RECOMMENDED TEXT
 
 
 

Cummins, Robert and David Owen (eds.)  Central Readings in the History of Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant  2nd Edition  (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999).

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS
 
 

This course is devoted to an examination and critical evaluation of some of the central themes and arguments in the rationalist tradition.  We will be reading the works of three philosophers:  Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza.  For the first few weeks, we will read and discuss selections from Descartes' Rules for the Direction of the Mind and from his Meditations on First Philosophy.  For the next few weeks, we will read and discuss a short work by Leibniz, The Monadology.  And for the remainder of the course, we will read and discuss selections from Spinoza's Ethics.
 
 

Reading assignments are listed in the course outline below.  All assigned readings are available in the recommended text listed above and are also available in several locations on the web.  Students should attend each meeting of the course ready to discuss the assigned reading material.

You will write three papers on assigned topics (each roughly 1500-2400 words in length).  The first paper will be due at the beginning of class on Monday, October 19.  The second paper will be due at the beginning of class on Monday, November 9.  The third paper will be due in my office [Bond Hall 302A] on Friday, December 11, between 11:30am-12:30pm.  Each paper will be worth one-third of the final grade for the course.

Please note my policy on late papers:  The deadline for submitting papers is 12:10 for the first and second paper and 12:30 for the third.  After that -- it's late.  Unless you make prior arrangements with me, a late paper will be penalized two full letter grades if it is submitted within 24 hours of its deadline, and it will be penalized three full letter grades if it is submitted within the next 24 hour period.  I will not accept a paper submitted 48 hours after it is due.  Computers crash, disks fail, and computer labs get busy.  Plan ahead.
 
 

COURSE OUTLINE
 
 
 

09/23	Introduction To The Rationalists
09/25	Descartes  Rules For The Direction Of The Mind  (No Readings)
09/28	(Lectures On Descartes' Substance Dualism, Descartes' Skepticism,
09/30	Descartes' Concept Of Matter, And Descartes' Concept Of Mind)
10/02
10/05	Descartes  Meditations On First Philosophy
10/07
10/09
10/12
10/14
10/16
10/19	First Paper Due In Class -- Mon, Oct 19 (Before 12:10)
10/19	Leibniz  Monadology
10/21
10/23
10/26
10/28
10/30
11/02
11/04
11/06
11/09	Second Paper Due In Class -- Mon, Nov 09 (Before 12:10)
11/09	Spinoza  Ethics  (Part I: Definitions, Axioms, Propositions 1-14)
11/13
11/16
11/18
11/20
11/23
11/30
12/02
12/04
12/11	Final Paper Due In Bond Hall 302A -- Fri, Dec 11 (Between 11:30am-12:30pm)