History of Philosophy II A

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Component One: Kant's Epistemology and Metaphysics (Dr Samantha Fazekas) This component will offer an introduction to Kant's theoretical philosophy as articulated in the Critique of Pure Reason. We will focus primarily on topics from the first half of the book, and will examine core topics, such as the Copernican Turn, Kant's doctrine of transcendental idealism, the analytic/synthetic distinction, the nature of space, the problem of causation and the response to Humean scepticism, and Kant's theory of the self. This component will aim to show the centrality of Kant's thought to an understanding of the development of the history of philosophy. Component Two: Classical Islamic Philosophy from Al-Kindi to Averroes (Dr Farbod Akhlaghi). From around the 9th to the 12th century CE, the Islamic world was one of the world's major centres of philosophical activity. The aim of these lectures is to introduce you to the philosophy of this Classical Islamic period. These philosophers engaged in important, novel work that informed much of the philosophy that followed, especially in the medieval Christian world. They tackled topics as varied as the justification of belief, the nature of prophecy, and the metaphysics of modality, to ethical problems and debate over the ideal political state. We will undertake a journey together through the work of several Persian and Arab philosophers from Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Al-Ghazali, to Averroes (Ibn Rushd). Throughout, we will also explore their connections to contemporary philosophical debates today.