Syllabus

Course Description

Between the late sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries, political and scientific revolutions would stamp Europe with what we can now recognize as the hallmarks of modernity. Philosophers not only struggled to understand the changes taking place around them, they were also crucial actors in forming the new intellectual and social world. This course will survey the development of philosophy in the early modern period. We will study in some detail philosophical texts from both the so-called "rationalist" and "empiricist" traditions and conclude with an examination of Immanuel Kant's critique and synthesis of these traditions in his Critique of Pure Reason. While we shall focus on metaphysical and epistemological questions and their implications for scientific inquiry, we shall also touch upon questions of ethics, politics, and medicine. This course will have three goals: 1) to understand the texts themselves and their place within each philosopher's intellectual development; 2) to understand the interrelations of the texts and their place in the development of philosophy in this period; and 3) to glimpse the place of philosophy within the complex intellectual and social world of the time.

Participation: There are several basic skills involved in philosophy, including reading critically, writing argumentatively, listening carefully, and talking constructively about ideas. If you do not attend class regularly you will not be able to participate and develop some of these skills, especially listening and talking. Lack of participation may affect your final grade in a variety of ways. If you miss class you will have less time to prepare your assignments. You will be less prepared to write your discussion response and papers. It is in your interest both in terms of your grade and your education to participate regularly in class.

Discussion Questions: Each week there will be a set of discussion questions and you are required to type a response to one of them. Each week there will be a set of discussion questions and you are required to type a response to one of them. The questions will be handed out on Monday and are due at the beginning of class on Friday. Please note that you are to bring one printed copy to class and upload an electronic version to the Catalyst Tools Collect It “PHIL 322 (Spring14) Drop Box” at the following URL: https://catalyst.uw.edu/collectit/dropbox/rosentha/30540. There will be ten sets of questions and each response is worth ten points for a total of 100 points. The responses will be graded as either “Very Good” (indicated by a check plus and worth 10 points), “Satisfactory” (indicated by a check and worth 8 points) or “Unsatisfactory” (indicated by a check minus and worth 5 points). A “Very Good” response shows great effort, nuanced understanding of the concepts, and offers some critical discussion. A “Satisfactory” response shows some effort, adequate understanding of the concepts (even if you don’t get it all correct), and only some if any critical discussion. An “Unsatisfactory” response shows little effort in responding to the question with little understanding of the concepts. If you do not turn in a reponse you will be given 0 points. You can turn in an assignment up to one week late. A late assignment will be worth no more than five points. You have the opportunity to revise any “unsatisfactory” response and hand it back no later than one week after it was handed back in class. You can receive anywhere from 0 to 3 extra points (i.e., making it satisfactory) for a revised assignment. You need a total of 53 points to pass this assignment.

Please note that this is a guide to your grades and I reserve the right to adjust it.

1) Passing and Failing. In order to pass this class, you must achieve the following minimal standards: (a) you must have a minimum total of 212 points; (b) you must complete all three papers; and (c) you must pass three of the four assignments. The minimum required to pass each assignment is noted above. Please note that the mere completion of the assignments does not guarantee that you will pass the course. They have to meet the minimum standard of quality set by the instructors. If you have enough total points to pass but do not pass three of the four categories of assignments, you will fail the course, i.e., receive a grade below 0.7, which is the minimum required to receive credit. Absolutely no exceptions will be made to this policy.

2) Academic Misconduct. Cheating in any form (including plagiarism, of course) will result in automatic referal to the Dean’s office. You are assumed to understand the university rules concerning inappropriate academic conduct, including what constitutes plagiarism. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the instructor or the TAs.

Disabled Student Services. If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me within the first week of the course so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class.

There is one text required for this course, an anthology of primary readings. It will be available in the University Bookstore.

Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources, Second Edition, edited by Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2009.

Below you will find a tentative schedule of readings for all class sessions. It is your responsibility to have read at least the assigned reading before class. All page numbers refer to the text mentioned above.

Week 1 – Introduction

3/31 Introduction

4/2 Bacon, New Organon, and Galileo, The Assayer (16-24)

4/4 Descartes, Discourse on the Method, 1, 2, and 5 (25-34)

Descartes, Discourse on the Method, 1, 2, and 5 (25-34)

Week 2 – Descartes (Meditations I-III)

4/7 Descartes, Meditations, Preface, I (35-43). See also: Objections and Replies (69-72).

4/9 Descartes, Meditations, II (43-47). See also: Objections and Replies (76-79).

4/11 Descartes, Meditations, III (47-54). See also: Objections and Replies (72-75, 79-92).

Week 3 – Descartes (Meditations III-VI)

4/14 Descartes, Meditations, IV (54-58)

4/16 Descartes, Meditations, V (58-61)

4/18 Descartes, Meditations, VI (61-68)

Week 4 – Spinoza

4/21 Spinoza, Ethics, Book I, Propositions 1-14 & Appendix (144-149, 160-164).

[1^st Paper Due]

4/23 Spinoza, Ethics, Book I, Propositions 15-24 (149-155)

4/25 Spinoza, Ethics, Book I, Propositions 25-36 (155-160)

Spinoza, Ethics, Book II, Propositions 1-14 (16-172)

Week 5 – Leibniz

4/28 Leibniz, “A New System of Nature,” “Monadology” (269-284)

4/30 Leibniz, “Monadology”

5/2 Leibniz, “Discourse on Metaphysics” (§§8-9, §13); “Letters to Arnauld” (248-264)

Week 6 – Locke

5/5 Locke, Essay, Book I, chapters 1-2; II, 1-14 (316-322; 322-348)

57 Locke, Essay, Book II, chapters 21-23, 27 (348-376)

5/9 Locke, Essay, III, 3, 6; IV, 1-4, 10-11, 15-16 (377-421)

Week 7 – Berkeley & Hume

5/12 Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge, §§1-33 (438-453)

5/14 Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge, §§1-33 (438-453)

5/16 Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §§I-III (533-542)

Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §§IV-VII (542-564)

Week 8 – Hume

5/19 Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §§VIII (564-575)

[2^nd Paper Due]

5/21 Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §§X (577-586)

5/23 Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §§XII (593-600)

Week 9 – Kant

5/26 Memorial Day (NO CLASS)

5/28 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Prefaces, Introduction (717-729)

5/30 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Transcendental Aesthetic (730-737)

Week 10 – Kant

6/2 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Transcendental Deduction (737-756)

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Analogies of Experience (769-779)

6/4 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Refutation of Idealism (781-783)

6/6 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Third Antimony of Pure Reason (798-800)

FINAL PAPER DUE: Monday, June 9^th, 12pm Noon.