SYLLABUS

PHILOSOPHY 413

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CRN: 22704

Office Hrs.: TTH 1230-1345

ROOM: SH 149

Office: PSFA 136

Days & Times: TTH 1400-1515

Home Phone: (619) 464-4350 

Cell Phone: (619) 988-0775

Professor: Dr. Rod Freeman

E-mail: freeman2@mail.sdsu.edu

 

Web Page: www.rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rfreeman

 

Week

Date

Lecture & Discussion Topics

Assignment

1

9/1

Introduction

Renaissance Science

Descartes' Science

Ariew, pp. 1-11

2

9/8

Descartes' Meditations

Critique of the Meditations

Leibniz's Proofs of God's Existence

Ariew, pp. 12-96

3

9/15

Leibniz's Monads

Leibniz's Free Will

Leibniz's Physics

9/16 Last day to add/drop

Ariew, pp. 181-243

4

9/22

The Leibniz/Clarke Debates

Review

Exam 1

Ariew, pp. 244-258

 

9/24 Furlough

5

9/29

Locke's Critique of Innate Ideas

Locke's Ideas

Locke's Matter

Ariew, pp. 259-320

9/22 Last day to drop!

6

10/6

Locke's Mind/Body Solution

Locke on Freedom and Volition

10/6 Furlough

Ariew, pp. 320-373

7

10/13

Locke on Personal Identity

Locke's Language and Knowledge

Locke's Proofs of God's Existence

Ariew, pp. 374-385

8

10/20

Berkeley on Abstract Ideas

Berkeley's Immaterialism

Berkeley on God, Self, & Others

Ariew, pp. 386-482

9

10/27

Hume's Inquiry

Hume on Probability & Induction

Hume on Causality

Ariew, pp. 483-557

 

10

11/3

Hume on Miracles

Hume on Personal Identity

Hume's Pyrrhonianism

Ariew, pp. 558-572

11

11/10

Review

Exam 2

  11/10 Furlough

12

11/17

Kant's Critique: Basic Concepts

The Transcendental Aesthetic

Ariew, pp. 573-653

13

11/24

The Transcendental Analytic:

The Analytic of Concepts 

HOLIDAY

Ariew, pp. 653-672

14

12/1

The Analytic of Principles

The Refutation of Idealism

Ariew, pp. 672-698 

15

12/8

The Transcendental Dialectic

The Transcendental Doctrine of Method

Kant in the 19th & 20th Centuries

Ariew, pp. 698-749

12/10 Furlough

16

12/15

Final Exam 1300-1500

 

Grading

During the course of the semester there will be a total of three essay examinations. The first exam will focus on Descartes and Leibniz. The second exam will cover the material on Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. The final exam will deal with Kant's Critique. Each of these exams will be worth 100 points.

Grading is based on the total number of points received, and grades are curved.

Academic Honesty

The examinations are closed book, closed note. Collaboration between students on examinations is NOT permitted. Any student who is caught cheating in ANY way and/or any student who is caught helping another student in any way to cheat will be penalized to the maximum extent permitted by university policy. Dishonesty has no place in an institution of higher education, and will NOT be tolerated.

Telephoning the Professor at Home

While I am more than willing to answer your questions over the phone, please use common courtesy in choosing the hour at which you call. Please call after 9 a.m. and before 11 p.m. during the work week, and between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekends. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.

Learning-Disabled Students

If you have special needs due to a learning disability, please avail yourself of the resources in the Student Disability Services (the new name) in now in Calpulli Center, room 3101 (594-6473). The CSU Office of the Chancellor defines a learning disability as ". . . a generic term that refers to the heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders occur in persons of average to very superior intelligence and are presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction. Even though a learning disability may exist concomitantly with other handicapping conditions (e.g., sensory impairments) or environmental influences (e.g., cultural/language difficulties), it is not the direct result of these conditions or influences." If you think something might prevent you from doing well in this course, you should discuss this with me so that proper arrangements may be made to accommodate your needs.


Religious Observances

The University Policy File includes the following statement on Absence for Religious Observances:

By the end of the second week of classes, students should notify the instructors of affected courses of planned absences for religious observances. Instructors shall reasonably accommodate students who notify them in advance of planned absences for religious observances.

California Education Code 89320 states:

The Trustees of the California State University shall require that each state university, in administering any test or examination, to permit any student who is eligible to undergo the test or examination to do so, without penalty, at a time when that activity would not violate the student's religious creed.

Please notify me if you plan to be absent for religious observance.

How to Fail this Class

1. Don't attend class regularly. Better yet, don't ever show up.

2. Wait until the night before the exam is due to start studying for it.

3. Convince yourself that you only need a passing grade in the class.

4. Phone the teacher at 3:00 a.m. on the day of the final and beg for an incomplete.

The above syllabus may be revised by the instructor at his discretion.