Introduction to Philosophy:
Main Problems

This course will be an introduction to philosophy via an engagement with some of the most important topics taken up in that discipline. We will ponder such questions as: what ought we to do? How ought we to live? What reason can we have to trust those in authority? What if don’t trust them? How can we know anything? Does God exist? How is God’s existence compatible with the evils in the world? Do we have immortal souls?

Texts
Plato Republic
Descartes Mediations on First Philosophy
Hume Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Perry A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality

Grade
10% Plato Reconstruction
30% Plato Paper
30% Descartes or Hume Paper
15% Perry Exam
15% Participation

Schedule

Week 1
Plato Republic 1 (brainwashing)

Week 2
Plato Republic 2 (the goal: kinds of goodness)
Plato Republic 2 (the strategy: the happiest city)

Week 3
Plato Republic 4 (justice found; the tripartite soul)
Plato Republic 5 (philosopher-kings)

Week 4
Plato Republic 6 (the Form of the Good)
Plato Republic 7 (the Cave)

Week 5
Plato Republic 8 (less happy cities)
Plato Republic 9 (happiness and justice)

PLATO PAPER DUE

Week 6
Descartes Meditation 1 (science and skepticism)
Descartes Meditation 1 (dreams and demons)

Week 7
Descartes Meditation 2 (the existence of the self)
Descartes Meditation 3 (clear & distinct ideas)

Week 8
Descartes Meditation 3 (God’s existence)
Descartes Meditation 4 (error)

Week 9
Descartes Meditation 5 (God’s existence again)
Descartes Meditation 6 (loose ends)

DESCARTES PAPER DUE

Week 10
Hume Dialogues 2 (positions taken)
Hume Dialogues 3 (the argument from design)

Week 11
Hume Dialogues 4 (causal explanations)
Hume Dialogues 5 (what the universe tells us about God)

Week 12
Hume Dialogues 6 (is the universe like an artifact or a plant?)
Hume Dialogues 7 (or an animal?)

Week 13
Hume Dialogues 8 (alternative universes)
Hume Dialogues 10 (the problem of evil)

HUME PAPER DUE

Week 14
Perry Dialogue 1 (what would it be to be immortal?)
Perry Dialogue 1 (what are we?)

Week 15
Perry Dialogue 2 (memory)
Perry Dialogue 2 (memory, cont.)

FINAL EXAM