17th and 18th Century Philosophy (PHIL 318)
Welcome!
Welcome to these online materials for the Fall 2016 course on 17th and 18th Century Philosophy (PHIL 318, Manchester University).
This course meets three times weekly for 50 minutes, and is devoted to reading and discussing selections from the writings of European philosophers from the late 16th through the 18th centuries (including Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant), with an emphasis on their epistemology and metaphysics.
Quite a bit happened during these centuries, not least of which were the births of modern science, of the modern state, and of the modern self. As might be expected, philosophers were on hand to serve as midwives to these birthings, and often they counted the progeny as their own.
The photos appearing on these pages are of various philosophers — some of whom we will read, and many of whom have deeply influenced the beliefs you are carrying around in your head. To learn their name, hold your cursor over the image. [Holbein’s painting of “The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb” — at the top of the page — has an interesting history; click on it to go to its Wikipedia article.]
Contacting Me
Click on my name (above) to reach my home page with contact information and a link for my Fall '16 schedule.
I will try to keep the office hours indicated on the weekly schedule, but I’m happy to meet at other times as well; just see me before or after class to arrange something. Otherwise, I am best reached by email or voice-mail left at my office (982-5041).
Manchester University // Registrar // Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies // Last updated: 17 Jul 2016