Course syllabus
SEMESTER 1, 2019
15 points
COURSE CONVENOR:
Assoc. Prof. Robert Wicks
Humanities Building, Room 439, Tel: 373-7599, ext. 88449
r.wicks@auckland.ac.nz
Office Hours: Mondays 12:00-2:00pm, and by appointment
|
Well-being always comes first We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community. |
|
Go beyond your majors with skills-based learning Have you considered studying a three-course Module to complement your majors? Find out here how Modules can boost your degree. Find out here about the Faculty of Arts’ new career-focused skills course, ARTSGEN 102, Solving your Future, coming in Semester 2, 2019. |
LECTURERS:
Weeks 1-4: On Plato and Descartes
Assoc. Prof. Robert Wicks
Humanities Building, Room 439, Tel: 373-7599, ext. 88449
r.wicks@auckland.ac.nz
Office Hours: Mondays 12:00-2:00pm, and by appointment
Weeks 5-8: On Hume's Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion
Prof. John Bishop
Humanities Building, Room 431, Tel: 3737599, ext. 87611
jc.bishop@auckland.ac.nz
Office Hours: Please e-mail for appointment
Weeks 9-12: On the Philosophy of Mind
Dr. Raamy Majeed,
Humanities Building, Room 419, Tel: 923-3669
r.majeed@auckland.ac.nz
Office Hours: Monday and Thursday, 11-11.50am.
TUTORS:
Ms. Mackenzie Groff
mgro668@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Office: Humanities Building, Room 304
Office Hours: Thursdays, 9am
Tel: 373-7599, ext. 85276
Mr. Sam Woolley
swoo572@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Office: Humanities Building, Room 305
Office Hours: Thursdays, 12-1
Tel: 373-7599, ext. 85277
TUAKANA MENTOR:
William Katavich-Barton
wkat670@aucklanduni.ac.nz
CLASS REPS:
Nicholas Goodman
ngoo490@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Amalie Kalva
amalieka@hotmail.com
Luda Lin
llin@aucklanduni.ac.nz
CLASS FACEBOOK PAGE: (link)
TIMETABLE:
Lectures: Mondays and Thursdays, 10am-11am, Clock Tower - South - Room 039
Tutorials: (attend only one of the following)
Thursdays, 1-2pm, Fale – Office Building, Rm 104
Thursdays, 2-3pm, Fale – Office Building, Rm 104
Thursdays, 3-4pm, Fale – Office Building, Rm 104
Fridays, 9-10am, Fale – Office Building, Rm 104
Fridays, 2-3, Fale – Office Building, Rm 104
Fridays, 3-4, Arts 1, Room 215
TEXTBOOK:
There is no set textbook for this course. The required readings for the first (Plato and Descartes) and second (Philosophy of Religion) sections of the course will be available through the course webpage on CANVAS under the heading 'Reading Lists.' The required readings for the third section of the course (Philosophy of Mind) will be online (link to be provided).
COURSE DELIVERY FORMAT:
Two one-hour lectures and one one-hour tutorial
(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)
LECTURE RECORDINGS AND SLIDES:
These are available in the "Files" section of the course webpage in a folder entitled "Lecture Recordings and Lecture Slides"
SUMMARY OF COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course deals with fundamental philosophical problems and puzzles about the nature of the world and human beings. Examples include philosophical questions about the existence of God, the relationship between physical reality and mental life and the nature of identity and the self. The theory of knowledge studies philosophical problems concerning the sources, limits and justification of human knowledge and understanding (particularly, as distinct from mere opinion or belief). The course will introduce students to a selection of such topics and to some of the important philosophical discussions and debates to which they have given rise.
The course is divided into three parts (1) Plato and Descartes, (2) Hume’s Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion, (3) Selected problems in metaphysics and epistemology.
The first part of the course (4 weeks), taught by Robert Wicks, will discuss Plato’s metaphysical theory of timeless forms, Descartes’s quest for certainty though his “method of doubt” and the distinction between mind and body. The second part (4 weeks), taught by John Bishop, will discuss Hume’s empiricist theory of knowledge and its application to the question of God’s existence. For the third part of the course (4 weeks) Raamy Majeed will give lectures on problems in the Philosophy of Mind
COURSE OUTCOMES:
Students who successfully complete this course will, at an introductory level, gain an understanding of epistemology and leading metaphysical ideas in the Western tradition of philosophy, and be motivated to pursue philosophical studies at the advanced undergraduate level.
