Dialogues of the Enlightened: Modern Philosophy in Conversations

  • This course delves into the history of modern philosophy, taking a unique approach that goes beyond traditional narratives. While we will explore the contributions of canonical men philosophers, we will also shine a light on the often-overlooked women philosophers of this period who significantly advanced Enlightenment thought. By putting these men and women philosophers into dialogue, we will examine their philosophical developments not just through their seminal works but also through their correspondences and interactions. We will engage with actual historical discourses and create new interactions based on their philosophical ideas. This method allows us to explore the most important topics in modern philosophy from multiple perspectives, understanding both what these philosophers’ views are and how they communicated the views. By reading different kinds of materials, we will gain a comprehensive understanding of the intellectual exchanges that shaped the philosophical landscape of the Enlightenment.

  • This is a course in the history of modern philosophy. As a philosophy course, we will examine the philosophical positions and arguments our philosophers offer. As a history of philosophy course, we will engage in the sympathetic reconstruction of our philosophers’ positions and arguments; this will require that we take into consideration their philosophical motives and intellectual context. Successful completion of this course will enable you to:

    • understand some central topics of discussion among modern philosophers, along with the various motivations for and constraints on the positions they hold.

    • improve your ability to articulate, analyze, evaluate, and criticize philosophical arguments in discussion and writing.

    • develop your skills in a cooperative philosophical discussion that aims at the shared goal of better understanding the texts, positions, and arguments.

    • develop your research skills through the writing of a research paper.

    • Attendance: We meet twice a week, but each time we focus on different topics. If you miss class, you will miss some critical discussions, and the rest of us will miss your contributions. That said, I realize that even the most diligent students have to miss a class on occasion due to illness or some other emergency. Please notify me if you have such an issue.

    • Participation: While there will most likely be a lecture component in every class meeting, your discussion will also drive each meeting to a significant degree. So, your participation constitutes a significant portion of your course grade. Active participation includes things like attentively listening, asking questions, offering supporting evidence for someone’s claim, and even clarifying what someone else has said. Of course, not everyone is equally comfortable talking in front of the class. If that is you, then talk with me, and we will work on ways to help you participate in class but potentially also outside of class.

    • Preparation: Because participation in discussion is central to this course, it is important that you come to the class prepared: carefully read the required texts, take notes on them, and formulate questions about them for the discussion.

    • Review Quizzes: The review quizzes are designed to keep you actively engaged with the readings by encouraging you to review the arguments critically and identify any points of disagreement or questions you might have. These quizzes will be manageable if you have completed the readings and participated in all in-class activities. Each quiz will consist of five questions: Three factual questions requiring only short answers based on the readings. Two evaluation questions asking you to provide your own assessment of the arguments presented in the readings. All quizzes will be take-home and distributed six times throughout the semester. Only the five highest quiz scores will be counted towards your final grade.

    • Term Paper: You will write a research paper of around 13 double-spaced pages due by 9 p.m. on [Due Day]. Writing a research paper is a process that includes exploring the field and literature, identifying an appropriately focused topic, gathering suitable secondary literature, creating an annotated bibliography, formulating a thesis, gathering evidence and counterevidence for your thesis, drafting the paper, consulting with others, and rewriting your paper. To assist you in the process, you will have a set of weekly tasks to complete during the second half of the course.

    • Research Project Presentation: In the last four class meetings, you will participate in group work weeks. During these sessions, you will be distributed into groups based on your paper topics. Each of you will present your project to the group and gather feedback from other group members. This collaborative approach aims to enhance understanding and improve the quality of the final papers through peer review and discussion. You will grade each other using two separate grading cards: one for presentation and one for feedback and discussion. The Presentation Grading Card will assess the clarity, organization, argument, engagement, and use of supporting material in the presentations. The Feedback and Discussion Grading Card will evaluate the constructiveness, relevance, depth of feedback, engagement in discussion, and collaboration.

  • See the Syllabus