2007-08 AM Theories of Knowledge and Society: Hobbes, Locke, Shaftesbury and Mandeville

Neuer Ort: Sporttrakt Lektüre auf Montag 5. Nov. Leviathan "On Man"

• Time: Mo 18-20
• Place: S 2-203 (im Sporttrakt)
• Contact: Olaf Simons

Hobbes, Locke, Shaftesbury and Mandeville have become central figures of all modern debates of philosophy and society: Hobbes as the prime advocate of absolutism, Locke as the philosopher behind the American constitution, Shaftesbury became famous with the fashion of 18th-century sentimentalism, Mandeville is read today as the first proponent of what came to be known as liberalism. The debate these authors unfolded showed a strange readiness to base theories of how men should live together on new theories of knowledge. One could say they simply reacted on the scientific progress their age. The arguments they produced had, however, implications far beyond the new fields of research: they were immediately suspected of atheism and seen as attacks on the moral foundations human society rested on.

The seminar will focus on Hobbes and Locke. We will read and discuss passages of their texts to understand how they managed to reach beyond the strictly philosophical debate. Religion and politics will be of key interest here. The seminar should at the same moment provide a good background for individual explorations of 17th- and 18th-century plays, poems and novels which have been read as influenced by the philosophical debate and the enlightenment it is supposed to have spread.

Oct 22, 2007

We discussed the general course outline. First aim to read Hobbes "of Man" and in a survey: "of Common-Wealth". Homework read into Leviathan up to p.17 original pagination.

Oct 29, 2007

We spoke about the frontispiece and the program of Hobbes' Leviathan - and we read into the beginning. Hobbes, so the impression, is "straight forward" and "common sense", though it seemed not quite clear why he should begin a book on Government with remarks on the nature of man and human knowledge. A look at the topics he touched allowed another question: which are the topics he does not touch? What does he say about the soul? We had a brief discussion on alternative theories of knowledge - theories accepting ideas as the primary matter of our understanding.

Homework - read through the chapter "On Man" - p.85 original pagination. Do not try to understand everything - do rather get a genereal idea of what Hobbes is trying to state.

Feb 4, 2007

Literature

• Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan. London, 1651. (Recomended edition: Penguin)
• John Locke. Two Treatises on Government. London, 1690.
• John Locke. An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. London, 1689. (I will supply materials)
• Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury. An Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit. London, 1699. (I will supply materials)
• Bernard Mandeville. Fable of the Bees. 3nd edition. London, 1724. (Recomended edition: Penguin)