Augustine Tutorial

Jeffrey Mcdonough

Informations

• Publié par: Ennu
• Nombre de lectures: 22
• Langue: English

Extrait

99 – Locke’s Essay

Fall 2005

Syllabus

Important Information:

Meeting Time:

2:00 – 3:30 Mondays

Professor: Jeffrey McDonough

Office Hours:

314 Emerson Hall, Mondays 1:00 – 2:00; Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:00

E-mail: [e-mail]

Required Texts

(available at the Coop)

:

John Locke, An

Essay Concerning Human Understanding

, edited with

Introduction by Peter H. Nidditch (Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1979).

Reserved Texts

(available at Robbins Library):

Vere Chappell,

The Cambridge Companion to Locke

(Cambridge:

Cambridge

University Press, 1994).

Nicholas Jolley,

Locke:

His Philosophical Thought

(Oxford:

Oxford University

Press, 1999).

Course Description:

Locke’s

Essay

, one of the masterpieces of the history of philosophy, was both a

polemical attack on the rationalism of Descartes and his followers, and the

founding text of what would become known as the tradition of British

Empiricism.

We will focus on a close reading of sections of the

Essay

.

Topics

will include: the theory of ideas, the attack on innate ideas, matter and

consciousness, personal identity, and knowledge.

Requirements and Grading:

1.

Attendance

Given the nature of tutorials, regular attendance is absolutely essential, and students will

be expected to arrive promptly at every meeting.

If you cannot attend a particular

meeting please let the professor know ahead of time.

All absences will require proper

documentation as described in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Handbook.

Any student

with more than one absence unexcused by the standards of the Handbook should expect

to receive an F for the course.

2.

Reading

It is crucial to the success of this course that students read the assigned texts before

tutorial meetings.

The assigned readings are short, but difficult, and it is expected that

students will have read through them at least twice carefully and thoughtfully.

Secondary

sources are available in Robbins Library.

No readings from them have been assigned, but

students may find them helpful in stimulating their own thoughts either for discussion or

writing.

3.

Discussion and Writing

One of the principal aims of this course is to give students a chance to engage in

philosophical discussion in a small group setting.

For this reason, informed, considered

participation in tutorial meetings is vital.

In order to facilitate discussion, and give students an opportunity to reflect on their own

views before discussion, a short writing assignment is due each week.

A carefully

written essay of 1-3 pages should be e-mailed to all members of the tutorial, including the

professor, by midnight before the next meeting.

Essays should be explicitly related to the week’s readings, but otherwise their topics are

up to students.

You might, for example, explore a theme you find especially interesting,

raise a question and suggest an answer, or relate something in the reading to points raised

in the previous week’s discussion.

You may also engage with the secondary readings

placed on reserve in Robbins.

Each student may decide not to submit a writing assignment for any two weeks over the

course of the semester without penalty.

If on a given week, you decide use one of your

“passes,” you should inform the professor by e-mail.

Note, students not writing will still

be expected to participate during the tutorial meeting.

4.

Grading

Students’ grades will be based on their participation in tutorial meetings, and the quality

of their weekly essays.

After approximately our fourth and eighth meetings, the

professor will send out e-mails informing students of the grades they may expect given

their current level of performance.

Unless circumstances require, there will be no exams

or term papers.

Tentative Schedule by Meetings

All references are to Locke’s

Essay

by book, chapter and, where appropriate, section

(1) The Project of the Essay: [NOTE: NO WRITING ASSIGNMENT THIS WEEK]

Required

:

Forward (vii-xxvi); Epistle to the Reader (6-14); Table of Contents (15-41,

just look over); I.i (that is, Book I, chapter i)

[possible all of chapter 1]

(2) Presidents’ Day

(3) The Attack on Innate Ideas:

Required

:

I.ii; I.iv

(4) The Theory of Ideas

Required

:

II.i.1-5; II.ii-iii; II.vi; II.vii; II.xii.1-7

Optional

:

II.i.viii; II.xi-xii

(5) Primary/Secondary Quality Distinction:

Required

:

II.viii; II.xxiii.9-12; II.xxxi.1-2; IV.ii.11

Optional

:

II.xxi.1-4; II.xxiii.7-8

(6) Substance and Body

Required:

I.iv.18; II.xxii-xxiii; II.xii.8; II.xiii

(7) Classification of Substances -

Nominal and Real Essence:

Required

:

II.xxx-xxxii; III.vi; IV.iv.11-14; IV.vi.4-6

Optional

:

III.iii; III.ix-x (both review)

(8) Locke’s Philosophy of Language and Abstract General Ideas:

Required

:

III.i-v; III.ix-x; and then II.xi.1-11; IV.vii.9

(9) Locke on the Limits of Knowledge:

Required:

IV.i-iii, IV.vi.4-15, IV.xii.7-10

(10) Liberty and Necessity:

Required:

II.xxi

(11) Personal Identity:

Required:

I.iv.3-5; II.xxvii