• Michael R. Matthews (ed.), The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy: Selected Readings (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989).
• The Rationalists (New York: Doubleday, 1989).
• The Empiricists (New York: Doubleday, 1989).
• Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994).
• John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1990).
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1988).
• packet of photocopied material from Aristotle, Thomas Kuhn, and René Descartes.

In this course, we will trace some of the main elements of the development of philosophy during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, the period known as Early Modern Philosophy. We will place special emphasis on the relation between philosophy during this period and the concurrent advances in such sciences as astronomy and physics. Among the topics we will be covering will be the nature of matter, scientific method, knowledge, perception, mind, morality, God, and free will. We will also examine the development of the social contract theory of the state from Thomas Hobbes through John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Course goals:

This course will acquaint you with many of the most important issues and positions in Early Modern Philosophy, which are still very much alive today.

Course format:

Class meetings will consist of a mixture of lecture and discussion. In order to benefit from both, it is essential that you do all of the reading for each class. One of the most important things that this course will offer you is the opportunity to hone your interpretive, argumentative, and rhetorical skills by writing several papers on the often difficult texts we will be reading.

Evaluation:

There will be three papers:

• one 2-3 page paper (worth 20% of your grade)
• one 4-5 page paper (worth 30% of your grade)
• one 8-10 page paper (worth 40% of your grade).

Furthermore, active and constructive participation in the class discussions will count toward around 10% of your final grade.