PHIL 312: LATER MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
SYLLABUS: Fall 2017
T/R 3:30-4:45
Smith 209
Professor
K. Rogers: 831‑8480; krogers@udel.edu
Office
Hours: Room 204 in 24 Kent Way; MW 3 – 4:30 and by appointment.
TA: Christian
Mullins: cmul@udel.edu
Texts: H= (Primary
Sources) Philosophy in the Middle Ages,
Third Edition, Hyman and Walsh, eds.
W= (Secondary Source) A Short History of Medieval Philosophy, Julius R. Weinberg.
(There
are notes on my web page, http://www.udel.edu/rogers. These are a sketchy outline of material
presented in class and will by no stretch of the imagination take the place of
good notes taken on your own. However,
they may help you organize your notes and make sure you have everything and in
the right order. Chris will be taking notes, so if you have to miss a class you
can contact him for notes.)
Requirements:
Three essay tests each to count for roughly 1/6 of the grade. Two 5-7 page
research papers, each to count for roughly 1/6 of the grade. Quizzes every day to
count for roughly 1/6 of the grade. These
quizzes will be on the readings on days on which readings are assigned. (Note
that handouts count as assigned reading.) For days on which there is no reading
assigned the quiz will be on material from the previous class. Quizzes will
consist of one very easy multiple choice question. You will be able to drop 5
quizzes with no penalty and your quiz grade will be based on the percentage
right of the remaining quizzes, so if you have to miss a day or two you will
not be penalized. I will be able to take improvement and participation into
consideration when calculating your final grade. Please ask if you have any
questions about the requirements.
AUGUST
29 Introduction
and God
31 God
continued (no reading…quiz for the day will be a practice quiz – i.e. it won’t
count – on material from the
previous class.)
SEPTEMBER
5
Plato and Aristotle, Fluffy, etc.: W pp.3‑21 (read to "Plotinus
developed...")
7
Universals and Aristotle’s universe (no reading).
12 Plotinus's
universe: W pp.21‑29 and Introduction to Islamic philosophy
H pp. 215-219.
14 Avicenna:
Being and Cosmology: W pp.92‑121, H pp. 239-243.
19 Avicenna continued: Proof for God and
Knowledge : H pp.244-246 (stop at 13.)
21 Algazali: The Incoherence of the
Philosophers: W pp.121‑125, H pp. 265-267, 278-284 .
26 Algazali
continued (no reading).
28 TEST #1
OCTOBER
3 Averroes:
Philosophy and Revelation, the Eternity of the World : W pp.125‑139, H
pp.285-288, 292 (start with section 2) - 299 (through section 52).
5 Averroes:
Knowledge: H pp.304-307, through section 3
10 Maimonides: Talking about God: W pp.140‑156,
Hpp.360-366 through section 52. (Plus Handout which continues the reading.)
12 Maimonides:
Creation: H pp.371-375 (stop at Chap. 32) and Law: Handout
PAPER #1 DUE BY
MIDNIGHT OCTOBER 17!!!
17 Aquinas: Introduction
and Proving God: W pp.182‑212, H pp.447-450, 468 - 470 (Start at Article 3. Note that the numbered points
with which he begins are the claims with which he is going to
DISAGREE!!! He sets these out, then explains what his own view is, then responds to the points he
disagrees with. Stop at top of first column on 470.)
19 Aquinas: Proving God continued. (No reading)
24 Aquinas:
Naming God H pp.472-476 (through AResponse
to 3”).
26 Aquinas: Soul, Universals: H pp.501 (Article
2) -504 (through Response to 6) and Knowledge
31 TEST #2
NOVEMBER
2 Introduction
to the problem of free will (handout)
7 Aquinas:
Will H pp.508 (Q.82) -511
9 Aquinas:
Ethics: H pp.518-538. (With a word on politics)
14 The Condemnation of 1277: H pp.539-540,
in PP. 541-548 you are responsible only for the introductory material on p.541,
and #’s 13, 15, 22, 28, 33, 42, 43, 63, 85, 92, 117, 136, and 154-165. (You
are, of course, most welcome to read the rest…just don’t let Bishop Tempier
hear you defending them in public!)
16 NO
CLASS. I WILL BE AT A CONFERENCE.
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
28 Duns Scotus::
W pp.213‑234, H pp. 551-555; Proving God: H pp.559 (II.)-562 (Through A...and
thus that it does exist from itself.@)
Naming God: pp.567-570
30 Duns Scotus:
Universals: H pp.582-591 (skip q.4 586-589).
DECEMBER
5 Duns Scotus:
Voluntarism: H pp.601‑604. Intro to Ockham.
7 Ockham: Nominalism
and Voluntarism: W pp.235‑265, H pp.605-607, 616-624.
Test #3 during finals period. It is not cumulative,
and will take only an hour and 15 minutes.
Due date for Paper #2 TBA,
but early in finals period.
