Copyright © 1996 R.J. Kilcullen
A study of Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and other fourteenth century philosophers, and of medieval elements in Descartes and other early modern philosophers. Normally PHIL252 is prerequisite to PHIL360. Please enrol as an external student, even if you take your other courses internally (but internal students should attend tutorials).
I expect enrollments to be small, so I have not done a Readings Book to be sold through the bookshop. (Unless a fair number of copies are sold the price per copy is high.) Items from which you will be asked to read will be kept in Special Reserve (see Prescribed Readings below). External students living outside the metropolitan area can get the library to photocopy and mail a chapter from a book in SR; phone (02)-9850-7540 between 11-12 or 4-5 Mon-Fri.) There will be cassettes on the set readings (instead of lectures). The script of the cassettes is available on the Web at http://www.mq.edu.au/~ockham/0pge5260.html; printouts will be in the Library Special Reserve, course folder. (If you want this material on diskette ask me.)
Preliminary reading: F. Copleston, A History of Philosophy (B72.C6), vol. 2, 'Augustine to Scotus', chapters 45-50 (on Duns Scotus); vol. 3, 'Ockham to Suarez', chapters 3-8 (on Ockham). Then listen to Cassette 1, and read from A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B721.P48), chapter entitled 'John Duns Scotus', pp. 555-604.
(1) Either (a) two essays of about 2,000 words (each 40%), or one of about 4,000 words (80%); or (b) one essay of about 2,000 words (50%) and three short papers of about 1000 words, (each 10%), with no overlap between short papers and essay.
The due date for the 4,000 word essay, and also for the 2,000 word essays, is October 30. The short papers are due, one each, on August 21, September 17, and November 6.
(2) A two-hour exam (20%) testing familiarity with the set readings. Answer three questions, at least one from each part. Part I will include passages from Scotus, Part II from Ockham and Descartes. Discuss the passage, explaining its meaning and locating it in the author's general argument. Include, when appropriate, an account of what other authors say on the topic.
The weekly tutorial discussions will deal with the readings indicated on the cassette for the previous week. Come prepared to say give and account of the content of the reading and be ready to discuss the philosophical issues raised.
1. Religious language: Is Scotus right in claiming that we have concepts univocally applicable to God and creatures, and that otherwise we could have no knowledge of God? (See Scotus in A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages, p. 560 ff.)
2. Is Scotus's argument for the existence of God successful? (See Duns Scotus, A Treatise on God as First Principle.)
3. Give a critical account of Descartes' argument for God's existence, with special attention to the medieval elements. (See Descartes, Meditations, III and V.)
4. Universals: What is Ockham's solution to the problem of universals, and is it successful? (See William of Ockham, Theory of Terms, tr. M.J. Loux, pp. 77-88.)
5. Does Ockham succeed in refuting Duns Scotus' theory of the common nature? (See William of Ockham, Ordinatio, I, dist. 2, q. 6.)
6. Give a critical account of Berkeley's criticism of Locke on universals, with special attention to the medieval comparisons. (See Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Book 3, ch. 3; Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge, sections 1-5.)
7. Discuss the adequacy of Ockham's treatment of the question whether God's knowledge of contingent events makes them, after all, necessary. (William Ockham, Predestination, God's Foreknowledge and Future Contingents, tr. M.M. Adams and N. Kretzmann.)
8. Does Ockham's theory of knowledge lead to scepticism? (See E. Gilson, The Unity of Philosophical Experience, pp. 61-91; William of Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions, tr. A.J. Freddoso and F.E. Kelley, pp. 413-7, 506-8.)
(Note: These papers should be based not only on the lecture notes but mainly on the readings.)
(1). What is the relationship between Scotus's argument for God's existence and the argument of Anselm's Proslogion?
(2). Compare Thomas Aquinas and Scotus on the question what is the first object of the intellect.
(3). What is the role of the "formal distinction" in Scotus's theory of individuation?
(4). Does freedom of the will mean what Scotus says it means?
(5). What are the disagreements between Ockham and Scotus on intuitive cognition?
(6). What is Descartes' theory of the kinds of distinction, and what role does it have in his argument? (Consult his Principles of Philosophy.)
To follow the cassettes, and in preparation for the examination, you will need to read the following (available in Special Reserve):
A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B721.P48), pp. 560-604 (Scotus), 626-642 (Ockham).
Translation (to be distributed): John Duns Scotus Ordinatio II, dist. 3, pars 1, questions 5 and 6, paragraphs 168-70, 176-181, 183-7.
Translation (to be distributed): William of Ockham, Ordinatio I, dist. 2, q. 6, paragraphs 21-32, 53-55, 85-92, 112-116, 133-138.
William Ockham, Predestination, God's Foreknowledge and Future Contingents, tr. M.M. Adams and N. Kretzmann (B765.O33.T73), pp. 80-92.
