AP/PHIL4040 3.0 A: Seminar in Contemporary Philosophy
Offered by: PHIL
Session
Fall 2023
Term
F
Format
SEMR
Instructor
Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite
An intensive examination of problems and contemporary issues in philosophy. Topics vary from year to year. Prerequisite: At least nine credits in AP/PHIL courses.
Course Start Up
Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.
For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.
For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit Students Getting Started UIT or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.
Professor Claudine Verheggen
cverheg@yorku.ca
Office Location: S436 Ross Building
Phone Number: (416) 736-2100 Ext. 77553
Office Hours: Tu-Th 1-2 pm
The focus of the course will be on the philosophy of Donald Davidson. Davidson thinks that answering the question, what is it for words to mean what they do, is the best way for philosophers to approach questions, not only about meaning, but also about truth, knowledge, and reality. We will thus start by studying his views in philosophy of language and mind, focusing on his argument for the claim that only someone who has interacted with another person could have a language and thoughts. We will then examine the consequences this claim has for our knowledge of the external world and for our understanding of the relation between thought and reality.
(available at the York bookstore):
Davidson, D., Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation
Davidson, D., Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective
Myers, R. and C. Verheggen, Donald Davidson’s Triangulation Argument: A Philosophical Inquiry
- Class attendance and participation: 10% of final grade
- In-class test: 20%
- Paper topic and annotated bibliography: 10%
- Class presentation: 10%
5. Term Paper: 50%
Weekly Class (3 hours); 5 components to class assessment.
- Students will be able to engage major debates concerning specific issues in contemporary philosophy, as well as the arguments and theories underlying various positions in those debates.
- Students will be able to think critically about philosophical concepts and theories that are currently at the foreground of philosophical debates.
- Students will develop advanced analytic and communicative skills in philosophy; namely, the ability to articulate and defend a coherent thesis within an essay, as well as the ability to absorb, synthesize and reflect upon complex information gained from reading assignments or in a classroom setting.
- Academic Honesty
- Student Rights and Responsibilities
- Religious Observance
- Grading Scheme and Feedback
- 20% Rule
No examinations or tests collectively worth more than 20% of the final grade in a course will be given during the final 14 calendar days of classes in a term. The exceptions to the rule are classes which regularly meet Friday evenings or on Saturday and/or Sunday at any time, and courses offered in the compressed summer terms. - Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
