PHIL 152 – Theories of Human Nature

 

Semester Two 2016

 

15 points

 

Lecturers

 

Robert Wicks (on Plato, Sartre, Buddhism)

Arts 2 18 Symonds Street, room 328

r.wicks@auckland.ac.nz, 373-7599, ext 88449

 

Stephen Davies (on Human Nature in Naturalistic Perspective, Freud, Evolutionary Psychology)
Arts 2 18 Symonds Street, room 320
sj.davies@auckland.ac.nz, 3737599 xt 87615,

 

Course coordinator

Stephen Davies

 

Tutors

Scott Smith:  ssmi132@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Matteo Ravasio:  mrav740@aucklanduni.ac.nz

 

Timetable

 

Lecture           OGGB5/260-051

Timetable       Tuesday 3-4 pm, Friday 11-12 am

Both lectures are in OGGB5/260-051

 

Tutorials         1 hour per week. (Enrol in one of the available tutorials.)

Tutorial times

            Tuesday 4pm-5pm, located at 273-107

Wednesday 10am-11am, located at 273-107

            Wednesday 1pm-2pm, located at 273-104

            Thursday 10am-11am, located at 273-104

            Thursday 2pm-3pm, located at 273-104

 

Textbook

 

There is no textbook for this course. All readings are available via CANVAS.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 

This course presents and critically evaluates the views of human nature proposed by Plato (429-347 B.C.E.), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), and Buddhism. After outlining the evolutionary history of our species, it considers what form human nature might take in light of that history. Two naturalistic accounts of human nature are then considered: that offered by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and that proposed by evolutionary psychologists, who argue that our minds, not only our bodies, are the product of evolution.

 

At the end of the course you should have an appreciation of the representative theories and arguments presented by philosophers who have addressed these matters. You should be able to explain these theories and arguments in your own words and in a way that shows good familiarity with the prescribed readings.

 

TEACHING FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

 

The course is taught through lectures and tutorials. There are two one-hour lectures. 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 and tutors have walk in hours each week during which they are available for consultation without appointment. It is also possible to make an appointment for another time should you need to do so.

 

COURSE CONTENT

 

Week 1. Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)

 

Tue. Jul. 19   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: Administration (coursework essays, exam, etc.)

 

Fri. Jul. 22   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: Background to Plato: From Mythology to Philosophy

Readings: Plato – Background and Overview (handout-style document in "Files" section of webpage)

 

 

Week 2. Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)

 

Tue. Jul. 26   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: Plato’s Theory of Forms

Readings: Republic, Book VI, 508-511e (divided line analogy); Book VII, 514-520d (the allegory of the cave)

 

Fri. Jul. 29   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: Plato’s Theory of Human Nature - The Three Parts of the Mind

Readings:

(1) Phaedrus, 245c-257b (three parts of the mind, described with the analogy to the chariot)

(2) Timaeus, 69b-72d (three parts of the mind, related to specific bodily areas)

(3) Phaedo, 73-77a (immortality of the intellect, due to knowledge as recollection)

(4) Republic, Book IX, 579d-583a (three parts of the mind; the disproportionate mind of the tyrant; “lovers of gain” vs. “lovers of honour” vs. “lovers of wisdom”; the relationship between the balanced mind and the balanced political state)

 

Week 3. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

 

Tue. Aug. 2   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: Sartre’s Theory of Consciousness, Authenticity, and Bad Faith

Readings: “Bad Faith”

 

Fri. Aug. 5   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: Sartre’s Theory of Consciousness, Authenticity, and Bad Faith (cont.)

Readings: “Bad Faith”

 

 

Week 4. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

 

Tue. Aug. 9   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: Human Beings as Absolutely Free

Readings: “The Humanism of Existentialism”

 

Fri. Aug. 12   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: Human Beings as Absolutely Free (cont.)

Readings: “The Humanism of Existentialism”

 

 

 

Week 5. Buddhism (c. 6^th century B.C.E.)

 

Monday, August 15, by 3pm.…………………………………ESSAY ONE DUE

 

Tue. Aug. 16   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: The Buddhist Perspective

Readings: “The Three Signs of Being” and “The Four Noble Truths”, Christmas Humphreys, Buddhism, pp. 78-96.

