This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
The Early Modern period of philosophy has had a profound effect upon contemporary thought and life. Beginning with the intensely reflective musings of French mathematician René Descartes, European philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries saw the possibility and scope of human knowledge as the foremost problem facing us: can we know, and, if so, what? On the Continent, the rationalists saw reason itself as the sole judge of truth. They were opposed in turn by the British empiricists, who insisted that sensation is the fundamental criterion for human knowing. This course presents a review of some of the main figures of the period: among the rationalists, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, and among the empiricists, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. We will begin with a brief review of the history of philosophy immediately prior to the period, and end with the synthesis of Immanuel Kant and the beginnings of German Idealism.
Total classes: 12
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 11th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1 full semester of philosophy
Description
The Early Modern period of philosophy has had a profound effect upon contemporary thought and life. Beginning with the intensely reflective musings of French mathematician René Descartes, European philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries saw the possibility and scope of human knowledge as the foremost problem facing us: can we know, and, if so, what? On the Continent, the rationalists saw reason itself as the sole judge of truth. They were opposed in turn by the British empiricists, who insisted that sensation is the fundamental criterion for human knowing. This course presents a review of some of the main figures of the period: among the rationalists, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, and among the empiricists, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. We will begin with a brief review of the history of philosophy immediately prior to the period, and end with the synthesis of Immanuel Kant and the beginnings of German Idealism.
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: Readings for each session will be made available in the form of a pdf file (Free). Students can expect readings to average 15-25 pages for each session.
Homework: Assignments include close readings of portions of the works of the main philosophers studied. All of the readings are of above-average difficulty. Students should expect to set aside two or three hours each week to carefully prepare for class by reading these materials. Students will also respond to one or two questions following each session in the form of brief written essays.
