Philosophy 100, Spring ‘02 — 20th Century Philosophy 9-10 MWF MI112

D. Vessey 363-2146 (Office) Office Hours: 210MI

vesseyd@beloit.edu 2-4 MW, 1-3 Th

and by appointment

Course Content

The 20th Century has been the most prolific period of philosophy ever. A number of things have contributed to this fact, most notably the expansion and diversification of the university system and the ready availability of books and journals. As a result, the diversity in philosophy in the twentieth century is also the greatest it’s ever been. Postmodernists work alongside analytic philosophers who work alongside Kantians and even Thomists. There is not clean narrative of philosophical progress in the 20th century, although there is some consensus about who the major thinkers have been. Generally the 20th century has been dominated by a schism between analytic philosophy, the main philosophical tradition in the English-speaking world and Scandinavia, and Continental philosophy, the main philosophical tradition on the continent, above all Germany and France. In addition to these two, pragmatism is the only philosophical tradition native to America, and one of the major themes of the late twentieth century has been philosophy influenced by feminists concerns. For that reason the course is divided up into five traditions: Early Analytic Philosophy, Pragmatism, Phenomenology (the main tradition in Continental philosophy), Late (post- Wittgenstein) Analytic Philosophy, and Feminist Philosophy. Within each of these five traditions we will spend one day on each of seven core areas of philosophy: Epistemology, Ethics, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science, and Political Philosophy. We will have one reading each day, and will sometimes focus on one thinker by reading three or four essays by the same person. On the final four days of class we will read and discuss student research papers written on a central debate in twentieth century philosophy.

Course Method

Writing remains the best way to process and develop ideas. We will have two page (12 pt, Times/New Roman) papers due every Monday. Of these 13 papers, only the top 10 grades will count towards the final grade. They will be graded A, B, C, F. These papers are meant to help facilitate discussion and therefore need not be turned in late or in your absence. The will also be a final, 10 page research paper justifying a thesis on a debate in twentieth century philosophy. These papers will be discussed in class and the final draft, revised in light of comments, will be due at the time of the final exam. In addition, everyone will be required to produce two web-based study guides. You will sign up for the days to do the guides at the beginning of the semester; they are due in class one class period before the reading is to be done. I will post them on the web for everyone to use to guide their reading. I will produce web guides for each Monday reading both as a template for your guides and to facilitate writing the Monday papers. The typo policy and the honor policy apply to all handed in, graded work. As a minimum standard for college level written work, all work should be well proofread and must be your own work. For every four typos the grade will be lowered one step (i.e. A to a B for the Monday appears; A to A- for the research paper); typos include spelling errors, grammatical errors, improper use of gendered pronouns, and failure to properly reference quotations. Failure to properly reference is different from plagiarizing. All written work handed in must include on the first page, “On my honor I have neither given nor received nor witnessed unauthorized aid on this paper” and must be signed. Plagiarism is a sign that one has so lost track of their proper role as a student that there’s no point in continuing in the class (much less in college) at this point in one’s life. Finally since discussion is a central feature of the class (and discussions can not be made up if missed) attendance and participation are central parts of the grade for the class. You can think of the daily grade as follows: Absent: F; Present but unprepared: D, Present, prepared, but non-participating: C; Present and participating: B; Present and significantly contributing: A.

If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of Porter Hall. You will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to Diane Arnzen, Director of the LSSC. If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter dated for this semester as soon as possible so your learning needs may be appropriately met.

Grade Breakdown:

Weekly Papers: 30% Long Paper: 30% (15% each draft)

Study Guides: 10% each Attendance and Participation: 20%

1. Tue. Jan 15 Introduction

2. Wed., Jan. 16 Critique of Psychologism: Husserl, Frege and Peirce

Early Analytic Philosophy

3. Fri., Jan. 18 Epistemology

Reading: Russell from Problems of Philosophy

4. Mon., Jan. 21 Philosophy of Language

Reading: Russell “Descriptions”

Paper #1 Due

5. Wed., Jan. 23 Metaphysics

Reading: Russell “On the Relations of Universals and

Particulars”

6. Fri., Jan. 25 Philosophy of Science

Reading: Hempel “Laws and their Role in Scientific

Explanation”