William of Ockham, Philosophical Writings, tr. P. Boehner (B765.O31.B6), pp. 22-4, 41-5
William of Ockham, Theory of Terms, tr. M.J. Loux (BC60.O252), pp. 77-88.
William of Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions, tr. A.J. Freddoso and F.E. Kelley (BX890.W4613), pp. 413-7, 506-8.
Descartes, Meditations III and V, in The Philosophical Works of Descartes, vol. 2 (B1837.C67.P48132.vol2).
Note: "*" indicates an item in Special Reserve.
*A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B721.P48)
*J.F. Wippel and A.B. Wolter, Medieval Philosophy (B700.W5)
*Duns Scotus, Philosophical Writings, tr. A. Wolter (B765.D7.W6)
Duns Scotus, God and Creatures: The Quodlibetal Questions, tr. F. Alluntis and A.B. Wolter (BX1749.D8213)
*Duns Scotus, A Treatise on God as First Principle (B765.D73.D43)
Duns Scotus, Duns Scotus on the Will and Morality (B765.D73.D86)
*William of Ockham, Predestination, God's Foreknowledge and Future Contingents, tr. M.M. Adams and N. Kretzmann (B765.O33.T73)
*William of Ockham, Philosophical Writings, tr. P. Boehner (B765.O31.B6)
*William of Ockham, Theory of Terms, tr. M.J. Loux (BC60.O252)
*William of Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions, tr. A.J. Freddoso and F.E. Kelley (BX890.W4613)
William of Ockham, Theory of Propositions, tr. A.J. Freddoso and H. Schuurman (BC60.O25213)
*R. Descartes, The Philosophical Works of Descartes (3 vols.) (B1837.C67.P48132).
*G. Berkeley, Works, vol. 2 (B1303.1948.vol2)
*D. Hume, Hume on Religion (B1455.W6)
*D. Hume, Treatise on Human Nature (B1485/1978)
*D. Hume, Inquiries (B1455.A5/1902)
*F. Copleston, A History of Philosophy, vols. 2 and 3 (B72.C6)
E. Gilson, History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B72.G48)
*F.E. Peters, Greek Philosophical Terms: an Historical Lexicon (B49.P4)
Dictionary of the Middle Ages (Ref.D114.D5)
New Catholic Encyclopedia (Ref.BX841.N44)
N. Kretzmann, A. Kenny, J. Pinborg, The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy (B721.C35)
A.B. Wolter, The Philosophical Theology of John Duns Scotus (BT40.W64/1990)
P. Boehner, Collected Articles on Ockham (B765.O3.B6)
M.M. Adams, William Ockham, 2 vols. (Notre Dame, 1987) (B765.O34.A62). Vol. 1: chs. 1-4 on universals; ch. 14 on scepticism. Vol. 2: ch. 27 on freedom and contingency.
K.H. Tachau, Vision and Certitude in the Age of Ockham (B765.O34.T33), p. 113-152.
J. Kilcullen, Sincerity and Truth: Essays on Arnauld, Bayle and Toleration, Essay IV ("The Ethics of Belief and Inquiry") and Conclusion (B1824.A864.K57/1988)
A. Cobban, The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to c. 1500 (LF111.C62)
J.I Catto, The History of the University of Oxford, vol. 1 (LF508.H57)
D.R. Leader, A History of the University of Cambridge (LF109.H57)
H. Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (LA177.R25)
G. Leff, Paris and Oxford Universities in the 13th and 14th Centuries (LA91.L4)
W. Courtenay, Schools and Scholars in Fourteenth Century England (LA631.3.C68/1967)
(ask at the desk)
"The Concept of Relation", from Julius Weinberg, Abstraction, Relation and Induction (University of Wisconsin Press, 1965).
E. Gilson, The Unity of Philosophical Experience, pp. 61-91.
Streveler, Paul A. "Ockham and his Critics on Intuitive Cognition", Franciscan Studies 35 (1975), pp.223-36.
Kilcullen, "Descartes: Ideas, their objective reality and its cause".
You may wish to use The Philosopher's Index, a quarterly bibliography of philosophy that covers books and articles in several languages published in many countries. It covers ancient, medieval and modern philosophy.
The library has a CD-ROM version, readable by computer (workstation 14). Ask for the disk at the library Information Desk. Bring your library photocopy card to pay for printout, and/or a 3.5" floppy disk formatted for MS-Dos to which you can transfer the items you want.
Use the "Easy Menu Search", search the "Word/Phrase
Index". Type the word to search for, e.g. "Anselm",
then
How to contact me: Room W6A 627, tel. 9850-8810. Address: c/- School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Macquarie University, N.S.W. 2109. Fax: (02) 9850-8892 (do not use fax to submit assignments). E-mail: john.kilcullen@mq.edu.au
John Kilcullen
May 20, 1998
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