Date

Topic

Reading    (Note: TGC = The Great Conversation by Norman Melchert; TBA means To Be Announced later; page numbers for primary texts are from Bennett's versions)

Jan. 15

Introductory Session

None

Jan. 22

From Medieval to Modern: the revolution begins

TGC, Ch. 12, Ch 13 to page 346 (Includes the first three Meditations by Descartes)

Jan. 29

Descartes’ dualism and Hobbes’ materialism

TGC, Ch. 13, the rest (Includes Descartes Meditations 4-6), Ch. 14 to p. 369, Hobbes Leviathan Intro and Book 1 Chs. 1-6.; Princess Elizabeth, letters to Descartes

Feb. 5

Hobbes and Locke on the Social Contract

TGC 369-371;   Leviathan Chs. 13-15, 17, 18, 21; TGC 382-385; Locke 2^nd Treatise of Government, Chs. 1-5, 7-11

Feb. 12

Locke’s theory of knowledge and Berkeley ’s

1^st paper due (instructions) ; TGC 372-382, 385-396; Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, selections:

Book I, Of Innate Notions
---Chapter 1, Introduction
---Chapter 2, No Innate Principles in the Mind
---Chapter 4 Further Considerations on Innate Principles, just sections 8 and 9

Book II, Of Ideas
---Chapter 1, Ideas in General and Their Origin, sections 1-9
---Chapter 2, Simple Ideas
---Chapter 3, Ideas of One Sense
---Chapter 4, Solidity
---Chapter 5, Simple Ideas of Different Senses
---Chapter 6, Simple Ideas of Reflection
---Chapter 7, Simple Ideas of Both Sensation and Reflection
---Chapter 8, Further Considerations..., Sections 1-19
---Chapter 11, Of Discerning and Other Operations of the Mind, sections 1, 4, 6, 8. 9, 17
---Chapter 12 Complex Ideas
---Chapter 21, Power, Sections 1-29 plus sections 73-74
---Chapter 23, Complex Ideas of Substances, Sections 1-12, 30, 33, 35, 37
Chapter 27 Identity and Diversity, Sections 1-6, 9-10, 16-20, 22, 25

Book IV Knowledge and Opinion
---Chapter 1, Of Knowledge in General
---Chapter 2, The Degrees of Our Knowledge
---Chapter 3, The Extent of Human Knowledge, Sections 1-5
--- Chapter 10, Our Knowledge of the Existence of God, Sections 1-6
---Chapter 11, Our Knowledge of the Existence of Other Things

Feb. 19

Hume on knowledge and causality

TGC 397-409; Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Chs. 1-7

Feb. 26

Hume on God, soul, and freedom

TGC 409-419; Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Chs. 8-12 ; Also some selections from Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion:

Read from the bottom of page 9, where Cleanthes states the Argument
from design -- "Look round the world..." -- to the end of Part 3 (p.
18)

Read p. 20 (part of Philo's reply to Cleanthes)

Read the first page of Part 6 (p. 25)
Read the first page of Part 7 (p. 28)

In Part 9, read pp.36-38, in which Demea states the cosmological
argument and Cleanthes replies

Read the last few pages of Part 10 (from page 40) and all of Part 11(on
the problem of evil)

March 5

Hume on morality

TGC 419-425; Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Sections 1, 2, 3, and 9, plus appendix 1. Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Book II, Part 3, section 3, "The
Influencing Motive of the Will" (pp. 198-200)
2. Treatis of Human Nature, Book III, Part 1, section 1, "Moral Distinctions Aren't Derived from Reason" (pp. 216-223)

March 12

Spring Break – no class

March 19

Rationalism after Descartes;  

Kant on knowledge

TGC 426-441; Kant, The Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysic through section 39; "Transcendental Deduction" from The Critique of Pure Reason (pp. 55-88 in Bennett's
version).

March 26

Kant on God, soul, and freedom

TGC 442-450; more selections from Kant (TBA); 2^nd paper due (instructions)

April 2

Kant on morality

TGC 450-460; Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

April 9

Mill

TGC Ch. 19; Selections (TBA) from Utilitarianism, The Subjection of Women, and On Liberty

April 16

From Hegel to Marx

TGC Ch. 17; Hegel, The dialectic of master and slave; Critique of Kant (Philosophy of Right sections 133-135); Introduction to the Philosophy of History, Chapter III (optional); TGC, pp.507-514; Marx, Theses on Feuerbach; Preface to the Critique of Political Economy; from The German Ideology (through section 4 on Social Being and Consciousness); "Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas";

April 23

Nietzsche

TGC Ch. 20; Read as much as you can of Twilight of the Idols, at least the Preface,  The Problem of Socrates , "Reason" in Philosophy,
How the "True World" Finally Became a Fable, Morality as Anti-Nature, and The Four
Great Errors  and in The Genealogy of Morals, read sections 5 and 6 of the Prologue and as much of the First Essay as you can.

April 30

Graduation day, no class?

3^rd paper due (send by email) (instructions)