Herbert I Hochberg

42080 discussion is W 2:00-3:00 in WAG 210

42085 discussion is W 3:00-4:00 in WAG 210

42090 discussion is W 4:00-5:00 in WAG 210

DESCRIPTION:

The course will consider a number of philosophical issues in the writings of some major historical figures from the “modern” (17^th-18^th centuries) period. Beginning with Galileo and Descartes on perception, we will consider diverse aspects of Cartesian rationalism and its mind-body dualism, along with a short passage (on BLACKBOARD website) from Malebranche. We will proceed to the British empiricist tradition’ as found in Berkeley and Hume, and  Kant’s “Critical Idealism” that  attempts to respond to the basic problems raised by Descartes, Berkeley and Hume –about “causation,” knowledge, perception, mind-body interaction. Finally we will consider the “debate” between Hume’s empiricist approach to ethics –his “moral sense” and “utilitarian” views— and Kant’s emphasis on reason, “duty” and obligation. If time permits we will briefly look at some 19^th century reactions to Kant in Nietzsche and Mill.

TEXTS                                                                                                               

GALILEO (1564-1642) Selections: The Assayer  (on Blackboard Documents)        0

DESCARTES  (1596-1650) Meditations                                  (Hackett)                     6

 MALEBRANCHE (1638-1715) Dialogues on Metaphysics,   7^th dialogue,                0

on Blackboard  and at  http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/maldia.pdf

 (Newton: 1643-1727) —  just for the placing of the others in time

BERKELEY (1685-1753) Three Dialogues                                       (Hackett)             5

HUME   (1711-1776)  An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding  (Hackett)  6

                                     An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (Hackett)  6

KANT    (1724-1804) Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics     (Hackett)         6

                                     Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals   (Hackett)     6       

GRADING:

   There will be 3 exams—Exams 1 and 2 =  33% each -- Exan  3 =  25%

 participation in discussion sections will count 12 %.

Texts and Reading

B. A. W. Russell:  Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy and  Principles of Mathematics                                   

R. Carnap, Meaning and Necessity, 

H. Hochberg, Introducing Analytic Philosophy

On line papers by Frege, Moore, Ramsey, Quine.

Grading

 1.  research paper  50%--a first draft to be turned in at the 9th week for

faculty feedback and final draft due at end of term.

 2  take home-research essay exams,  25 %   each—each exam to consist of three

questions, of which two will be historical and one a critical discussion of a major

theme of a studied text. The critical discussion from one exam will be presented in

class for peer discussion.  The essay exams will be given out  in the  6th week and

the 12 th week—and due one week later.

The course will deal with central themes in the writings of central figures in the development  of what has come to be called "the Analytic Tradition" in contemporary philosophy. In doing that we will read classic papers  (Moore, Frege,  Russell, and Ramsey) and sections of books (Russell)  from the first two and a half decades of the 20th century, some earlier works of G. Frege, and mid-century works by Quine and Carnap.

 Specifically the course will focus on: 

(a) problems concerning the relation of language and thought to the "objects" and facts that they are purportedly "about," which will involve questions about the nature of reference, predication, propositions and truth; 

 (b) Russell's theory of definite description and its subsequent importance in the development of the philosophy of language and of analytic metaphysics and  revival of metaphysics and ontology;

(c) issues surrounding the analysis of logical truth and logical validity and, hence, the "analytic-synthetic" dichotomy; issues about mathematical truth and, derivatively, questions about mathematical "entities"--such issues will involve a consideration of the "logicism" of Frege and Russell (the thesis that arithmetical truths are logical truths, and arithmetical concepts are "definable" in terms of logical concepts), and some alternative views; 

(d) G. E. Moore's analysis of  intentionality and its derivation from the phenomenological tradition of the Austrian philosopher-psychologist  F. Brentano and  his students E. Husserl and A. Meinong, along with the diverse "sense-data" analyses of perception of Russell and Moore and their differing views of the nature of the objects of perception and of physical objects;

(e)  the classic arguments of Russell and Moore regarding the existence of relations, universals, facts and basic particulars and the subsequent challenge to those views by F. P. Ramsey. 

