杏吧论坛

Dr Marius Backmann LAK.301

This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

The traditionally received Western-centric canon as a narrative history of philosophy does not respect the true complexity of the global history of philosophical inquiry. We explore some of the global diversity by focussing on specific topics that are relevant to research and teaching within the philosophical tradition of the Department of Philosophy at 杏吧论坛 and provide a historical and multicultural perspective on them. We will draw from the multitude of philosophical traditions and schools around the globe, aiming to incorporate ones that have heretofore been largely neglected. Topics discussed in this course may include the following:

• Introduction – We introduce the students to the history and philosophy of the “history of philosophy”. In particular, we ask how it was that the received narrative of philosophy as a direct succession from the pre-Socratics to Russell and Frege, or to Heidegger, became established? How, when, and why did the narrow focus on European, and later North American philosophy, come about? And how should we seek to construct an intellectually richer, but necessarily messier and more complicated, inclusive history of philosophy? We aim to provide a rich historical perspective on either individual philosophical issues or on specific traditions and how they intersect.

This will be followed by sections featuring historical perspectives on various topics, such as the following:

• Political Philosophy: In contemporary political philosophy, the liberal tradition with its emphasis on the preservation and protection of individual rights and freedoms has been highly influential. We can contrast this perspective, by, for instance, consulting classical Greek texts such as Plato’s “Republic”, and its argument against democracy, and classical Chinese works such as Confucius’s or Mengzi’s, which when compared with Western virtue ethics offers a contrasting vision of what sort of virtues a good person should display.
• Epistemology: A concern in Western philosophy has been the quest for certainty and the attempt to refute the sceptic. Exploring, for instance, Descartes’ foundationalism of the “Meditiations” or Hume’s sceptical solution from “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding”, it will prove illuminating to also examine Teresa of Avila’s 16th century text "The Interior Castle" or al-Ghazali’s 12th century text "The Rescuer From Error".
• Philosophy of Mind: Neo-Aristotelian metaphysics has come to increased prominence in a number of contemporary debates such as in the philosophy of mind, and so it will be helpful to begin with Aristotle’s “De Anima”. Descartes’ views on mind-body dualism can, e.g., be contrasted with Anne Conway’s 16th century defence of monism in "The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy". Contemporary arguments for mental epiphenomenalism could, e.g., be contrasted with the 18th century Ghanian philosopher Anton Wilhelm Amo’s view of reverse epiphenomenalism from "The Apathy of the Human Mind".
• Early Analytic Philosophy. The Depart