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Catalog Description Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL C1000 Hours: 54 lecture Description: Sixteenth through Eighteenth century philosophy with emphasis on broad epistemological or metaphysical theories, developments of empiricism and rationalism from Descartes to Kant. (C-ID PHIL 140) (CSU, UC) Course Student Learning Outcomes CSLO #1: Describe and critically analyze the philosophical viewpoints of the Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. CSLO #2: Describe and critically analyze the philosophical viewpoints of the Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. CSLO #3: Compare and contrast the theories of knowledge and reality of the Rationalists and Empiricists. CSLO #4: Describe and critically analyze Kant's theory of knowledge and reality as contrasted with the views of the Rationalists and Empiricists. Effective Term Fall 2025 Course Type Credit - Degree-applicable Contact Hours 54 Outside of Class Hours 108 Total Student Learning Hours 162 Course Objectives 1. Describe the historical background and circumstances that gave rise to the birth of Contemporary Science out of Ancient and Scholastic philosophies; 2. Explicate and evaluate Cartesian epistemology and metaphysics; 3. Describe the continuity between the epistemological and metaphysical systems of the Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz; 4. Describe the continuity between the epistemological and metaphysical systems of the Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley and Hume; 5. Contrast the metaphysical systems of the Rationalists; 6. Contrast the metaphysical systems of the Empiricists; 7. Compare and contrast the epistemological and metaphysical systems of the Rationalists and Empiricists; 8. Describe and analyze Hume's problematization of Metaphysics; 9. Defend Kant's metaphysics and epistemology as a synthesis of rationalism and empiricism; 10. Demonstrate mastery of critical philosophical skills to present accurately and to interpret the positions of 16th to 18th century philosophers, based on readings of their primary texts; and 11. Critically analyze and evaluate arguments, assumptions, principles, and methods of 16th through 18th century philosophers. General Education Information Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability AA/AS - Literature & Language CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval) CSUGE - C2 Humanities Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval) IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval) IGETC - 3B Humanities Articulation Information CSU Transferable UC Transferable Methods of Evaluation Classroom Discussions Example: In an instructor led discussion the instructor will prompt students to identify the difference between Kant's concepts of an analytic and synthetic judgment. Have students describe: (a) three analytic judgments and what they imply for knowledge. (b) three synthetic judgments and what they imply for knowledge. After the instructor determines that students have sufficiently mastered the above concepts and distinctions, an instructor will lead a discussion prompted by the following question: Is "I think, therefore, I am?" an analytic judgement or a synthetic judgement? Explain your answer. Essay Examinations Example: Select one of the following questions (a, b, or c) and write a three page, typed, double spaced, size 12 font essay thoroughly responding to your chosen question. (a) Why doesn’t Descartes simply determine what's real by looking around him and use his sense experience? What does Descartes assume about sense experience as it method to know what's real? (b) In Book II of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke claims that the mind is a tabula rasa or blank sheet until experience in the form of sensation and reflection provide the basis for complex knowledge. What does Locke's epistemology assume about our ability to know what's real? (c) Immanuel Kant's epistemology claims that empiricism can't get us to understanding. How does the example of face-blindness (as explored in the documentary: The Mind's Eye: How the Brain Sees the World) reinforce Kant's metaphysics and epistemology as a synthesis of rationalism and empiricism? Student essays will be assessed based upon a rubric that includes criteria such as correctness of response, thoroughness of explanation, relevance of quotes provided, and demonstration of "justification" by way of quote selection. Objective Examinations Example: Students will take a multiple-choice examination on their ability to describe and analyze the assumptions entailed in Rationalism and Empiricism. Example: For Hume, what is the source of our knowledge of cause and effect? A. Reasoning "a priori" (i.e. independently of experience). B. In experience, finding that particular objects are constantly conjoined with each other. C. A type of intuition that is used to make sense of the world. D. Social conditioning from early childhood onwards. Projects Example: Working in student pairs, write a conversational dialogue based on Kant's metaphysics and epistemology as a response to Descartes and Hume. (1) In conversational language convey where Kant thinks Descartes and Locke got some things right, and where Kant thinks Descartes and Locke got some things wrong. Repeatable No Methods of Instruction Lecture/Discussion Distance Learning Lecture: Instructor will lead a discussion on the various historical circumstances that lead to the epistemological crisis Descartes was addressing in Discourse on Methods, 164 In an in-person or online discussion assignment, the instructor will prompt students to identify areas in the primary writings of Descartes that suggests his desire to find a firm epistemological foundation for the sciences. Students will orally or in writing explain how the quotes support Descartes' epistemic goal. Distance Learning Based upon in class or online video lectures, students will work in small in-person or online discussion groups identifying similarities and differences between the Rationalist and Empiricist philosophers. Students will learn to compare and contrast Rationalist epistemology and metaphysics using the visual compare and contrast Venn diagram. The instructor will evaluate the accuracy of student artifacts. Typical Out of Class Assignments Reading Assignments 1. Read Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Meditation I and II and come to class prepared to explain the epistemological purpose of the evil genius scenario. 2. Read John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human understanding, Book II, chapters 1-8, and come to class prepared to describe the difference between Primary and Secondary Qualities. Writing, Problem Solving or Performance 1. Formal Paper: write a 3 page minimum essay answering all parts of the question prompt that is typed, double-spaced, size 12 font paper: What is unable to be doubted, according to Descartes, and why does Descartes find this sufficient to serve as his First Philosophy? 2. Formal Paper: write a 3 page minimum essay answering all parts of the question prompt that is typed, double-spaced, size 12 font paper. Describe how Locke would answer the question, "If a tree falls in the forest with no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Students will describe differences between Primary and Secondary Qualities as explained by Locke. Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) Required Materials Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy Author: Rene Descartes, Translated by Donald A. Cress Publisher: Hackett Publication Date: 2011 Text Edition: 4th Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Author: John Locke Publisher: Hackett Publication Date: 1993 Text Edition: Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Author: Hume, David Publisher: Hackett Publication Date: 1993 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources Author: Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins, Editors Publisher: Hackett Publication Date: 2009 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies Author: Rene Descartes Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication Date: 2017 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Philosophic Classics, Volume III: Modern Philosophy Author: Forest E. Baird Publisher: Routledge Publication Date: 2010 Text Edition: 6th Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.