(f) the later developments of the analytic tradition in the focus on “semantics” in Carnap and the linguistic nominalism of Quine.

this course examines metaphysical and epistemological issues in early
modern philosophy from Descartes (1596–1650) to Kant (1724–1804)

specific topics include scepticism, the existence of the external world, the relation between mind
and body (between consciousness and matter), ‘realism’ and ‘idealism’, ‘empiricism’ and
‘rationalism’, perception, primary and secondary qualities (e.g. shape and color), personal
identity (the nature of the self or subject of experience), induction, causation, free will, Kant’s
deontological ethics (other possible topics include: substance, miracles, nature and existence of
God, a priori knowledge, the analytic-synthetic distinction, essence, possibility, the nature of
space)

This course is an overview of some of the central topics in metaphysics.
Metaphysics, generally speaking, is the branch of philosophy concerned
with the nature of reality; metaphysicians seek an understanding of the
fundamental sorts of things that constitute the world, as well as of the
structure of the world itself.
We will begin by focusing on issues surrounding one particular sort of
thing: persons. In particular, we will be considering different views
regarding what it is to be a person and for a person to persist through
change. This will lead to more general discussions of the nature and
structure of time and the persistence of things through temporal change.
From there we’ll take up the issue of composition. In particular, we’ll be
concerned with the following question: Under what circumstances do
some things (parts) compose another thing (whole)? We’ll then turn to the
problems of universals and individuation – how do we account for (i)
similarities among distinct things and (ii) the distinctness of exactly
similar things? We’ll conclude the course with a discussion of possible
worlds.

 FALL 09   SCHEDULE AND SYLLABUS

301 L               T-TH         11-12              302 Wag                       

The course will consider a number of philosophical issues in the writings of some major historical figures from the “modern” (17^th-18^th centuries) period. Beginning with Galileo and Descartes on perception, we will consider diverse aspects of Cartesian rationalism and its mind-body dualism, along with a short passage (on BLACKBOARD website) from Malebranche. We will proceed to the British empiricist tradition’ as found in Berkeley and Hume, and   Kant’s “Critical Idealism” that  attempts to respond to the basic problems raised by Descartes, Berkeley and Hume –about “causation,” knowledge, perception, mind-body interaction. Finally we will consider the “debate” between Hume’s empiricist approach to ethics –his “moral sense” and “utilitarian” views— and Kant’s emphasis on reason, “duty” and obligation. If time permits we will briefly look at some 19^th century reactions to Kant in Nietzsche and Mill.

Texts:                                                                                                                   approx. $$

GALILEO (1564-1642) Selections: The Assayer  (on Blackboard Documents)        0

DESCARTES  (1596-1650) Meditations                                  (Hackett)                     6

MALEBRANCHE (1638-1715) Dialogues on Metaphysics,   7^th dialogue,                0

on Blackboard  and at  http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/maldia.pdf

 (Newton: 1643-1727) —  just for the placing of the others in time

BERKELEY (1685-1753) Three Dialogues                                       (Hackett)             5

HUME   (1711-1776)  An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding  (Hackett)  6

                                     An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (Hackett)  6

KANT        (1724-1804) Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics     (Hackett)        6

                                         Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals   (Hackett)        6       

GRADING:

   There will be 3 essay  exams—Exams 1 and 2 =  30% each -- Exan  3  =  25%

 participation in discussion sections will count 15 %.

THE CALENDAR BELOW IS AN APPROXIMATION OF WHAT WE WILL BE ON WHEN.

AUG

                        27         Introduction

SEPT

1                               Medieval background to Descartes

                     3

8                                Descartes  & Malebranche

10       

15        17

22        24          Berkeley  Dialogues 1  & 2

  29                             Exam  1

OCT

                     1             Berkeley  Dialogue 3                                                                       

6                          

                    8          Hume--Understanding

13            

                 15           

20              22          Kant –Prolegomena--Metaphysics

27                           Exam    2

     29           Kant – continued

NOV

     3                        

                        5   

  10                               Hume--Ethics                            

                   12      

  17                          Kant—Metaphysics of Morals                                                                              

                   19                             

   24                                

                   26                   Thanksgiving    

    DEC 

     1                             

               3    EXAM 3

                           NO SECTIONS   DEC. 4

PHL   334k- NIHILISM AND EXISTENTIALISM (SARTRE & CAMUS)   T-TH  

12:30-2:00      WAG  208     OFFICE HRS   T  &  TH   2:00-2:40  Waggener  310-C 

We will begin with Nietzsche’s attack on traditional philosophical and religious 

justifications for social and individual ethical frameworks based on views about “man” 

and “human nature.” This will involve a consideration of Nietzsche’s purported 

“nihilism,” and his influence on the development of 20th century existentialism and the 

purported nihilism in works of “the school of Paris”—(Malraux, Sartre, DeBeauvoir, -- 

and—Camus, etc.). The focus will be on philosophical essays, plays and novels* of 

