philosophy 308哲学

philosophy 308哲学

8Philosophy308AMERICANPHILOSOPHYSkidmoreCollegeProfessorWilliamLewisFall2010e-mail:wlewis@skidmore.eduTuesday&Thursday3:40-5:30PMLadd216,x5402,officehrs:M/W10-11:30AMCourseDescriptionInhis1837address,"TheAmericanScholar",RalphWaldoEmersonpassionatelyarguesthatAmericanthoughtshouldabandonitsrelianceonEuropeanphilosophyandthatitshouldreflecttheAmericanexperienceinitsdiversity,originality,andtotality.FollowingEmerson,manyotherAmericanPhilosophershavetakenuphischallengeandhavetriedtoconstructaphilosophythatbothimprovesuponEuropeanmodelsandreflectsAmerica'suniqueness.Necessarily,improvinguponEuropeanmodelshasmeantnotonlyengaginginacritiqueofthedominantstrainsofModernEuropeanphilosophy,rationalismandempiricism,butalsointheformulationofanewmethodorapproachtophilosophythatsolvessomeoftheirproblems.StartingwithEmersonandcontinuingwithC.S.Peirce,WilliamJamesandJohnDewey,thiscoursewillexamineahistoryofsuchattempts,theirmethods,andtheirconclusions.Specialfocuswillbegiventoissuesofmetaphysics,logic,mind,andepistemology.Asagroupandasindividuals,wewillalsocriticallyexaminecontemporarythinkerswhoseworkbuildsuponpragmaticinsightsandappliesthemtocontemporaryproblemsinphilosophy,tootherdisciplines,andtolife.Illustration:Child'sfirstencounterwiththecandleflameleftandsecondencounterrightwhichentailsanactiveavoidanceofbeingburned(WilliamJames,PrinciplesofPsychology.NewYork:Holt,1890).\n8RequiredTextsDescartes,René.MeditationsonFirstPhilosophyDewey,John.ReconstructioninPhilosophyStuhr,JohnJ.(editor).PragmatismandClassicalAmericanPhilosophyCoursePacket[CP]OptionalTextMenand,Louis.TheMetaphysicalClubClassFormatandExpectationsRunasanadvancedseminar,thiscoursedemandsmuchstudentparticipationandindependentresearch.Itisimperativethatyoubepreparedeachdaytodiscusstheassignedreadingsandtopresentyourresearch.Theclasswillconsistofdiscussionsthataimat:(a)gaininganunderstandingofthetextathand;and(b)applyingtheissues,ideasandconceptsthatthetextsraisetoproblemsandissuesbothcontemporaryandhistorical.Tothisend,mostclassmeetingswillbedividedintotwohalves.Inthefirstandlongerhalfwewillfocusnarrowlyonunderstandingthetextitself.Afterashortbreak,wewillengageinacriticaldiscussionofthetextandwilllooktoitspossibleapplications.Foreachclassmeeting,itisexpectedthatyouwillarrivehavingformulatedaninformalresponsetothereading(s)tobediscussedthatday.Theseresponsesshouldcontainabriefsummaryoftheauthor(s)points(notingkeypassages,concepts,moments,etc.)andshouldthenextendtotheformulationoforiginalquestionsorcomments.Thesecanbequestionsregardingyourownunderstandingofthetext(suchas:“ForWilliamJames,doesbeliefequaltruth?).Alternately,thesecommentscanbecriticalofthetext,supportiveofitsargument,or(best)canlinktextstogether,applytheirinsights,orrelatethemtootherphilosophers/philosophies.Eachday,Iwillcallonseminarparticipantstorelatetheirresponsestotheclass.Thisdoesnotmeanthatyouneedtocometoclasswitharesponsepapertoreadeachday(thoughsomedaysImayaskforthistypeofthing).However,afewparagraphsor—attheveryleast—someclearanddetailednotesoutliningyourresponsewillbenecessary.ItisexpectedthattheseresponseswillprovideabasisforthethreeshortreflectionpapersthatyouwillwriteonPeirce,James,andDeweyandthat,inturn,significantpartsoftheseshortpaperswillbefoldedintoyourtermpaperManyoftheideasandtextsthatwearedealingwithinthisclassarehardtounderstandonourown.Becauseofthisandbecausethisclassisdiscussionbasedanddiscussionsneedparticipants,attendanceismandatoryandyouareexpectedtotakepartinallclassdiscussions.Thisaspectofyourperformancewillbereflectedinaportionofyourgradethatreflectsitsoverallimportancetotheclassandthatincludestheinformalpresentationofyour“responses”toeachtext.Thisgradeisbaseduponboththequalityandquantityofyourparticipation.If,forsomereason,youcannotattendclass,letmeknowofthisinadvancebyphoneoremail.