This biannual course is taught on years 2014-2015, 2016-2017, ...
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One chapter (chosen by the student) of Le principe d'autonomie, Introduction aux auteurs modernes, along with its introduction and conclusion. Also, a text from an author corresponding to this chapter (Descartes, Spinoza, Rousseau, Hobbes, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel).
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
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.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Students will be asked to write a 10 page paper to be based off of a reading of one of the proposed texts. After emailing the paper, the student will receive a question on the paper to be prepared for the oral exam.
The student will have approximately 15 minutes to present this answer during the oral exam.
The paper may be written in French, English, Spanish, or German, with the professor's agreement.
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This course will first present an overview of the development of modern philosophy through the distinction between three large generations of thinkers according to the 'discourse on the method' they adhere to. Next, each generation will be studied in detail through its major representatives and following a precise expository schema: the preferred mental operation for orienting one's thought and the conditions of knowing the real are what determine the different types of philosophies of freedom that each approach can sensibly construct. In order to familiarize the students with reading the source texts from this period of thought, the lecture will alternate between systematic presentations and text commentaries. A reading list and a reference book complete the pedagogical toolkit. A particular attention will be given to those modern philosophers who themselves proposed a history of modern philosophy, as well as to the reception of what's known as the modern current of continental philosophy in the North American history of ideas.
R. R. Brandom, Tales of the Mighty Dead, Harvard UP, London, 2002.
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.
Ch. Taylor, Grandeur et misère de la modernité, Bellarmin, Montréal, 1992.
Required reading:
One chapter (chosen by the student) of Le principe d'autonomie, Introduction aux auteurs modernes, along with its introduction and conclusion. Also, a text from an author corresponding to this chapter (Descartes, Spinoza, Rousseau, Hobbes, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel).
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