Syllabus for Philosophy 413, section 1
Early Modern Philosophy, schedule # 22262
Steven Barbone/Spring 2013/MWF/11h00-11h50/LL 408
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This course is designed to help fulfill requirements for the BA degree or minor in philosophy. Nonphilosophy majors and minors may take this course to help fulfill their academic degree
requirements, but they should verify with their academic advisers whether this course does fulfill
any such requirements. Others may take the course for interest or to provide background
knowledge in the history of philosophy.
Description/Outcomes/Assessment: (“Outcome” is the term used in the university to denote what
students gain from taking a course; “assessment” is the term used to denote how to tell whether a
student has achieved any particular outcome.) Beginning within the framework of the scientific
revolution, students are able to relate philosophical thought as it developed from Galileo to Kant
including the thoughts and works of usually overlooked women philosophers of the period. Students
are able to cite primary texts of the important authors of the period. A series of information
modules will be available to students to help students recognize their own proficiency at writing at
the college level and to aid students perfect and master their writing abilities. Though use of these
modules, students become patently responsible for the grades they earn for their writing
assignments. Students develop skills of doing philosophical analysis. Some of these outcomes are
demonstrated by students completing two writing exercises to put into practice those skills covered
in these modules. Finally, students will be able to assimilate information from assigned readings,
classroom lectures, and independent studies and write at the college level as evidenced by their
completing a term paper (three writing assignments in total). A final exam consisting of short
objective questions (multiple choice, matching, true/false, or identification) by which students will
demonstrate the acquisition of the ability to identify key figures and concepts of the early modern
period and to use these concepts correctly within a proper context. [Outcomes noted by italics.]
The classroom format will be mostly lecture with discussion and dialogue strongly encouraged.
Required Texts:
Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. Donald Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett,
1993.
Harvey, Gordon. Writing with Sources. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998.
Hume, David. Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993.
Kant, Immanuel. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Trans. James Ellington. 2nd edition.
Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002.
Matthews, Michael, ed. Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989.
Students are advised to read all of Harvey as soon as possible. The Blackboard modules partially
are based on the information in Harvey. All students are held responsible to follow all guidelines in
this book on all written work. Not to follow Harvey’s guidelines is to risk having work receive a
grade of 1.0 (D) or less.
Students may use other editions or translations of assigned primary sources.
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Contact Information: 434, Arts and Letters Building.
Office phone: (619) 594-0249. Dept. phone: (619) 594-5263.
Email: barbone@rohan.sdsu.edu.
Office Hours: 18 Jan-08 May 2013:
Most Tuesdays, 16h-16h45; Wednesdays 13h-15h. (No appointment needed for these days/times.)
Other times by appointment only.
Information Modules: Several information modules will be available for all students on
Blackboard. These modules cover the syllabus and other course information, one the first two
writing assignments, one the final paper, and one citing sources. Each of these modules is available
on Blackboard, and the instructor will review in class how students may access these. Each
Blackboard module is optional, but students will be held responsible for knowing the material
covered in that module and using it in their writing. There is no grade point value for any of these
modules, though students who complete them tend to achieve higher grades on papers and exams.
In addition to the modules on Blackboard, students may learn how to avoid plagiarism by
completing an on-line tutorial sponsored by Love Library at:
<http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism>. The tutorial takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. The
library also offers help with citation styles. Go to: <http://infoguides.sdsu.edu/sub.php?id=258>.
Written Assignments: Two shorter papers (writing exercises) and one longer (research) paper will
be collected. The first shorter paper will count for 10%, the second paper for 20%, and the final
paper for 50% of the final grade. Each paper will receive a score from 0 to 4 (inclusive) and is due
by the end of class time on the date listed on the course calendar. A late penalty of no more than 1/2
point per class day will be subtracted from papers received later than the assigned due date.
Students who write their papers with a computer are expected to make back up copies of their
papers on a disk; if the computer crashes or the printer breaks down, the student will still be able to
turn something in on time. A student may turn in a paper before the due date. Only printed copies
will be accepted.
In assigning point values to the papers, although a student’s reasoning ability will determine the
major portion of the score, other factors such as style, grammar, spelling, etc. will be considered.
See the appropriate modules for assistance and guidance on these issues. Students who do not
follow all guidelines in Harvey, those listed in this syllabus, or those listed on the grading rubrics
will receive a maximum score of 1.0 (D). Once a paper has been assigned a grade, it may be revised
but not considered for regrading.
