Early Modern Philosophy (including Kant)

This course will study in alternation chapters from Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed and David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, two major philosophical works whose literary forms are at least as important as their contents. Topics will include human knowledge of the existence and nature of God, anthropomorphism and idolatry, religious language, and the problem of evil. Time permitting, we shall also read other short works by these two authors on related themes. (IV) (V)

Bernard Williams (1993: 63) famously rejected the Kantian claim that, as moral agents, we should think of ourselves as legislators.  But why did Kant make this claim in the first place? The answer is first and foremost historical. In this course, we shall start by looking at the early Enlightenment context of moral thought (David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Christian August Crusius) to which Kant responds and try to locate the Kantian approach to moral theory within this context. After that, we shall read selected passages from Kant’s main writings on moral theory, the Groundwork, the Second Critique, and the Metaphysics of Morals. Finally, we shall look at some contemporary interpretations of Kant’s moral theory and – if time allows – on some contemporary moral theories that claim a Kantian heritage.

This course is going to focus on an understanding of the most important conceptions and doctrines defended by Kant in his “Critique of Pure Reason”. It will include a study of relevant ideas found in his German predecessors, notably Leibniz and Wolff, as well as a presentation of important developments in the wake of Kant’s work. In this latter part of the course, Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" is to receive special attention. Apart from lectures, the course will include discussion.

In this course we will study Kant’s Doctrine of Right, the first part of his Metaphysics of Morals. Where necessary and possible, we also consider some of his other moral and political writings. (I) (V)

This course attempts to provide a broad survey of German philosophy from the time of Kant into the nineteenth century. Topics covered include: Kant's transcendental idealism; Herder's philosophy of language; Romantic theories of interpretation and translation; Hegel's project in the "Phenomenology of Spirit"; Marx's theory of ideology and critique of religion; and Nietzsche's critiques of religion and traditional morality. The course consists mainly of lectures, but discussion is also encouraged.

This course is an introduction to some of the major thinkers and movements in the philosophy of the medieval and early modern periods. This course will aim at providing a broad overview, with special attention to developments in metaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of mind. Figures discussed will include Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Locke and Hume.

This course will consist in a close reading and discussion of Descartes' Meditations. Our main aims will be to understand what Descartes attempts to achieve in this work, and to consider how successful he is in doing so. Topics to be discussed are doubt and certainty, the nature and existence of external objects, truth and error, and the alleged Cartesian circle. We will also study proofs for God's existence and veracity, the real distinction between mind and body, and the notion of mind-body union.