History of Modern Philosophy -- PHIL 3010

History of Modern Philosophy -- PHIL 3010

Spring 2012 CRN: 13222

Office Hours: TWR, 12:00-1:00; Moore Hall 3013—387-4402

Class Times: TR 10:00—11:40

Classroom: 3206 Dunbar Hall

Class Web Page: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~baldner/histsyl.htm

Readings: Selections from: René Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy; Gottfried Leibniz’ “First Truths,” and “Principles of Nature and Grace;” John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding; George Berkeley’s Principles of Human Knowledge, and Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous; David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, and Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding; and Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.

There is no text to purchase. All the readings are available online. I have gathered them together in a single packet which you can access by clicking on “Readings” above. They are available in an “Adobe *.pdf” file, so you will need to download an Adobe Reader.

Note: This is a “writing intensive” course that satisfies the Gen Ed Baccalaureate Writing Requirement for students majoring in Philosophy. There is a lot of writing in this course, and a substantial portion of your final grade will be based upon writing assignments. You can find general instructions for writing Thesis Defense papers on the class web page.

Grading: Grades will be based upon three papers (due 2/17, 3/30 and 4/20), each worth 15% of your grade, in class pop quizzes, worth a total of 25%, a midterm (3/1) worth 20%, and a final exam (Wed., 4/25, 8:00—10:00) worth 20%. The midterm and final are both “open book” tests. You can bring your text, and you can write whatever you like in your text, but you may not bring anything else. Final grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

A 93% and above BA 88%--92%

B 83%--87% CB 78%--82%

C 73%--77% DC 68%--72%

D 60%--67% E 59% and below

The pop quizzes will be unannounced. They will involve short essays (you will be given 10 minutes to complete them) to insure that you have read and thought about the readings. They will cover any material covered up to and including the reading assigned for the day they are given. Any changes to the class schedule will be announced via email to your Western email accounts. There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes, but I will drop your lowest quiz score.

Attendance Policy: Class attendance is mandatory. Whether/when/how I take attendance is at my discretion. How attendance affects your grade is at my discretion. In other words, if you miss class, I will interpret this as an explicit statement from you that you are perfectly happy for me to give you whatever grade I choose. An absence will be excused only if the Dean of Student’s Office notifies me regarding a serious illness or death in your family. See the Dean of Student’s web site for details. (For absences for religious observances, see the policy below.) Bottom line: you should not expect to pass this class without regular attendance.

Tentative Class Schedule

1/10 Introduction Procedural Matters; Introduction to Modern Philosophy	1/12 Introductory Terminology and Issues: Descartes: Meditation I
1/17 Descartes: Meditations I and II	1/19 Descartes: Meditation II The “Theory of Ideas”
1/24 Descartes: Meditations II and III (I will briefly discuss the third Meditation. Reading it is encouraged, but it will not be covered on the test.)	1/26 Descartes: Meditation IV
1/31 Descartes: Meditation V and VI (I will briefly discuss the fifth Meditation. Reading it is encouraged, but it will not be covered on the test.)	2/2 Descartes: Meditation VI Note on the main structure of Med. VI
2/7 Leibniz: “First Truths” A Priori, Rationalist Metaphysics	2/9 Leibniz: “Principles of Nature and Grace”
2/14 Locke: Innate Ideas Essay: Bk. I, §§ i and ii (pp. 38-46)	2/16 Locke: Ideas and Qualities Essay: Bk. II, §§ i and ii (pp. 46-52) *First Papers Due Fri., 2/17*
2/21 Locke: Ideas and Qualities; Primary and Secondary Qualities: Essay: Bk. II, § viii (pp. 53-58); Substratum: Essay: Bk. II, § xxiii (pp. 58-67)	2/23 Locke: Substratum: Essay: Bk. II, § xxiii (pp. 58-67) (Cont.)
2/28 Locke: Language Essay: Bk. IV, §§ i and ii (pp. 67-71)	3/1 Midterm
3/6 *Spring*	3/8 *Break!*
3/13 Berkeley: Introduction to Principles (pp. 72-82)	3/15 Berkeley: Principles 1 - 50 (pp. 82-97); Dialogue 1; pp. 98 - 133
3/20 Berkeley: Dialogue 1 (Cont.)	3/22 Berkeley: Dialogue 3; pp. 134 - 161
3/27 Hume: Treatise, Bk. 1, Part I, 1 (pp. 162-165); Enquiry: §§ 2, 4, and 12 (pp. 165-177). Hume on Perceptions and Knowledge	3/29 Hume: Enquiry: §§ 4 and 12 (pp. 164-177) (Cont.); Hume: Treatise, Bk. 1, Part iii, §14 (pp. 178-188) *Second Papers Due, Fri., 3/30*
4/3 Hume: Hume: Treatise, Bk. 1, Part iii, §14 (pp. 178-188) (Cont.); Hume Review	4/5 Treatise, Bk. 1, Part iv, §§ 2 and 6 (pp. 188-197)
4/10 Kant: B Preface: Kant’s Transcendental Idealism (pp. 198-208) Kant and Hume Diagram	4/12 Kant: Introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason (pp. 208-220)
4/17 Kant: Introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason: Kant Lecture 3 Notes	4/19 Kant: Space and Time, “Transcendental Aesthetic” (pp. 220-235) *Third Papers Due, Fri. 4/20*

Final Exam: Wednesday, April 25^th, 8:00—10:00 a.m.

Objectives: 1. Students will acquire knowledge of key modern philosophers and their methods of inquiry. 2. Students will develop their writing skills. (Note: This course satisfies the Gen Ed Baccalaureate Writing Requirement for students majoring in Philosophy.) 3. Students will develop skills in stating and critically evaluating arguments.

Academic Honesty: You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing.

Religious Observance: (The following is from the University’s Policy on Religious Observance) The University is a diverse, multicultural enterprise and, as a community, we jointly embrace both individual responsibility and dignified respect for our differences. It is our general policy to permit students to fulfill obligations set aside by their faith.

It is our intent that students who must be absent from scheduled classes to fulfill religious obligations or observe practices associated with their faith not be disadvantaged. However, it is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with his/her instructors in advance.

Instructors should assume that a claim of religious observance has veracity, especially when advance notice is provided by the student. Students likewise must recognize that it is their responsibility to meet all their course obligations. Instructors are not obligated to provide materials to students unless these materials would have normally been distributed to the entire class.

Accommodation for disabilities: Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact Disability Services for Students at (269) 387-2116 at the beginning of the semester. A disability determination must be made by this office before any accommodations are provided by the instructor. For more information, go to http://www.wmich.edu/disabilityservices.