 

Fri. Aug. 19   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: “What is Zen?”

Readings:

(1) “Introduction”, D. T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism

(2) Zen Flesh/Zen Bones (excerpts)

 

 

Week 6. Buddhism (c. 6^th century B.C.E.)

 

Tue. Aug. 23   3:00pm-4:00pm

Topic: Zen Awareness vs. Logical/Rational Awareness

Readings: “Chapter 5: Zen and Reality”, T.P. Kasulis, Zen Action/Zen Person, pp. 55-64.

 

Fri. Aug. 26   11:00am-12:00noon

Topic: Zen Meditation and Enlightenment  

Readings: “Chapter 6: Dōgen’s Phenomenology of Zazen” T.P. Kasulis, Zen Action/Zen Person, pp. 65-86.

 

 

Mid-Semester Study Break: Monday 29 August – Saturday 10 September

 

 

Week 7. History of our Species

 

Tue. Sept. 13   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Sept. 16   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings: [to begin next week]

 

 

Week 8. What is Human Nature?

 

Tue. Sept. 20   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Sept. 23   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings:

(1) Edouard Machery, “A plea for human nature” (Philosophical Psychology 21)

 

(2) Thomas Bouchard Jr., “Genetic influence on human psychological traits: a survey” (Current directions in psychological science 13)

 

(3) Donald E. Brown, “The Universal People” (Human Universals, Chapter 6)

 

 

Week 9. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

 

Monday, September 26, by 3pm.…………………………………ESSAY TWO DUE

 

Topic: Freud’s Theory of the Mind

Tue. Sept. 27   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Sept. 30   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings:

Sigmund Freud, “Third Lecture” of Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis

 

 

Week 10. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

 

Topic: A Critical Look at Freud’s Theory of the Mind

Tue. Oct. 4   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Oct. 7   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings:

(1) Anthony A. Derksen, “The Seven Strategies of the Sophisticated Pseudo-Scientist: A Look into Freud’s Rhetorical Tool Box” (Journal for General Philosophy of Science)

(2) Paul Kline, “The Status of Freudian Theory in Light of the Evidence,” Chapter 13 of Fact and Fantasy in Freudian Theory

 

 

Week 11. Evolutionary Psychology

 

Topic: Evolutionary Psychology

Tue. Oct. 11   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Oct. 14   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings:

Kevin N. Laland and Gillian R. Brown, “Evolutionary Psychology,” Chapter 5 of Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour

 

Week 12. Sex, Morality and Religion

 

Tue. Oct. 18   3:00pm-4:00pm

Fri. Oct. 21   11:00am-12:00noon

Readings:

(1) Jesse Prinz, “In Bed with Darwin” (Chapter 13 of Beyond Human Nature: How Culture and Experience Shape the Human Mind)

 

(2) Templeton Foundation Debate: Does Evolution Explain Human Nature

 

ASSESSMENT

 

(1) Coursework:
The coursework consists of two essays, each of about 1,000 words. Each essay is worth 20%.

 

To qualify for plussage, both essays need to be submitted and both need to receive marks anywhere between D and A+ (see below)

 

 

(2) Final Examination: Form of the Exam

Two-hour, essay-style exam

 

Please Answer Four Questions in Total (i.e., approximately ½ hour per question).

 

Please answer Two questions from Section A and Two questions from Section B.

 

Section A is on Robert Wicks's lectures and contains 5 questions.

Section B is on Stephen Davies's lectures and contains 5 questions.

 

Past exams can be viewed by going to the library web page, selecting the tab "examinations and readings", and searching for PHIL 152. But note that in past years different topics were covered in the course.

 

 

(3) Final mark:

 

If BOTH essays are submitted and if both receive grades anywhere between D and A+, then you qualify for plussage and the final result will be whichever is the higher of:

 

(a) The grade on the final examination

OR
          

(b) 60% of the final examination grade plus 40% the averaged score on the two essays

If ONLY ONE essay is submitted, then the final result will be 60% of the grade on the final examination plus 20% of the score on the essay

 

 

If NO essays are submitted, then the final result will be 60% of the final examination grade.

e.g., one would need 83% on the final exam to pass the course (with a 49.8, rounded up to 50) [83 x .6 = 49.8]

 

Essay Due Dates:

Essay One: Due at the beginning of the fifth week of lectures, on Monday, August 15^th

by 3pm.

