Course level: Undergraduate
What can I know?
What ought I do?
What may I hope?
What is man?
According to Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), these four questions are the questions of philosophy. His answers to these questions transformed the trajectory of Western philosophy. From epistemology to metaphysics, ethics to aesthetics, religion to politics, Kant’s writings set a new agenda for how we approach almost every area of philosophy.
During the first nine weeks of this course, we will focus on Kant’s major work from his so-called ‘critical’ period: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/87). In analyzing this work, we will explore the account of metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind that Kant defends, and we will consider Kant’s hope of building a system of nature and freedom. We will address the negative aspects of his project, including his criticisms of rationalist metaphysics, empiricist skepticism, the illusory tendencies built into our own reason, and the need to limit the pretenses of reason. We will also examine his positive views regarding the nature of the mind, the nature of experience, transcendental idealism, the foundations of natural science, and the possibility of freedom and religious belief.
During the remaining four weeks of the course, we will turn to Kant’s formidable critic and the most influential post-Kantian German idealist, G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831). We will focus on his most important work, The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), which seeks to show that all human intellectual development up to now is the logically necessary working out of Mind’s coming to know itself. In analyzing this work, we will explore Hegel’s dialectical logic, his conception of freedom, his views on the relationship between the mind and the natural world, and the “Absolute idealism” that he defends in this text. At the end of the course we will address both the limits and prospects of Kant’s critical project. In the former vein, we will address concerns pertaining to Kant’s views on race; in the latter vein, we will see how Kierkegaard develops Kantian themes in his works.
Kiwango cha kozi: Shahada ya kwanza Nini naweza kujua? Ninapaswa kufanya nini? Ninaweza kutumaini nini? Mwanadamu ni nini? Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) aliandika kwamba maswali hayo manne ni maswali ya falsafa. Majibu yake kwa maswali hayo yalibadili mwelekeo wa falsafa ya Magharibi. Kutoka epistemolojia hadi metaphysics, maadili hadi aesthetics, dini hadi siasa, maandishi ya Kant huweka ajenda mpya kwa jinsi tunavyokaribia karibu kila eneo la falsafa. Katika kipindi cha wiki tisa za kwanza, tutajifunza kuhusu kazi ya Kant ya 'Kritiki ya Sababu safi' (1781-1787). Katika kuchambua kazi hii, tutachunguza akaunti ya metaphysics, epistemology, na falsafa ya akili ambayo Kant anajilinda, na tutafikiria matumaini ya Kant ya kujenga mfumo wa asili na uhuru. "Tutazungumzia mambo mabaya ya mradi wake, ikiwa ni pamoja na ukosoaji wake wa metafizikia ya busara, shaka ya empiricist, mwelekeo wa udanganyifu uliojengwa katika sababu yetu wenyewe, na haja ya kupunguza udanganyifu wa sababu. """ Pia tutachunguza maoni yake mazuri kuhusu asili ya akili, asili ya uzoefu, idealism ya transcendental, misingi ya sayansi ya asili, na uwezekano wa uhuru na imani ya kidini. Katika kipindi cha wiki nne zilizobaki, tutazungumzia mchambuzi mashuhuri wa Kant na mchambuzi mashuhuri zaidi wa Ujerumani baada ya Kant, G.W.F. Hegel (1770 - 1831) "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika kitabu chake cha The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), ""Ukamilifu wote wa akili ya binadamu hadi sasa ni kazi ya kimantiki ya akili inayojitambua yenyewe.""" Katika kuchambua kazi hii, tutachunguza mantiki ya dialectical ya Hegel, dhana yake ya uhuru, maoni yake juu ya uhusiano kati ya akili na ulimwengu wa asili, na "Idealism ya Absolute" ambayo anajitetea katika maandishi haya. Mwishoni mwa kozi tutazungumzia mipaka na matarajio ya mradi muhimu wa Kant. Katika mstari wa kwanza, tutazungumzia wasiwasi unaohusiana na maoni ya Kant juu ya jamii; katika mstari wa pili, tutaona jinsi Kierkegaard anavyoendeleza mandhari ya Kantian katika kazi zake.