Universität Wien
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180166 PS Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy (2023S)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 09.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 16.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 23.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 30.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 20.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 27.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 04.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 11.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 25.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 01.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 15.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 22.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 29.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 03.07. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

• Content
René Descartes’ Meditationes de prima philosophia is one of the founding texts of modern philosophy. The wide range of topics includes the existence of the soul as a substance independent from the body, the existence of God, skepticism about the external world, the causal interaction between mind and the physical world, the foundations of knowledge, the possibility of free will, among others.

• Goals
In this seminar, we will spell out the positions defended and arguments presented by Descartes in this work. Though we will mainly concentrate on the six essays of the Meditations, other texts by Descartes and subsequent philosophers (e.g. Spinoza and Leibniz) will be taken into account so as to provide a fuller picture of Cartesian metaphysics. Contemporary developments of Descartes’ positions (e.g. dualism, foundationalism) will be touched upon.

• Methods
Reading, interpretation and critical discussion of texts; reconstruction of arguments; exercise sheets with clues to assist reading (to be submitted before the meetings).

IMPORTANT: questions, exercise sheets and essay may be submitted in German or English.

Assessment and permitted materials


• Active participation
• Exercise sheets (submission and approval of at least 2 out of 6 is mandatory)
• Short essay (± 1500 words) on a topic related to the seminar to be chosen by the student
•. 2 unjustified absences will be accepted.

IMPORTANT: questions, exercise sheets and essay may be submitted in German or English.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Assessment Criteria:
• Active participation (10% of the final grade)
• 2 best graded exercise sheets/2 (30% of the final grade) The average of the 2 best graded exercise sheets. Minimal grade for each: 5/10 (50%), Students are required to submit and get approved at least 2 out of 6 exercise sheets made available during the course. Sheets graded insufficient (i.e. below 50%) will not be computed in the final grade.
• Short essay (±1500 words) (60% of the final grade) (minimal grade: 5/10 (50%); essays graded insufficient (i.e. below 50%) will not be computed in the final grade).

Final Grade: Participation x 0.1 + Exercise Sheets x 0.3 + Short Essay x 0.6.
The conversion from 0-10 grading system used in the exercise sheets to the 1-5 system used is this:
8.8 -- 10 = 1
7.5 -- 8.7 = 2
6.3 -- 7.4 = 3
5.0 -- 6.2 = 4
0 -- 4.9 = 5
Minimal final grade (converted) for approval in the course is 4 (50%)

Examination topics

Presentations, slides and texts.

Reading list

Primary Literature:
• R. Descartes. Meditations on First Philosophy. J. Cottingham (ed.) Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy. Cambridge.
• R. Descartes. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. D. Cress (tr.) Hackett Publishing Company.
• R. Descartes. Principles of Philosophy. Miller et. al. (tr.) Kluwer Academic Publishing.

Recommended Secondary Literature:
• G. Betz (2011). Descartes’ ‚Meditationen‘. Ein systematischer Kommentar. Universal Bibliothek.
• S. Gaukroger (Hg.) (2006). The Blackwell Guide to Descartes’ Meditationes, Blackwell Publishing.
• G. Hatfield (2003). Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Descartes and the Meditations. Routledge.
• C. Wilson (2003). Descartes's Meditations: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 22.06.2023 13:27