 

Essay Two: Due at the beginning of week nine of lectures, on Monday, September 26^th by 3pm.

[See below for essay topics]

 

 

Essay Submission Guidelines:

It is required to submit essays via CANVAS. (This checks for plagiarism and unacknowledged copying.) In addition, please submit your essay in hard copy to Arts 1 Reception. Be sure to use and to sign the cover sheets when handing in the essay.

 

Please note that there is no e-mail submissions to the instructors or tutors, etc..

 

 

Penalties for Late Essays without Authorised Extensions:

Essay One: Due Monday, August 15

            Received between     Aug. 16 (Tuesday) – 19 (Friday): minus one grade (-5%)

            Received between     Aug. 22 (Monday) – 26 (Friday): minus two grades (-10%)

            Received on Monday, Aug. 29: minus three grades (-15%)
            Received on Tuesday, Aug. 30 or thereafter: no credit for essay

 

Essay Two: Due Monday, September 26

            Received between     Sept. 27 (Tuesday) – 30 (Friday): minus one grade (-5%)

            Received between     Oct. 3 (Monday) – 7 (Friday): minus two grades (-10%)

            Received on Monday, Oct. 10: minus three grades

            Received on Tuesday, Oct. 11 or thereafter: no credit for essay

            “minus one grade” = e.g., A to A-, or B+ to B, etc.

Extensions on the Essay Due Date:

 

To hand in a late essay without penalty, an extension from one of the instructors is needed.

First Essay:    Please see R. Wicks for extensions regarding the first essay

Second Essay: Please see S. Davies for extensions regarding the second essay

 

Grading Scale:

Grade		Percentage
A+		90-100
A		85-89
A-		80-84
B+		75-79
B		70-74
B-		65-69
C+		60-64
C		55-59
C-		50-54
D+		45-49
D		40-44
D-		0-39

 

 

 

COURSEWORK ESSAY GUIDELINES

1. Coursework Essay Lengths and Due Date

 

LENGTH: 1000-words for each essay; shorter essays are not encouraged; longer essays are acceptable, but should not exceed 2,000 words.

 

DUE DATES:

Essay One: Due Monday, August 15^th by 3pm

Essay Two: Due Monday, September 26^th by 3pm

 

 

1. Coursework Essay Topics

 

Essay One: Plato

 

Please write your first essay (1000-words) on the following question:

 

1. Critically discuss the following excerpt from Plato’s Republic (Book IX, 581c-e) in relation to his view that the nature of human beings is to have three main parts to their psyche, namely, appetite, will and reason, which can dominate variously in different people.

 

Are you aware, then, said I, that if you should choose to ask men of these three classes [viz., lovers of gain {i.e., appetite-dominant people}; lovers of victory {i.e., will-dominant people}; lovers of wisdom {i.e., reason-dominant people}], each in turn, which is the most pleasurable of these lives, each will chiefly comment his own? The financier will affirm that in comparison with profit the pleasures of honor or of learning are of no value except in so far as they produce money.

            True, he said.

            And what of the lover of honor? said I. Does he not regard the pleasure that comes from money as vulgar and low, and again that of learning, save in so far as the knowledge confers honor, mere fume and moonshine.

            It is so, he said.

            And what, said I, are we to suppose the philosopher thinks of the other pleasures compared with the delight of knowing the truth and the reality, and being always occupied with that while he learns? Will he not think them far removed from true pleasure, and call them literally the pleasures of necessity, since he would have no use for them if necessity were not laid upon him?

            We may be sure of that, he said.

 

 

Essay Two: On Explaining Human Nature

Please write your second essay (1000-words) on the following question:

 

Suppose someone said that human (Homo sapiens) nature amounts to the set of innate potentials, at least some of which are expressed as behaviours that emerge without the need of cultural input in the course of normal development. Is this view adequate? How would you criticise this view? Is there a preferable alternative?