Human Person Schedule
Philosophy 151
Section A
Summer II - 2008
week one:
June 23:
Overview of course, texts, and requirements.
Introduction to "what is philosophy"
Introduction to the various branches of philosophy.
Metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.
Introduction to the nature of philosophical argumentation.
Kinds of arguments: formal, informal, analogy, authority, evidence, experience, etc.
Structure of arguments: premises and conclusions.
Validity and soundness.
June 25:
Read Plato, excerpt from The Republic, in The Study of Human Nature (SHN), pages 34-55.
What is the allegory of the cave trying to suggest about the nature of true knowledge?
What is the allegory of the cave attempting to express about the nature of reality?
Could you draw a picture of the cave that Plato describes?
What are the three parts of the soul that Plato explains in Republic?
According to Plato what is the truly happy life?
Begin Aristotle, starting with his discussion of the soul.
Read De Anima in Aristotle, Introductory Readings (IR), pages 80-103.
According to Aristotle what does it mean for a substance to have a soul?
In what way is the soul responsible for nutrition and growth?
Explain how Aristotle understands the process of perception.
Continuing with Aristotle's dicussion of the soul, what makes the human soul (the soul that has "understanding") different from that of other animals?
What is the relation of desire to perception and to the intellect?
week two:
June 30:
Aristotle's discussion of desire provides some groundwork for his account of happiness in Nicomachean Ethics.
Read Book I, Chapters 1-2 of Aristotle's Ethics (pages 196-197 in IR).
Discuss the notion of the highest good.
Analyze Aristotle's argument for there being one highest good.
Read Book I, Chapters 7-9 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Book I, Chapter 13 (pages 203-211 and 213-216 in IR).
Analyze Aristotle's notion of happiness (eudaimonia).
What is the relationship between happiness and other goods?
Discuss the human function and the nature and structure of the human soul.
Read Book II, Chapters 1, 5-7 of Aristotle's Ethics, pages 216-217 and 222-228 in IR.
What are the various kinds of extremes to which any particular desire or emotion is open?
What is a mean and how does one achieve the mean with regard to character?
Explain each part of Aristotle's final definition of virtue.
July 2:
Essay One due Wednesday.
Read Book III, Chapters 1-3 of the Ethics, pages 228-236 in IR.
Think about the various situations in which we hold someone responsible, dont hold someone responsible, or are willing to excuse his or her actions due to circumstances.
Consider also the ways in which law courts hold persons liable or guilt for various kinds of crimes and actions.
Do these commonly accepted patterns map onto Aristotle's discussion of voluntary actions, decision, and deliberation?
Read Book VII, Chapters 1-3 of Aristotle's Ethics, pages 257-263 in IR.
What Aristotle means by incontinence is a lack of self-control (akrasia) or weakness of will with regard to tempting pleasures.
Incontinence is the opposite of continence as vice is the opposite of virtue.
Aristotle's main difficulty is how incontinence is possible since why would we do something knowing that it is wrong and bad for us.
We will finish up any loose ends with regard to Aristotle's account of the virtues, voluntary action, and incontinence.
We will briefly consider Aristotle's account of friendship.
Read Book VIII, Chapters 1-3 and Book IX, Chapters 8-9 of the Ethics, pages 262-274 in IR.
What are the three kinds of friendship that Aristotle outlines Can you think of an example of each?
Do you agree that friends are necessary for having a complete and satisfying life?
Now that we are finished looking at the details of Aristotle's account of human nature, we will attempt to make some generalizations about his perspective as a whole.
week three:
July 7:
Also read Book X, Chapters 7-8 of his Ethics, regarding happiness, pages 277-282 in IR.
In conjunction with this read the opening sections of Aristotle's Metaphysics, pages 115-120 in IR.
How does the account of happiness there (identifying it with theoretical study) differ from Aristotle's earlier account in Book I, Chapter 7?
How can these differing conceptions fit together?
To what degree do you think Aristotle's outlook is tied to his perspective as an ancient Greek and to what degree do you think his observations hold true over time and from culture to culture?
For today's class also read the selections from the Hebrew Scriptures in The Study of Human Nature (SHN), pages 2-8.
In what ways does this biblical approach to questions about human beings differ from ancient Greek accounts as represented by Aristotle?
What similarities do you see, if any?
How would you describe the basic attitude towards human beings on the part of the biblical authors?
Read the selections from the epistles of Paul in SHM, particularly Romans and 1 Corinthians 15, pages 57-67.
What does Paul see as the condition in which human beings find themselves?
What does he see as God's solution to that condition?
What does Paul believe to be the final destiny of human beings in Christ
July 9:
I will be away at a conference on this date - class plans to be announced.
week four:
July 14:
We are continuing a consideration of medieval Christian accounts of human nature.
