This is a survey of the history of philosophy, from Socrates to Sartre. The focus of this study are the epistemological and ethical approaches of the major philosophers and their unique contributions to the development of philosophical thought. This course covers the history of philosophy from the Ancient Greek Period to the Contemporary Period. Readings from the original writings will focus on morality and epistemology.
This course intends to achieve the following goals: to enable the students to see the development of philosophical thought in the West; to make them appreciate the philosophical contributions of the major philosophers and how their ideas have helped shaped our civilization; to help them appreciate conflict in ideas as a means of the development of philosophical thought.
I. THE ANCIENT PERIOD (June 11 - 29)
Socrates' Predecessors: Thales. Anaximander. Anaximenes. Pythagoras. Heraclitus. Parmenides. Zeno. Anaxagoras.
Socrates: Theory of Knowledge. Moral Thought.
Plato: Theory of Knowledge. Moral Thought.
Aristotle: Ethics. Philosophy of Art.
II. The Medieval Period (July 2 - 13)
St. Augustine: Knowledge and Sensation. Moral Philosophy.
St. Thomas Aquinas: Morality and Natural Law. Man and Knowledge.
III. The Modern Period (July 16 - Aug. 3)
The Renaissance Interlude. Early Elements.
Advocates of Science. Bacon: Distempers of Learning. Inductive Method. Hobbes: Mechanical View of Human Thought. Political Philosophy and Morality.
Rationalism on the Continent. Descartes: Methodic Doubt, Existence of Self, Criterion of Truth, Mind and Body. Leibniz: Substance, Monads, Pre-established Harmony.
MID-TERM EXAM (Aug. 6 - 31)
British Empiricism. Locke: Theory of knowledge. Moral and Political Theory. Berkeley: Esse est percipi. Hume: Theory of Knowledge. Ethics.
Kant: Between Dogmatism and Skepticism. Critical Philosophy and His Copernican Revolution. The Structure of Rational Thought.
IV. The Contemporary Period (Sept. 3 - Oct. 5.)
Nietzsche: "God is Dead". Master Versus Slave Morality. Whitehead: Actual Entities, Eternal Objects. William James: Theory of Truth, Role and Status of the Will. John Dewey: The Spectator Versus Experience. Value in a World of Fact.
Karl Marx: The Origin and Role of Ideas.
Existentialism. Kierkegaard: Truth Is Subjectivity. Heidegger: Being-In-The-World. Sartre: Man Condemned to be Free.
FINAL EXAMS (Oct. 6 -13)
| regular readings/assignments |
| regular quizzes before discussions |
| regular graded oral recitations |
| regular graded group discussions |
| no special exams on missed tests |
| lecture/report |
Albernethey, George & Thomas Langford. History of Philosophy: Selected Readings. California: Dickenson Pub., Inc. 1965.
Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy. The Belarmine Series. London: Burs Oats & Washbourne, 1951.
Ferm, Virgilius. Ed. A History of Philosophical Systems. New York: Philosophical Library, 1950.
Moor, Brooke Noel & Kenneth Bruder. Philosophy: The Power Of Ideas. Toronto: Mayfield Pub. Comp., 1990.
Stumpf, Samuel Enoch. Socrates To Sartre: A History of Philosophy. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Book Comp., 1966.
http://amychaves.bizland.com/philo_44.htm