Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
Fairfield University
Spring  2008

PH 150 A, T & F 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., CNS 9

 

Steven M. Bayne
Office: DMH 309, x2857
Office Hours: T & F: 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.,
W: 1:00 to 1:50 p.m., or by appointment.
 

Required Texts

Philosophical Essays and Correspondence, René Descartes, ed., Roger Ariew, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2000).

Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays, G. W. Leibniz, Trans. Daniel Garber and Roger Ariew, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1991).

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke, abr. & ed., Kenneth P. Winkler, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1996).

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume, ed., Eric Steinberg, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1993).

Selections from A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume, in class packet.

Kant Selections, ed., Lewis White Beck, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988).
 

Course Description

Questions. As far back as . . . well forever, philosophers have been asking questions (well, really all people ask questions—maybe philosophers just ask them more incessantly than other people). Who am I? What is the world like? How does my mind work? What can I know? Am I alone in the world? Is there a divine being? How should I relate to other people? What is the best way to live? How are humans different than animals? Who gave the government the right to boss me around? These, and lots of others, are good philosophical questions. This semester we will study the ways in which such questions have been formulated and answered by some of the most important modern philosophers (that means philosophers from the late 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries).
 

Course Goals and Objectives

The ultimate goal of the class is to get you to think philosophically for yourself. Given the topic of our class, the primary objective here will be to enable you to recognize, understand, discuss, and evaluate some of the important themes developed by philosophers in the modern period. As much as possible we will use this primary objective as a bridge to the further objective of enabling you to do the same things with philosophical issues wherever you encounter them (whether that be in a book, a speech, a discussion, a work of art, a news report, or even your personal experiences in everyday life).
 

Course Requirements and Grading

The requirements for this course are:

Class attendance and participation:

10%

Writing assignments:

10%

Midterm:

25%

Final:

25%

Term Paper:

30%

Please note:

  1. Minimum Attendance Requirement: If you have six or more unexcused absences, you will receive an F for the course regardless of the scores you earn on the other class assignments.

  2. You will be required to prepare a writing assignment each week. In these assignments you will be asked to write about the reading we will be discussing during the week.

  3. Late writing assignments will not be given a grade.

  4. You are required to turn in a rough draft of the term paper. The last day to turn in the draft is April 1, 2008. The final version of the paper is due on April 29, 2008. I will distribute a list of topics on or before March 11, 2008.

  5. If for some reason you cannot meet a paper deadline or take the midterm at the scheduled time, then you must inform me as soon as you know this. If you have what we both deem to be a good excuse, then we will make arrangements for you to turn in the paper at some other time or take a make-up-exam. If you miss a deadline without speaking to me before the deadline, then one third letter grade will be deducted from your score for each day your paper is late. If you miss an exam without speaking to me before the exam, you will not be allowed to make up the exam.

  6. You must take the final exam at the scheduled time.


Academic Integrity

I expect you to abide by Fairfield University’s policies on academic honesty (see p. 28-29 of the current catalogue). Academic dishonesty of any kind (see p. 29 of the current catalog for more information) will not be tolerated, but since many of the assignments in this class will be completed outside of the classroom, I want to include a special note concerning plagiarism. Plagiarism is committed anytime a person directly quotes, closely paraphrases, or uses some original idea from another author without citing the source of this material. It does not matter whether this other material comes from a lecture, a journal article, a book, or even a web site. If you are using material from another author, then you must cite the source. This applies to both your final version and any drafts you turn in to me. If anyone is caught plagiarizing (or committing any other act of academic dishonesty) in this class, there will be three initial consequences. First, at the very least this student will receive a 0 (zero) on the assignment in question. Second, I will send an official letter to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences explaining the academic misconduct that occurred. Finally, this letter would then be kept on file in the Dean’s office where it would become a permanent part of your academic record.
 

Tentative Schedule of Readings and Writing Assignments
Click on the underlined date to see the writing assignment for a specific week.

January 15:

Course Introduction

January 18:

Descartes (1596-1650): Read Discourse on the Method (Part 6), p. 73-74 and Principles of Philosophy (Preface), p. 227-228.

January 22 & 25:

Descartes: Read, Meditations on First Philosophy (Meditation 1 and first four paragraphs of Meditation 2), p. 104-108, Discourse on the Method (first paragraph of Part 4), p. 60-61, and Principles of Philosophy (Part I, Principles 1-7), p. 231-232.

January 29 & Feb. 1:

Descartes: Finish Meditation 1 and read Meditation 2.

February 5 & 8:

Descartes: Read Meditations on First Philosophy (Meditations 2 & first 12 paragraphs of Meditation 3), p. 107-116, Discourse on the Method (First three paragraphs of Part 4 & last four paragraphs of Part 5), p. 60-61 & 71-73 and Principles of Philosophy (Part I, Principles 8-12 & 45-46), p. 232-234 & 242-243.

February 12 & 15:

Descartes: Read Meditations on First Philosophy (Meditation 3), p. 113-122, Discourse on the Method (Part 4), p. 61-64 and Principles of Philosophy (Part I, Principles 13-18), p. 234-236.

February 22:

Leibniz (1646-1716): Read Discourse on Metaphysics, (§1-16 & 24-36), p. 1-18 & 26-40 and read The Monadology, p. 68-81.

February 26:

Leibniz (1646-1716): Read Discourse on Metaphysics, (§1-16 & 24-36), p. 1-18 & 26-40 and read The Monadology, p. 68-81.

February 29:

Midterm Exam.

March 11 & 14:

Locke (1632-1704): Read An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Epistle to the reader, Book I: Ch. I-II & Bk. II: Ch. I-VIII), p. 1-14 & 33-56.
March 18: Locke: Read An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Bk II: Ch XII & XXIII and Bk III: Ch III, §15-18 & Ch VI), p. 66-68, 117-129, 185-187 & 192-203.

March 25 & 28:

Locke: Read An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Bk II: Ch XXVII and Bk. IV: Ch. I-IV & IX-XII) p. 133-150, 224-240 & 274-292.

April 1 & 4:

Hume (1711–1776): Read A Treatise of Human Nature, Introduction (in class packet) and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (§II-IV), p. 9 - top of 17.

April 8 & 11:

Hume: Read An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (IV-V), p. 17-37.

April 15 & 18:

Hume: Read Enquiry (§IX, & XII), p. 69-72 & 102-114. Also read A Treatise of Human Nature Book I, Part I, §6, Book I, Part IV, §6 & Appendix (paragraphs 10-21) (in class packet).

April 22 & 25:

Kant (1724-1804): Read Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics (Introduction-§5), p. 156-172.

April 29:

Read Critique of Pure Reason, (Preface, Introduction, Transcendental Aesthetic & Transcendental Deduction), p. 95-109 & 112-115. Also read Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics (§21-33), p. 187-197.

May 8:

PH 150A Final Exam at 9:00 a.m.