Philosophy Department Phil 180b
Brandeis University Spring 2016
Phil 180b: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume
Who, When, and Where
Professor Jennifer S. Marusic
Tues. and Fri. 9:30-11:00 am
Location: Rabb 338
Office: Mandel 112
Telephone: 781-736-3515
E-mail:
Office hours: Tuesdays 2-4 pm.
Course Description
What role does experience play in our acquiring knowledge? It seems natural to think that we could not have knowledge about our environments without experience. But does acquiring knowledge about math, about morality, and about metaphysics also depend on experience in some way? Why or why not?
Empiricists are philosophers who hold that experience plays a particularly important role in our acquiring knowledge about the world. Yet empiricists disagree about just what role this is. Some empiricists hold that all knowledge is justified at least in part by evidence acquired through experience. Yet not all empiricists hold this; many deny that mathematical knowledge, for example, is justified by experiential evidence. Other empiricists hold that the content of our thoughts and the very kinds of thoughts we can think is constrained by experience. Such empiricists will claim that mathematical concepts are acquired through experience, even if mathematical knowledge is not justified by experience.
Our goal will be to think about what experience is and what role it plays in our ability to make sense of the world and our place in it and hopefully acquire knowledge about it. We’ll do this by focusing on the philosophical works of Locke, Berkeley and Hume: the three most influential early modern empiricists. Students will also be asked to reflect on their own experience and their own answers to the questions that concerned Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
We’ll also consider whether and to what extent Locke, Berkeley, and Hume’s empiricism shaped their other philosophical commitments. Despite their common empiricism, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume disagree on many other philosophical questions. For example, Locke is a common-sense realist, who hopes that his philosophy provides a metaphysical and epistemological foundation for contemporaneous science, especially the mechanical science of Boyle and Newton. Berkeley is an idealist, who claims that the very ideas of matter and material substance are incoherent and the only things that exist are ideas and minds. Hume is both a skeptic, holding that almost all of our beliefs about the world are unjustified, and a naturalist, offering naturalistic explanations of very general features of human nature. The question we will be concerned with is: How does the commitment to empiricism lead these three figures to such different worldviews?
Topics to be covered include the origin and nature of ideas, knowledge of necessary truths, including in mathematics and metaphysics, the possibility of having abstract ideas, the primary-secondary quality distinction, real and nominal essences, the nature of material substance, the reasons for our belief that there are material substances, idealism, and skepticism about induction and causation.
Learning Goals
Students should expect to do the following:
v Gain a solid understanding of methods used in the history of philosophy, including:
o Textual interpretation and analysis
o Reconstruction of arguments
o Tracing lines of influence across thinkers
o Critical evaluation of secondary literature
v Reflect on the relevance (or irrelevance) of arguments and views in the history of philosophy for contemporary philosophical problems.
v Develop skills including:
o Learn to work collaboratively
o Learn to comment effectively on others’ work and respond effectively to comments on one’s own work
o Present and discuss work orally.
Requirements
Students will be required to write three short papers of 3-4 pages, one on each figure we’ll read.
Additionally, students will be asked to do a final research project, which will include the following components:
A final paper, which includes discussion of one of our three figures, but also includes a discussion of some other figure, whom we haven’t read in class. For example, one might look at a dispute between one of our figures and someone else; one might consider the influence someone else had on one of our figures or the influence one of our figures had on someone else. You are particularly encouraged to look at figures outside the canon. I’ll provide help and suggestions for possible topics and figures. This final paper should be between 7-10 pages long, and may incorporate material (hopefully revised) from your earlier papers.
A one-page final project proposal, describing your plans for the final paper.
A presentation of your project of at most 20 minutes during the last week of class.
The short papers will be worth 30% of the grade and the final research paper will be worth an additional 30%. Your presentation will be worth 10% and attendance and participation will be the remaining 30%.
Grading
Late papers will be deducted one third of a grade (e.g. from a B to a B-) for each day they are late. No assignments will be accepted more than one week late. If you need an extension on an assignment, whether because you have work due in other classes on the same day or for personal reasons, please ask me. I am willing to grant short extensions, provided you ask for them at least a full day in advance. If you are unable to complete an assignment on time because of an unexpected illness, please let me know as soon as possible.
Attendance and participation are required. You should come to class prepared, having done the readings in advance. You should bring the texts with you to class!
Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).
Readings
The required texts are:
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge.
Hume, David. Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals.
Laptops and Cell Phones in Class
Please refrain from using any device with a screen during class. We will on occasion need to use our devices for research, to consult the readings for the day, and for other purposes. On these occasions, it is fine to use your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. Using them for purposes not immediately related to the class will seriously (and negatively) impact your participation grade!
Academic Integrity at Brandeis
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement of that source.
Violations of University policies on academic integrity, described in Section Three of Rights and Responsibilities, may result in failure of the course or on the assignment, or in suspension or dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course or about how to properly cite the sources you’ve used, it is your responsibility to ask for help. If you have questions about academic integrity, please do not hesitate to ask me, refer to the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, or contact the office of Student Development and Conduct.
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