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A study of some central topics in the works of Augustine, Aquinas, and Ockham, with primary emphasis on their contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. Topics included: Augustine (skepticism, language, knowledge, freedom), Aquinas (metaphysics, epistemology, divine nature, human nature, human cognition), Ockham (logic of terms, mental language, critique of realism, conceptualism). Last offered Spring 2006.

A study of some central topics in the works of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, with primary emphasis on their contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. Topics will include Descartes on method, epistemology, matter, eternal truths and the relationship between mind and body; Spinoza on method, substance, attributes, monism, infiite modes, and necessitarianism; Leibniz on matter, dynamics, space & time, substance and compossibility. Last offered Fall 2009.

A study of some central topics in the works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, with primary emphasis on their contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. Topics included: Locke (innate knowledge, theory of ideas, nature of body, primary-secondary quality distinction, language substance, personal identity), Berkeley (abstract ideas, new theory of vision, materialism, idealism, phenomenalism, human agency), Hume (the study of human nature, induction, skepticism with regard to the senses, personal identity). Last offered Spring 2009.

A close reading of philosophical texts in their original Latin language with the aim of developing reading and translation skills. To be offered Fall 2009.

 

A close examination of topics in early modern philosophy, co-taught with Alison Simmons. To be offered Spring 2010.

This tutorial will focus on contemporary debates in metaphysics. More specifically, we’ll be considering competing answers to the following questions. Should we believe in the existence of abstract objects such as numbers, sets, and properties? Are the laws of nature something over and above the events they are said to “govern”? Must causes be physically connected to their effects – or can omissions, absences, and failures be causes? How do we persist through time – does all of me exist at every moment, or do I have temporal parts just as I have spatial parts? What does it take for an object to exist – do any two things make a third thing, or must they meet special requirements such as being bound together, or having a common life? Finally, are there objective answers to questions such as these, or are metaphyscians simply confused about the meanings of words like “abstract entity,” “causation,” “laws of nature,” etc. Offered Fall 2008.

A study of some of the central philosophical works of Augustine and Anslem. Topics included: Free will, Problem of Evil, Skepticism, Knowledge. Offered Fall 2005.