Professor David Jopling
jopling@yorku.ca

Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What makes us human? This course is an introduction to the philosophy of human nature. The course will explore a handful of attempts by major philosophers and scientists to answer these questions. It begins at Oxford in the seventeenth century, with the English philosopher John Locke, and ends at Harvard, in the year 2020, with the biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham. In between, the course ranges over the musings of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Arthur Schopenhauer, Charles Darwin, Jean Paul Sartre, Joseph Henrich, and Michael Tomasello.

Technical requirements for taking the course: You will need a computer or tablet, and an internet connection. There is no video conferencing in this course. Office hours will be held twice weekly via zoom (audio only); or by phone, or by email exchange.

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Times and locations: The entire course, including submission of assignments, and discussion, will take place on the course’s moodle site. Lectures will be pre-recorded and posted to the moodle site at the start of each week. This course has no live virtual meetings, except for office hours. Like an online course, you can learn the course material at your own pace, following the schedule of readings and activities. There will be no in-person interactions on campus.

Virtual office hours: Virtual office hours by email exchanges Monday to Friday, or by zoom audio meeting or phone, one to two hours per week. Times and days TBA.

There is no course kit and no textbook. All texts used in the course are in the public domain and are found on the internet. URLs and links to these will be posted on the moodle site and in the syllabus.

Two online quizzes (40 minutes), 10% each; one take-home exam (2 weeks to complete), 30%; one final essay, 50%. Dates TBA.

Lectures will be pre-recorded and posted to the moodle site at the beginning of each week. Discussion and Q&A will take place asynchronously on the moodle discussion board.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

1. understand and explain the main philosophical and/or scientific positions defended by Locke, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Sartre, Henrich, Tomasello, and Wrangham on the question of human nature;
2. critically analyze and evaluate the arguments and evidence used by these philosophers and scientists in defense of their respective positions;
3. understand and explain the relevance of these philosophers and scientists to contemporary debates in philosophy, science, politics and public affairs.

Course policies

1. All audio recordings should be used for educational purposes only, and as a means for enhancing accessibility.
2. Students do not have permission to duplicate, copy, and/or distribute the recordings outside class (these actions can violate not only copyright laws but also FIPPA.
3. All recordings will be destroyed after the end of the course.
4. Please hand in all assignments on time. Extensions are allowed in the event of illness, bereavement, disabilities, or special needs. Wok that is submitted late and that falls outside of these conditions will incur a late penalty of 2% per day.
5. Please refer to Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.
6. Please refer to The Academic Integrity Tutorial.