Syllabus
Intellectual History of Western Europe
Galina Bityukova
The course is
concerned with
large, difficult,
and
controversial
questions,
many of which
have been the
subject of
inquiry and
debate since
ancient times.
Some pertain
to what is.
(What makes
me what I am?
How is my
mind related to
my body? Do
all events,
including the
choices I make,
have causes?)
Others pertain
to what ought
to be. (If the
choices I make
have causes
outside me,
can they be
judged right or
wrong? Just
what is
rightness in an
individual
choice, or
justice in a
social
institution?
What is the
relationship
between
rightness or
justice and
having good
consequences?)
Yet others
pertain to what
is knowable.
(How can
unperceived
causes be
legitimately
inferred from
perceived
events? Does
all knowledge
require
inference from
perceptual
experience?
Are there
Different
branches of
philosophy
are
distinguished
by the kinds
of questions
they treat:
Metaphysics
is concerned
with what is,
ethics and
philosophy
of value with
what ought
to be, logic
and
philosophy
of science
with what is
knowable.
Since
important
contributions
have been
made since
the earliest
times, the
history of
philosophy
constitutes a
fourth
branch of
the subject
alongside
the three
just named.
What unites
the different
branches of
philosophy is
a common
commitment
to disciplined
thinking,
even or
especially
when
treating
questions
whose every
aspect is
doubtful and
disputed.
Questions
are
addressed
by appeal to
reasoned
argument
and the
evidence of
truths that
cannot be
known at all?)
experience,
without
asking that
anyone take
anything on
authority or
on faith.
Course Description and Objectives:
This course is aimed to introduce students to the study of Philosophy and enable them to have
better understanding of the basic concepts that make up this discipline. The introduction to
Philosophy brings the panorama of the key philosophical concepts, philosophers in historical and
cultural context.
Semester grade distribution:
1) Midterm Exam: 20%
2) Quiz 1: 10%
3) Quiz 2: 10%
4) Written assignments: 10%
5) Participation in class discussions: 10%
6) Reflection Paper: 10%
7) Final Exam: 30%
Recommended readings:
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Lectures, seminars and readings:
Week 1
Introduction: What is philosophy? The origins of philosophy.
The “Miracle” of Greece. Socrates.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996, p. 1-17; 43-49
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 2
Plato and Aristotle
Plato’s theory of knowledge and the immortality of the soul
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996, pp. 49-68
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 3
Plato’s theory of forms and Aristotle’s criticism.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996, pp. 49-68
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 4
Aristotle. Metaphysics, Ethics, Politics, Logic.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996, pp. 49-68
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 5
Catholic philosophy. The existence of God and a new answer to the question of what really
exists.
Italian Renaissance. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996, pp. 122-128; 142-148; 154-162
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 6
Science, religion and the meaning of modernism.
Modern philosophy: Rationalism and empiricism. Descartes. Francis Bacon.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 7
Hobbes’s Leviathan.
John Locke. The mind as a blank state, theory of abstraction, the unknowability of the real
essence of things, and sceptical doubts. Locke’s political philosophy.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 8
Hume.
The French Enlightenment.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 9
Immanuel Kant. Problems with Kant’s system
Hegel. The Phenomenology of Spirit. Philosophy of history. Politics and ethics.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Hegel, Phenomenology of Mind
Week 10
Life philosophy: Schopenhauer, Nietzsche.
Marx. The materialist conception of history. The analysis of capitalism.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Week 11
Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill.
A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins, Oxford University
Press, 1996
History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Routledge Classics, 2006
Week 12
Logical Positivism. Thomas Kuhn. Scientific Revolutions. Karl Popper. Critical Rationalism.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Open Society and Its Enemies.
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Week 13
The Rejection of Idealism: A Century of Horrors
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Week 14
Fascism and Totalitarianism in the 20th Century
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Week 15
The Age of Absurdity: "Hell is other people".
Continental Philosophy, A Critical Approach, William R. Schroeder, Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Week 16
Final Exam