modal logic, computability, or higher-order logic stuff?
I'm a little surprised that lambda calculus stuff is of interest to people. Is that in the context of quantified modal logic, computability, or higher-order logic stuff?
November 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The course I do is metatheory, but we also cover a bit of modal and 2d logic. I don't really see how those are in conflict.
I'm a little surprised that lambda calculus stuff is of interest to people. Is that in the context of quantified modal logic, computability, or higher-order logic stuff?
I'm a little surprised that lambda calculus stuff is of interest to people. Is that in the context of quantified modal logic, computability, or higher-order logic stuff?
What uni was this? I’ve never heard of having logic as a prereq for every philosophy course
November 26, 2025 at 9:04 PM
What uni was this? I’ve never heard of having logic as a prereq for every philosophy course
What book? None of the ones listed on your website CV sound like formal methods courses
November 26, 2025 at 8:36 PM
What book? None of the ones listed on your website CV sound like formal methods courses
Also, most people are not great at reasoning with quantifiers and seeing the subtleties involved there.
November 26, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Also, most people are not great at reasoning with quantifiers and seeing the subtleties involved there.
One virtue of formalizing arguments in logic is that you really strip away a lot of the concepts that are distracting or are generating intuitions. You also get the methods of proof analysed in a way you don’t see much in proof-based math courses.
November 26, 2025 at 8:35 PM
One virtue of formalizing arguments in logic is that you really strip away a lot of the concepts that are distracting or are generating intuitions. You also get the methods of proof analysed in a way you don’t see much in proof-based math courses.
I think the push for a general formal methods class in grad school is far enough along that you could be contrarian but taking up the defense of a standard metatheory course
November 26, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I think the push for a general formal methods class in grad school is far enough along that you could be contrarian but taking up the defense of a standard metatheory course
More evidence for the probably independent hypothesis
November 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
More evidence for the probably independent hypothesis
I’ve also wondered about the “compute” thing. The use of “spend” over “spent” has been common in Australian English for over a decade, so that’s probably independent.
November 25, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I’ve also wondered about the “compute” thing. The use of “spend” over “spent” has been common in Australian English for over a decade, so that’s probably independent.
I'm not sure that the hype-backlash was as unproductive as suggested. Due to AI hype, universities all over the place are putting a lot of resources into AI stuff and letting/forcing it into a lot of pedagogical areas. The backlash may result in some of that being scaled back, which seems good.
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
I'm not sure that the hype-backlash was as unproductive as suggested. Due to AI hype, universities all over the place are putting a lot of resources into AI stuff and letting/forcing it into a lot of pedagogical areas. The backlash may result in some of that being scaled back, which seems good.
One issue here is that especially early students haven’t got a feel for how to be critical of feedback. So I think that having bad suggestions mixed in won’t be beneficial on balance.
November 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
One issue here is that especially early students haven’t got a feel for how to be critical of feedback. So I think that having bad suggestions mixed in won’t be beneficial on balance.
My main issue with current LLMs is that there isn’t a guard rail between getting the feedback and getting the LLM to do the rewrite. That’s not an essential problem with the LLMs, but it’s also not one that’s likely to be fixed
November 24, 2025 at 3:25 PM
My main issue with current LLMs is that there isn’t a guard rail between getting the feedback and getting the LLM to do the rewrite. That’s not an essential problem with the LLMs, but it’s also not one that’s likely to be fixed
Just anecdotally, I find this kind of curious. Lots of CS people I follow are fairly negative on LLMs for coding beyond fairly basic things, but I could see some disciplinary divergence here
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Just anecdotally, I find this kind of curious. Lots of CS people I follow are fairly negative on LLMs for coding beyond fairly basic things, but I could see some disciplinary divergence here
This surprised me too, but more power to him if it’s working
November 24, 2025 at 2:50 PM
This surprised me too, but more power to him if it’s working
How have your students found using an AI or LLM as a supplemental advisor? What are your thoughts on the guidance you’ve seen so far?
November 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
How have your students found using an AI or LLM as a supplemental advisor? What are your thoughts on the guidance you’ve seen so far?
What are you finding useful and effective in using AI in philosophy classes?
November 24, 2025 at 1:35 PM
What are you finding useful and effective in using AI in philosophy classes?
Thanks! This is helpful. I think you’re right that analyticity is the issue.
November 20, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Thanks! This is helpful. I think you’re right that analyticity is the issue.