Blocks 3-4 (2005-2006)
Jonathan Lee
Texts
RenŽ
Descartes. Meditations on First
Philosophy. Translated from the Latin by Donald A.
Cress. 3d ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.
David
Hume. An Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding. Edited by Eric Steinberg. 2d ed. Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.
Immanuel
Kant. Prolegomena to Any Future
Metaphysics That Will Be Able To Come Forward As Science. The
Paul Carus translation extensively revised by James W. Ellington. 2d ed. Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing Company, 2001.
Immanuel
Kant. Grounding for the
Metaphysics of Morals. Translated by James W. Ellington. 3d ed. Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.
G.
W. F. Hegel. HegelÕs Philosophy
of Mind: Part Three of the
Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1830).
Translated by William Wallace.
Together with the ZusŠtze in BoumannÕs Text (1845), translated by A. V.
Miller. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Soren
Kierkegaard. Fear and Trembling. Translated by Alastair Hannay. London: Penguin, 1985.
John Stuart
Mill. Utilitarianism. Edited
by George Sher. 2d ed.
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing
Company, 2002.
Friedrich
Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of
Morals and Ecce Homo.
Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale. Reissued edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Graded Work
Every-other-day essays, each consisting of a two-to-three page paper on the
dayÕs reading and its context in our on-going discussion. These papers are meant to encourage creative,
critical thinking as well as to
stimulate class discussion, but they are also useful for developing ideas that
might be explored further in future papers. Try to think of these essays as more formal than journals
but freer in style and topic than standard formal papers on assigned
topics. Explore your own
philosophical voice, and try not to be afraid of intellectual
experimentation. If reading an
author inspires you to write about things or texts with which we are not
working together in class, please donÕt hesitate to go ahead and do this: a central goal of the course is to
nurture ways of philosophical thinking and writing that go beyond the confines
of the classroom. Late assignments
will be accepted only in the most exceptional circumstances; so do everything
in your power to stay caught up.
These essays will count 90% of the final grade for the course.
I would like each of you to
be responsible for teaching one half-hour in the course of the course. This is an opportunity to experiment
with a variety of teaching styles and approaches, and it should guarantee that
everyoneÕs voice helps shape the form and the content of our course. On the day you teach, you should hand
in a brief outline of what you hope to accomplish in class that day; on the day
after you teach, you should hand in a one-to-two page, informal essay in which
you evaluate the success of your teaching day. This teaching experience will count 10% of the final grade for the course,
and we will decide as a class how best to grade them.
Class participation is essential for the success of a philosophy
course. Unexcused absence from
class will lower your grade, according to the following formula: one absence per block is Òfree,Ó but
after that each absence will lower your final grade in the course by half a
letter grade (0.5 out of 4.0).
Office Hours
Monday
Tuesday 1:30Ñ3:00
Wednesday
Thursday
Armstrong
Hall 138.
Office
phone: 6860.
Home
phone: 686-9630 (before 9:00 p.m.,
please).
e-mail: jlee@ColoradoCollege.edu
In
addition to these regular hours, I will be glad to make special appointments
for almost any time, any day of the week.
Please do not hesitate to come see me for any reason at all: if you have any problems, questions, or
difficulties, or if you just want to talk.
Readings (Block 3)
October 31 Introductory
meeting.
November 1 Augustine, Concerning the Teacher [389], [ERES].
2
Thomas Aquinas, The Principles of Nature [ca. 1252] [ERES].
3
Thomas Aquinas, On Being and Essence [ca. 1252] [ERES].
4
Meister Eckhart, Sermons 22, 24, and 25 [early 14th
century] [ERES].
7
Michel de
Montaigne, Essays [1580], ÒI.39:
On SolitudeÓ and ÒII.11: On
CrueltyÓ [ERES].
8
RenŽ Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy [1644], Meditation One and Meditation Two (pp.
13-24).
9
Meditations, Meditation Three and Meditation Four (pp. 24-42).
10
Meditations, Meditations Five and Six (pp. 42-59).
11
Mid-block break.
14
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding [1748], Sections I-IV (pp. 1-25).
15
An Enquiry, Sections V-VI, IX, and X (pp. 25-39 and 69-90).
16
TBA.
17
Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics [1783], ÒPrefaceÓ and ÒPreamble on the Peculiarities
of all Metaphysical CognitionÓ (pp. 1-22).
18
Prolegomena, ÒFirst Part of the Main Transcendental QuestionÓ
(pp. 23-34).
21
Prolegomena, ÒSecond Part of the Main Transcendental QuestionÓ
(pp. 35-63) and Handout on the ÒPrinciples of Pure Understanding.Ó
22
Prolegomena, ÒThird Part of the Main Transcendental Question,Ó
ÒConclusion,Ó and ÒSolution of the General Question of the ProlegomenaÓ (pp. 64-104) and Handout on the ÒFirst and Third
Antinomies.Ó
23 Thanksgiving
Break.
Readings (Block 4)
November 28 Immanuel
Kant, Grounding for the
Metaphysics of Morals [1788], ÒPreface,Ó ÒFirst Section,Ó and ÒSecond SectionÓ
(pp. 1-27).
29 Grounding, ÒSecond SectionÓ (pp. 27-48).
30
Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel, Philosophy of
Mind, [1830], Introduction (pp.
1-24).
December 1 Philosophy
of Mind, Section I: Mind Subjective, Sub-Section B: Phenomenology of Mind, Consciousness
(pp. 153-178).
2
Philosophy of Mind, Section II:
Mind Objective, Sub-Section B:
The Morality of Conscience, and Sub-Section C: The Moral Life, or Social Ethics (pp. 249-291).
5
Philosophy of Mind,
Section III: Absolute Mind
(pp. 292-315).
6
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Nature [1836] [ERES].
7
Soren Kierkegaard, Fear
and Trembling [1843], ÒPreface,Ó
ÒAttunement,Ó ÒSpeech in Praise of Abraham,Ó ÒProblemata: Preamble from the Heart,Ó and ÒProblema
I: Is there a teleological
suspension of the ethical?Ó (pp. 41-95).
8
Fear and Trembling, ÒProblema II:
Is there an absolute duty to God?,Ó ÒProblema III: Was it ethically defensible of Abraham
to conceal his purpose from Sarah, from Eleazar, from Isaac?,Ó and ÒEpilogueÓ (pp. 96-147).
9
Mid-block break.
12
Karl Marx, ÒTheses on FeuerbachÓ [1845], and Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of
the Communist Party [1848] [ERES].
13
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism [1861], Chapters I-III (pp. 1-34).
14
Utilitarianism, Chapters IV-V (pp. 35-64).
15
Friedrich
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of
Morals [1887], ÒPrefaceÓ and ÒFirst
Essay: ÔGood and Evil,Õ ÔGood and
BadÕÓ (pp. 15-56).
16
On the Genealogy
of Morals, ÒSecond Essay: ÔGuilt,Õ ÔBad Conscience,Õ and the
LikeÓ (pp. 57-96).
19
On the Genealogy of
Morals, ÒThird Essay: What Is the Meaning of Ascetic
Ideals?,Ó (pp. 97-163).
20
Final class meeting.
21
Winter break.