After taking this course, the student will be able to…
- Identify philosophical questions and to
- Summaries and explain some of the main ideas of prominent philosophers from different periods.
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In this course, you will introduce yourself to philosophy, instead of being introduced to it. The aim is not that you learn interesting things about philosophy or philosophers, but that you start ‘doing philosophy’. The teachers provide necessary information and they ask questions to keep you on track. In short, they coach you. But, the real learning and teaching happens in your personal encounter with primary texts of Plato, Descartes, Kant, Wittgenstein and others, and in the philosophic dialogue about them with your fellow students and the teachers.
Leading questions in this first encounter with the best practices of great philosophers are: how to read a philosophical text? What ‘methods’ do philosophers propose? What, within different philosophical practices, are the roles of logic, criticism and argument, of creativity and imagination, of rhetoric and persuasion, of intuition and contemplation? What is the goal of philosophy, what are its main questions, what is its scope, what are its limitations and … what’s the fun of it?
This course will take place in the third quartile of the first year. It will be given by Jan Hoogland, Michael Nagenborg and Nils Wagner. Every class on Wednesday is intended as a seminar for information, reading suggestions and study guidelines, and for discussion with the teacher. Classes on Monday (except the first one) are preparatory group sessions. An extensive study guide will be available at the beginning of the course.
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