Camus and Sartre and the different political and individual ethical views they 

develop—Sartre’s “existentialism” and “existential psychology” and Camus’ “ethics of 

absurdity and rebellion”—which led to the (once celebrated) Sartre-Camus “debate” 

over political violence, rebellion, nihilism, and Marxism. GRADING TWO EXAMS (40 

% EACH ) + CLASS PARTICIPATION + SHORT PAPER (4-5 PAGES)  --20% 

READING-------------TEXTS:                           $$  

Nietzsche        Beyond Good and Evil            Random House ISBN 0679724656      12 

Camus            Caligula and Three Other Plays Knoph—ISBN 0394702077       13  

    The Plague*, The Fall* ….   Selected Essays                                        23 

                        (includes The Myth of Sisyphus) Everyman’s Library  Knoph  

                                           ISBN:  1400042550      ` 

Sartre            Essays in Existentialism              Kensington Publishing Co                15 

                           ed. W. Baskin                                           ISBN-0806501626 

                       The Transcendence of the Ego    FARRAR/STRAUS                         10 

                                                                               ISBN- 0809015455 

                        Nausea*                     NEW DIRECTIONS ISBN-0811201880           12 

OTHER READING: 

Kierkegaard   from   Fear and Trembling            on Blackboard and on Web 

Dostoyevsky   from   The Brothers Karamazov—The Grand Inquisitor                       

                 on Blackboard and on Web                                                   

de Beauvoir    from The Ethics of Ambiguity       on Blackboard and on Web 

Book Forum   review of commentaries                  on Blackboard and on Web 

AUG                       

        27        Introduction—course description 

SEPT 

1            3           NIETZSCHE, PARTS I-V, pp. 202-210 

8            

                  10          CAMUS—Camus, Plotinus and Augustine 

                      CALIGULA &  THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS 

15           17 

22           24          THE PLAGUE 

  29                           EXAM      1 – CAMUS & NIETZSCHE 

OCT 

                     1           SARTRE: EXISTENTIALISM-HUMANISM,     

                      NAUSEA 

6             

      8           SARTRE FILM (SARTRE BY HIMSELF) 

13             

                 15           TRANSCENDENCE OF THE EGO 

20             22 

 27             29 

NOV 

     3                          

                        5      QUESTIONS FOR SARTRE EXAM DISTRIBUTED 

    10                           EXAM   2—SARTRE 

                12      CAMUS—THE PLAGUE, REFLECTIONS on the 

                                                       GUILLOTINE, THE JUST                                              

    17                          

               19     SARTRE—BEING AND NOTHINGNESS SELECTIONS,  

SARTRE- CAMUS   CONTROVERSY, DE BEAUVOIR –  

PAPER TOPICS DIST.    

   24                        NO CLASS—PREPARE PAPER FOR TURN-IN  DEC. 1 

26   THANKSGIVING 

DEC 

     1                          SARTRE-CAMUS-DEBEAUVOIR CONTIN.   PAPER DUE     

           3 

this course examines metaphysical and epistemological issues in early
modern philosophy from Descartes (1596–1650) to Kant (1724–1804)

specific topics include scepticism, the existence of the external world, the relation between mind
and body (between consciousness and matter), ‘realism’ and ‘idealism’, ‘empiricism’ and
‘rationalism’, perception, primary and secondary qualities (e.g. shape and color), personal
identity (the nature of the self or subject of experience), induction, causation, free will, Kant’s
deontological ethics (other possible topics include: substance, miracles, nature and existence of
God, a priori knowledge, the analytic-synthetic distinction, essence, possibility, the nature of
space)