Topics in
American Philosophy:
Process and
Pragmatism
PL 304, Fall
2006
TTH
2:00-3:20, HC 004
Bill
Myers, HC 222, 226-4868
Office
Hours: MW 12-2:00; TTH 8:30-9:30 and 12-1; and by appointment.
Email:
bmyers@bsc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The title of this course, as noted
above, is “Process and Pragmatism.” As the title suggests, we are going to take
a look at American pragmatism and the process metaphysics which underlies it.
While not all process metaphysicians are pragmatists, all of the classic
American pragmatists are process metaphysicians. In order to get a clear
picture of the metaphysics of pragmatism, we will be looking at some
philosophers who are not explicitly in the pragmatic tradition, most notably
Whitehead and Hartshorne While there are pragmatic elements in both of their
metaphysics, they are not generally counted as being
part of the pragmatic tradition. However, Whitehead, especially, does offer us
the most systematically developed process metaphysical system. Understanding
his system first will aid us in exploring the pragmatists with their less (and
sometimes anti-) systematic approach.
TEXTS:
Philosophers
of Process, Douglas Browning and William T. Myers, eds.,
Science and the Modern World. Whitehead, Alfred North. Free Press.
REQUIREMENTS:
1) Attendance and informed contribution to class discussion. This is a
small, upper level class, so attendance and participation are essential for its
success. I expect all of us to diligently work at reading and understanding the
material. Excessive absences (more than 4) will result in the lowering of a
final letter grade by one full letter. Any more absences than that will
jeopardize your making a passing grade in the class.
2) Short papers: You will be
required to write two (2) short papers, no less than three, not much more than
five pages long. One of these papers will be presented to the class. For the
presentation paper, you must provide me and all of students in the class with a
copy of the paper at or before the class in which it is to be read. Each paper
is to be typed and double spaced. The papers should contain a significant
amount of critical analysis which is focused on some claim or argument made by
or relevant to the author of the material assigned. Mere exposition should be
kept to a minimum, as each of us (in the best of all possible worlds) will have
already read the relevant material. An acceptable alternative will be a
clarification paper that sheds light on some particularly dense or puzzling
passage from the reading. If the presenter wishes, the paper may be rewritten
and handed in within two weeks. Please note that everyone must do either a
presentation or a paper by October 12.
3) Term paper. At our scheduled
final exam time (Dec. 13, 1:00), you will turn in a word-processed, double spaced,
10 (8-12) page paper. This paper should be a critical discussion of some issue
relevant to the material assigned or discussed in class. I will pass out more
specific information on the assignment as the semester progresses.
4) Short assignments. A lot of this
material is going to be new to you, and we will run across a great number of
new, technical terms. In order to understand the philosophers we are reading, it is essential that we have a good grasp of these. In
order to help with this, I will periodically hand out a vocabulary list that
you will need to fill out and turn in. (I will, of course, hand these back to
you to keep with your notes). As you do your reading, you should also write
down and try to define any technical terms that you run across. I may also give
you some questions (in advance) to answer as you do the reading. I will collect
these and score them.
GRADING:
Short papers: 20%
each
Definitions and
questions: 10%
Term paper: 30%
Class participation: 20%
TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
8/31 Introduction to the course; background on
metaphysics.
9/5 A basic intro to process
metaphysics.
9/7 Science
and the Modern World, “The Origins of Modern Science.”
9/12 “Mathematics as an
Element in the History of Thought.”
9/14 “The Century of Genius.”
9/19 “The Eighteenth Century.”
9/21 “The Romantic Reaction.”
9/26 “The Nineteenth Century.”
9/28 The beginnings of American Pragmatism:
Charles Sanders Peirce
10/3 Peirce, continued.
10/5 William James.
10/10 James, continued.
10/12
Whitehead’s metaphysics—the Big System!
10/17 Whitehead, continued
10/24 Finish Whitehead
10/26 Introduction to John
Dewey’s metaphysics.
Reading: "Dewey and
Ortega on the Starting Point", Douglas Browning (handout). Dewey,
"The Postulate of Immediate Empiricism" (Blackboard)
10/31 Dewey
11/2 Dewey
11/7 Dewey
11/9 Dewey
11/14
Dewey
11/16 George Herbert Mead
11/21
No class—I’m out of town
11/28 Mead
11/30 Charles Hartshorne
12/5 Hartshorne
12/13 Final papers due in my office by 1 p.m.