PHIL 5083
Fall 2001
Bob Hanna
Syllabus
office: 142 Hellems
office tel: 303-499-8289
e-mail: rhanna@spot.colorado.edu
web-page: http://spot.Colorado.EDU/~rhanna/
office hrs: Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30
Class meetings: Tues. and Thurs., 3:30 - 4:45, HLMS 177
Course Description:
This course will consist in a close critical study of some central arguments
in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of Practical
Reason, supplemented by readings from the
Grounding for the Metaphysics
of Morals and Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. The main
focus will be on Kant's theories of cognition (or objective mental representation)
and volition (or the will), with special emphases on: the nature and explanation
of synthetic a priori judgments in mathematics, metaphysics, and
natural science; the nature and explanation of pure practical (i.e., moral)
judgments; the nature of causation, both natural and mental; and the concept
of freedom.
Required Texts (available at the CU Bookstore):
(1) I. Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. P. Guyer and A.
Wood (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998). Henceforth abbreviated as
'CPR'.
(2) I. Kant, Critique of Practical Reason, 3rd edition,
trans. L.W. Beck (NY: Macmillan, 1993). Henceforth abbreviated as 'CPrR'.
(3) I. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, trans.
J. Ellington (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1981). Henceforth abbreviated
as 'GMM'.
(4) I. Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, trans. J.
Ellington (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1977). Henceforth abbreviated as
'PAFM'.
Course Requirements: Three 10-12 pp. papers, due Oct. 9, Nov.
13, and Dec. 18.
Paper Revision Option:
You may re-write one of your first two papers, making changes to it in response to my comments or simply as the result of re-thinking it. If the revised paper is significantly different from and better than the original paper, then you'll receive a higher grade that will be substituted for the original grade; otherwise your original grade will remain the same. The revised paper is due on
Dec. 18. Please also note that you must turn in your original previously-graded
paper along with the revised paper.
Paper Policies:
Paper topics will be handed out two weeks in advance of the due date.
If you want to write on a different topic, that is perfectly acceptable,
but the topic must be officially OK'd by me at least a week before the
due date. Papers turned in on time will be returned two weeks later. Late
papers will be accepted but penalized and returned at my discretion.
Disabilities statement:
Any student eligible for and needing academic adjustments or accommodations
because of a disability is requested to speak to me as early as possible
in the semester. Please note that to be eligible for such adjustments or
accommodations you will need to provide documentation of your disability
to the Disability Services Office in Willard 322 (tel: 303-492-8671).
Schedule of Class-Meetings, Topics, and Readings:
WEEK 1 Aug. 28, Aug. 30
Topic: Kant's projects: a big picture
Readings: CPR: 95-124 (Preface, both editions)
PAFM: 1-9 (Preface)
WEEK 2 Sept. 4, Sept. 6
Topic: Learning Kantspeak: fundamental notions, distinctions, & terminology
Readings: CPR: 125-152 (Introduction, both editions), 279-283 (Supreme principles of analytic and synthetic judgments), and 684-686 (Opining, Knowing, and Believing)
PAFM: 11-24 (Preamble)
WEEK 3 Sept. 11, Sept. 13=class cancelled
Topic: Space, time, and math
Readings: CPR: 155-192 (Transcendental Aesthetic) and 589-609 (Discipline of Pure Reason in Dogmatic Use)
PAFM: 25-37 (First part)
WEEK 4 Sept. 18, Sept. 20
Topic: Same as WEEK 3
Reading: Same as WEEK 3
WEEK 5 Sept. 25, Sept. 27 First paper topics handed out on Sept.
