Undergraduate Course: Reason and Experience: 17th Century Philosophy (PHIL10150)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Philosophy |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course will provide a critical overview of themes from 17th century philosophy from Descartes to Berkeley. Issues covered include the nature of material and immaterial substances; the self and its relation to its body and to the non-human world in general; attitudes regarding animals and other living organisms; inanimate bodies and the mechanical philosophy; epistemological scepticism; innatism; sense perception, imagination, intellect; the epistemological role of language and abstract ideas; and moral issues concerning freewill and determinism and the nature of God and theodicy. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 25 |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Reason and Experience: 17th Century Philosophy | 2:00 | |
|
| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 2, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 5 |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| Students will gain an understanding of the often sophisticated and frequently heated debates that raged in the 17th century on matters scientific, theological and philosophical. They will come to appreciate the inter-relation between the epistemological, metaphysical, ethical, scientific and theological positions discussed. They will learn to evaluate critically the arguments offered both in defence of, and in opposition to, these positions. By the end of the course, students will be able to defend their own views on these issues and be able to develop and assess different interpretations of the texts studied. |
Assessment Information
1. 1500 word essay (40%)
2. Exam (60%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Primary sources:
Descartes, The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, tr. & ed. by John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff and Dugald Murdoch, 2 vols (Cambridge University Press, 1984-85)
Spinoza, Ethics, tr. & ed. by G. H. R. Parkinson (London: Dent, 1989)
Leibniz, Philosophical Essays, tr. and ed. by Dan Garber and Roger Ariew (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989)
Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, ed. by Pauline Phemister (Oxford University Press, 2008)
Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge / Three Dialogues, ed. by Roger Woolhouse (Penguin).
Secondary sources
Cover, J.A. & Mark Kulstad (1990). Central Themes in Early Modern Philosophy (Indianapolis: Hackett)
Clarke D. M. and Wilson, C., eds. (2011). Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Early Modern Europe (OUP)
Woolhouse, Roger (1988). The Empiricists (Oxford University Press)
Phemister, Pauline (2006). The Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz (Oxford: Polity)
Cottingham, John, ed. (1992). Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge University Press)
Clarke, Desmond M., Descartes¿s Theory of Mind (Oxford University Press)
Garrett, Don (1996). Cambridge Companion to Spinoza. (Cambridge University Press)
Hampshire, Stuart (2005). Spinoza and Spinozism (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
Rutherford, Don (1995). Leibniz and the Rational Order of Nature (Cambridge University Press)
Arthur, Richard (2014). Leibniz (Oxford: Polity)
Newman, Lex (2007). Cambridge Companion to Locke¿s ¿Essay Concerning Human Understanding¿ (CUP)
Ayers, Michael (1993). Locke: Epistemology and Ontology (London: Routledge)
Woolhouse, R. S. (1971). Locke's Philosophy of Science and Knowledge (Oxford: Blackwell)
Winkler, Kenneth (2005). Cambridge Companion to Berkeley (Cambridge University Press)
Garrett, Aaron (2008). Berkeley¿s ¿Three Dialogues: a reader¿s guide (London: Continuum)
Yolton, John (1984). Perceptual Acquaintance from Descartes to Reid (University of Minnesota Press)
Wilson, Margaret Dauler (1999). Ideas and mechanism: essays on early modern philosophy (Princeton UP)
Allen, Keith and Stoneham Tom (2010). Causation and Early Modern Philosophy (London: Routledge)
Popkin, Richard H. (1964). The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza (Assen: Van Gorcum)
Nadler, Steven (2010). The Best of all Possible Worlds: A Story of the Philosophers, God, and Evil in the Age of Reason (Princeton University Press)
|
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Pauline Phemister
Tel: (0131 6)51 3747
Email: p.phemister@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Susan Richards
Tel: (0131 6)51 3733
Email: sue.richards@ed.ac.uk |
|
© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 29 August 2014 4:36 am
|
University Homepage