He initiated an approach to epistemology and metaphysics based on reason, which was responsive to the emerging modern science rather than to the authority of established tradition. Descartes' efforts provided the impetus for groundbreaking developments in philosophy over the next 150 years. Other philosophers studied are Benedict Spinoza, Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. The student will come to appreciate the ways in which current thought has been shaped by these enormously influential philosophers. Furthermore, class study, supplemented by individual research and writing, on the work of these philosophers will deepen the student's understanding important philosophical issues.
Philosophy is everywhere, but literature is one of the richest lodes of philosophical thought.
In this course we read novels, plays, poetry, essays, and short stories as sources of philosophical ideas. Among the writers studied are Samuel Butler, Jorge Luis Borges, Martin Amis, John Barth, Walker Percy, and Rebecca Goldstein. The student learns to recognize and evaluate philosophical thought in contexts that are not exclusively philosophical. Language is transparent and opaque. We can use language without conscious thought, but when we turn our attention to language, it proves surprisingly difficult to explain.