Content

Descartes’ Meditations is one of the most significant texts in Western thought. It marks the beginning of a focus on the natural sciences as the paradigm for knowledge and certainty. It incorporates conceptualizations of God, human nature, knowledge and reality that continue to influence contemporary thought. This unit begins with a selective reading of the Meditations. It then examines excerpts from major texts by other significant philosophers of the period, who may include Hobbes, Spinoza, Cudworth, More, Locke, Newton, Clarke, Hume, and Kant. The unit focuses on themes such as the relation of body and soul, the question of certain knowledge and the relationship between scientific, theological and common-sense world views. In addition, attention is given to the dispute between those philosophers engaged in sceptical or atheistic attacks on religion, and those philosophers engaged with producing religion-conducive systems or defending religion.

Unit code: AP2140C

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 2

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Sketch the basic positions and core arguments in certain parts of Descartes’ Meditations.

2.

Explain the primary/secondary qualities distinction as it appears through the thinkers studied in the unit.

3.

Outline the relationship between the defences of a theistic worldview made by, for example, Cambridge Platonists, Locke and Clarke, and the critiques of those defences made by ‘atheistic’ thinkers presented in the unit: e.g. Hobbes, Spinoza, Hume.

4.

Critically explain Kant’s transcendental idealism.

Unit sequence

36 points of philosophy at first level

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars, tutorials. When taught online asynchronously, the tutorial/seminar component may be replaced by guided reading exercises.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Ariew, Roger, and Eric Watkins, eds. Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources. 3rd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2019.
  • Biffle, Christopher. A Guided Tour of René Descartes’ “Meditations on First Philosophy.” 2nd ed. With a complete translation of the Meditations by Ronald Rubin. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1996.
  • Copleston, Frederick C. A History of Philosophy. Vols. 4–6. London: Burns and Oates, 1959–60.
  • Cottingham, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge Companions to Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
  • Emmanuel, Steven M., ed. The Blackwell Guide to the Modern Philosophers: From Descartes to Nietzsche. Blackwell Philosophy Guides. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
  • Guyer, Paul, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Kant and Modern Philosophy. Cambridge Companions to Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  • Martinich, Aloysius, Fritz Allhoff, and Anand Jayprakash Vaidya, eds. Early Modern Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.
  • Nadler, Steven M., ed. A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy. Blackwell Companions to Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
  • Trusted, Jennifer. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Knowledge. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1997.
  • Williams, Bernard. Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Essay

1 x 2000-word essay

2000 50.0
Written Examination

2-hour written examination, closed book. A detailed guide to the 2-hour written examination will be provided late in the class schedule (i.e. the last day of teaching).

2000 50.0

Variant 2

Essay

1 x 2000-word essay

2000 50.0
Report

The report will comprise various parts answering questions provided during week 14 of the unit. It is an asynchronous, online substitute for a written two-hour examination.

2000 50.0

Variant 3

Essay

1 x 2000-word essay

2000 50.0
Short Answer Tests

These three tests given periodically during the semester are an asynchronous, online substitute for a written two-hour examination.

2000 50.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 16 Aug, 2022

Unit record last updated: 2022-08-16 15:11:40 +1000