KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE of The City University of New York Common COURSE SYLLABUS 1. Course Number and Title: Philosophy 72: History of Philosophy; The Modern Philosophers 2. Group and Area: Group 2; Philosophy 3. Bulletin Description of Course: This course surveys philosophical thought from the Renaissance to the present with emphasis on Cartesian thought, natural religion, skepticism, idealism, existentialism, pragmatism, and postmodernism. Focus is on the work of Descartes, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard. 4. Number of Weekly Class Hours: Three (3) weekly class hours. 5. Number of credits: Three (3) credits. 6. Pre or Co-requisites, if any; Basic or Advanced: None; Basic Course 7. Rationale for course: This course serves as one half of a historical and general introduction to philosophy. Major figures from the enlightenment and modern tradition of European philosophy are presented giving the student the immediate context for contemporary philosophical concerns and debate. As a central offering in the liberal arts, the course provides students with a general understanding of various perspectives on the human condition and acquaints them with those core concepts, theories, and facts essential to academic and cultural literacy. Through emphasis on comparative conceptual analysis, reading and interpreting texts, and writing clearly and effectively for an audience, the course develops and enhances students skills in the areas of critical thinking, reading comprehension, and both oral and written communication. 8. Necessitated Course Withdrawals: 9. Remedial Developmental or Compensatory: 10. Ratio of Credits to Contact Hours (where credit exceeds contact hours): 11. Field Work Component; Internship or Independent Study:
12. Proposed Text Book: Any text or collection of texts that emphasize primary material as well as secondary sources on those philosophers covered by the course. Recommended: Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. 2 nd ed., Mayfield, 2001. Stumpf, Samuel E. Socrates to Sartre: A History of Philosophy. 6 th ed. McGraw-Hill, 1998. Ariew, Roger and Eric Watkins, eds. Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources. Hackett, 1998. 13. Required Course for Majors and/or Area of Concentration: 14. If open only to selected students (specify): Open to all students. 15. Learning Goals: The purpose of this course is to: 1. To expose students to the basic concepts, questions, and problems of philosophers from the Renaissance to the present and cultivate familiarity with the key terms, such as Skepticism, Rationalism, Empiricism, Relativism, Epistemology, Materialism, and key figures, such as Descartes, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Marx 2. To foster skills needed to read and critically interpret philosophical texts 3. To foster skills needed to analyze arguments 4. To foster skills needed to write a philosophical essay 5. To enable students to locate and/or develop their own position in relation to important philosophical issues 16. Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking this course, students will learn or be able to do the following: 1. Read and comprehend primary and secondary source texts 2. Identify and understand key vocabulary terms 3. Identify and analyze arguments 4. Explain and defend their positions on philosophical issues 5. Write clearly, critically, and effectively 1. Assessment: Strategies (activities, tools, instruments of measurement) to be used in demonstrating that students learning has been achieved will include: 1. Quizzes 2. Classroom discussion
3. In-class ( low-stakes ) writing assignments 4. Group discussions 5. Group presentations 6. Take-home writing assignments 7. Examinations (essay and objective/factual) 8. Short and/or term papers 9. On-line and web-enhanced exercises and assignments 2. Evaluation: Based on measurements (17), the following quantitative and qualitative evidence will provide evidence that students have achieved their learning outcomes: 1. 75% passing grades on quizzes 2. Discussions and writing assignments reflect student understanding of texts and facility in explaining and defending their position 3. Writing assignments reflect ability to think and write clearly, critically, and effectively 4. Examinations demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts and ability to analyze arguments 19. Topical Course Outline: (Instructors may vary the content and organization of their sections.) I. Introduction to Philosophical Issues; Historical background. Topics: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics. II. III. IV. The Rationalists: Introduction to Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza. Discussion of the nature of consciousness, the self, individual versus God, etc. The Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Mill, and others. Discussion of the concept of experience, role of reason, primacy of the individual, etc. Kant and Transcendental Philosophy, possibly Hegel. Discussion of Kant s response to Hume s empiricism and distance from rationalism. Connection between morality and freedom. V. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, Sartre. Discussion of critical turn away from Transcendental philosophy; From Pragmatism to Postmodernism (e.g., William James, C.S. Peirce, John Dewey, Richard Rorty). 20. Selected Bibliography: Bennett, Jonathan. Locke, Berkeley, Hume: Central Themes. Oxford University Press, 1971.. Learning from Six Philosophers: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. Oxford University Press, 2001. Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Oxford University Press, 1998.
Cahn, Steven M., ed. Classics of Western Philosophy. 5 th ed. Hackett, 1999. Danto, Arthur. Nietzsche as Philosopher. Mamillan, 1985. Descartes, Rene. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes. 2 vols. Trans. John Cottingham. Cambridge University Press, 1985. Feuerbach, Ludwig. Principles of the Philosophy of the Future. Trans. Manfred Vogel. Hackett, 1986. Fichte, J.G. The Science of Knowledge. Trans. Peter Heath and John Lachs. Cambridge University Press, 1982. Gennaro, R.J. and Charles Huenemann, eds. New Essays on the Rationalists. Oxford University Press, 2001. Gilman, Sander L. and David J. Parent. Conversations with Nietzsche: A Life in the Words of His Contemporaries. Oxford University Press, 1991. Hegel, G.W.F. Phenomenology of Spirit. Trans. A.V. Miller. Oxford University Press, 1979. Heidegger, Martin. Basic Writings. Ed. David Krell. HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature. Eds. D.F. Norton and M.J. Norton. Oxford University Press, 2000.. Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals. 3 rd ed. Oxford University Press, 1975. Kant, Immanuel. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Hackett, 1993.. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. 3 rd ed. Hackett, 1993.. Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Norman Kemp Smith. St. Martin s Press, 1969. Kaufmann, Walter. Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. Princeton University Press, 1975. Kierkegaard, Soren A. Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. Princeton University Press, 1992.. Fear and Trembling/Repetition. Princeton University Press, 1983. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. Philosophical Papers and Letters. Ed. Leory E. Loemker. Kluwer, 1976. Locke, John. Essay Concerning Human Understanding. 2 vols. Ed. Alexander C. Fraser. Dover Publications, 1959.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues. Open Court, 2001.. Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, Tradition. University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? University of Notre Dame Press, 1989.. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 2 nd ed. University of Notre Dame Press, 1984. Mates, Benson. The Philosophy of Leibniz: Metaphysics and Language. Oxford University Press, 1989. Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism. Ed. George Sher. Hackett, 1979. Nagel, Thomas. What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1987. Nehemas, Alexander. The Art of Living. University of California Press, 2000. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Genealogy of Morals. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. Vintage, 1989. Nozick, Robert. Philosophical Explanations. Harvard University Press, 1983. Pears, David F. Hume s System. Oxford University Press, 1991. Rorty, Richard. Truth and Progress. Cambridge University Press, 1998.. Consequences of Pragmatism. University of Minnesota Press, 1985.. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton University Press, 1981. Russell, Bertrand. The Problems of Philosophy. 2 nd ed. Oxford University Press, 1998. Sartre, Jean Paul. Being and Nothingness. Trans. Hazel Barnes. Washington Square Press, 1993.. The Transcendence of the Ego: An Existentialist Theory of Consciousness. Trans. Forrest Williams and Robert Kirkpatrick. Hill and Wang, 1989. Solomon, Robert C. From Hegel to Existentialism. Oxford, 1990.. Introducing the Existentialists: Imaginary Interviews with Sartre, Heidegger, and Camus. Hackett, 1981. Woolhouse, R.C. The Empiricists. Oxford University Press, 1988.