Philosophy 25B

An examination of central issues in early modern philosophy by way of texts by Rene Descartes, John Locke, Julien Offray de La Mettrie, George Berkeley, David Hume, Thomas Reid, and (very briefly) Immanuel Kant. Topics covered will include: skepticism and knowledge; matter and the soul; perception, thought, and personal identity; and the nature of moral judgment. Of particular interest will be the rise of philosophical naturalism, and the question of how the modern scientific understanding of nature impacts philosophers’ treatments of the above subjects.