Course Instructor Contact: Professor David Jopling

jopling@yorku.ca
Office Location:  S435 Ross Building
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 77588

Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What makes us human? This course is an introduction to the philosophy of human nature. The course explores a handful of attempts by major philosophers and scientists to answer these questions. It begins in ancient Greece, around 270 BC, with the hedonist philosopher Epicurus (we are essentially pleasure-seekers). It then moves to Amsterdam in the 1600s, with the French philosopher-mathematician Rene Descartes (we are essentially thinking things) and the Jewish-Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (we are finite parts of an infinite God/Nature). Then it is on to Oxford in the late 1600s, with the English philosopher John Locke (we come into the world as blank slates); and then to Germany in the 1700s-1800s, with the philosophers Immanuel Kant (the human mind, in imposing order and meaning onto an ultimately unknowable reality, is itself unknowable) and Arthur Schopenhauer (pointless and meaningless creatures, we are nature's mistake); then to Geneva, with the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (we are born free and innately good, only to be corrupted by society and civilization); and then to occupied Paris during WWII, with the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (in a world without a divine creator, we are ultimately free to define ourselves in any way we choose). The course then changes gears and explores Darwin's evolutionary picture of life and its implications for human nature (we are large-brained bipedal African primates, ancient members of the great ape family, and a mere twig on the ancient tree of life); and it ends in North America, in the year 2024, with five Darwinian-inspired anthropologists: the biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham (we are a self-domesticated species); the evolutionary anthropologist Joe Henrich (we are the only species to have evolved culture, which shapes us as we shape it); the evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker (with our big hard-wired brains and improvisational intelligence, we are the only species to have entered into the cognitive niche); the evolutionary comparative psychologist Mike Tomasello (we are the only species to have evolved the capacity to read minds, to learn culturally, and to generate cumulative culture); and the anthropologist-primatologist Sarah Hrdy (novel child-rearing conditions among archaic humans, and not seen in other great apes, led to  natural selection favouring traits such as mind-reading and empathizing).

Technical requirements for taking the course: You will need a computer or tablet, and an internet connection. There is no video conferencing in this course. Office hours will be held weekly via zoom (audio only); or by phone, or by email exchange.

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Times and locations: This is an asynchronous online course. The entire course, including submission of assignments and tests, take place on the course’s e-class site. Lectures will be pre-recorded as podcasts and posted to the e-class site at the start of each week. This course has no live or interactive virtual meetings. You can learn the course material at your own pace, following the schedule of readings. However, the four assignments must be completed on time and on the assigned days (two quizzes, one take home exam, and one final essay). There will be no in-person interactions on campus.

Virtual office hours: Virtual office hours by email exchanges Monday to Friday, or by zoom audio meeting or phone, two hours per week. Times and days TBA.

There is no course kit and no textbook. All texts used in the course are in the public domain and are found on the internet. URLs and links to these will be posted on the e-class site and in the syllabus.

Two online quizzes (40 minutes), 15% each;
one take-home exam (2 weeks to complete), 30%;
one final essay, 40%. Dates TBA.

Lectures will be pre-recorded as podcasts and posted to the e-class site at the beginning of each week. Each podcast will run 20-40 minutes, and there will be several of them each week. Discussion and Q&A will take place asynchronously on the e-class discussion board.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

1. understand and explain the main philosophical and/or scientific positions defended by Epicurus, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Sartre, Henrich, Tomasello, Hrdy, and Wrangham on the question of human nature;
2. critically analyze and evaluate the arguments and evidence used by these philosophers and scientists in defense of their respective positions;
3. understand and explain the relevance of these philosophers and scientists to contemporary debates in philosophy, science, politics and public affairs.

1. All audio recordings should be used for educational purposes only, and as a means for enhancing accessibility.
2. Students do not have permission to duplicate, copy, and/or distribute the recordings outside class (these actions can violate not only copyright laws but also FIPPA.
3. All recordings will be destroyed after the end of the course.
4. Please hand in all assignments on time. Extensions are allowed in the event of illness, bereavement, disabilities, or special needs. Wok that is submitted late and that falls outside of these conditions will incur a late penalty of 2% per day.
5. Please refer to Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.
6. Please refer to The Academic Integrity Tutorial.