PHILOSOPHY 350. Kant

Earlham College, Spring Semester 2008-2009
Tuesday, Friday 1:00-2:20. Carpenter 320
Instructor: Ferit Güven
Office: Carpenter 328
Office Hours: By appointment
Office Phone: 983-1399 (voice mail)
e-mail: guvenfe@earlham.edu
web page: http://www.earlham.edu/~guvenfe

Course Description: The general aim of this course is to introduce you to Kant's critical philosophy.  Kant's philosophy synthesizes the problems of modern philosophy, paves the way for 19th Century Philosophy, and frames important problems of Contemporary Philosophy.  Therefore, reading his work will not only be philosophically rewarding and pleasurable, but also it will enable us to understand contemporary philosophical problems in a larger context.

Required Texts: Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Werner S. Pluhar, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1996)
Critique of Practical Reason, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002)
Perpetual Peace and Other Essays, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1996)

Course Requirements:  This course will be conducted in a seminar format.  Therefore, attendance and participation are important dimensions of the course and your grade.  I expect you to come to class prepared and ready to participate, i.e., having read the text carefully, and ready to raise and answer questions.  With a difficult text like the Critique of Pure Reason, you may find participation difficult at first.  However, keep in mind that participation is supposed to help you to understand the text, rather than simply demonstrate how well you understood it.  Therefore, you should raise questions and try to answer them even if, and especially when, you are not sure about the text and do not feel confident that you have understood it.

You are required to write 4 papers.
The first three papers will be mainly limited to explaining the texts in your own words.  I will give you specific questions for these papers. These papers will be 6-8 pages long. 
The final paper will address more general questions concerning Kant's philosophy.  This paper will be 8-12 pages long.  I will also provide paper topics and guidelines for this paper.

Each week a student will prepare a class presentation. These presentations will consist of a protocol and introduce us to the reading for the day, raise questions concerning the reading, and explain how it relates to previous readings.  I will give you specific guidelines for this assignment once we start these presentations.
There will be no final examination.

Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution: First Paper: 10%, Second Paper: 20%; Third Paper: 20%; Final Paper: 30%; Protocol/Presentation= 10%; Attendance and Participation= 10%

Participation and Attendance:
Even though participation counts for only 10% of your grade, it may still mean a lot if you are between two grades, e.g., A and A-. However, I expect you to participate not simply for the sake of your grade, but hopefully because you will be interested in what will be discussed in class.
If you miss more than four classes you will fail this course regardless of your grade.

Our sessions will start at 1:00 pm. Students are expected to come on time. Walking in and out of the classroom while the session is in progress is extremely disruptive for everybody. I ask you not to do these. For every two late attendance (or early exit) you will be marked as absent for one class session.

Office hours are for students to discuss ideas, assignments and questions. You are encouraged and welcome to come by my office or make appointments for times other than scheduled office hours. You should take advantage of office hours and appointments not simply to discuss your papers (you are obviously welcome to do that too) but also to understand ideas, and texts discussed in class.

Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services Office (Academic Support Services) at the beginning of the semester. Accommodation arrangements must be made during the first-two weeks of the semester.

Calendar:
The pages cited for a given day will be covered that day.  You must read these assignments in advance and be prepared to discuss them in class.
CPR: Critique of Pure Reason. Reading Questions
CPPR: Critique of Practical Reason

Week 1:
January 16: Introduction; No Reading
Week 2:
January 20: CPR, pp. 5-40
January 23: CPR, pp. 43-68
Week 3:
January 27: CPR, pp. 71-84
January 30: CPR, pp. 85-104
Week 4:
February 3: CPR, pp. 105-129
February 6: CPR, pp. 129-150
Week 5:
February 10: CPR, pp. 150-174
February 13: CPR, pp. 150-174
Week 6:
February 17: CPR, pp. 209-228
February 20: Midsemester Break
Week 7:
February 24: CPR, pp. 247-282
February 27: CPR, pp. 303-322
Week 8:
March 3: CPR, pp. 346-379
March 6: CPR, pp. 442-457
Week 9:
March 10: CPR, pp. 473-479
March 13: CPR, pp. 506-559
March 17-March 20: Spring Break
Week 10:
March 24: Critique of Practical Reason, pp. 3-25
March 27: CPPR, pp. 29-60
Week 11:
March 31: CPPR, pp. 60-94
April 2: CPPR, pp. 94-135
Week 12:
April 7: CPPR, pp.137-203
April 10: CPPR, pp.137-203
Week 13:
April 14: "Idea For a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent" (1784)
April 17: "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?" (1784)
Week 14:
April 21: "To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795)
April 24: "To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (1795)
Week 15:
April 28: Review
May 1: Evaluation


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