Syllabus – Philosophy 376
Early Modern European Philosophy
Fall Semester 2017
Professor Tom Atchison
Office: 328B St. John’s Hall (St. Paul Campus)
Office hours: M 1-5, T 11-3, by appointment
Office Phone: 651-793-1493 (rarely checked)
Email: Thomas.Atchison@metrostate.edu (best way to reach me)
Course Objectives
Course Description
The philosophers of the early modern period represent a fairly major shift in the outlook of European culture. After many centuries in which the authority of the Church and the philosophy of Aristotle largely shaped people’s thinking, a revolutionary new science was developing, the Church was fragmenting, old skeptical ideas were being revived and new worlds were being discovered (geographically and astronomically). The philosophers of the period made heroic efforts to defeat skepticism, to provide new foundations for human knowledge, to reconcile the new scientific spirit with religious belief, to develop rigorous methods for the pursuit of science, and (eventually) to apply these new methods to the problems of ethics and politics. In the process they framed questions and developed concepts that still dominate philosophical inquiry and discussion – questions about the sources and limits of human knowledge, about the possibility of proving (or at least providing evidence for) the existence of God, about the relations of our minds to our bodies, about the grounds of moral judgment and of political authority. At the same time, these philosophers played a less admirable role in the development of ideologies justifying European colonialism and slavery.
Our first job will be simply to understand the discussions of these questions provided in their works. But I also want students to work on developing their own views about these issues and on articulating reasoned defenses of their opinions.
Course Materials
The only text I have ordered through the bookstore is The Great Conversation, Volume II (7th edition) by Norman Melchert. This book provides an overview of the ideas and of some of the social context of the thinkers we will be studying. It also contains the entire text of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy and many excerpts from other important works. But we will need to read more than what Melchert provides. Since virtually all the texts of the philosophers of this period are available online, it seemed to me better not to order a large number of those texts in book form (or a fat anthology). But those of you who don’t like to read things online (and don’t want to have to print out many pages of text) might want to get hold of hard copies of those works. They are all available in inexpensive editions, and often can be found for pennies at the used bookstores near the University of Minnesota (or from online booksellers). There are excellent versions available at www.earlymoderntexts.com a website developed by Professor Jonathan Bennett. Prof. Bennett has devoted his retirement to rewriting these texts in modernized and somewhat simplified prose, so that they are easier for contemporary readers to understand. More conventional versions are available at The Online Library of Liberty text collection or through the publisher’s companion website for our textbook: www.oup.com/us/melchert .
Please make sure your Metro State email account is working and check regularly for class related emails.
Conduct of the Course
Class time will be devoted largely to discussion, some in small groups, some all together. I will occasionally lecture, more often I will answer questions as they come up in discussion, and even more often I will try to help you figure out how to answer your questions yourself.
Much of our discussion will focus on understanding and evaluating the texts. This will work well only if you have done the assigned reading carefully -- often twice or three times -- and given it some thought. In philosophy we are interested not in the information that can be extracted from a text, nor simply in the conclusions or opinions that an author expresses; we are primarily interested in understanding and assessing the reasoning that an author uses to try to establish or support those conclusions. This requires a very careful sort of reading.
The point of reading these texts is not only to understand what some great minds have produced. A guided tour through the Museum of Great Ideas is a very good thing, but not the best thing that philosophy has to offer. Better is the opportunity to learn to think for yourself. The readings provide models of careful and/or creative thinking, challenges to our prejudices and assumptions, and starting points for our own reflections. But the only way to learn to philosophize is to enter the conversation yourself. In this way a course in philosophy is more like a course in drawing or sculpture -- a studio art course -- than like a course in art history or art appreciation. You can’t learn to draw by just watching other people draw, and you can’t learn to do philosophy by just listening and reading. You have to express your views and expose them to other people’s critical reactions.
