PHIL 240

PHIL 240: Descartes to Hume
Instructor: Alan McLuckie

Course Description

This course surveys the writings of six philosophers who are commonly regarded as the most important figures in early modern philosophy (Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, and Hume). We will also be reading selections from several women philosophers of this period (Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Damaris Cudworth, and Mary Shepherd), whose relevance has regrettably been obscured. Although these women were atypical of their age, due in part to the fact that it was not an age in which women had a great deal of access to education, they were not only involved in ongoing philosophical debates, but were also able to find men who took their contributions seriously and treated them respectfully. This was also the period in which modern natural science was establishing itself; philosophy and natural science were not then considered separate subjects, and several of the authors we study were also significant contributors to the history of science. These philosophers also provide the historical background for present day metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind, and it is on the topics in these areas that this course will concentrate.

This course will be taught online through a hybrid of synchronous and asynchronous meetings. On Mondays and Wednesdays, students will watch a series of pre-recorded lectures on the readings for that week, and the class will meet virtually on Fridays. Our Friday meetings will consist of a brief recap of the major issues/questions we covered during the lectures for that week followed by group discussion.