PHILOSOPHY 302
MODERN PHILOSOPHY

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect
 has intended us to forgo their use." —Galileo

http://www.comune.pisa.it/aziende-esternalizzazioni/images/ http://descartes.thefreelibrary.com/ http://www.constitution.org/img/   http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/h/pics/ http://www.kelebekler.com/occ/prevekant.htm 
    Galileo Galilei                Rene Descartes              John Locke                   George Berkeley               David Hume                Immanuel Kant
       1564-1642                      1596-1650                  1632-1704                      1685-1753                     1711-1776                    1724-1804

"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use
one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies
not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another.
 Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"--that is the motto of
enlightenment.." --Immanuel Kant
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John Wright's Office Hours are MW 3:30-5 or by appointment

Readings and Assignments
Week 1/ Jan. 9: Introduction to the course; lecture on the Copernican Revolution
              Jan 11: Read Sections 1 and 2 of the  Lecture notes on the Copernican Revolution 
                         Read: Michael Matthews, The Scientific Background to Modern
                                   Philosophy, pp. 5-8, pp. 33-35;
                         Type out a 1 page response paper, based on the following
                                  question on Aristotle.
Week 2/ Jan 16: No class: Martin Luther King Day
               Jan 18 Read: The rest of the notes on the Copernican Revolution handed out in class;
                          Read: Matthews, pp. 53-55, 61-8 and answer these
                                     questions on Galileo's Dialogues in your notebooks. 
                          Type out a response paper in which you explain 1) Galileo's general criticism
                          of the method of Aristotelian philosophers and 2) his analysis of their logical
                          error on pages 76-77. Use quotation marks and give a page reference
                          whenever you use more than three consecutive words from the text.                  
Week 3/ Jan 23: Read: Galileo's Assayer in Matthews, Scientific Background pages 56-61,
                                    and answer these questions on his theory of matter and the senses.                        .
               Jan 25: Read pp 198-212 in Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings and
                           answer these questions in your notebooks
                           Quiz 1 on the materials studied so far
Week 4/ Jan 30: Read pp. 1-35 in Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings guided by these
                          comments and questions.
                          Type out a response paper on this topic for Monday's class. (Click on the link.)
              Feb. 1: Read pp. 35-56 in Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings guided by these
                          comments and questions
Week 5/ Feb. 6: Read Meditations 1-2, guided by these questions and comments                         
              Feb. 8: Read Meditation 3, guided by these questions and comments
                          Quiz 2 based on the reading questions above from January 25 to Feb. 6
                                on Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, Rules, Discourse on Method,
                                and Meditations 1-2
Week 6/ Feb.13: STOP THE PRESS! After looking at your quizzes and this week's response papers
                           I decided we need to step back and make sure we all are on the same page in our
                           understanding of Descartes. We need another class on Meditation 3. If you haven't
                           done so already please write up answers to the questions on Descartes' Third Medi-
                           tation from February 8 above. Then write up a one page response paper based on
                           the third Meditation accessed by this link.
                           Link to notes on Meditation 3.
               Feb. 15: Questions focusing on Meditation 6, with summaries of Meditations 4 and 5
Week 7: Feb. 20: Introduction to Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding: Questions to
                            answer in your notebooks before class
              Feb. 22: Quiz 3 Based on our study of Descartes' Meditations 3-6, and Locke's Essay
                           pp. 11-17.
                           Locke's attack on Innate ideas: Answer these questions.
Week 8: Feb. 27: Read Essay 2.1-11 answering these questions in your notebooks.
                           Then write up a one page response paper on the topic
                           accessed by this link.
              March 1: Locke on complex ideas, substance and personal identity:
                           Reading questions
MARCH BREAK: NO CLASSES MARCH 6 AND MARCH 8
Week 9: March 13: Guide and Reading Questions to Chapters 1-3 of Book 4 of Locke's Essay
              March 15: Guide to Book 4, Chapter 10: Locke's proof for the existence of God
                             Response paper to be submitted in class
Week 10: March 20: Locke on "probability", "the degrees of assent", and on faith and reason  
                              Review of our study of Locke for our quiz on Wednesday       
               March 22:  Quiz 4 on Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding
                                Berkeley's Principles of Philosophy, Preface and Introduction (Readings,
                               pp. 130-38
Week 11: March 27: Berkeley's Principles of Philosophy, Introduction and Part I, 1-20
                                  (Readings, pp.130-43): Reading Questions
                             Response Paper to be submitted in class on Berkeley's Principles
                                 Note that I have added two more essay topics on Berkeley to the links below
                March 29: Reading questions on Berkeley's Principles I, 21-33, 43-44
Week 12: April 3 : Hume's Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section XII:
                             Notes and Reading Questions
                             Response Paper to be submitted in class on Hume's Inquiry, Sec. XII
                April 5: The first principles of Hume's philosophy: Reading Questions, Inquiry 2,3, & 4.1                          
Week 13: April 10: Readings from Hume: Inquiry, Sections 4 & 5: Readings, pp. 356-49
                             Quiz 5 on Berkeley and Hume: Review Berkley's Principles of Human Knowledge,
                                   Preface, Introduction, Part I, ##1-33, 42-4 (Readings, pp. 130-45, p. 147)
                                   and Hume's Inquiry, Sections XII, II, and III (Readings, pp.387-94, 333-6)
                April 12: Section VII, of Hume's Inquiry, Readings, pp. 351-9: Reading Questions
Week 14: April 17: Course Essay is due in class and online: see "INSTRUCTIONS..." below
                              Immanuel Kant,  Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics, Preface and Preamble,
                                  pp. 5-23: Reading Questions
                April 19: Be sure you have read Kant's Prolegomena pp. 5- 31; we will begin with his
                              discussion of Hume that we did not get to on Monday
Week 15: April 24: Read Prolegomena, pp. 32-65 with the help of these questions
                              Read the "Preface to the Second Edition" of the Critique of Pure Reason
                                   in Prolegomena, pp, 139-53 with the help of these questions
                April 26: Course Review and Preparation for the final examination
Final Examination: Monday, May 1, 2-3:50

 

 

 

 

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Links

 INSTRUCTIONS and Topics for Essay due April 17
        An additional topic on Locke on the limits of scientific knowledge of nature
        Two more essay topics on Berkeley--on his attack on skepticism and on his theory of mind

Books on Reserve for Phl 302

Philosophy Reference

Oxford English Dictionary

JStor

Park Library Catalogue

John Wright's Homepage

Complete text of John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Berkeley's An Essay Towards a  New Theory of Vision: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Berkeley/vision.htm