History of Western Philosophy II

Dr. Tze-wan Kwan

• Introduction: Recapitulation of some philosophical issues that underly the history of western philosophy

  1. The Ionian tradition vs. the Eleatic tradition
  2. The double criteria of truth: reason and belief
  3. Theodicy and the problem of evil
  4. Controversy over the primacy of will and intellect
  5. Problem of universals - controversy between realism and nominalism
  6. Problem of individuals- peras, tode ti, principium individuationis, haeccitas
  7. Subject and person in antiquity and in modern philosophy
  8. Natural law vs. positive law - the physis/nomoi distinction

1. René Descartes
   1. A brief sketch of Descartes' life
   2. Philosophical doctrines
      1. Concept of method
      2. Sources of error
      3. Discovery of the "ego"
      4. Proof of the existence of God
      5. Existence of external things
      6. Mind-Body problem
      7. Mind-Body Interaction
         1. The Passions of the Soul
         2. Controversy with William Harvey
   3. Descartes and the origin of modernity

2. Baruch de Spinoza
   1. A brief sketch of Spinoza's life
   2. Philosophical doctrines
      1. Some basic ideas for the understanding of Spinoza
      2. Structure and detail analysis of the Ethics
         1. Of God
         2. Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind
         3. Of the Original Nature of the Affects
         4. Of Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Affects
         5. Of the Power of the Intellect, or of Human Freedom
   3. Spinoza as rationalist, as pantheist, and as sage
   4. The place of Spinoza in the history of western philosophy: predeccessors and influence

3. Gottfried Leibniz
   1. A brief sketch of Leibniz' life
   2. Leibniz' "motto"
   3. Interest and contribution of Leibniz other than philosophy
   4. Philosophical doctrines
      1. Classification of knowledge
      2. Concept of substance - "force"
      3. Concept of substance - "metaphysical point"
      4. Concept of substance - "monads"
      5. Doctrine of truth
      6. Law of sufficient reason
      7. Principle of the best
      8. Pre-established harmony and divine retribution
      9. Tranquility of the mind -reminescience of Spinoza
   5. Individualism and universalism in Leibniz: Russell, Heimsoeth, Mahnke

4. John Locke
   1. A brief sketch of Locke's life - Locke as philosopher and as statesman
   2. Theory of knowledge and of mind
      1. Epistemological vs. metaphysical approaches
      2. Criteria of knowledge
      3. Doctrine of "ideas"
      4. Doctrine of external things
      5. Doctrine of the mind
      6. Primary and secondary qualities
      7. "Representational realism"
   3. Political theory
      1. Essay on the Law of Nature
      2. Two Treatises on Government
   4. The influence of Locke

5. George Berkeley
   1. A brief sketch of Berkeley's life
   2. Theory of knowledge and of the mind
      1. Berkeley's theory of vision and its philosophical implications
      2. Berkeley's reiterations on secondary and primary qualities
      3. Material substance
      4. Doctrine of the mind
      5. Notion of God
      6. Immaterialism and, philosophy of language, and common sense philosophy
   3. Political and economic thoughts
      1. The Querists
      2. Theory of money
      3. International Trade vs. national economy
      4. Criticism of mercantilism

6. David Hume
   1. A brief sketch of Hume's life
   2. Theory of knowledge and mind
      1. The Origin of human perception - impressions and ideas
      2. Derivation of complex ideas
      3. Concept of substance
      4. Cause and effect
      5. Problem of mind and personal identity
      6. Scepticism
   3. Theory of passions and morality
      1. Passions and intellect
      2. Moral sentiments
      3. Personality and the moral being
   4. Theory of religion
      1. Natural History of Religion
      2. Dialogues concerning Natural Religion
   5. Kant's homage to and critique of Hume

7. Immanuel Kant
   1. A brief sketch of Kant's life
   2. Philosophical doctrines
      1. Philosophia in sensu scholastico vs. philosophia in sensu cosmico
      2. Concept of Kritik
      3. Idea of Transzendentalphilosophie
      4. Kant's concept of experience (Erfahrung)
      5. Main tenets of Kant's problem of knowledge
      6. The two major issues in Kant's philosophy of practice
      7. Kant's theory of taste
      8. Kant's position toward metaphysics
      9. Kant's philosophy of religion
      10. Kant and philosophical anthropology
   3. Kant's influence and contemporary criticisms

8. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
   1. A brief sketch of Hegel's life
   2. Philosophical doctrines
      1. Hegel's concept of "experience"
      2. Hegel's various versions of the concept of dialectics
      3. Hegel's Logic
      4. Realphilosophie as "Applied Logic"
      5. Hegel's philosophy of right
      6. Hegel's philosophy of history
      7. Hegel and "German Idealism"
   3. Hegel's influence in posterity and contemporary criticisms

9. Karl Marx
   1. A brief sketch of Marx's life: Marx as philosopher or as political activist?
   2. Major doctrines as related to major writings
      1. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
      2. The 1844 Paris Manuscripts
      3. Marx's controversy with his contemporaries
         1. Holy Family
         2. German Ideology
         3. The Poverty of Philosophy
      4. Manifesto of the Communist Party
      5. The Capital as a theoretical programme
   3. Marx's influence and contemporary criticisms

10. Friedrich Nietzsche
    1. A brief sketch of Nietzsche's life
    2. Philosophical doctrines
       1. Primacy of will over intellect: Schopenhauer's influence
       2. Greek tragedies and the "yes" attitude towards life
       3. Attack of Christianity as cultural critique
       4. Some major conceptions
          1. Resentiment
          2. Revaluation of values
          3. The Overman and will to power
          4. European nihilism
          5. Eternal recurrence of the same
    3. Nietzsche's influence and contemporary criticisms

Bibliography:

1. Walter Kaufmann and Forrest E. Baird (ed.), Philosophic Classics, in 4 volumes. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994)
2. Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1946, 1961)
3. Frederick Copleston. S.J., A History of Philosophy, in eight volumes. (New York: Image Books, 1964)
4. Wilhelm Windelband, History of Philosophy : with especial reference to the formation and development of its problems and conceptions. (Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie). (New York: Dover, 1905)
5. François Châtelet, (ed.) Geschichte der Philosophie (Histoire de la philosophie). Translated into German. (Frankfurt/Main: Ullstein, 1974)
6. Heinz Heimsoeth, Die sechs großen Themen der abendländischen Metaphysik. (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1981)
7. Ernst Bloch, Zwischenwelten in der Philosophiegeschichte. (Stuttgart: Suhrkamp, 1977)
8. Joachim Ritter und Karlfried Gründer (ed.), Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie. (Basel: Schwabe, 1985)

Please note that, for a thorough understanding of the history of philosophy, students are always encouraged to go through the original texts of the respective philosophers as much as possible. For more detail information please look up the Philosophy Page of the RIH Web Site.

Of particular interest is our Kant Page, now featuring Norman Kemp Smith's translation of the Critique of Pure Reason (with an online searchable index). Similar text tools will be introduced in the future.

The RIH server is also keeping a host of images related to the history of philosophy. Please look up our Image Archive if interested.

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