For today read the handout by Thomas Aquinas regarding the human soul from his Summa Theologiae.
How do his biblical assumptions shape his appropriation of Aristotle's philosophy?
What does it mean for the human soul to be subsistent and incorruptible for Aquinas?
What arguments does he provide to substantiate these claims?
We will transition to modern theories of human nature this week, as they emerged in the Enlightenment and later.
As part of this discussion we may look at the roots of Descartes and other modern thought in late medieval nominalist philosophy.
For class read Rene Descartes, excerpts from Discourse on Method in SHN, pages 85-89
We will be discussing Descartes' wider philosophical project as that is represented in his Meditations and in Discourse on Method.
The focus here will be, first of all, upon epistemology and ontological assumptions lying behind his epistemological foundationalism.
We will also consider Descartes' mind-body dualism.
Descartes provides two kinds of arguments for mind-body dualism: one from introspective considerations and one based upon considerations regarding language and rationality.
Which of these arguments do you find more persuasive?
What are some possible problems with either or both of these arguments as Descartes constructs them?
July 16:
Second Essay is due in class Wednesday.
Read Thomas Hobbes, excerpts from Leviathan in SHN, pages 91-97.
Hobbes provides what is a basically a very early modern, materialist account of human nature.
How does Hobbes' account of human desires and our tendency to regard certain objects or actions as good and evil?
We will look at his discussion of the state of nature and the origin of human government and morality in articles of peace that constitute a social contract.
Consider about whether or not you think Hobbes' notion of a social contract would work in light of how he conceptualizes human nature.
For today also read Karl Marx, "The Materialist Theory of History" and "Consciousness and the Division of Labor" in SHN, pages 140-152.
We will be discussing the background to Marx's views of history and epistemology, especially as they are rooted in G.W.F. Hegel.
In what ways does Marx attempt to provide a modern and scientific account of human nature and action?
How does Marx attempt to contrast his own views against those of German philosophy (i.e. Hegel)?
week five:
July 21:
We will continue examining Marx's basic assumptions about the human person within a social context.
How does Marx see the individual (and his or her beliefs, desires, etc.) as something that is produced by other more fundamental social forces?
We will also begin to consider various criticisms of Marx's philosophy, particularly those that see it as too reductionistic.
For the rest of the class read B.A. Farrell's "A Reconstruction of Freud's Mature Theory" in SHN, pages 170-184.
According to Sigmund Freud what are the two basic desires that motivate human beings?
What does Freud posit as the three aspects of the individual psyche? What is the function of each aspect?
In Freud's theory, what are the major stages of human psychological development and what characterizes each stage?
What are some criticisms of Freud that you can think of? Do you find he theory plausible?
Which are the most believable aspects of Freud's theory? Which do you find the least persuasive?
We will be considering various attempts to criticize, revise, and build upon Freudian theories
July 23:
For this class read B.F. Skinner, the excerpt from About Behaviorism in SHM, pages 207-221.
In this reading Skinner is interested in dispelling various misunderstandings regarding what behaviorism is and is not. What are some of these misunderstandings?
Skinner's behaviorism has been subjected to various criticisms. What problems can you see with his theory?
Chomsky's language theory is often cited as an important strike against behaviorism. We will thus briefly consider the broad contours of Chomsky's theory.
week six:
July 28:
Read Konrad Lorenz, excerpt from On Aggression in SHN, pages 222-236.
In what ways is his theory similar to Skinner's and in what ways is it different?
How precisely does Lorenz explain the human tendency towards aggression? What features of our evolutionary history account for this tendency?
Think about possible criticisms of his theory.
What weaknesses does his explanation have? How else might one explain our tendency towards aggression?
Read Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism and Humanism in SHN, pages 186-206.
Think about his claim that, for human beings, existence precedes essence. What does he mean by this and what implications does it have for human meaning and significance?
Also read Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (handout).
How does Camus suggest that Sisyphus still finds meaning in the midst of his absurd fate?
July 30:
Final Essay due in class today
Read Henry M. Bracken's "Essence, Accident, and Race" and Nancy Holstrom's "Do Women Have a Distinct Nature" in SHN, pages 257-269 and 288-302.
This class we will review the Bracken essay on race and the Holstrom essay on gender.
To what degree do you think our cultural notions of race, ethnicity, and gender are simply the way things are and to what degree do you think they are constructed?
Read the handout by David L. Schindler, excerpt from Heart of World, Center of the Church.
We will discuss Schindler's contemporary Christian consideration of what it means to be human.
How does Schindler use the notion of "analogy" to explain the nature of being human?
After having read all that we have read, how would you answer the questions, "What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of the human person?"
Conclusion, evaluations, and any loose ends to be tied up.
