Universität Wien

010290 VO Modern Philosophy (2026S)

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 1 - Theologien und Religionswiss.

Bitte beachten Sie die Anmeldefristen für Prüfungen (21-7 Tage vor dem Prüfungstermin auf U:SPACE) und etwaige studienrechtliche Voraussetzungen je nach Ihrem Studienplan.
Moodle
Th 23.04. 15:00-16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1

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Details

Language: German

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 05.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 19.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 26.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 16.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 30.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 07.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 21.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 28.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 11.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 18.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1
  • Thursday 25.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Elise Richter-Saal Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Objectives: The lecture surveys the major positions of early modern philosophy from its beginnings to Kant.

Content:Early modern thought laid the foundations for the subsequent development of modern intellectual discourse. Breaking with late medieval Aristotelianism and engaging with the rise of the new natural sciences, philosophers of this period sought to establish new foundations and structures of knowledge. In doing so, they developed innovative metaphysical interpretations of nature as well as new conceptions of the human being and its socio-political conditions.
The lecture traces this transformation through selected philosophical approaches. It moves from Francis Bacon through the rationalist tradition (Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza), mechanical materialism (Hobbes, La Mettrie), and empiricism (Hume) to Kant. The course also highlights the contributions of women philosophers, whose presence becomes increasingly visible during the early modern period.

Method: Each session consists of a 70-minute lecture followed by 20 minutes of questions and discussion.

Assessment and permitted materials

Written exam (90 minutes), without the use of any aids.
Four exam dates in total (see u:find).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The exam is considered passed upon achieving at least 50% of the maximum score of 25 points.
Five of the seven questions or tasks to choose from must be answered or completed.
PLEASE NOTE: If all seven questions are answered, the five lowest-scoring answers will be counted.

A very good (= complete and as detailed as possible) answer is worth 5 points, a mediocre (= incomplete and/or too short) answer is worth 3 points, and a wrong or no answer is worth 0 points. Answers that fall in between will be awarded 4 points or 1 point.

Assessment scale according to the points achieved
24-25 points: Very good (1)
21-23 points: Good (2)
17-20 points: Satisfactory (3)
13-16 points: Sufficient (4)
12 points or less: Unsatisfactory (5)

Assessment criteria include mastery of the subject matter and independence in presentation. Active and constructive participation in the discussions will be taken into account positively in determining the overall grade.

Examination topics

The examination covers the material addressed in the lecture. For each session, handouts are made available on Moodle summarizing the central themes and key aspects.
Regular attendance is recommended in order to gain a deeper understanding of the course content. If attendance is not possible, the handouts together with the PowerPoint slides provided on Moodle form the basis for exam preparation.

Reading list

Jacqueline Broad: Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2003.
Deborah J. Brown: Descartes and the Passionate Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
John Cottingham: The Rationalists, Oxford University Press 1988.
Günter Gawlick (Hg.): Empirismus. Geschichte der Philosophie in Text und Darstellung Bd. 4, Stuttgart: Reclam 1986.
Friedrich Albert Lange: Geschichte des Materialismus und Kritik seiner Bedeutung in der Gegenwart. 2 Bände, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 1974.
Ohad Nachtomy: Living Mirrors: Infinity, Unity, and Life in Leibniz’s Philosophy. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011.
Alan Nelson (Hg.): A Companion to Rationalism, Oxford: Blackwell 2005
Steven Nadler (Hg.): A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy, Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishing 2002.
Dominik Perler: Transformationen der Gefühle: Philosophische Emotionstheorien 1270–1670. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a. M. 2011.
Wolfgang Röd: Geschichte der Philosophie, Bd. VII. Die Philosophie der Neuzeit: Von Francis Bacon bis Spinoza, München: Beck Verlag 1999².
- Ders.: Geschichte der Philosophie, Bd. VIII. Die Philosophie der Neuzeit 2: Von Newton bis Rousseau, München: Beck Verlag 1984.
Tad M. Schmaltz: Receptions of Descartes: Cartesianism and Anti-Cartesianism in Early Modern Europe, Routledge 2005.
Rainer Specht: Geschichte der Philosophie in Text und Darstellung: Rationalismus, Stuttgart: Reclam 2002.
Emily Thomas (Hg.): Early Modern Women on Metaphysics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2018.

Association in the course directory

für 011 (15W) FTH 03, 033 195 (17W) BRP 06krp, BRP 06ktb

Last modified: Mo 02.03.2026 10:05