Continental Rationalism

Course content

This course examines the philosophies of the three leading thinkers of the 17th century: Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. The emphasis is on the central theses associated with rationalism: (i) that at least some of our concepts are not gained from experience but are innate; and (ii) that reason alone can provide us with knowledge of the external world through `intuition` of self-evident propositions and through `deduction` from those propositions. Selections from the most important works of these philosopherswill be read. Epistemological, metaphysical, ontological, and ethical issues of the Continental Rationalism will be investigated with reference to these central theses. Relations between Continental Rationalism and British Empiricism will be brought into view.