The Empiricism of John Locke 2400-OG-EN-TEoJL

The contents of the course encompass the multidimensionality of the philosophy of John Locke. In the first part of the course, the stress will be laid on the intellectual background of his philosophy (including Locke's early interest in medicine, his involvement into the struggle with Aristotelian-scholastic conception of nature and into discussions with several early modern approaches by Descartes, Bacon, Boyle and others). During the main part, Locke's epistemology and his theory of ideas will be discussed together with their significance for the practical problems Locke encountered, including anthropological issues and ethical, religious and political problems. In the concluding part together with the participants, we will try to evaluate Locke's philosophy from a broader perspective – placing it in the history of English deism, seeing it as the starting point of David Hume's scepticism, or contemporary radical empiricism and pragmatism of William James.
We will discuss the chosen fragments of the main works by John Locke and some of his contemporaries (Shaftesbury, Thomas Sydenham, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Toland). Contemporary commentaries on some aspects of Locke's thought will make the participants acquainted with Locke's recent scholarship.

Całkowity nakład pracy studenta

Contact hours with teacher: - participation in proseminar 30 hrs Self-study hours: - preparation for discussion - 30 hrs - reading literature - 60 hrs Altogether: 120 hrs (5 ECTS)

Efekty uczenia się - wiedza

W1: Student has an ordered knowledge of the background of Locke’s philosophy. W2: Student knows basic terminology referring to epistemological, metaphysical, religious, and political aspects of the empiricism of Locke. W3: Student knows the significance of Locke’s empiricism for the development of the Enlightenment philosophy.

Efekty uczenia się - umiejętności

U1: Student selects, analyzes, evaluates and uses information from different sources (sources and secondary literature). U2: Student can present ideas and arguments of chosen standpoints in the interpretation of Locke’s philosophy. U3: Student can place Locke’s philosophy within the frame of the chosen aspects of early modern British thought.

Efekty uczenia się - kompetencje społeczne

K1: Student understands the social aspects of the practical application of knowledge. K2: Student can interact and work in a group, taking different roles. K3: Student is open to new ideas and ready to change his opinion in the light of the available data and arguments.

Metody dydaktyczne

- informative introductory lecture - seminar - exchange of ideas - classic problem method - discussion - presentation

Koordynatorzy przedmiotu

Adam Grzeliński

Kryteria oceniania

Assessment methods:

Attending the lectures, active participation in the disputes, discussion on the chosen subject referring to the lecture, presentation/essay

Assessment criteria:
fail- (0-49%)
satisfactory- (50-59%)
satisfactory plus- (60-69%)
good - (70-79%)
good plus- (80-89%)
very good- (90-100%)

Literatura

Primary
The works by John Locke (selection; fragments):
An Essay concerning Human Understanding, ed. P. H. Nidditch, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1975 (or another edition).
The Works of John Locke, vol. 1-9, London 1824 (or another edition).
Writings on Religion, ed. V. Nuovo, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2002.

The Continuum Companion to Locke, ed. S.-J. Savonius-Wroth, P. Schuurman, J. Walsmley, Continuum, London – New York 2010.
Cranston Maurice, John Locke. A Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 1985.
Adittional
Sources
Bacon Francis, Sylva Sylvarum, or a Natural History in Ten Centuries, William Lee, London 1670.
Berkeley George, Treatise on the Principles of Human Knowledge (various editions)
Boyle Robert, Selected Philosophical Papers, ed. M. A. Stewart, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis–Cambridge 1991.
Butler Joseph, The Analogy of Religion, J. M. Dent and Sons, London–New York 1936.
Hobbes Thomas, Lewiatan (various editions).
Hume David, An Inquiry concerning Human Understanding (various editions).
Newton Isaac, General scholium [to Principia mathematica] (various editions).
Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times, ed. D. den Uyl, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis 2001.
Chosen secondary literature
Almond Philip, Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994.
Ashcraft Richard, Revolutionary Politics and Locke’s Two Treatises, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986.
Ayers Michael, Locke, Routledge, London 1991.
Dewhurst Kenneth, John Locke (1632–1704) Physician and Philosopher. A Medical Biography, The Wellcome Historical Medical Library, London 1963.
Forstrom K. Joanna S., John Locke and Personal Identity. Immortality and Bodily Resurrection in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Continuum, London–New York 2010.
Gaukroger Stephen, The Emergence of a Scientific Culture. Science and the Shaping of Modernity 1210–1685, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006.
Harrison John, Laslett Peter, The Library of John Locke, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1971.
John Locke. Problems and Perspectives, ed. J. W. Yolton, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1969.
Romanell Patrick, John Locke and Medicine, Prometheus Books, New York 1984.
Walmsley Jonathan Craig, John Locke’s Natural Philosophy (1632–1671) Ph.D. Thesis.
Walmsley Peter, Locke’s Essay and the Rhetoric of Science, Bucknell University Press – Associated University Presses, Lewisburg–London 2003.
Woolhouse Roger, Locke. A Biography, Cambridge University Press, New York 2009.
Yolton John W., A Locke Dictionary, Blackwell, Oxford–Cambridge (Mass) 1993.
Yolton John W., John Locke and the Way of Ideas, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1956.
Yolton John W., Locke. An Introduction, Blackwell, Oxford 1985.
Yolton John W., Locke and the Compass of Human Understanding. A Selective Commentary on the ‘Essay’, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1970.

Więcej informacji

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