For the first paper, approximately 2-4 pages, the student is asked to summarize a passage from one
of the texts; that is, the essay should explain what is being said in the chosen passage. All that is
wanted is a summary of the material. The student is expected to note which passage is being used
(remembering, of course, to use a correct citation method – see Harvey and/or the library citing
guide), to identify and to define any unusual or special terms used, and to make explicit the
argument(s) or major point(s) made by the author. Premise(s) and conclusion(s) should be
identified, and the only commentary that should be included is to state whether and why the
argument is strong, weak, valid, invalid, sound, or unsound. In the past, many students have failed
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to follow the guidelines in Harvey or on this syllabus and thus received grades of D or less; for this
reason, this first assignment is worth only 10% of the final grade. This paper is due 4 February by
the end of class time.
Acceptable passages for this assignment are:
Galileo on secondary qualities, Matthews, 56-61.
Descartes on doubt, Descartes, 13-17 (meditation 1).
Descartes on God’s existence, Descartes, 42-47 (meditation 5).
Newton, scholium on time and space, Matthews, 139-140 (up to IV).
Hume on miracles, Hume 89-90 (“I am the better […] custom and experience”).
Hume on the missing shade of blue, Hume 12-13 (“There is, however, […] general
maxim”).
Kant on laws of nature, Kant, 58-59 (section 38).
The second paper, approximately 3-6 pages, is of the same nature as the first, except the second
paper will summarize a secondary source and evaluate it. In general, the secondary source must be
at least 12 pages long, be from a scholarly philosophy periodical, and have a direct bearing to class
content (i.e., directly related to early modern philosophy). At least one class period will be devoted
to how to identify and to find suitable secondary sources. The evaluation should include whether
the student believes the author is correct, and the student should explain why s/he believes this.
(This will likely include explaining how the argument is either strong/weak or in/valid and
un/sound.) Only articles from qualified journals will be acceptable for this assignment; no paper
from an anthology will be acceptable for credit unless prior approval is given by the instructor.
Again, failure to follow guidelines in Harvey and in this syllabus will result in a grade no higher
than D. This paper is due Friday, 1 March by the end of class time.
The final paper is a research or thesis paper, and as a general rule a minimum of 12 pages of text is
expected. Students must use at least one primary source and at least one secondary source for this
paper. Full references, given either in the body of the paper and/or in a separate bibliography or
works cited section, are required. Reviewing Harvey would be helpful to many students before
writing this term paper. Students may model this final paper on secondary sources that they will
have read to do paper two. This paper is due by the end of the last scheduled class meeting, 0 May
2013.
It is required that students follow guidelines in Harvey for each paper and that all writing
demonstrate the clear ability to write at the college level. Not doing so will result in a maximum
score of 1.0 (D) on any paper no matter how well the paper is otherwise written. Students are
encouraged to consider carefully their philosophic interests and possible research paper subjects so
that perhaps two or all of the writing assignments may be linked together; please discuss this with
the instructor.
To help students score higher on the final paper, the opportunity to earn a bonus 1/2 point is given
to each student who turns in a draft of his/her final paper by the end of class time on 22 April. That
is, any student who turns in a draft on or before that date will receive a bonus of 1/2 point for the
final paper grade. A draft is not an outline; nor is it a paper that has not yet been proofread. It is a
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paper that otherwise could be turned in for full credit. Students may turn in multiple drafts, but the
bonus is limited to one per student. Students may turn in drafts of the smaller papers, but there will
no bonus grade earned (although such a paper will likely receive a higher grade if it has been
reviewed before turning it in for a final grade).
General Information about the Papers: Students are encouraged to consider carefully their
philosophic interests and possible research paper subjects so that perhaps two or all of the writing
assignments may be linked. Please contact the instructor for more information.
Essays are expected to be well written, and both machine written and hand written papers are
acceptable. Each page, whether printed or electronic, should have the student’s name or red-id
number on it. All pages, except possibly the first, should be numbered sequentially with the second
page’s being labeled as “page 2.” These are standard practices that you normally should follow for
every class. Papers that fail to follow any of these three requirements will not receive any grade
higher than D (1.0).
As noted above, many philosophers believe that the language and the content of written work are
not separable. Students are expected to write well; this is an upper division college course in
philosophy, so precise expression is required. The Blackboard modules are designed to help
students meet all the requirements set forth in this syllabus. The instructor will not proofread any
paper; the presence of an error (grammatical, phrasing, spelling) will be noted through the use of
highlighting.
Students must especially follow the guidelines in Harvey (14-17; 22-34) in order to avoid
plagiarism. The failure to cite sources correctly will result in no grade higher than D (1.0). (So if a
student cites sources but does it incorrectly, that student will earn a grade no higher than 1.0.)
Review the Blackboard module on writing with sources to learn how to avoid this problem. The
library also has a module available about how to avoid plagiarism:
<http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism>.
