Professor Matthew Leisinger
mleising@yorku.ca
Office Location:  S441 Ross
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 77592

Office Hours:  Tuesdays at 1:00 pm in Ross S441 (in-person) or by appointment via Zoom

This course is an introduction to topics in seventeenth-century European philosophy and presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy. We will begin with an in-depth study of René Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy, in which Descartes argues for Cartesian Dualism, the view that the mind and the body are two completely distinct things. In the rest of the course, we will examine various consequences of and reactions to Cartesian Dualism in the seventeenth century.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

This course will employ a “flipped classroom” instructional strategy. Students will be required to view pre-recorded lecture videos via eClass/YouTube prior to each class meeting and will therefore require an Internet browser with a higher-speed Internet connection.

All required readings will be posted to eClass. All writing assignments will be submitted to eClass via TurnItIn. Students will require the ability to read Adobe PDF files and to read and create text documents.

The instructor will be available for office hours both in-person and by appointment via Zoom. In order to meet with the instructor via Zoom, students will need the Zoom video-conferencing software, a working microphone (webcam optional), and a stable, higher-speed Internet connection.

Students shall note the following:

• Zoom is hosted on servers in the U.S. This includes recordings done through Zoom.
• If you have privacy concerns about your data, provide only your first name or a nickname when you join a session.
• The system is configured in a way that all participants are automatically notified when a session is being recorded. In other words, a session cannot be recorded without you knowing about it.

Times and locations:

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30–1:00

All texts will be available online via eClass.

For students who prefer physical texts, the following recommended (not required) editions will be available from the bookstore. These are the texts that we will be reading for at least two full weeks.

• René Descartes. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by Donald A. Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN: 978-0-87220-420-1.

Since we will be focusing on Descartes for approximately the first five weeks, students are particularly encouraged to purchase a physical copy of the Meditations. This edition is also available from the York Library website.

• Benedictus de Spinoza. A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works. Edited and translated by Edwin Curley. Princeton: Princeton UP. ISBN: 9780691000671.

We will be focusing on Spinoza’s Ethics for two weeks. The Ethics is available online in a helpful hypertext edition (https://capone.mtsu.edu/rbombard/RB/Spinoza/ethica-front.html). But, since Spinoza can be particularly difficult to follow, students might find it especially valuable to have a physical copy. Note that this specific edition of the Ethics is not available from the York library website.

Quizzes: 10% completion + 5% bonus marks

Two writing assignments (1000-words each): 2 x 30%

Final exam: 30%

This is an in-person course. The course will employ a “flipped classroom” instructional strategy. Students will be required to do the required readings and to watch pre-recorded lecture videos prior to coming to class. Each class will begin with a short one-question quiz on the material presented in the pre-recorded lecture video, followed by discussion and other activities.

• To introduce students to some of the major ideas and arguments of seventeenth-century European philosophy
• To introduce students to techniques of philosophical analysis
• To develop students’ written philosophical skills

Additional Information:

Fall classes begin W Sep 7

Week 1

R Sep 8: Introduction and Background

Week 2

T Sep 13: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy

R Sep 15: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (continued)

Week 3

T Sep 20: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (continued)

R Sep 22: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (continued)

Week 4

T Sep 27: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (continued)

R Sep 29: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (continued)

Week 5

T Oct 4: The Correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and Rene Descartes (selections)

R Oct 6: Malebranche, The Search After Truth (selections)

First writing assignment due Friday October 7

Fall reading week Oct 8–14

Week 6

T Oct 18: Leibniz, Discourse on Metaphysics

R Oct 20: Leibniz, New System (selections)

Week 7

T Oct 25: Leibniz, Monadology

R Oct 27: Leibniz, Monadology (continued)

Week 8

T Nov 1: Du Châtelet, Foundations of Physics (selections)

R Nov 3: Hobbes, Leviathan (selections)

Week 9

T Nov 8: Cavendish, Philosophical Letters and Grounds of Natural Philosophy (selections)

R Nov 10: Descartes, Discourse on the Method (selections); Cavendish, Philosophical Letters (selections)

Week 10

T Nov 15: Cavendish, Philosophical Letters (selections)

R Nov 17: Cavendish, Grounds of Natural Philosophy (selections)

Second writing assignment due Friday November 18

Week 11

T Nov 22: Spinoza, Ethics 1–2

R Nov 24: Spinoza, Ethics 1–2 (continued)

Week 12

T Nov 29: Spinoza, Ethics 1–2 (continued)

R Dec 1: Spinoza, Ethics, 1–2 (continued)

Week 13

T Dec 6: Spinoza, Ethics, 1–2 (continued)

Fall classes end T Dec 6

Final exam to be held during exam period Dec 8–23