Professor: Sam Rickless
Office: Dodd 287
Telephone: 644-0218
Office Hours: TBA
E-mail: srickles@mailer.fsu.edu
 

Course Description and Course Objectives

 In this course, we will investigate and evaluate the central features of Locke's metaphysics and epistemology.  The topics to be covered include: Locke's theory of ideas (including his anti-innatism), his theory of meaning, his theory of body (including his mechanism, his way of drawing the distinction between primary and secondary qualities, his account of substance and real essence), and his theory of knowledge (including his proof of the existence of God).  The central text is Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
 

Course Units

UNIT 1:  The Theory of Ideas
Reading:  * Book I, Chapter 1
                 * Book II, Chapters 1-7, 9-12
                 * Chappell, "Locke's Theory of Ideas", in The Cambridge Companion to Locke

UNIT 2:  The Primary/Secondary Quality Distinction
Reading: * Book II, Chapter 8
                * Alexander, "Boyle and Locke on Primary and Secondary Qualities"
                * Mackie, Problems From Locke, Chapter I, Sections 1-3
                * Bolton, "Locke and Pyrrhonism: The Doctrine of Primary and Secondary Qualities"
                * McCann, "Locke's Philosophy of Body", Section II, in The Cambridge Companion to Locke

UNIT 3:  Action and Freedom
Reading: * Book II, Chapter 21
                * Chappell, "Locke on the Freedom of the Will"

UNIT 4:  Personal Identity
Reading: * Book II, Chapter 27
                * Allison, "Locke's Theory of Personal Identity: A Re-examination"
                * Mackie, Problems From Locke, Chapter 6
                * Atherton, "Locke's Theory of Personal Identity"

UNIT 5: Language and Meaning
Reading: * Book III, Chapters 1-2
                * Kretzmann, "The Main Thesis of Locke's Semantic Theory"
                * Guyer, "Locke's Philosophy of Language", in The Cambridge Companion to Locke

UNIT 6:  Substances, the Idea of Substance, and Real Essence
Reading: * Book II, Chapters 23, 30-31
                * Book III, Chapter 3 (esp. sections 15-18)
                * Ayers, "The Ideas of Power and Substance in Locke's Philosophy"
                * Mackie, Problems From Locke, Chapter 3, Sections 1-3
                * McCann, "Locke's Philosophy of Body", Section IV, in The Cambridge Companion to Locke

UNIT 7:  Natural Kinds
Reading: * Book III, Chapters 6, 9-10
                * Kripke, Naming and Necessity, pp. 116-125
                * Mackie, Problems From Locke, Chapter 3, Sections 5-7
                * Ayers, "Locke Versus Aristotle on Natural Kinds"

UNIT 8:  The Nature and Extent of Human Knowledge
Reading: * Book IV, Chapters 1-9, 11-12
                * Woolhouse, "Locke's Theory of Knowledge", in The Cambridge Companion to Locke

UNIT 9:  Mechanism, Superaddition, and the Proof of God's Existence
Reading: * Book IV, Chapter 10
                * Wilson, "Superadded Properties: The Limits of Mechanism in Locke"
                * Ayers, "Mechanism, Superaddition, and the Proof of God's Existence in Locke's Essay"
                * Wilson, "Superadded Properties: A Reply to M. R. Ayers"
                * McCann, "Lockean Mechanism"
 
UNIT 10:  Innate Ideas
Reading: * Book I
                * Book II, Chapter 10
                * Leibniz, New Essays Concerning Human Understanding, Comments on Book I of Locke's Essay
                * Adams, "The Locke-Leibniz Debate"
 

Course Requirements and Grading Policy

 * 2 Presentations
 * 8 short (2-3 page) papers
 * 1 (2-3 page) prospectus for the final paper
 * 1 final paper (15-20 pages)

 * Each week for the first eight weeks, you will be asked to write one short paper.  Each paper is to be handed in at the beginning of the following week's seminar.  The short papers will be graded on a "check" , "check+", "check-" basis.  No late paper will be accepted without a valid excuse communicated to me (if possible) substantially before the paper is due.
 Each paper should focus on an aspect of the reading for the following week.  You are free to choose your own topics.

 * A prospectus for the final paper is due at the beginning of seminar on *TBA*.  It should include a brief description of the project for the final paper and a (tentative) bibliography.  You must obtain approval from me for your final paper topic.  I will be happy to look at a draft of the final paper and discuss possible improvements with you before the final version is handed in.

 * The final paper is due in my mailbox before 5pm on *TBA*.  For policy on late papers, see above.

 * The course grade will be largely determined by the grade for the final paper, but may go up or down slightly depending on the overall quality of the short papers and on whether the quality of the papers (short and final) improves or declines.
 

Notes
 
 * If accommodations are needed for a disability, please notify me as soon as possible.
 * The Academic Honor Code must be observed in this course.
 * The course units, requirements, and policies stated above are subject to change.