Modern Philosophy (PHIL 720)
Instructor: Alan Nelson. This course meets on Thursdays from 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. in Caldwell 208.
This is a graduate course on Spinoza. The main focus will be on his Ethics,but supporting texts by Spinoza, Descartes, and Hobbes will also be considered. We’ll also take a brief look at Spinoza’s political philosophy and at Leibniz’s encounter with Spinoza’s philosophy.
If there is sufficient interest, we can also criticize contemporary revivals of metaphysical monisms from a Spinozistic perspective.
Advanced undergraduate philosophy majors can take the course with the permission of the instructor.
This course meets the Modern History requirement.
Alan Nelson’s webpage