PHIL 100 Section 005
Spring 2006
Course Materials
For the ancient Greeks, the owl was a symbol of philosophy, as well as of many other things. Why this owl has a spear, a shield, and an excellent owl-size helmet, not to mention a human-like arm, is not clear. Possibly it is fed up with goat attacks ?
"The First
Philosophers of Ancient Greece"
Study Questions (updated regularly)
King, Letter from Birmingham Jail (in .pdf form)
King, Letter from Birmingham Jail (in HTML)
Hints for writing tests, exams, and papers
You will receive the reading from Aristotle's Metaphysics in class (it is a photocopy), but if you would like to get a head start, there is another good translation of the text available on the web. Click on this link, then click on Book I. We will be reading only the first 2 chapters of Book I. (Book I is the same as Book A.)
Cherubin, Notes on Aristotle's Metaphysics A1-2 (Book A is the same as Book I.)
Optional supplementary notes on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Optional supplementary notes on the connections among philosophy, the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century in Europe, and the political revolutions in Europe and the Americas in the 18th century (these notes were developed for my HIST 100 section)
Fowler, Life of Galileo (University of Virginia) This page is required reading. If you are interested in Galileo's new vision of science, follow the links to Prof. Fowler's other excellent pages of notes (optional).
Notes on Descartes' Discourse Part Four
Notes on Descartes' Discourse Part Five
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding : Click on this link to reach the table of contents for An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, the required reading by Hume. Once you reach the table of contents for An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, click on Sections II, III, IV, V, VII, and XII to reach the assigned reading. We will NOT be reading the other chapters of the book, though you are certainly welcome to read them and pose questions about them. If you would like to download the whole book onto a disk, see the instructions at the bottom of the table of contents page.
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan : Click on this link to reach the table of contents for Leviathan, the required reading by Hobbes. Once you reach the table of contents for Leviathan, click on Chapters XI, XIII, XIV, XV, and XVII to reach the assigned reading. We will NOT be reading the other chapters of Leviathan - just these five. If you would like to download the whole book onto a disk, see the instructions at the bottom of the table of contents page.
John Locke, Second
Treatise of Civil Government : Click on this link to reach the
table of contents for the Second Treatise of Civil Government, the
required reading by John Locke. Once you reach the table of contents for
the Second Treatise of Civil Government, click on Chapters I, II,
III, IV, V, and VII. We will NOT be reading the other chapters of the Second
Treatise of Civil Government - just these six. If you would like to
download the whole book onto a disk, see the instructions at the bottom
of the table of contents page.
The American Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence
This link goes to the main National Archives Experience page. To reach
each document (Contsitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration), click on the
headings near the top of the page. This will bring you to pages
introducing the documents; from there, click on "read transcript" to
see the text of the documents.