PHIL 180: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume

Spring, 2014

Tues/Fri, 9:30-10:50

Jeremy Fantl

E-mail:

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:00-3:30

Course Description:

According to one form of Empiricism – often attributed to the three central Early Modern British Empiricists (John Locke, David Hume, and George Berkeley) – all knowledge of the external world has to be based in our immediate ideas and sensations. But this assumption, though plausible, seems to lead either to skepticism (the view that knowledge is impossible) or idealism (the view that everything that exists is in the mind). We will look at how the Empiricist view was developed in these three philosophers, and how the worrisome consequences – and much of the Empiricist view – were resisted by two of their contemporaries: Mary Shepherd and Thomas Reid.

Evaluation

  • A final paper, due Tuesday, April 28th, worth 30% of the grade.
  • A mid semester paper, due Tuesday, February 25th, worth 20% of the grade.
  • One registrar-scheduled final exam, worth 30% of the grade.
  • A 20 minute, complete stress free, oral midterm exam (worth 20% of the grade). I will ask questions. You will answer. You will be graded, but not judged. Your exam will be held the week beginning Monday, March 3rd, at a mutually agreed upon time.

Grading Method

Letter Grades translate to numerical values according to the following scheme:

A+: 98.33
A+/A: 96.67
A: 95
A/A-: 93.33
A-: 91.67
A-/B+: 90 / B+: 88.33
B+/B: 86.67
B: 85
B/B-: 83.33
B-: 81.67
B-/C+: 80 / C+: 78.33
C+/C: 76.67
C: 75
C/C-: 73.33
C-: 71.67
C-/D+: 70 / D+: 68.33
D+/D: 66.67
D: 65
D/D-: 63.33
D-: 61.67 / F: 55

Final Grades are computed by rounding to the nearest recognized letter grade.

Policy on Late Assignments

You can get an extension on one and only one take-home assignment. You can take this extension for any reason at all. But you must clear it with me at least a day in advance of the due date and, again, you only get one. So save it for when you really need it. All unexcused late assignments will lose the equivalent of 1/3 full letter grade for each day the assignment is late, to a maximum of the equivalent of 4 full letter grades. Missing assignments receive a zero.

Required Texts

Available at the Brandeis Bookstore:

Berkeley, George, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous

Hume, David, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Locke, John,An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Shepherd, Mary, An Essay Upon the Relation of Cause and Effect

Available from the Philosophy Department:

Packet of photocopies

Syllabus

Part I: Indirect Realism

1/14, Tues: / Intro
1/17, Fri: / Innate Principles
John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book I, Chapter 2
1/21, Tues: / Simple Ideas
Locke, Essay, Book II, Chapter 1 through section 9, Chapters 2-9, and Chapter 11
1/24, Fri: / Complex Ideas
Locke, Essay, Book II, Chapters 12 and 23
1/28, Tues: / Of Knowledge
Locke, Essay, Book IV, Chapters 1 through 4
1/31, Fri: / BUFFER DAY

Part II: Skepticism

2/4, Tues: / Hume on Ideas
David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sections II and III
2/7, Fri: / Causation
Hume, Enquiry, Appendix I
2/11, Tues: / The Problem of Induction
Hume, Enquiry, Section IV
2/14, Fri: / Hume’s Skeptical “Solution”
Hume, Enquiry, Section V
2/25, Tues: / BUFFER DAY
2/28, Fri: / CLASS CANCELLED

Part III: Rationalism (sort of)

3/4, Tues: / On Beginning to Exist
Mary Shepherd, An Essay on the Relation of Cause and Effect, Section the First
3/7, Fri: / On Causes Necessitating Their Effects
Shepherd, Essay, Section the Second
3/11, Tues: / The Nature of Cause and Effect
Shepherd, Essay, Section the Third
3/14, Fri: / The Primacy of Reason Over Custom
Shepherd, Essay, Section the Fourth (through page 93)
3/18, Tues: / BUFFER DAY

Part IV: Idealism

3/21, Fri: /

From Ideas to Idealism

George Berkeley, Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, First Dialogue
3/25, Tues: / From Ideas to Idealism, cont.
Berkeley, Second Dialogue
3/28, Fri: / Idealism and God
Berkeley, Third Dialogue
4/1, Tues / BUFFER DAY

Part V: Direct Realism

4/4, Fri: / The Immediate Perception of External Objects
Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Essay 2: Chs. 4, 6, and 7
4/8, Tues: / Immediate Perception and Skepticism
Reid, Inquiry into the Human Mind, Ch. 5: Sections 7 and 8
4/11, Fri: / Common Sense and First Principles
Reid, Essays, Essay 6: Ch.3
4/25, Fri: /

BUFFER DAY

4/28, Tues: / Wrap-Up and Exam Review