PHIL 422.001 – Empiricism

Instructor: Alan Nelson. This course meets R 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. in CW 213.

An intensive study of broadly empiricist philosophy in the early modern period. The main focus will be on John Locke’s enormously influential An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. We will also consider readings from Hobbes, Berkeley, and especially Hume. This is the second half of a sequence that began with PHIL 421 in the Fall, but this course can be taken independently. It is recommended that students have some background in the history of philosophy (e.g. PHIL 210 or 220) or in metaphysics/epistemology. PHIL 422 this semester is open to graduate students, and highly motivated majors and minors in Philosophy. Others need permission to enroll.