Philosophy of Human Nature Lecture Notes

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We'll use this page to post supplemental material to our class sessions. - Alfino

1/13/2009: Course Intro

1. Course Goals
2. Roll Call
3. Schedule, Grading Schemes, Wiki, Journals, Study Questions
4. Philosophy

Identifying the Philosophical

• Turn toward basic questions
• Meta-level cognition in general - theorizing
• In the Structure of Knowledge

Note to Class

Thanks for a good first class. Please go through your "to do" list from class and let me know if you have any difficulties.

Also, here's your first journal assignment: For Thursday: After reading the excerpt from the Apology, summarize in one or two paragraphs the main charges against Socrates and his defense. Select a detail or two that you find particularly interesting. Then make a brief (one paragraph) assessment of Socrates defense. End with one or two questions you still have after reading the passage. 1 - 1.5 pages, typed, double spaced.

1/15/2009

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is a discipline of inquiry directed toward a wide range of basic questions about the nature of the universe and our experience in it. It involves a turn toward "basic questions". It also involves meta-level cognition.

Logos, Mythos, and Theos

locating philosophy in relation to Mythos and Theos

Other ways of identifying Philosophy

• in relation to science
• as speculative
• as dealing with matters of direct importance to living
• as dealing with matters of great uncertainty

Philosophical Methods

Go to Philosophical Methods

1/20/2009

Introduction to Platonic Metaphysics

Plato's answer to the question, "What is Real?"

The real is what persists through all changes and manifestations.

Rationality and the Project of Essential Definition

Through the project of giving essential defintions, Plato is led to focus on form as persistent reality.

Allegory of the Cave

The Allegory of the Cave gives us an image of the implications of Plato's metaphysics for his view of human existence.

Divided Line

Some Notes on Greek History, or, How did we ever get to the Apology?

• Reference Map for Xerxes invasion

• Reference Map for Peloponnesian War

5/8/2009

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Old Material:

• Timeline for locating Kant and the Enlightenment

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