Assignments and Grading
Reading assignments
I expect you to find time (many hours) to do the reading for each class and to come prepared to discuss it. Come to class ready to say what you found interesting, what you found confusing, questionable, or just plain wrong, what seemed to you to be the most important claims made, and what arguments or justifications were offered for those claims. Expect that you will need to read the assignments more than once to understand them adequately, and plan your time accordingly.
Reading response papers
20 % of your grade will be earned by submitting brief (a page or two, typed, double-spaced) responses to the readings for each class. These must be turned in at (or emailed by) the beginning of the class period to get full credit. Late papers get no more than 1/2 credit. If you must miss class, send in your response paper by e-mail. Each of these papers should contain: 1) a brief, concise statement of what you take to be the main point (or points) made in the reading) and 2) your questions, objections, observations and/or reactions to the reading for that class. I will not grade these, but I will reject any that do not seem to be based on a reasonably conscientious reading of the assignment for that week. You can miss one of these and still earn an ‘A’ for this part of the course work, but missing more will be penalized on the following schedule: 85% completed = A; 70% = B; 60% = C; 50% = D; less than 50% = F. I will also notice and reward particularly perceptive or thoughtful response papers.
Class discussion
20% of your grade will also be determined by my evaluation of the quality of your participation in class discussions. Just showing up and paying attention earns a C for this component; occasionally making helpful contributions earns a B; regularly making helpful contributions earns an A. Helpful contributions include: asking pertinent questions, answering questions asked by the instructor or by other students, expressing your views about the texts or topics we are discussing, responding (relevantly and respectfully) to the views expressed by others.
Position Papers
You will be asked to write 3 short (4-6 page) papers explaining and supporting your position on an interpretive or substantive question arising from one or more of the texts we study. I will provide topics for you to choose from. Each paper will count for 20% of your grade. Please keep copies of all the work you hand in.
Note: I try hard to base my evaluation of your work on your understanding of the reading, the quality of your reasoning and questioning, and the clarity and effectiveness of your expression of your thoughts, not on whether I agree with your philosophical theories, ideas, or opinions.
Time commitment outside of class
In accordance with Metropolitan State University guidelines, I've designed this course with the expectation that students will do 2-3 hours of course-related work outside of class for every hour spent in class. In other words, you should expect to spend 7-10 hours a week outside of class working on this course.
Needed reading and writing skills
Although there are no prerequisites for this course, it is an upper-division course. This means I assume you have the following reading and writing skills, and assignments are made with this expectation in mind:
Attendance
I do not require attendance per se, but part of your grade is determined by your participation in class discussion. I strongly advise regular attendance because the material in this course is relatively difficult and confusing, and few students are able to do well on the papers without the explanations and practice provided in class.
Late work
Response papers must be turned in at (or before) the beginning of class to receive full credit. Late response papers will receive half credit. In fairness to students who turn their position papers in on time, I will subtract one grade (e.g., B+ to B) for each day that a position paper is late.
Incompletes
I will give incomplete grades only to students who have satisfactorily completed most of the course work and who are unable to finish on time because of circumstances beyond their control.
Plagiarism
All work submitted for this course must be your own. Plagiarism is the academic ‘sin’ of presenting someone else’s work as your own. It is plagiarism if you copy something verbatim (word for word) from a published source, from the Internet, or from another student. It is still plagiarism if you rearrange, paraphrase, condense, or summarize someone else’s work without making clear to your reader what is your contribution and what is taken from your source. If the exact wording comes from your source, then use quotation marks. If the idea comes from someone else, give him or her credit for it. The way to do this is to cite your sources. There is a clear and detailed explanation of various forms of plagiarism and of proper citation practices at http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/avoiding-plagiarism. I will give a grade of ‘F’ to any student who submits plagiarized work for this course.
Students with disabilities
It is the policy and practice of the university to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement—such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos—please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the Center for Accessibility Resources.
The Center for Accessibility Resources is located in New Main, room L223. Phone number is 651-793-1549 and email is Accessibility.Resources@metrostate.edu.