Reading and Assignment Schedule:
Syllabus |
Week 1 |
Introduction |
Ancient philosophy |
Introduction: Reason is the tool that allows us to know the reality of the world. To watch: Introduction to Epistemology (youtube.com) Personal reflection: How would you define the two notions in this course: « reality » and « illusion »? |
Week 2 |
Reality is a reflection of the Idea or the Idea is a function of reality |
Text 1: Idealism, Plato, Republic (375 B. C.) Text 2: Realism, Aristotle, Metaphysics (350 B. C.) Text 3: Skepticism, Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism (200 B. C.) To watch: Realism and Anti-Realism | Philosophy Glossary (youtube.com) Personal reflection: Explain why Plato is described as an « idealist » and Aristotle as a « realist ». Explain also how Sextus proposes a third way. |
Week 3 |
Medieval Philosophy |
The thing exists in itself, or the word denotes things |
Text 1: Realism, Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion (1078) Text 2: The Thomist approach, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (1274) Text 3: Nominalism, Duns Scotus, Philosophical writings (1303) To watch: What is Nominalism? | Philosophy Glossary (youtube.com) Personal reflection: Why, in your opinion, does each of the authors of the week include the problem of the existence of God in his epistemology – theory of knowledge? |
Week 4 |
Focus: René Descartes (1596-1650) |
Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) – Meditations 1-3 To watch: Descartes Meditation I – Of the things which may be brought into Doubt (youtube.com) Personal reflection: According to Descartes, why is radical doubt necessary to build stable knowledge? |
Week 5 |
Modern Philosophy |
Knowledge is gained through logic or received through the senses |
Text 1: Sensualism, Hobbes, Leviathan (1641) Text 2: Empiricism, Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690) Text 3: Rationalism, Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748) To watch: Where does knowledge come from? (youtube.com) Personal reflection: Do the authors agree on the source of the knowledge? If not, how do their views differ? |
Week 6 |
Focus: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) |
An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784) To watch: Beginner’s Guide to Kant’s Metaphysics & Epistemology | Philosophy Tube (youtube.com) Personal reflection: Provide a summary of Kant’s essay and explain how the author understands the progression from illusion to reality. |
Week 7 |
Contemporary Philosophy |
Only matter exists or the world has an existence outside our representations |
Text 1: Idealism, Hegel, Science of Logic (1812) Text 2: The positivist approach, Comte, A General Views of Positivism, (1830-42). Text 3: Materialism, Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-criticism, (1909) To watch: What is Positivism? (youtube.com) Personal reflection: According to each author, what comes first, matter or mind/spirit? Can we know what is beyond matter? |
Week 8 |
Focus: Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) |
Truth and Method (1960) To watch: What is Hermeneutics? (youtube.com) Personal reflection: Is it necessary to get rid of prejudices in order to understand? Quick Survey: please fill it out; it is for the next generation! |
Week 9 |
End of the class |