Schedule of Readings & Class Sessions
Fall, 2007
Lectures
Lectures will be held T R, 4:15 - 5:05, in Reiss 103, as per the schedule below.
Schedule of Readings
| Lecture | Topic | Readings |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Aug. | introductory session |
none |
|
Reason |
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| 4 Sept | Aristotle, Voluntary Action |
Pereboom, pp. 1-4 Web slides: |
|
| 6 Sept | Aquinas, Voluntary Action |
Pereboom, pp. 41-56 Web slides: |
|
| 11-13 Sept | Aquinas, Free Choice |
Pereboom, pp. 34-41 Supplementary Aquinas Passages Web slide: an argument we'll consider on the 13th |
|
Philosophical Method |
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| 18 Sept | What is a Philosophical Argument? |
optional: Woodhouse, chs. 4, 5, & 6 (8th ed. – 4, 5, 7 & 8 in earlier editions) Web slides: |
|
| 20 Sept | How to Write a Philosophy Paper |
||
Hume |
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| 25 Sept |
Necessity or Psychological Determinism |
Treatise, II.iii.1: pp. 447-455 |
What's with the "II.iii.1?" |
| 27 Sept | Hume's Conception of Liberty, Simple Version |
Pereboom, pp. 79-80 (from Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, sect. 7) |
|
| 2 Oct |
Hume's Conception of Liberty, Complex Version |
Treatise, II.iii.2, pp. 455-460 (ctd). Treatise, II.ii.3, pp. 397-400. Web slides: |
|
| 4 Oct |
Motivation and Reason |
Treatise, II.iii.3, pp. 460-465 |
|
| 4 Oct, 3 pm | First Paper Assignment Due | via turnitin.com | |
| 9 Oct |
Psychological Hedonism |
Treatise, II.iii.4-6 & 9, pp. 466-474 & 485-494 Web slides: |
|
Kant vs Hume on Freedom |
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| 11 Oct |
Kant's Argument Against Compatibilism |
Kant, from The Critique of Practical Reason, in Pereboom, pp. 101-104. Web slide: Kant's Argument Against Hume Handout: Lexicon of Kant-speak |
|
| 16 Oct |
Hume's Response |
Hume, Treatise, II.iii.2, pp. 455-460 Web slides: |
|
| 18 Oct |
Kant on Nature & Freedom |
Kant, from The Critique of Pure Reason, in Pereboom, pp. 91-100. |
|
James |
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| 23 Oct |
Against Soft Determinism |
"The Dilemma of Determinism," in Essays Web slides: James's
Argument Against Soft Det. Highly recommended: "What Pragmatism Means," in Essays |
|
| 25-30 Oct |
Belief and Reason |
"The Will to Believe," in Essays |
|
| 1-6 Nov |
Truth |
"Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth," in Essays |
|
| 8 Nov, 3 pm | Second Paper Assignment Due | via turnitin.com |
|
| 8 Nov |
The Right to Believe We Have Freedom |
"The Dilemma of Determinism" again Web slide: James's Argument |
|
Nietzsche |
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| 13 Nov | What is a Genealogy of Morals? |
The Genealogy of Morals, Preface and First Essay |
|
| 15 Nov. | Agency and Physiological Drives |
Genealogy, First Essay, ctd. |
|
| 20 Nov. | No lecture! |
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| 22 Nov | Thanksgiving Holiday
|
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| 27 Nov. |
The Right to Make Promises: Moral Responsibility |
Genealogy, Second Essay Web slide: Memory of the Will |
|
| 29 Nov |
The Will to Power & The Ascetic Ideal |
Genealogy, Second Essay, ctd. and Third Essay, §§1 -22 |
|
| 4 Nov |
The Free Spirit |
Genealogy, Third Essay |
|
| 6 Dec | Final Class Meeting |
none |
|
| 18 Dec, noon | Third Paper Assignment Due | via turnitin.com |
|
Texts
- Pereboom
- Derk Pereboom, ed., Free Will (Hackett).
- Treatise
- David Hume, Treatise of Human Nature (Penguin).
- Essays
- William James, Essays in Pragmatism (Hafner).
- Genealogy
- Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (Vintage).