Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century (PHIL 315)
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00 to 3:30
Professor Margaret Schabas (Buchanan E358)
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30 to 3:30
Teaching Assistant: Jasper Heaton
Course Description: We will study leading contributors to eighteenth-century philosophy, covering both epistemology and metaphysics on the one hand, and moral and political philosophy on the other. We will read George Berkeley, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Mary Wollstonecraft (and short related readings by e.g. Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine and Catherine Macaulay). All ofthe texts are Hackett reprints.
Texts: George Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous
David Hume, AnEnquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume,AnEnquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract
Immanuel Kant,Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Grading:Four Short Essays 70 [3 @ 20%; 1 @ 10%]
Final Examination 30 TBA
100%
Logistics: Always do the assigned readingsin advance of the lecture, and bring the text to lecture. You will write four essays, each about 1000 words (4 pages double-spaced) on an assigned question. No research is required or recommended. The essays will prompt you to engage the assigned text and probe more deeply into a particular philosophical question. Each essay counts for 20% except the one with your lowest grade; it counts for 10%. The final exam is comprehensive but more weight will be placed on Kant and Wollstonecraft. There will be some choice on the exam, some short questions, and two longer essay questions. A preview of the essay questions on the exam will be distributed on the last class.
Protocol: Only if notified in advance of a due date or testisit possible to accommodate tardy submissions or absentees. Every effort will be made to post relevant notes on Canvas. In order to foster discussion and engagement during class, I request that all computers and other electronic devices be turned off unless authorized by the Centre for Access and Diversity. Out of courtesy to your classmates, please arrive on time and stay for the entire class.
Class Schedule
January 4:Preliminaries
January 9: Berkeley I (pp. 2-42)
January 11: Berkeley II (pp. 43-60)
January 16:Berkeley III (pp. 61-94)
January 18: Hume EHU I-IV (pp. 1-25)
January 23Hume EHU V-VI(pp. 25-39)First Essay Due
January 25: Hume EHU VII (pp. 39-53)
January 30: Hume EHU VIII-X (pp. 53-90)
February 1: Hume EHU XI-XII (pp. 90-114)
February 6:Hume EPM I-III (pp. 13-34) Second Essay Due
February 8: Hume EPM IV-VII (pp. 34-68)
February 13: Hume EPM VIII-IX and Appendix I-IV (pp. 68-106)
February 15: Hume EPM A Dialogue(pp. 107-119); Hume A Letter from a
Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh (EHU, pp. 115-124)
February 20-22: Midterm Break
February 27: Rousseau I (pp. 16-29) Third Essay Due
March 1:Rousseau II (pp. 29-48)
March 6-8: Rousseau III-IV (pp. 49-103)
March 13-15:KantI-II (pp. 1-63) Fourth Essay Due
March 20-22: KantIII-IV(pp. 64-122)
March 27:Wollstonecraft I-III (pp. 3-31)
March 29:Wollstonecraft IV-VI (pp. 32-51)
April 3: Wollstonecraft VII-XIII (pp. 52-77)
April 5:Related Texts (pp. 78-124) Exam Preview Distributed