7. Mon., Jan. 28 Ethics

Reading: Moore “from Principia Ethica”

Paper #2 Due

8. Wed., Jan. 30 Political Philosophy

Reading: H. L. A. Hart “from The Concept of Law”

9. Fri., Feb. 1 Philosophy of Religion

Reading: Russell “What I Believe”

Pragmatism

10. Mon., Feb. 4 Philosophy of Science

Reading: Peirce “The Fixation of Belief”

Paper #3 Due

11. Wed., Feb. 6 Philosophy of Language

Reading: Mead “from Mind, Self, and Society”

12. Fri., Feb. 8 Political Philosophy

Reading: Dewey “Search for the Great Community”

13. Mon., Feb. 11 Epistemology

Reading: James “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth”

and “A Dialogue”

Paper #4 Due

14. Wed., Feb. 13 Metaphysics:

Reading: James “What Pragmatism Means”

and “Some Metaphysical Problems

Pragmatically Considered”

15. Fri., Feb. 15 Ethics

Reading: James “The Moral Philosopher and the

Moral Life”

16. Mon., Feb. 18 Philosophy of Religion

Reading: James “The Will to Believe”

Paper #5 Due

Phenomenology

17. Wed., Feb. 20 Epistemology

Reading: Husserl “from Cartesian Meditations”

18. Fri., Feb. 22 Metaphysics

Reading: Heidegger “First and Second Introduction

to Being and Time”

19. Mon., Feb. 25 Philosophy of Language

Reading: Heidegger “Dasein, Disclosedness and

Truth from Being and Time”

Paper #6 Due

20. Wed., Feb. 27 Philosophy of Science

Reading: Heidegger “The Question Concerning

Technology”

21. Fri., Mar. 1 Ethics

Reading: Sartre “Existentialism is a Humanism”

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22. Mon., Mar. 11 Political Philosophy

Reading: Arendt “from The Human Condition”

Paper #7 Due

23. Wed., Mar. 13 Philosophy of Religion

Reading: Levinas “God and Philosophy”

24. Fri., Mar. 15 Wittgenstein

Reading: “from Philosophical Investigations”

Post-Wittgensteinian Analytic

25. Mon., Mar. 18 Epistemology

Reading: Quine “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”

Paper #8 Due

26. Wed., Mar. 20 Metaphysics

Reading: Quine “Ontological Relativity”

27. Fri., Mar. 22 Philosophy of Language

Reading: Davidson “On the Very Idea of a

Conceptual Scheme”

28. Mon., Mar. 25 Philosophy of Science

Reading: Kuhn “from Structure of Scientific Revolutions”

Paper #9 Due

29. Wed., Mar. 27 Philosophy of Religion

Reading: Plantinga “Religious Belief Without

Evidence”

30. Fri., Mar. 29 Political Philosophy

Reading: Rawls “from Justice as Fairness: A

Restatement”

31. Mon., Apr. 1 Ethics

Reading: MacIntyre “Politics, Philosophy and the

Common Good”

Paper #10 Due

Feminism

32. Wed., Apr. 3 Metaphysics

Reading: Beauvoir “Introduction from The Second

Sex”

33. Fri., Apr. 5 Ethics

Reading: Gilligan “Moral Orientation and Moral

Development”

34. Mon., Apr. 8 Political Philosophy

Reading: Okin “from Justice, Gender and the Family”

Paper #11 Due

35. Wed., Apr. 10 Philosophy of Science

Reading: Harding “From Feminist Empiricism to

Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies”

36. Fri., April 12 Philosophy of Language

Reading: Cixous “The Laugh of the Medusa”

37. Mon., Apr. 15 Philosophy of Religion

Reading: Mary Daly “from Beyond God the Father”

Paper #12 Due

Wed., Apr. 17 No Class: Spring Day

38. Fri. Apr. 19 Neo-Pragmatism

Reading: Putnam: “Meaning and Reference”

39. Mon., Apr. 22 Neo-Pragmatism

Reading: Rorty “Solidarity or Objectivity?”

40. Wed., Apr. 24 Presentations

41. Fri., Apr. 26 Presentations

42. Mon., Apr. 30 Presentations

43. Wed., May 1 Presentations/Evaluations

Final Exam/Final Paper Due Thursday May 7, 10pm