PHI 316
Freedom and the Self
Instructor: David Hunter
Bishop Hall 231
878-5825
hunterda@buffalostate.edu
faculty.buffalostate.edu/hunterda
Office Hours:
Monday 10-11
OR BY APPOINTMENT
Learning Objectives: This course focuses on two traditional and thorny metaphysical
issues. What is a person, and what is it for a person to survive through time; what is
freedom of the will or of action, and do we have it?
Texts:
Required reading (Available in the Bookstore):
Watson, Gary. (ed.) Free Will. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Perry, J. (ed.) Personal Identity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
Optional Reading (Available on Reserve in Butler):
Rorty, Amelie. (ed.) The identities of persons. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1976.
Evaluation
10 % 2 Text Analysis Assignments
10% One Self-Examination exercise
50 % Two 5 page essays.
30% One 10 page essay.
Grading: A grading rubric will be distributed with each assignment. Passing the course
requires getting a passing grade on every assignment.
Cheating : It is expected that all students will maintain academic integrity. An allegation
of academic misconduct, examples of which include cheating on exams and plagiarism in
papers, will be brought to the attention of the department for review. A proven allegation
of any academic misconduct will result in a failing grade being issued for all or part of the
course work. The Philosophy and Religious Studies department adheres strictly to the
formal college policies and procedures in all instances; a copy of those policies is
available upon request.
Weekly Syllabus
(Tentative)
The Nature of Persons
Jan 17
Jan 24
Introduction
What are persons and why do they matter?
(Dennett: Conditions of Personhood, in Rorty)
Personal Identity Over Time
Jan 31
Feb 7
Feb 15
Feb 21
Feb 28
Mar 7
Psychological Continuity
Locke: “Of Identity and Diversity” (in Perry)
Revisions and Extensions
Grice: “Personal Identity” (in Perry)
(Lewis: “Survival and Identity” in Rorty)
Criticisms
Shoemaker: “Personal Identity and Memory” (in Perry)
Reid: “Of Mr. Locke’s …..”(in Perry)
Punctate Self-view
Reid: “Of Mr. Locke’s…” (in Perry)
Bodily Continuity
Williams: “The Self and the Future” (in Perry)
Does Personal Survival Really Matter?
Hume: part IV (in Perry)
Parfit: “Personal Identity” (in Perry)
Freedom of the Will
Mar 14
Mar 21
Mar 28
Apr 4
Apr 11
Apr 18
Apr 25
What is the Problem of Freedom of the Will?
Van Inwagen: “An Argument for Incompatibilism”, (in Watson)
SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!
Skepticism
Strawson: “The impossibility of Moral Responsibility” (in Watson)
Libertarianism
Chisholm: “Human Freedom and the Self” (in Watson)
Kane: “Responsibility, Luck and Chance” (in Watson)
Compatibilism
Frankfurt: “Alternate Possibilities and …” (in Watson)
Frankfurt: “Freedom of the will….” (in Watson)
Freedom and Being A Morally Good Person
Wolf: “Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility” (in Watson).
conclusion