Philosophy 454 Contemporary
Philosophy
Spring, 2007 Dr. De Groot
The
purpose of the course is to provide an introduction to the two major movements
of twentieth century philosophy, phenomenology and analytic philosophy. The
course examines some major figures in the philosophy of the last century and a
half. The particular philosophers were chosen because they are in some way
founders of their respective traditions and also because they are philosophers
of the first rank. These philosophers will be placed in a context of problems
arising from modern philosophy, but emphasis will be placed on their
distinctive way of advancing philosophy and changing the problems so that a new
philosophical context emerged.
Required texts
Books:
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Beyond
Good and Evil, trans. Walter Kaufmann, Vintage Books, 1989.
Husserl, Edmund. The Crisis of European Sciences and
Transcendental Phenomenology, trans. David Carr. Evanston: Northwestern
University Press, 1999 [1954, Engl. trans. 1970].
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico-philosophicus, trans.
C.K. Ogden, Routledge, 1992 [Germ. & Engl., 1922].
Mounce, H.O., Wittgenstein’s Tractatus: An Introduction, University of Chicago
Press, 1989 [Midway Reprint].
Heidegger, Martin. Introduction to Metaphysics, trans.
Fried and Polt. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000 [1953, Engl. trans.
1959].
G.E.M. Anscombe, Intention, 2nd ed., Harvard,
2000 [1963, 1st ed. 1957].
Electronic Reserve
Smith, Barry, “Franz
Brentano I: On Mind and Its Objects,” ch.2 of Austrian Philosophy: The Legacy of Franz Brentano.
Husserl, Edmund.
“Consciousness as Intentional Experience,” ch. 2 of Logical Investigations, vol. 2, 94-106.
Frege, Gottlob, “Thought,” The Frege Reader, ed. Michael Beaney.
Frege, Gottlob, “On Concept
and Object,” The Frege Reader.
Useful
introductions or histories of the philosophy of this period:
Scruton,
Roger, Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey, 1995.
Moran,
Dermot, Introduction to Phenomenology, 2000.
Sokolowski,
Robert, Introduction to Phenomenology, 2000.
Stroll,
Avrum, Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy, 2001.
Gross,
Barry, Analytic Philosophy: An Historical Introduction, 1970.
Requirements for
the course
Two quizzes 10%, 10%
A mid-term and a final 25%, 25%
A term paper (10-12 pages) 30%
Attendance in class
Contact information
My
office is St. Bonaventure 208.
Phone: x6647 or x5636. Office hours:
Tuesday, 3–4:30.
E-mail: degroot@cua.edu
The
term paper is a research paper. This means you must have at least 5 different
secondary sources that you have actually consulted in your bibliography. Four
of these must be books or articles. (It is best if all of them are books or
articles.) If you use internet sources,
these must be listed as works
consulted, and they must be footnoted in the paper, when used. So if you use
three of these, you must have eight sources listed in your bibliography,
because four of your works consulted must be from the library. The paper can
either be an exploration of a topic or the argument of a thesis. Even if you
are exploring a topic rather than arguing a thesis, be sure that the paper is
well-organized and reaches some conclusions. Use Chicago Manual of Style for
the manner of reference and bibliography.
You must turn in a paragraph description of your paper topic and sample bibliography for your paper on March 29.
Important
philosophers of interest to you may not be covered in the course readings,
because of lack of time. Writing the paper provides an opportunity to study one
of these. Examples are Kierkegaard, Peirce, James, Russell, Sartre,
Merleau-Ponty. If you wish to work on a philosopher not covered in the
lectures, you must 1) meet with me in my office before March 29 to discuss your
topic and 2) turn in a three to five page prospectus of the paper on March 29.
In other words, you must begin work early and have a clear idea where you are
headed with your topic.
Attendance
in class is important and will be noted at the beginning of class. If you have
to miss more than three class meetings, you must meet with me to say why and to
indicate how you intend to make up the classes. Missing more than 5 classes is
unacceptable and will affect your final grade.
Please
bear in mind the university rules concerning plagiarism, which will be enforced
in this class. Plagiarism on the term paper will result in failure for the
class, as will cheating on exams.
|
Jan.
9, 11 |
Introduction Smith,
“Franz Brentano I,” ch. 2 of Austrian
Philosophy (electronic reserve) Husserl,
“Consciousness as Intentional Experience” (electronic reserve) |
|
Jan.
18 |
Frege,
“Concept and Object” (electronic reserve) Frege,
“Thought” (electronic reserve) January 16, Administrative Monday. Tuesday classes do not meet. |
|
Jan.
23, 35 |
continue
Frege Husserl,
“Vienna Lecture,” Appendix to Crisis,
269-99 |
|
Jan.
30, Feb. 1 |
continue
“Vienna Lecture” H,
Crisis, Part I (3-18), Part II
(21-34, 48-53) Quiz, 30 minutes, Feb. 1 |
|
Feb.
6, 8 |
Crisis, Part IIIA (132-89), and
Part IIIB (230-57) |
|
Feb.
13, 15 |
Nietszche,
Beyond Good and Evil, assignment to be announced |
|
Feb.
20, 22 |
Nietzsche,
continued Mid-term exam, Feb. 22 Feb. 26-Mar. 2-- Spring Break |
|
Mar.
6, 8 |
W,
Tractatus 1-4.1213 Mounce,
Introduction, pp. 1-48 |
|
Mar.
13, 15 |
W,
Tractatus 6.1-7 Mounce,
Introduction, pp. 87-125 |
|
Mar.
20, 23 |
Anscombe,
Intention, 1-25 Senior comps, Mar. 12-21. Seniors exempt from class March 20. |
|
Mar.
27, 29 |
A,
Intention, 25-30, 34-53 Paper
topic due, Mar. 29
|
|
Apr.
3 |
Nietzsche,
assignment to be announced Heidegger,
“The Fundamental Question of Metaphysics” Easter Break, April 5-9. No class April 5 |
|
Apr.
10, 12 |
H,
“The Grammar and Etymology of “Being’” Quiz, 30 minutes, April 12 |
|
Apr.
17, 19 |
H,
“The Question of the Essence of Being” |
|
Apr.
24, 26 |
H,
“The Restriction of Being” Term paper due,
April 26
Final exam,
Tuesday, May 1, 1:30-3:30
|