Universität Wien
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180076 LPS Penelope Maddy's Philosophical Naturalism (2023S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 08.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 15.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 22.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 29.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 19.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 26.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 03.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 10.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 17.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 24.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 31.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 07.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 14.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 21.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Wednesday 28.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3D, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. III/3. Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

A traditional view sees philosophy as the 'first science'. The foundation of all knowledge, theory or understanding. On this view, it's the role of philosophy to ultimately justify or motivate all other branches of inquiry. In her book "Second Philosophy", Penelope Maddy challenges this. She proposes an alternative view of the relationship between philosophy and wider inquiry. On her view, the so-called second philosopher comes into philosophy already armed with knowledge and methods learned from doing science. From this perspective, Maddy shows how progress can be made on a number of traditional philosophical questions: the problem of scepticism and the nature of truth, logic, science and mathematics.

In this course, we'll consider Maddy's proposed method of philosophical naturalism. In the first half of the course, we look at chapter 1 of "Second Philosophy", Maddy's treatment of the problem of scepticism. In the second half of the course, we read the more challenging chapter 3, with deals with the philosophy of logic, though no prior knowledge of logic is assumed.

The purpose of this course is to develop skills in reading philosophy. Consequently, there's a focus not merely on learning and understanding the content but on developing skills in reading philosophy. These skills will be put to the test in the second half of the course, where we'll be focusing on how to approach reading difficult philosophy.

Assessment and permitted materials

There will be two assessments during the course: one after we finish chapter 1 and the other at the end of the course.
The assessments will be a series of short-form questions (e.g. requiring a paragraph or a sentence in response) and a mini-essay of a few pages.
The assessments will take a 24h format. I will release the assessment via Moodle. You will then have 24h to complete the assessment and uploaded it to moodle.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Each assessment is worth 50 marks, meaning you will get a total score out of 100 for the two assessments.

Final grades are then assigned on the basis of this score. The prospective grade boundaries are as follows:

>70: Grade 1
60-69: Grade 2
50-59: Grade 3
35-49: Grade 4
<35: Grade 5

Please note, the exact grade boundaries may differ from this, e.g. if one or both of the assessments was too easy or too hard.

Examination topics

The first assessment will be on chapter 1 of "Second Philosophy" and any secondary reading set alongside Maddy's book.
The second assessment will be on chapter 3 of "Second Philosophy" but might also include more of the book or additional reading, if we have time to cover it.

Reading list

Primary Reading: "Second Philosophy: A Naturalistic Method" by Penelope Maddy (esp Ch1&3) (https://philpapers.org/rec/MADSP)

Secondary Reading:
- "Meditations on First Philosophy" by Rene Descartes, 1st meditation (https://philpapers.org/rec/DESMOF)
- "The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism" by Barry Stroud, chapter 2 (https://philpapers.org/rec/STRTSO)
- "Hume's Naturalism about Cognitive Norms" by Janet Broughton (https://philpapers.org/rec/BROHNA-8)
- "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, §1.4.2 (https://philpapers.org/rec/HUMATO-15)
- "Immanuel Kant: Transcendental Idealism" IEP article by Marialena Karampatsou (https://iep.utm.edu/kant-transcendental-idealism/)
-"Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology" by Rudolf Carnap (https://philpapers.org/rec/CARESA-6)
-"Epistemology Naturalized" by W.V.O Quine (https://philpapers.org/rec/QUIEN)
-"Why there isn't a ready-made world" by Hilary Putnam (https://philpapers.org/rec/PUTWTI)

Note - You are not expected to read all of the secondary reading but you are expected to read some of it, based on your interests. Any secondary reading that is essential for the assessment will be flagged during the course.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Tu 14.03.2023 11:29