Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Hume (PHIL 220)

This course will introduce students to main philosophical questions and themes of the early modern period (from Descartes to Hume). Is there an external world? If so, what is the nature of material objects? How do material bodies interact? How do the material world and the mind interact? Do humans have souls? Does God exist? Could the world have been different than the way it actually is? In this course, we will read selections from René Descartes, Elizabeth of Bohemia, Thomas Hobbes, Anne Conway, Gottfried Leibniz, George Berkeley, and David Hume.

At least one previous course in philosophy is required.

Robert Smithson’s webpage