PHI 336 Kant
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PHI 336 Kant Lecturer: Jessica Leech Room C15, Department of Philosophy, 45 Victoria Street Office Hours: Tuesday 10-12 Lectures Thursday 10-11 MAPP-LT9 Friday 12-1 HI-LTD Seminars Thursday 11-12 or 2-3, Jessop Building TBC Outline of the Course Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is arguably one of the most controversial and influential philosophical works ever written. Kant complains that philosophy has lost its way, making no progress, but degenerating into endless debates that no one can win. His proposal is to investigate the power and limits of our capacity for representation and knowledge, in order to find out to what extent it is even possible for us to engage in pursuits such as metaphysics. Out of this develops Kant’s transcendental idealism, and his treatment of the problems of traditional metaphysics (the nature and existence of the soul, the cosmos, and God). Kant’s work in the Critique has had a great impact in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and even ethics. It has helped to shape many philosophical projects and perspectives. Whether critic or follower, countless philosophers have seen Kant as a crucial point of departure for their own views. This course will involve a detailed study of Kant’s arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason , locating Kant’s insights both within their historical context and their relation to contemporary philosophy. We will undertake a close reading of the text itself alongside some of the most important secondary literature. We will explore key themes including the nature of space and time, causation, transcendental arguments, freedom, the nature of judgment and the existence of God. Structure of the Semester Week 1 (the first week of teaching) starts on Monday 30 th September. The semester lasts for 12 weeks and ends on Saturday 21 st December. There will be a reading week in week 7 of the semester during which there will be no lectures or seminars. Page 1 of 13 Lectures and Seminars The course will consist of 22 lectures and 9 seminars. The purpose of the lectures is to set out and briefly discuss the topics. We will often also discuss some of the issues raised by a topic or the objections to it. Lectures will often not leave every question answered and every issue settled. This will give you the opportunity to think through the issues yourself and decide what you think (with, of course, the help of the primary text and secondary readings). You must sign up to attend one of the two seminar slots. Here we will debate and discuss in more detail the issues surrounding the topics. It is essential that you come to the seminars prepared, having read the set reading and thought of any questions/issues you would like to discuss. If you find that you have any questions, problems, or thoughts that you have not had chance to raise in lectures/seminars and would like to discuss with me then feel free to come and talk to me after lectures/seminars, in my office hours or by appointment. Lecture and Seminar Schedule Lectures start in week 1 and seminars start in week 3 Lectures Week Topic One Introduction to the course, historical context and Kant’s project Two Kant's Methods and System Three Transcendental Arguments & The Transcendental Aesthetic: Space and Time Four More on Space and Time & Transcendental Idealism Five The Transcendental Analytic & The Transcendental Deduction Six The Transcendental Deduction continued & summary so far Seven Reading week (no lectures or seminars) Eight Axioms, Anticipations, and Substance Nine Causation & The Refutation of Idealism Ten Introduction to the Transcendental Dialectic & The Paralogisms Eleven The Antinomies Twelve God & The Regulative Use of Reason Page 2 of 13 Seminars The beginning of every seminar will be an open forum to raise and discuss questions arising from the previous lectures. We will then move on to discuss a set piece of reading, chosen to help deepen your understanding of the topic area. Each week one student will be asked to prepare a brief (2 mins) introduction to the reading to start the discussion off. Seminar Reading Seminar 1 (week 3) Introduction, CPR A1-16/B1-30. Seminar 2 (week 4) Bennett, J. “Space and Objects” in Kant’s Analytic (Cambridge University Press 1966) pp. 33-44 Seminar 3 (week 5) Allison, H. E. Kant’s Transcendental Idealism revised and enlarged edition (Yale 2004) Chapter 1, pp. 3-19 Seminar 4 (week 6) Kitcher, P. "Kant's Real Self" in Wood, A. Self and Nature in Kant's Philosophy Seminar 5 (week 8) The Second Analogy, CPR A189-211/B232-256 Seminar 6 (week 9) The Refutation of Idealism, CPR B274-279 Seminar 7 (week 10) Hatfield, G., 'Empirical, Rational, and Transcendental Psychology: Psychology as Science and as Philosophy' in Guyer (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Kant , Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 200-228 Seminar 8 (week 11) Nelkin, D. K. ‘Two Standpoints and the Belief in Freedom’ in The Journal of Philosophy , Vol. 97, No. 10 (Oct., 2000), pp. 564-576 Seminar 9 (week 12) The Impossibility of an Ontological Proof of the Existence of God, CPR A592-602/B620-30 Lecture notes and handouts I will lecture using handouts. I will post these handouts on the course MOLE site at least 24 hours before each lecture. You will be expected to make your own copy of the handout and bring it to the lecture. These handouts will then be accessible online for the entirety of the course. Please note: the handouts are not a substitute for attending the lectures. They will contain the most useful or important information on the topic, but you will need to make your own additional notes during or after the lectures and, of course, you should be making your own notes on the primary and secondary literature. If you have difficulty accessing a printer, please let me know before the lecture so I can help you out in time. Page 3 of 13 Assessment Option 1: Coursework + exam The standard assessment is by one 3000-4000 word essay and one exam. Guidance will be given at the end of the course regarding what to expect in the exam. Each of these components is worth 50% of the final module mark. The essay deadline (for short essays) is Tuesday 10 th December, 4pm. You will be informed of an examination date closer to the time. Option 2: Long essay Students may choose to submit one long essay in place of the usual essay and exam. The long essay would be on a topic of your choice and you would pick your own question in consultation with me. The word count for the long essay is between 4500- 6000 words. Note that the long essay is the form of assessment for any postgraduate students enrolled on this course. The essay deadline for the long essay is Wednesday 29 th January 2014, 4pm . If you wish to do a long essay you must submit a long essay plan to me for approval first. The deadline for approval of long essay titles and plans is Wednesday 20 th November, 4pm , so make sure you submit your plan in good time for me to consider it. Note that single honours students may choose to be assessed by no more than three long essays throughout the academic year (including either/both of the Philosophical Projects modules). For dual honours students the limit is two long essays (including the Philosophical Projects modules). Option 3: Oral examination trial In response to suggestions from students, in some modules we are trialing an oral examination option. This year it will work the same as option 1 (coursework + exam), but with a third additional element, an oral examination. As the oral exams are new, students choosing option 3 will be invited to complete all three assessments—written exam, oral exam, and coursework—with the 2 best marks each counting as 50% of the overall mark. The oral examination itself will consist of a 40 minute preparation period with previously unseen questions, followed by a 20 minute discussion with the examiner on those questions. Page 4 of 13 Plagiarism The following are serious academic offences and may result in penalties that could have a lasting effect on your career, both at University and beyond. Plagiarism (either intentional or unintentional) is the stealing of ideas or work of another person (including experts and fellow or former students) and is considered dishonest and unprofessional. Plagiarism may take the form of cutting and pasting, taking or closely paraphrasing ideas, passages, sections, sentences, paragraphs, drawings, graphs and other graphical material from books, articles, internet sites or any other source and submitting them for assessment without appropriate acknowledgement. Submitting bought or commissioned work (for example from internet sites, essay “banks” or “mills”) is an extremely serious form of plagiarism. This may take the form of buying or commissioning either the whole assignment or part of it and implies a clear intention to deceive the examiners. The University also takes an extremely serious view of any student who sells, offers to sell or passes on their own assignments to other students. Double submission (or self plagiarism) is resubmitting previously submitted work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole assignment or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work. Collusion is where two or more people work together to produce a piece of work, all or part of which is then submitted by each of them as their own individual work.