WilfridLaurierUniversity

Department of Philosophy

Winter Term 2005

PY262 Syllabus

Professor: Victoria I. Burke

Lecture Time: Thursday 2:30-5:20

Lecture Location: 2C16

Office Telephone: 884-1970 x3779

Office Location: Alvin Woods 2-201G

Office Hours: MW 13:45-15:30

E-mail:

Modern Philosophy I

The Early Modern era is a period in western philosophy that began in the 17th-Century with Descartes’ celebrated conception of the cogito, a conception which reflected the modern turn toward the epistemological issue of certainty. The modern concern with certainty in this era first spawned the continental rationalists, Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza,thinkers for whom a conception of God figured prominently.The rationalists’ views on the nature of reality were thus compatible with traditional forms of religious authority. By contrast, the empiricist framework that emerged at the turn of the 18th-Century fuelled scientific materialism, an understanding of the nature of knowledgethat was compatible with atheism. Empiricism, particularly in the thought of Hume, promised the possibility of human centered systematic discovery and, by the end of the 18th-Century, the materialism that grew from it generated an optimistic pursuit of knowledge and moral agency freed from traditional forms of religious authority. In the 18th-Century,with empiricism and rebellion against rationalist metaphysical systems and theological dogma, a great optimism emerged concerning the power of reason to sustain progress toward material comfort and spiritual happiness: it is within our power, by the use of reason, to perfect our existence here in this world through discovery of the material world. Two of the most prominent of the French Enlightenment philosophesof the 18th-Century were Voltaire and Diderot: in parodic literary texts,Voltaire challenged Leibnizian theodicy and Diderot expressed concern about the compatibility of the new materialism and empiricismwith morality. In Kant, the early modern era comes to a culmination in a theory of knowledge that was a reconciliation of rationalism and empiricism in transcendental idealism. Kant also developed a conception of moral agency that retains the modern concern with certainty and that responds to the loss of meaning brought about by the new materialist empiricism. We will conclude with an examination of Lessing’s late 18th-Century conception of moral progress that combines features of rationalism and empiricism in a theory of development that is at once theological, enlightened, and rational.

Required Texts:

Diderot, Rameau’s Nephew and other works

Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

Voltaire, Candide

Ed. R Ariew & E. Watkins, Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources

Lessing, “The Education of the of Human Race”

Obtaining course texts: The four books are available at the university bookstore. The Lessing article, “The Education of the Human Race,” is available for purchase for $1 from the philosophy department secretary.

Course Requirements: Grade will be determined by two mid-term exams and a term paper.

Distribution:

Mid-Term Exam I: 33%

Mid-Term Exam II: 33%

Term Paper (5-6 pages): 34%

Guidelines for submitting written work: The essay is to be submitted typed (double spaced and single-sided) on white 8.5 x 11 paper. Students must keep a copy of their work for their own files in case the paper should become lost. If the paper becomes lost, by myself, the department secretary or the T.A., it is the student's responsibility to be able to replace it. Papers may not be submitted electronically via e-mail or fax.

Readings and Lectures: Students should read the assigned material prior to the lecture, and should bring the texts to class as the lectures will involve careful and close examination of the readings. In the assigned written work and exams, students will be assessed on the basis of their comprehension and synthesis of both the reading material and the lectures.

Course Schedule

WEEK 1

January 6: Course Introduction, Descartes

No readings

WEEK 2

January 13: Descartes

Reading: Meditationson First Philosophy, Ariew & Watkins, pp. 22-55

WEEK 3

January 20: Leibniz

Reading:Monadology, Ariew & Watkins, pp. 235-243

WEEK 4

January 27:Leibniz and Locke

Reading: selections from Essay, Areiw & Watkins, pp. 270-373

WEEK 5

February 3: Locke

No new readings: Locke’s Essay cont’d.

*Rationalists Exam (Mid-Term I: 33%)

WEEK 6

February 10: Hume

Reading: selections from Enquiry and Treatise, Ariew & Watkins, pp. 491-572

WEEK 7

February 17: Hume

Reading:Enquiry and Treatise, cont’d. (no new readings)

*Instructions for Term Paper will be posted on the Web CT site by this date.

WEEK 8

February 24: Reading Week—no class

WEEK 9

March 3:Voltaire

Reading:Candide (complete)

WEEK 10

March 10: Diderot

Reading:Rameau’s Nephew (complete)

WEEK 11

March 17:Kant

Reading: selections from the Critique of Pure Reason, Ariew & Watkins, pp. 634-646 (Avii-Axi & Bvii-B30), pp. 646-653 (A17-A50/B74), pp. 658-662-666 (A84/B116-B143), pp. 668 (#24). The table of the categories, which we will not be covering in detail, but which you should have a general idea of, is at B106.

*Empiricists Exam (Mid-Term II: 33%)

WEEK 12

March 24: Kant

Reading: selections from Critique of Pure Reason, Ariew & Watkins, pp. 704-709 (A409/B436-A435-B463), pp. 716-719 (A497B525-A508/B536), pp. 688-691 (B233-B244)

WEEK 13

March 31: Kant and Lessing

Reading: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals; “The Education of the Human Race” (This article is available for purchase for $1 from the secretary of the philosophy department)

April 8: Term Paper Due

No Final Exam

Examination Period:

The Academic Date section of the Calendar (Printed and Web Site Versions) clearly states the examination date period for each semester. Students must note that they are required to reserve this time in their personal calendars for the examinations. The examination period for this course is April 8-27, 2005. Students who are considering registering to write MCAT, LSAT or GMAT or a similar examination, should select a time for those examinations that occurs outside the University examination period. For additional information that describes the special circumstances for examination deferment, consult the University calendar.

Disabilities:

Students with disabilities or special needs, are advised to contact Laurier’s Special Needs Office for information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review the Calendar for information regarding all services available on campus.

Academic Misconduct:

Academic misconduct is an act by a student, or by students working on a team project, which may result in a false evaluation of the student(s), or which represents a deliberate attempt to unfairly gain an academic advantage. Academic misconduct includes: please refer to page 98 in the 2004/2005 Undergraduate Calendar.

Foot Patrol:

After class call “886-FOOT” for a walk or drive home - No Walk is Too Short or Too Long.