Text:

Ludwig Wittgenstein. The Blue and Brown Books (Prentice-Hall, 1958).

Handouts:

Bertrand Russell, chs. 5, 12, and sels. from chs. 1, 4 of The Problems of Philosophy (Russell handout 1, Russell handout 2)

Ludwig Wittgenstein, sels. from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (TLP handout)

JSTOR:

Rudolf Carnap, “On the Character of Philosophic Problems,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 1 (1934), pp. 5-19 (on JSTOR)

Donald Davidson, “On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, vol. 47 (1974), pp. 5-20 (on JSTOR)

──────, “Knowing One’s Own Mind,” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, vol. 60 (1987), pp. 441-458 (on JSTOR)

C. A. M. Maund and J. W. Reeves, “Report of Lectures on Philosophy and Logical Syntax, Delivered on 8 10 and 12 October at Bedford College in the University of London, by Professor Rudolf Carnap,” Analysis, vol. 2 (1934), pp. 42-48 (on JSTOR)

Hilary Putnam, “Meaning and Reference,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 70 (1973), pp. 699-711 (on JSTOR)

W. V. Quine, “Notes on Existence and Necessity,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 40 (1943), pp. 113-127 (on JSTOR)

──────, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism,” The Philosophical Review, vol. 60 (1951), pp. 20-43 (on JSTOR)

Requirements: (1) Two papers (the first paper about 2-3 pp. and the second paper 5-6 pp.); I will suggest the forms of the papers but you will have substantial freedom of choice in the topic. (2) Regular, prepared, and active participation in class discussion. Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 25% and 55%, respectively, for the papers and 20% for class participation.

Attendance and due dates: As part of my evaluation of your participation, I will be keeping a record of your attendance. You will be automatically excused if you notify me in advance that you will miss a class (e-mail or voice-mail messages are fine). After the fact, you will be excused if you give me a good reason or a dean’s excuse. Due dates for the papers are subject to negotiation. I have set a default due date for the class, but I am willing to set individual due dates (within reason) for those who find that inconvenient. My policy on missed deadlines is similar to that on missed classes: I’ll re-negotiate the deadline (again within reason) if I hear in advance, but after the fact I’ll expect an excuse. Unexcused missed deadlines will have an effect on your participation grade.