This is a tentative schedule. Check the assignments page for the most current information.
| Week - Date | Topic | Content | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - 8/18 | Course setup/Kant’s agent | Rational Conditions/Kant on Substance & Powers | Neta, Malmgren, McLear, ch. 1 |
| 2 - 8/25 | Kant’s free agent | Kant’s conception of freedom/spontaneity | Third Antinomy & Groundwork, Pereboom |
| 3 - 9/1 | Enkratic rationality | Control as the key component of Kant’s conception of rationality | McKenna, McLear, ch. 2 |
| 4 - 9/8 | Inference & agency (guest: Ram Neta) | Kant on rational inference & agency | Neta, McLear, ch. 4 |
| 5 - 9/15 | Reason & principles | Kant on laws & their representation | Groundwork II, Reath |
| 6 - 9/22 | A Compatibilist Kant? | Does Kant need his incompatibilism for his theory of rationality? | Korsgaard, Ameriks |
| 7 - 9/29 | Incorporation, Identification, & Mesh Theories | Contemporary Kantianism & mesh theory | Frankfurt, Korsgaard, Bratman, etc. |
| 8 - 10/6 | Agency without agents? | The ‘agent’ role & responsibility, bundles vs. substances | Wolf, Velleman, Franklin |
| 9 - 10/13 | Self-consciousness I | What’s the connection between self-consciousness & rationality? | Korsgaard, Hieronymi, McLear ch. 6 |
| 10 - 10/20 | Self-consciousness II/Paper Meetings | More on self-consciousness/Help students with their papers | Engstrom, Schafer, Burge, Soteriou |
| 11 - 10/27 | Transformation & the unity of reason | Is rationality just one of many of one’s capacities or does it ‘transform’ the mind in some way? | Boyle, McLear ch. 7 |
| 12 - 11/3 | Teleology (guest: Sasha Mudd) | Must the activity of reason have a purpose? | Kant, Longuenesse, Mudd |
| 13 - 11/10 | Control or Understanding? | Rationality as a form of understanding | Schafer (book excerpt) |
| 14 - 11/17 | The unity of reason (guest: Karl Schafer) | Karl Schafer on Kant on reason & rationality | Schafer (book excerpt) |