Mid-term
Paper
Guidelines for research papers. Please read all of
the guidelines very carefully, and comply! I will be counting off for failure
to follow the instructions.
Two
5-7 page research papers; one due at mid-term, one due at the end.
Paper
requirements: 5-7 pages, double-spaced, reasonable
margins. (See below for suggested topics). The topic (unless I have okay’ed it
otherwise) will focus on what a philosopher’s view was on a given issue. I do
not absolutely require a philosophical evaluation of the view you discuss, but
I admire philosophical creativity and am likely to look favorably on your paper
if you include some original comments, such as interesting and plausible
analysis of why you think the view you discuss could be right or wrong, or why
it might or might not fit with the philosopher’s overall view.
Sources.
You must use at least one primary text – that is, writing by
the philosopher himself. If you are doing a comparison between two philosophers
or one philosopher in different works, you’ll have to use at least two primary
texts. You can use your Hyman and Walsh book for the primary text if it suits
your topic.
You must use at least two, good secondary sources – that
is, recent writing about the
philosopher’s views. You can use both of
your text books, and you may also use internet sources, but you must find two
good sources in addition to these. The two good sources cannot be off the
internet – unless they are articles online from established and respectable
journals which are in our library or books online from good publishers. You may
use dictionaries and encyclopedias, but I do not consider these GOOD sources,
so if you use these, you need TWO GOOD SOURCES in addition! (For example, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
is very helpful for outlining an issue and providing bibliography, but it does
not go into great depth on the topics, so I would not consider it a "good source" in this context..) When in doubt, ask me.
Citations
must be complete!!! They
may take the form of parentheses in the text with a full bibliography, or
complete footnotes or endnotes. Citations should include full title of the
work, the author’s name, the publisher or the name of the journal, the date,
and the
specific page numbers where you found your information. I will count
off if you do not include full and correct citations. If you have any doubt at
all about what constitutes a full and correct citation, go online under
“Chicago Manual of Style Citations”. The first thing that pops up is examples
of all the different sorts of sources you might need to cite and how to do
citations. Think this way: What do I
need to include so that my reader can assess the value of my source and can
quickly look up exactly where I got my information or my quote?
Helpful
Hints: 1.) Focus your thesis on a narrow topic. Saying just a little on a lot of different
issues, even if they are related, does not make for a good paper. 2.) Start
researching early to be sure you find two good secondary sources that really
have something to say on your (narrowly focused!) topic. I will count off if
you actually use only one secondary
source and just mention or quote a sentence from another.
You will have the opportunity to rewrite your paper
once I have returned it. Rewriting will be optional, and I will likely insist
upon a quick turnaround time to facilitate my grading. If there is significant
improvement, I will raise the paper grade. Tweaking a minor point or two, or
just getting rid of the occasional offending sentence will probably not
constitute significant improvement.
Paper
deadline: You can bring your paper to class or
e-mail it to me. It would be a great help to me if you could get your paper in
before the due date. If the time sent is later than midnight of the deadline
date, and you have not already received an extension from me (I don’t mind
giving extensions for any reasonable reason), I will count off a grade for each
day late. (So, for example, if your paper would have been a B-, but is one day
late, it’s a C+.)
Mid-term
Paper Due: Midnight October 17th
Topics:
Some suggestions for topics (feel free to think of other topics, but check with
me if you decide to do a topic not on this list).
I have listed some suggested topics based on issues
I’d like to hear about which I haven’t researched myself. Most of these we have
not discussed in class. I will mention others as they occur to me. You are
welcome to write on a topic other than one among those I’ve suggested, but
check with me first! And I’m quite happy to have a paper on some issue we spend
time on in class, just so you go well beyond what we do in class.
Since
I have not researched these topics myself, your first task, you will need to
make sure you can find two, good secondary sources plus a primary source on the
topic.
What does Avicenna (or Algazali, or Averroes, or
Maimonides) have to say about the existence of evil?
Does Avicenna hold that human beings have free will?
How does Avicenna argue that the human soul is
immaterial (pp.256-258 in H)? That it does not preexist (258-259 in H)? That it
is incorruptible (259-261 in H)?
Does Algazali hold that human beings have free will?
Algazali has a lot to say against “the philosopher”
who claims that the world must be eternal (268-277 in H). Pick some aspect of
his argument (you might want to start with secondary sources to help you narrow
it down) and discuss it.
Does Averroes hold that human beings have free will?
Why does Averroes disagree with Avicenna’s proof for
the existence of a being necessary through itself?
How does Averroes’ view of creation differ from
Avicenna’s?
What does Averroes have to say about politics?
Does Maimonides hold that human beings have free will?
How does Maimonides try to prove the existence of
God?
How does Maimonides try to prove that God must be
unified?
How does Maimonides try to prove that God must be
incorporeal?
I believe that Maimonides may address various moral
and political questions, so you might see if he has something useful to say on
a moral or political issue that interests you.
Feel
free to ask if you have any questions on what’s expected or on sources.