Final Exam: There is one exam that is to be taken during the final exam period. The written final is
scheduled for 13May at 10h30-12h30. The exam is worth 20% of the final grade and will be mostly
objective (“multiple guess”) with the possibility of some short answer (one or two sentences) or
matching questions. A description of the format will be provided in advance in the classroom and
on Blackboard. Students may be tested on all assigned readings, whether covered in class or not
(including the syllabus and Harvey). Also, all material covered in class, whether assigned as a
reading or not, may count as material to be tested.
Attendance: Attendance is expected, and absence does not excuse a student from handing in a
paper (if one is due that day) or from the material covered in the missed class(es). If it is true that
learning occurs as a result of interactive experience, students should not expect to gain much from
this course if they do not at least allow for the possibility of that experience.
There are no make-up classes but for one exception. If a student foresees being absent, the missed
class(es) may be made up before the foreseen absence at a time mutually convenient for the student
and the instructor. No make-up class will be offered for 1 April. As per university policy, students
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who miss classes due to participation in official university activities (athletic games, band
performances, etc.) and/or students who miss classes due to religious observances must be
accommodated if they have informed their instructor within the first two weeks of classes about
these foreseen absences. Make-up classes are a privilege, not a right. Otherwise, in extraordinary
circumstances (illness, death, catastrophe) the student may request immediately upon returning to
campus to have a make-up session. There are no other exceptions to this policy.
Attendance and attentiveness are very important to the instructor, and while attendance cannot
count (per university policy) for any part of a student’s final grade, final grade calculations rarely
end up neatly or squarely on acceptable university grades (i.e., 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, etc.) The instructor,
therefore, will have some “wiggle” room when assigning grades. If a student’s final average should
work out numerically to be 3.69, the instructor is under no obligation to assign the nearest higher
grade (i.e., 3.7 or A-). The student fairly could be assigned 3.3 (B+) since the student didn’t make
the 3.7 cutoff. Attendance and attentiveness, then, may make a difference in a student’s final grade.
If a student foresees many time conflicts due to work, family, or personal concerns, that student is
advised to withdraw and to take the class at another time.
Grades: Scores for the essays and exam will be made according to the guidelines in the SDSU
General Catalogue. That is, 4.0 = A; 3.0 = B, and so on. Note that a grade of 2.0 (C) signifies that
the work is acceptable and done at the level one would expect; 1.0 (D) signifies that the work is
acceptable but barely so; 0 (F) signifies that the work is not acceptable for credit; 3.0 (B) signifies
that the work is better than average; 4.0 (A) signifies excellence (and excellence is truly rare). The
average grade in this course usually is close to 3.0 (B).
Scores for the final exam will be determined using a system of statistical analysis. Final exam
grades are based on the creation of a bell curve with the mean score achieved fixed at 2.3. The
stand deviation, whatever it turns out to be, will be used to compute other grades so that one
standard deviation higher than the mean will turn out to be 3.3, and one lower will count as 1.3.
This sample curve is provided as “insurance.” The instructor reserves the right to place the
breakpoints at lower (but never higher) values depending on how the grades cluster on a standard
histogram. This grading policy will be explained in class.
The final grade is computed by averaging the exam and essay grades; once a numerical score is
determined, the instructor considers factors such as attendance, participation, effort, work on the
modules, etc. in deciding whether to raise (never lower) a student’s final grade above the numerical
score.
Other: Some course material (study guides, notes, etc.) will be made available to students on
Blackboard. The use of Blackboard in this course is optional, but students are encouraged to make
use of it for study materials, questions, and email communications.
All students with special needs due to a documented medical condition should avail themselves of
the resources of the Student Disability Services, Suite 3101, Calpulli Center (across the street from
the Gateway Center), 594-6243. Students who have such concerns that might prevent them from
otherwise doing well in this course should discuss this with the instructor so that proper
arrangements may be made to accommodate their conditions.
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The use of lap top computers is allowed, but students should be mindful that flickering screens are
generally very distracting to those around them; please refrain from using a computer for activities
other than note taking. No one is required to be attentive or interested in classroom activities, but
all students are expected to behave as if they were interested in order not to disturb or to distract
students who are making the effort to be attentive.
End of syllabus
Course Calendar
Philosophy 413, section 1
Spring 2013
Though dates for reading assignments are tentative, due dates for papers are firm! Reading
assignments are to be done before class. It is very recommended that you do the readings in the
order listed. Readings are noted by parentheses.
Introduction
Week 0: 18 Jan
Introduction.
Week 1: 21 Jan-25 Jan
Aristotle & mediaeval science; new religion and science (Harvey all).