Students should be able to explain and critically assess the theories and arguments of the philosophers discussed in the course in their own words and in a way that shows good familiarity with the prescribed readings. The teaching in the course will aim to encourage students to discover and develop the capacity to exercise their own philosophical imagination, creativity and critical judgment in thinking about the "big questions" concerning mind, knowledge and reality in response to the works studied.
In this introductory course there is an emphasis on reading primary sources rather than secondary literature and commentaries.
TEACHING FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:
The course is taught through lectures and tutorials. There are two one-hour lectures per week. Tutorials are one hour per week, starting in the second week of the semester. Students are expected to attend lectures and tutorials and doing so is usually crucial for mastering the course materials.
You are welcome to consult your lecturer about any questions you may have about course material or organisation. Lecturers will announce office hours each week during which they are available for consultation without appointment. You may also request an appointment for another time should you need to do so by sending an email message to the lecturer concerned.
LECTURE SCHEDULE
Week 1: Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)
Mon. Mar. 4, 10:00am-11:00am
Topic: Introduction to the course, and course administration (coursework essays, exam, etc.)
Thurs. Mar. 7, 10:00am-11am
Topic: Background to Plato: From Mythology to Philosophy
Readings: “Plato – Background and Overview” (in "files" section of website)
Week 2: Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)
Mon. Mar. 11, 10am-11pm
Topic: Socrates’ Search for Definitions and Essences
Readings: “Meno,” trans. Benjamin Jowett [1871] (online) at either:
(a) http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/meno.html (Links to an external site.)
(b) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1643/1643-h/1643-h.htm (Links to an external site.)
Thurs. Mar. 14, 10am-11am
Topic: The Theory of the Forms and the Nature of Knowledge
Readings: “Republic” (Book VI, 508-511e; Book VII, 514-520d) [divided line analogy and the allegory of the cave] From: The Collected Dialogues of Plato, ed. Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), pp. 743-752.
Recommended: “Plato on Knowledge in the Theatetus,” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-theaetetus/ (Links to an external site.)
Week 3: René Descartes (1596-1650)
Mon. Mar. 18, 10am-11am
Thurs. Mar. 21, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Descartes’s Quest for Knowledge: The Method of Doubt, the Dream Argument, the Cogito (“I think”)
Readings for Week: Descartes, Meditations I-III [from The Philosophical Works of Descartes, trans. Elizabeth S. Haldane] Recommended: “Descartes’s Epistemology,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/ (Links to an external site.)
Week 4: René Descartes (1596-1650)
Mon, Mar. 25, 10am-11am
Thurs. Mar. 28, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Mind-Body Dualism, The Existence of God, and the External World
Readings for Week: Meditations IV-VI
Recommended: “Descartes and the Pineal Gland,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online): http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pineal-gland/ (Links to an external site.)
...................................................................................
MONDAY, APRIL 1: ESSAY ONE DUE, 3pm
...................................................................................
Week 5: David Hume (1711-1776) on Human Understanding
Mon. Apr. 1, 10am-11am [Essay One Due, 3pm]
Thurs. Apr 4, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Ideas and Impressions: an empiricist theory of knowledge; the challenge of scepticism and its resolution
Reading for Week: David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Parts II-V, VII (ii) and XII (iii) from Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, reprinted from the 1777 edition with Introduction and Analytical Index by L.A.Selby-Bigge, 3rd edition, with text revised and noted by P.H.Nidditch (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1975).
Week 6: Hume’s epistemology – an application to belief in miracles
Mon. Apr. 8, 10am-11am
Thurs. Apr. 11, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: ‘Of Miracles’
Reading for Week: David Hume, ‘Of Miracles’, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Part X.
Mid-Semester Break: Monday, April 15 - Saturday, April 27, 2019
Week 7: Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Mon. Apr. 29, 10am-11am
Thurs. May 2, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: The ‘Design’ Argument, and its Critique
Reading for Week: David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Parts II, IV-VII. from Dialogues and Natural History of Religion, edited with an introduction and notes by J.C.A.Gaskin, Oxford University Press, 1993, reissued 2008.
Week 8. Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Mon. May 6, 10am-11am
Thurs. May 9, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: The argument from evil
Reading for Week: David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Part X.
Week 9: The Puzzle of Representation
Mon. May 13, 10am-11am
Thurs. May 16, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: The Puzzle of Representation
Reading for Week: Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Chapters 2 & 3.
...................................................................................
MONDAY, May 20: ESSAY TWO DUE, 3pm
...................................................................................
