Course Description
Modern philosophy emerges at a time of great optimism. The enlightenment inspires the idea that questions about existence and knowledge can be answered by human reason as opposed to traditional authority. And the scientific revolution shows how empirical inquiry can access facts about nature with increasing precision and rigour. It is in this context that the metaphysical and epistemological theories of René Descartes, John Locke, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Margaret Cavendish, and Anton Amo develop. We will examine some of their central texts as means to addressing perennial problems concerning certainty, doubt, error, the self, the world, and God.
Learning Objectives
Gain an understanding of the basic concepts and arguments in early modern philosophy.
Grasp early modern philosophers' attempts to formulate and solve problems from ancient and medieval philosophy.
Register the continuing relevance of early modern philosophical views for philosophy today.
Critically assess early modern philosophy's substantive theses about certainty, doubt, personal identity, existence, perception, and theism.
Outline
The aim of this course is to accelerate the development of the critical and presentational skills that are key to the successful study of philosophy. Students in small groups will meet weekly with a member of the academic staff to discuss an article of chapter of a book that has been specified in advance (below). In preparation for most meetings you will be asked to submit online an analytic précis of the piece in question and one of the participants will present theirs to the group for critical discussion. Assessment of the course will be on the basis of the quality of these outlines and an essay derived from one of them.
Aims
Having successfully completed this course students will be able to:
- Present orally complex philosophical issues clearly and rigorously;
- Critically and precisely evaluate philosophical texts;
- Understand the relevance of philosophical investigation to issues of pressing moral and political concern;
- Demonstrate an ability to write cogently and philosophically about a topic of contemporary relevance;
Structure
10 one-hour Tutorials.
QUICK INFO:
TIMETABLE:
- Lectures: XXX
- Seminars: XXX
RESOURCES:
- (M&A): Lepore, E. and Cumming, S. (2013) Meaning and Argument: An Introduction to Logic through Language, Wiley-Blackwell, Revised 2nd edition
- (forallx): Magnus, P. D. and Button, T. (2020) forall x: Calgary. An Introduction to Formal Logic, Creative Commons license
- (MT): Marianne Talbot (2017) Critical Reasoning: A Romp through the Foothills of Logic for the Complete Beginner, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ASSESSMENT:
- Multiple choice test (30 minutes) 50% date XXX
- Online 'take home' exam (2
hours) 50% date XXX
CONTACT:
- Office hours: XXX
This course examines some of the major metaphysical and epistemological problems that arise when attempting to understand how mind and language figure in human interactions with and within the world. It centres on attempts to conceptualise, solve, or avoid mind-body related problems in the analytic tradition and aims to contrast these with phenomenological investigations of cognate phenomena.
AIMS
Having successfully completed this course students will be able to:
1. appreciate critically how the rationalist and empiricist traditions in philosophy influence contemporary thought in the philosophy of mind;
2. understand the continuing relevance of the mind-body problem to the question of what it is to be a human being;
3. make critical conceptual connections between the analytic and European traditions in philosophy with respect to their concern with understanding language, subjectivity, and the phenomenology of experience;
4. comprehend the difficulties and importance of conceptualising the relationship between thought and language;
5. understand the importance of consciousness to some contemporary debates in philosophy, psychology and cognitive science.
Module Summary
This course will explore the central developments in modern philosophy occurring between the foundation of modern empiricism and rationalism by Locke and Descartes in the 17th century, and the emergence of Kant’s philosophical system in the late 18th century. The course will look at three of the key figures from the two traditions, exploring the key theories they expound, and the arguments used to support these theories. The figures covered will depend on the research specialisms of the course convenor, but a typical syllabus would involve reading works by Spinoza, Leibniz, and Hume. Looking at these philosophers over a number of weeks will allow students to develop their close reading skills, and to see how the arguments put forward by these philosophers work together to produce a systematic metaphysical worldview.
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the main philosophical positions of philosophers in the empiricist and rationalist traditions;
2. Critically evaluate the validity of the key arguments supporting these positions;
3. Understand the importance of these traditions to the development of later philosophy;
4. Express their ideas in writing showing knowledge, understanding and critical evaluation;
5. Demonstrate their ability to read closely a range of different philosophical texts.
QUICK INFO:
TIMETABLE:
- Lectures: Thursday 1pm Bourne Lecture Theatre 2
- Seminars: Thursday 2pm (SF) Moore Annex 034B, 3pm (SF) Inter 031, and 4pm (AB) Moore Annex Lecture Theatre
ASSESSMENT:
- Essay (2000 words) 50% midday Friday 4th Nov, from part I
- Online 'take home' exam (3 hours) 50% Thursday 5th Jan, from part II
CONTACT:
- Suki Finn: Wednesday 1pm and Thursday 12pm, suki.finn@rhul.ac.uk