\n8Assignments,Value,andPolicies•ClassParticipation(20%,includessmallassignments)•ShortpapersonPeirce,James,andDewey(10%each,30%combined)•TermPaperonContemporaryPragmatism(40%,includespreliminaryassignments)•In-ClassPresentation(10%,includespreliminarysketch)Topasstheclass,allassignments(includingpreliminaryassignments)mustbecompletedintheorderassigned.Nolateassignmentswillbeacceptedwithoutexpresspermissionoftheinstructorobtainedatleast24hoursbeforetheassignment’sduedate.ViolationsoftheSkidmoreCollegeHonorCodewillresultinan“F”foraclassgradeaswellasallpenaltiesimposedbytheHonorCouncil.NoteIstronglyencourageyoutoseemeatanytimeifyouarehavingproblemswiththereadings,withunderstandingtheclassdiscussions,orifyoujustwishtofurtherdiscussissuesraisedintheclass.Iamwillingtospendtimewithyouinpersontohelpyougetasmuchoutofthecourseasyoudesire.\n8SCHEDULE(unlessnoted,allreadingsareinPragmatismandContemporaryAmericanPhilosophy)Week1September5-11TuesdayIntroductionThursdayreading:a.Emerson,TheAmericanScholar[CP]Week2September12-18Tuesdayreading:a.Descartes,MeditationsonFirstPhilosophy1thru4[usepersonalcopyore-text]Thursday:•••NoClassMeeting•••Week3September19-25Tuesdayreading:a.Locke,AnEssayConcerningHumanUnderstanding[CP]guestdiscussionleader:ProfessorJorgensenThursdayreading:a.Stuhr,"IntroductiontoPragmatismandClassicalAmericanPhilosophy”•••SecondaryLiteratureSurveyAssigned•••Week4September26-October2Tuesdayreading:a.Peirce,"TheFixationofBelief"b.Colapietro,“IntroductiontoCharlesSandersPeirce,”pp.75-87c.(optional:Menand:151-200)Thursdayreading:a.Peirce:"HowtoMakeOurIdeasClear"•••SecondaryLiteratureSurveyDue•••-\n8GoverTalk:TangMuseumWeek5October3-9Tuesdayreading:a.Peirce,"WhatPragmatismIs”b.Peirce,"TheDoctrineofNecessityExamined"Thursdayreading:a.Peirce,“LetterstoLadyWelby”[cp]b.Peirce,“LogicasSemiotic:theTheoryofSigns”[cp]c.Colapietro,“IntroductiontoCharlesSandersPeirce,”pp.91-94•••FocussedLiteratureSurveyAssigned•••Week6October10-16Tuesdayreading:a.Peirce,“TheApproachtoMetaphysics”[cp],b.Peirce,“TheArchitectureofTheories”[cp]c.Peirce,“Synechism,Fallibilism,andEvolution”[cp]d.Colapietro,“IntroductiontoCharlesSandersPeirce,”pp.87-90,95-100Thursdayreading:a.Peirce,“ANeglectedArgumentfortheRealityofGod”•••ShortPeircePaperAssigned•••Week7October17-23Tuesdayreading:a.Mcdermott,"Introduction"toWilliamJames”b.James,"TheTypesofPhilosophicThinking"c.(optional:Menand,"Pragmatism"73-95)Thursdayreading:a.James,“TheStreamofThought”•••ShortPeircePaperDue•••Week8October24-30Tuesdayreading:\n8a.James,"AWorldofPureExperience"b.Hester&Talisse,chapter2,OnJames[CP]Thursdayreading:a.James,"WhatPragmatismMeans"b.Hester&Talisse,chapter3,OnJames[CP]•••FocussedLiteratureSurveyDue••••••ProjectProposalAssigned•••Week9October31-November6Tuesdayreading:a.James,“Pragmatism’sConceptionofTruth”[CP]b.James,“TheFunctionofCognition”[CP]c.James,“TheTigersinIndia”[CP]Thursdayreading:a.James,“TheMoralPhilosopherandtheMoralLife”•••ShortJamesPaperAssigned•••Week10November7-13Tuesdayreading:a.Stuhr,"’Introduction’toJohnDewey”b.Dewey,“ThePostulateofImmediateEmpiricismc.Dewey,“ExperienceandPhilosophicMethod”d.(optional:Menand,284-333)Thursdayscreening:JohnDewey:HisLifeandWork(2000)•••ShortJamesPaperDue•••Week11November14-20Tuesdayreading:a.Dewey,ReconstructioninPhilosophyi."ChangingConceptionsofPhilosophy"ii."SomeHistoricalFactorsinPhilosophicalReconstruction"b.(optional:Dewey,“TheNeedforaRecoveryofPhilosophy”)\n8Thursdayreading:a.Dewey,ReconstructioninPhilosophy,i."TheScientificFactorInReconstructionofPhilosophy"ii."ChangedConceptionsofExperienceandReason"Week12November21-27Tuesdayreading:a.Dewey,ReconstructioninPhilosophyi.“ChangedConceptionsoftheIdealandtheReal”ii.“TheSignificanceofLogicalReconstruction”•••ProjectProposalDue•••Thursday•••ThanksgivingDay,NoClassMeeting•••Week13November28-December4Tuesdayreading:a.Dewey,ReconstructioninPhilosophyi."ReconstructioninMoralConceptions"ii.“ReconstructionasAffectingSocialPhilosophy”•••ShortDeweyPaperAssigned•••Thursdayreading:a.Dewey,"SearchforTheGreatCommunity"PresentationsWeek14December5-11TuesdayPresentations•••ShortDeweyPaperDue•••ThursdayPresentations\n8Weeks15&16December12-21•••TermPaperDue,dateTBA•••