THE EMPIRICISTS

PHIL 9210, WS '05

ROBERT N. JOHNSON

v This course is only for graduate students in philosophy. It will survey some main themes in the metaphysics and epistemologies of the British Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley and Hume. Special attention will be paid to the relevance of these themes to contemporary debates.

v As you progress through the material, try to develop answers to these questions. This will provide a rough gauge of your mastery of the material.

v REQUIRED TEXTS:

1. Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Nidditch, ed.   (Large roman numerals designate the Book, small roman numerals the Chapter, and § followed by arabic numerals designates the Section)

2. Berkeley, George. Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous , Jonathan Dancy , ed. ("§" followed by arabic numerals designates the Paragraph.)

3. Berkeley, George.  A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human  Knowledge, Jonathan Dancy, Ed. ("§" followed by arabic numerals designates the Paragraph.)

4. Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature, Nidditch, 2nd ed. (Large roman numerals designate the Book, small roman numerals the Part, and arabic numerals the Section.)

5. Bennett, Jonathan. Locke, Berkeley, Hume: Central Themes. (Oxford, 1971)  

v REQUIREMENTS

1. NOTES. Conceive of these as forming the skeleton of a set of lectures you might give on these topics to undergraduates. Summarize a couple of CENTRAL arguments contained in the readings each week in a couple of pages and email them to me by 5:00 pm on the day before the seminar. No late summaries will be accepted. These will not be graded, but for each missing, obviously half-hearted or partially completed summary over two (2), one third grade will be subtracted from your final grade.
    By ‘summarizing arguments’ I mean constructing valid arguments with premises and conclusions which represent the reasoning which you find in the readings, with accompanying explanations, references to page numbers, etc. By ‘central’, I mean the arguments that subserve the general theses taken by the author in the readings listed. So, for instance, in week VI, the arguments you formalize should subserve Berkeley’s thesis that there is no defensible distinction between primary and secondary qualities.

2. PAPER: One paper, 3000 words (excluding footnotes) with a word count on the first page, will be due no later than the last day of class.  On or before March 3 you must give me a one page (approx. 300 words) description of the philosophical issue you intend to address in your term paper and the position(s) taken on it by one or more of the empiricists we are studying. You will then make an appointment to talk with me about your topic.

a. Begin by finding some important paper or set of papers in the journals from the past five or so years raising the issue you want to address.

b. It must concern an issue for these philosophers arising in the context of the topics we are discussing in class (see below).

c. It must be a philosophical and may not be an interpretive or historical issue. That is, it may not simply be a paper on what Berkeley means by x, how to read paragraph y, or the influences on Locke’s theory of z.

d. The issue should be able to be adequately dealt with within the size limits of the assignment.

e. Describe the issue in broad, cheerful strokes, but with enough detail as to make the problem clear. Give a compelling statement of the problem. It must seem to any intelligent reader that this really is a problem that needs resolution.

f. If you need a model of how to state a philosophical problem in a page, look p. 1, 31, or 59, of Bennett.

v WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

v LOCKE

I. IDEAS (1/20)

Locke, Essay  I (all)
                      II, i & ii
Bennett, Ch. I

II. IDEAS (1/27)

Locke, Essay II, xi & xxxiii
                      III, iv
                      IV, i-iii, x & xi

III. SUBSTANCE (2/3)

Locke Essay II, iv, xxiii-xiv & xxx-xxxii
Hume Treatise, pp. 232-4
Bennett, Ch. III

IV. ESSENCE (2/10)

Locke, Essay  III, iii, vi, ix & x
                       IV, iv §§3-9, xii §9

V. PRIMARY & SECONDARY QUALITIES (2/17)

Locke, Essay II, viii.
                      IV, iii §11.
Bennett, Ch. IV

v BERKELEY

VI. PRIMARY & SECONDARY QUALITIES (2/24)

Berkeley,  Dialogue 1
                 Principles §§ 1-15, 73
Hume, Treatise I, iv, 4

VII. IDEALISM (3/3)

Berkeley,Dialogues 2 & 3.
                Principles, §§ 15-24, 86-116
Bennett Chs. V & VI

VIII. ABSTRACT IDEAS (3/10)

Berkeley, Principles, Introduction, §§ 5-13, 68, 74, 81, 143
Locke, Essay  II, xi,
                       III, i & iii
                       IV, vii
Hume, Treatise I, vii.
Bennett, Ch. II.

IX. MINIMA SENSIBILIA (3/17)

Berkeley, Principles, §§ 125 - 132
Hume, Treatise  I, ii, 2-5

v HUME

X. KNOWLEDGE (3/31)

Hume, Treatise, I, i, 1-6
                           I, iii, 1
                           I, iv, 1,3 & 7
Locke, Essay, IV, i, ii §§1-3, iii,
Bennett IX & X

XI. INDUCTION (4/7))

Hume, Treatise I, iii, 2-13
Locke, Essay, IV, xv & xvi
Berkeley, Principles § 105

XII. CAUSATION (4/14)

Hume, Treatise, I, iii, 14 &15
Locke, Essay, II, xxi, xxv & xxvi
Berkeley, Principles, §§ 25-33, 51-53, 60-6
Bennett, XI & XII

XIII. THE EXTERNAL WORLD (4/21)

Hume,Treatise I, ii, 6
                        I, iv, 2
Bennett, XIII

XIV. PERSONAL IDENTITY (4/28)

Locke, Essay  II, xxvii
Hume, Treatise, I, iv, 6. & Appendix.