PHIL514 GRADUATE READINGS IN PHILOSOPHY IV
| Course Code: | 2410514 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | Philosophy |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Graduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Assist.Prof.Dr JAMES EDMOND CARR GRIFFITH |
| Offered Semester: | Fall or Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
This course focuses on a single text, Ethics by Spinoza. We will read this short, but seminal book in its entirety. This book is probably the most radical of the innumerable seventeenth-century adaptations of the methodologies that had been developing in mathematics over the previous century for metaphysical and ethical concerns. Such adaptations are essential for what is known as early modern philosophy (roughly, 1500-1789), but also for the development of the modern world in more general terms. Spinoza takes this geometrical and algebraic approach to questions of God, nature, the mind, the emotions, and society in the most intense and explicit fashion.
Because of this relationship to both mathematics and metaphysics, reading Ethics requires some background. To that end, we will begin the course with a brief introduction to ancient geometry by reading Euclid. We will then turn to Aquinas to get a handle on the medieval metaphysical vocabulary that is also essential for understanding Spinoza, to Suárez for an understanding of modal distinctions, and then to a portion of Descartes’ Replies to objections given for his Meditations on First Philosophy for Spinoza’s most immediate and important precursor. After these readings, we will examine his Ethics exclusively and closely.
Course Content
A continuation of 2410513.
Course Learning Outcomes
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Do independent academic research in order to be successful in academic studies. | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Have knowledge about contemporary philosophical issues, concepts and problems. | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Make original philosophical interpretations on the topic specialized. | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Have verbal and written presentation and effective communication skill. | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Do interdisciplinary readings and associate them to philosophical problems. | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Have knowledge about ethical code which is a requirement for doing academic research and publishing it. | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution