Student Learning Outcomes 1. Analyze philosophical arguments from philosophical texts of the early modern period, including the thesis that the author is trying to establish, as well as the premises and intermediate statements that allegedly entail the conclusion.
2. Identify fundamental questions peculiar to philosophy as a discipline in Western thought, including questions of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics through the reading of primary texts.
3. Summarize and compare various responses to these fundamental questions and how they change through time throughout the early modern period.Course Description This course is an introductory survey of early modern Western philosophy. Through an in-depth reading of primary source material, this course will examine the traditions of Rationalism and Empiricism that emerged during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Concepts to be discussed might include theories of knowledge and metaphysics, early modern scientific thought, and theories of the self.