*** 21 Jan – Martin Luther King Jr. holiday – no class meeting ***
Week 2: 28 Jan-01 Feb
The new science; Copernicus; Kepler; Galileo (Matthews 33-44, 455361).
*** Last day to drop classes – 1 February ***
Week 3: 04 Feb-08 Feb
Library skills; new science (Matthews 87-92, 99-123).
*** Paper 1 due Monday 4 February ***
*** Recommended to have done Blackboard modules by this week ***
*** Last day to apply for May graduation – 4 February ***
Rationalism
Week 4: 11 Feb-15 Feb
New science; justification for new science (Matthews 107-108, 92-99;
Descartes 1-24). God (Descartes 24-35, 42-47).
Week 5:18 Feb-22 Feb
God continued. Error/truth; foundations of science (Descartes 35-42,
47-59).
Week 6: 25 Feb-01 Mar
Spinoza; Conway (no readings assigned).
*** Paper 2 due Friday, 1 March ***
Week 7: 04 Mar-08 Mar
Leibniz; Malebranche (no readings assigned)
Empiricism
Week 8: 11 Mar-15 Mar
Week 9: 18 Mar-22 Mar
Week 10: 25 Mar-29 Mar
Empiricist project (Matthews 45-52; Hume 126-138); ideas (Hume 115).
Cause/effect (Hume 15-39). Free will (Hume 39-72).
Miracles, religion, conclusion (Hume 72-114); morality (no reading
assigned).
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*** 01 April-05 April – Spring Break – campus closed ***
Week 11: 08 Apr-12 Apr
Locke; Berkeley (no reading assigned).
Synthesis
Week 12: 15 Apr-19 Apr
Integration of rationalism and empiricism (Matthews 124-127, 133158).
Week 13: 22 Apr-26 Apr
Problem defined (Kant 1-22), pure math (Kant 23-34); pure science
(Kant 35-63).
*** Optional draft for extra credit due Monday, 22 April ***
Week 14: 29 Apr-03 May
Metaphysics (Kant 64-104); morality
Week 15: 06 May-08 May Aesthetics; Conclusion (no reading assigned).
*** Final paper due Wednesday, 08 May ***
Week 16: 13May-16 May
Finals
!!! Final exam Monday, 13 May, 10h30-12h30. Bring scantron !!!
End of calendar
Philosophy 413 – spring 2013
Grading criteria for written assignments*
To earn an F, you do nothing or your paper does not fulfill any of the conditions listed below.
To earn D or lower, your paper does not fulfill each of these conditions:
Your name or other form of identification is on each page.
Pages are numbered and in order.
All pages are mechanically attached.
You identify by name an author and the author’s work.
You use a standard method (e.g., MLA, APA, or any method found in Harvey) to refer to
all external sources for your work.
You use an author’s words and/or you paraphrase an author’s ideas.
You correctly cite and give credit each time you use the author’s ideas or words.
To earn C or higher, your paper must fulfill all conditions noted above as well as all of these:
You use the minimum number of sources required.
The sources used are appropriate (e.g., from scholarly periodicals or the list on the syllabus).
Any summary given of any source is correct.
A thesis statement or main idea is clearly and identifiably expressed.
Special and/or new terms are clearly defined.
You use appropriate terms to identify concepts and ideas in context.
Your writing is relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors.
*
Not all conditions apply to all assignments. Those marked with an asterisk refer only to some assignments.
Phil 413, spring 2013
To earn B or higher, your paper must fulfill all conditions noted above as well as some of these:
You show evidence of using logical analysis by putting arguments into standard form or
by correctly referring to argument forms (e.g., modus tollens or modus ponens).
You use original examples to illustrate points, either your own or to develop someone else’s.
*You use more than the minimum number of sources required (when applicable).
*A thesis statement or main idea is clearly expressed and well supported by argumentation.
A thesis statement or main idea is clearly supported by textual evidence.
*You apply an idea developed in the time period to some contemporary problem (e.g., you
discuss Hume’s or Descartes’ notion of the mind/body split in terms of contemporary
neuroscience).
To earn an A, your paper fulfills B level requirements as well as some of these:
Your work is interesting to read (e.g., your style is easy to follow or humorous or you use
very original or new examples to support or to illustrate your point).
*Your work either suggests a new idea and/or it applies the concepts of the time period
studied to situations that were unforeseen by the philosopher (e.g., you apply Leibniz’
notion of indiscernibles to cloning).
*You go beyond the assignment by posing a pertinent question – one supported by the text(s)
involved – and then propose possible solutions to the question (e.g., how might Descartes
respond to contemporary neuroscientific brain studies?)
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