Modern Philosophy

The course covers European philosophy in the 17th and 18th century. It
discusses both rationalists (mainly Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz) and
empiricists (mainly Locke, Berkeley and Hume) and ends with Kant. It deals
with topics in epistemology and metaphysics, but also ethics and political
philosophy.

1 Early Modern Philosophy: the shift form metaphysics to epistemology

2 Descartes: the methods of rational inquiry

                    Descartes, Rules for the Direction of the Mind

3 Descartes: grounding dualism in metaphysics and philosophy of mind

                    Descartes: Meditations

4 Spinoza & Leibniz: the sovereignty of reason

                     Spinoza, Ethics

5 Locke & Berkeley: the many faces of sense-experience

                    Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

6 Hume I: from empiricism to skepticism

                    Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature, Book I

7 Hume II: from skepticism to naturalism

                    Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III

8 Kant I: the critical turn

                    Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Introduction, Transcendental Aesthetic

9 Kant II: the transcendental turn

                     Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Transcendental Analytic

10 Kant III: the antinomies of reason

                     Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Transcendental Dialectic

11 Kant IV: the primacy of practical reason

                     Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

12 Hegel I: identity and difference

                     Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Part A

13 Hegel II: the structure of self-consciousness

                     Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Part B