Philosophy
After reading this week’s assigned chapters (IX – XII, pages 48 -67) of “Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy” as well as the other required readings
• Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics , Book I, Chapters 5-7, pp.15-21; Book II, Chapters 1-8, pp. 34-49.
o Study Guide: ” Aristotle on Happiness “, retrieved from http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/aristotle/
• Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals , Chapter 2, pp. 14-41.
o Study Guide:” A Priori Truths “: You may find the information here helpful in arriving at a deeper understanding of Kant’s ideas.
• Mill, Utilitarianism , Chapter 2, pp. 4-18.
• Sartre,“ Existentialism Is a Humanism ” (entire), pp. 1-18
first, summarize what you learned from reading Russell this week. Your main goal in this assignment beyond the summary is find connections between or tie together any theories, themes, concepts, important ideas, arguments, important observations, etc. you find in Russell’s work and the particular philosophical views and the general content covered in the other readings. There will plenty of material that will invite comparison and analysis. Some of the themes or issues you should look for include:
what philosophers do (or the purpose of studying philosophy); the possibility of human understanding of the nature of reality in itself;
the meaning of the “appearance-reality” distinction and its role in knowledge claims; the nature and extent of human knowledge;
the definition of truth and criteria for distinguishing truth from falsehood;
the value of philosophy.
As you move through the Russell chapters, you will come across the following terms. Be sure you include some analysis and discussion of your understanding of these, from Russell’s point of view as well as whatever other philosophers you are commenting on for that week. (These are in alpha order, not in order of exposition in the text):
a priori knowledge
abstract ideas
correspondence vs. coherence theories of truth
existence vs. subsistence induction vs. deduction
intuitive knowledge Kant’s synthetic a priori
knowledge by acquaintance
knowledge by description
self-evident truths
sense-data
universals vs. particulars
This “Round Up” assignment is intended to result in a brief, informal essay of about 400-500 word and need only cite the philosophers mentioned from the week’s readings (Russell will be cited each week, of course). But no other outside research is required. You are invited to go beyond just explaining what the “takeaway” ideas and theories were for you this week through description and analysis by adding evaluative commentary on the material. Were some ideas introduced but insufficiently or confusingly explained? Were the arguments sound or strong, or were there problems with the argumentation? Were some important points glossed over or missed altogether? Approach
