History of philosophy 4 : History of modern philosophy [ LFILO1283 ]

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To introduce the student to the spirit of Modern philosophy by drawing out the main lines of argument, the principle tendencies and the key thinkers that delineate it.

By the end of the course, the student should:

- be familiar with the main concerns and the key authors of Early Modern philosophy;

- be able to identify the main problems underlying it;

- be able to describe the major debates running through it.

A 10 pages paper to be made based on the reading of a commentary proposed in the reading file. After the sending of the paper by email, the student will receive in return a question on the paper to be responded in the oral evaluation.

Exposition of the answer during the oral evaluation (15 min.).

The paper can be written in French, English, Spanish or German by means of an agreement with the incumbent.

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The course presents at first an overview of the development of modern philosophy by means of distinguishing three big generations of thinkers according to the 'discourse on method' to which they subscribe. Afterwards each generation is studied in more detail through its main representatives following a clear scheme of exposition: the mental operation that is privileged to orient oneself in thinking, the resultant conditions of knowledge of the real and the kind of philosophy of freedom that they are supposed to aim at. To familiarize the students with the reading of textual sources of this period of thinking, the lecture alternates systematic expositions and commentary of texts. A particular attention is devoted to texts of modern philosophers that propose themselves a history of modern philosophy.

Basic bibliography:

M. Maesschalck,Le principe d'autonomie, Introduction aux auteurs modernes, Essais philosophiques (11), Vrin/Peeters, Paris/Leuven, 1992, 390 pp.

J.G. Fichte, Le caractère de l'époque actuelle (1804-1805), trad. par I. Radrizzani, Vrin, Paris, 1990.

G.W.F. Hegel, Leçons sur l'histoire de la philosophie (1822-1823), trad. par J. Gibelin, Vrin, Paris, 1979.

F.W.J. Schelling, Contribution à l'histoire de la philosophie moderne (1833-1834), trad. Par J.-F. Marquet, PUF, Paris, 1983.

Obligatory readings:

A chapter to be chosen by the student inLe principe d'autonomie, Introduction aux auteurs modernes, the introduction and the conclusion; and a text of the author corresponding to the chosen chapter (Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes, Kant Fichte, Schelling, Hegel).

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