25
Topic: Kant's idealism
Readings: CPR: 185-192 again (General Remark, B edition), 338-365 (Phenomena and Noumena), and 425-431 (Fourth Paralogism)
PAFM: 32-37 again
WEEK 6 Oct. 2, Oct. 4 = no class
Topic: Same as WEEK 5
Reading: Same as WEEK 5
WEEK 7 Oct. 9, Oct. 11 First paper due on Oct. 9
Topic: The Metaphysical Deduction of the Pure Concepts
Reading: CPR: 193-218
PAFM: 64-68
WEEK 8 Oct. 16, Oct. 18
Topic: The Transcendental Deduction of the Pure Concepts, A edition
Readings: CPR: 219-244
PAFM: 38-64
WEEK 9 Oct. 23, Oct. 25
Topic: The Transcendental Deduction of the Pure Concepts, B edition
Reading: CPR: 245-266
PAFM: 38-64 again
WEEK 10 Oct. 30, Nov. 1 Second paper topics handed out on Oct. 30
Topic: Schematism and the System of Principles I: Axioms and Anticipations
Readings: CPR: 267-295
WEEK 11 Nov. 6, Nov. 8
Topic: The System of Principles II: Analogies of Experience and the Refutation of Idealism
Readings: CPR: 295-321 and 326-329
WEEK 12 Nov. 13, Nov. 15 Second paper due on Nov. 13
Topic: The Third Antinomy and Transition to the Critique of Practical Reason
Readings: CPR: 459-469, 484-489, 511-514, and 532-546
CPrR: 3-16
WEEK 13 Nov. 20, Nov. 22 = no class
Topic: Same as WEEK 12
Readings: Same as WEEK 12
WEEK 14 Nov. 27, Nov. 29
Topic: The will, freedom, and morality
Readings: CprR: 17-112
GMM: 1-62
WEEK 15 Dec. 4, Dec. 6 Third paper topics handed out on Dec 4
Topic: Same as WEEK 14
Readings: Same as WEEK 14
WEEK 16 Dec. 11, Dec. 13
Topic: Same as WEEK 14
Readings: Same as WEEK 14
Third paper and optional revised paper due on Dec. 18
A Note on Translations and Secondary Sources
(A) Translations.
Until very recently, the standard translation of CPR was by Norman Kemp
Smith (NY: St. Martin's, 1965). And like most English-speaking readers
of Kant, I grew up with this translation. Frankly I both love it and hate
it--like other things you grow up with. I love it because it's easy to
read (compared to the German) and occasionally hits rhetorical heights
that send shivers up your spine; but I also hate it because Kemp Smith
occasionally sacrifices philosophical accuracy to simplicity of expression--the
most notorious example of this being his translation of 'Erkenntnis'
as 'knowledge' (sorry Norman). The Guyer and Wood translation is the most
accurate available, and as far as I can tell, it's rapidly becoming the
standard one as well.
(B) Secondary Sources.
The number of good books on Kant's theoretical and practical philosophies
in English is enormous; and when you add in good books published in German,
well, it's a bit depressing. The books listed below are those I think will
of most immediate use to you for the purposes of this course--with the
exception of mine, which is actually useless but down there because I like
seeing my name in print.
Allison, H. Kant's Transcendental Idealism. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press, 1983.
Caygill, H. A Kant Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
Guyer, P. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992.
Guyer, P. Kant and the Claims of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987.
Hanna, R. Kant and the Foundations of Analytic Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford Univ. Press, 2001.
Kemp Smith, N. A Commentary to Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". 2nd edition. London: Macmillan, 1923.
Kuehn, M. Kant: A Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001.
O'Neill, O. Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant's Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989.
Paton, H.J. Kant's Metaphysic of Experience. 2 vols. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1936.
Paton, H.J. The Categorical Imperative: A Study in Kant's Moral Philosophy. London: Hutchinson, 1947.
Strawson, P.F. The Bounds of Sense: An Essay on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. London: Methuen, 1966.
Sullivan, R. Immanuel Kant's Moral Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Press, 1989.
Abbreviations Used in Grading Papers
AGR Lack of agreement in number, gender, or tense
AWK Awkward: an ill-sounding or ungrammatical construction
CIT No citation or improper citation: footnote or page reference required,
in correct format
CN Inappropriate contraction: please write out the entire word or phrase
DEL This symbol or word should be deleted
EX This term or phrase is not self-explanatory: please define it
ME Be more explicit: please give more details or further elaboration
MS More support needed: this claim requires more defense than you give
it
NP! Nice point!: an interesting remark or persuasive argument
NS Non sequitur: this claim does not follow from the premises
you've supplied
NT I question the truth of this claim
PE Punctuation error
PG Start a new paragraph here
RF The referent of this word is not obvious: please disambiguate
RP Repetitious or redundant
SE Sentence error: a sentence fragment or run-on sentence
SP Spelling error
TC This word or phrase is too colloquial: inappropriate slang
TL This sentence is too long: please break it up
UN This sentence seems conceptually unclear or muddled to the reader
VA This sentence seems excessively vague or ambiguous to the reader
X Apparent typographical error