Week 10: Computation and Representation
Mon. May 20, 10am-11am [Essay Two Due, 3pm]
Thurs. May 23, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Can Computers Think? Computational Explanations of Representation
Reading for Week: Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Chapters 6 & 7.
Week 11: Evolution and Representation
Mon. May 27, 10am-11am
Thurs. May 30, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Naturalistic Explanations of Representation
Reading for Week: Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Chapters 9 & 10.
Week 12: Obstacles to Explaining Representation
Mon. June 3 - No Class - Queen's Birthday
Thurs. June 6, 10am-11am
Topic for Week: Non-Reduction Accounts of Representation
Reading for Week: Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Chapters 12 & 13.
.......................................................................................................................................................
ASSESSMENT SUMMARY:
(1) Coursework: (40% of final mark) The coursework consists of two essays, each of 1,000 words. Each essay is worth 20%. The first essay is due at the start of Week 5, the second at the start of Week 9.
(2) Final Examination: (60% of final mark) The exam will be a 2-hour essay-style exam, requiring answers on three questions – one from Section A (on topics from Robert Wicks’s lectures), one from Section B (from John Bishop’s lectures), and one from Section C (from Raamy Majeed's lectures).
ESSAY SUBMISSIONS, EXTENSION POLICY, DUE DATES, AND TOPICS
Essay Submissions:
Please submit an electronic copy of your essay via Canvas (this checks for plagiarism and unacknowledged copying), and in addition, a hard copy with a personalised cover sheet to the Arts Assignment Centre (located in the Social Sciences Building [HSB])
Requests for extensions and late essay penalties:
If your essay is submitted late due to illness or other significant personal circumstances, there will be no penalty if either (a) you attach a supporting medical certificate or letter from the Student Counselling Service to the hard copy of your essay when you submit it, or (b) you have obtained permission for an extension from Robert Wicks (for Essay One) or John Bishop (for Essay Two).
Otherwise, late essay penalties will be as follows:
(1) Minus one mark (e.g., A to A-): For essays submitted less than one week late
(2) Minus two marks (e.g., A to B+): For essays submitted one week late but less than two weeks late
(3) Minus three marks (e.g., A to B): For essays submitted two weeks late
(4) No credit (i.e., 0): For essays submitted after two weeks late
No essays will be accepted beyond two weeks after the due date unless there are exceptional circumstances, and an extension has been granted.
ESSAY ONE
Due date: 3 p.m., Monday, April 1 (the beginning of the 5th week of classes)
Write a 1,000-word essay on the following question:
Plato’s philosophical outlook is based on the idea that whatever is absolutely true is that which is unchanging. If the ordinary world in which we live – the world in space and time, with all of its stars and galaxies – is always changing because time is always moving on, then this changing ordinary world, as infinite and amazing as it is, cannot consequently be a place where absolute truth resides. Describe and critically discuss Plato’s reasons for locating truth and ultimate reality on a dimension which is outside of space and time.
[Please note: This is not a research assignment where readings outside of the class materials (by "class materials" we are speaking of the class lectures, handouts, and assigned readings) are required, although it is fine to look at other sources. If these latter are consulted, any standard style of referencing, e.g., the Chicago Style, will be acceptable.]
ESSAY TWO
Due date: 3 p.m., Monday, May 20 (the beginning of the 10th week of classes)
Consider the following famous passage from David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Part X:
And is it possible, Cleanthes, said Philo, that after all these reflections, and infinitely more, which might be suggested, you can still persevere in your Anthropomorphism, and assert the moral attributes of the Deity, his justice, benevolence, mercy, and rectitude, to be of the same nature with these virtues in human creatures? His power we allow is infinite: whatever he wills is executed: but neither man nor any other animal is happy: therefore he does not will their happiness. His wisdom is infinite: He is never mistaken in choosing the means to any end: But the course of Nature tends not to human or animal felicity: therefore it is not established for that purpose. Through the whole compass of human knowledge, there are no inferences more certain and infallible than these. In what respect, then, do his benevolence and mercy resemble the benevolence and mercy of men?
Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?
(i) This passage presents a version of ‘the Argument from Evil’. State in your own words what is the conclusion of the argument which Hume’s character Philo is stating here? (at most 150 words)
(ii) Next, explain how you would express, in your own words, the argument that Philo is suggesting as a good reason to believe that this conclusion is true. (at most 200 words)
(iii) Finally, give your own criticism of this argument. Does the argument succeed in rationally supporting its conclusion? Is there an objection which might be made to the argument? Could a good reply be given to that objection? (650 words, or more if you have spare space after answering (i) and (ii): total word count should not exceed 1,000 words.)
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|