| Course Description | Course Requirements | Required Texts |
| Course Schedule |
A critical survey of the genesis and evolution of "analytic philosophy," with emphasis on changing conceptions of the nature of philosophical problems and the "method of analysis" by which they can purportedly be solved.
The exam with the higher grade will be worth 60% of the final grade, while the exam with the lower grade will be worth 40%. In exceptional cases and in cases in which the overall grade is close to a grade cutoff, the final grade will be affected (positively or negatively) by class attendance and participation.
Plagiarism Statement: "The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university."
Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Catalog.
A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic
Bertrand Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism
Wilfrid Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (translated by D. F. Pears and B. F. McGuinness)
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
(click here for a printable schedule):
Assigned readings are to be completed for the date indicated, not for the following class period.
Historical Background
| M 8-27 | Rationalism and Empiricism (no reading) |
| W 8-29 | Kant, Hegel, and British Idealism (no reading) |
| M 9-3 | NO CLASS |
Logical Atomism
| W 9-5 | Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Lectures I-II |
| M 9-10 | Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Lectures III-IV |
| W 9-12 | Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Lectures V-VI |
| M 9-17 | Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Lectures VII-VIII |
"Whereof one cannot speak"
| W 9-19 | Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, propositions 1 - 3.05 |
| M 9-24 | Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, propositions 3.1 - 4.0641 |
| W 9-26 | Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, propositions 4.1 - 5.02 |
| M 10-1 | Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, propositions 5.1 - 6.031 |
| W 10-3 | Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, propositions 6.1 - 7 |
Logical Positivism/Empiricism
| M 10-8 | Carnap, "The Elimination of Metaphysics Through the Logical Analysis of Language" |
| W 10-10 | Schlick, "The Turning Point in Philosophy"; Carnap, "On the Character of Philosophical Problems" |
| M 10-15 | Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, Preface and chapters I and IV |
| W 10-17 | Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, chapters II-III and VI |
Ordinary Language Analysis
| M 10-22 | Ryle, "Philosophical Arguments" |
| W 10-24 | Ryle, The Concept of Mind, Introduction and chapters I, II (sections 1-3, 6-7, and 9), and V (sections 1-2) |
"To shew the fly the way out of the fly-bottle"
| M 10-29 | Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, sections 1-64 |
| W 10-31 | Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, sections 65-137 |
| M 11-5 | Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, sections 138-143 and 185-242 |
| W 11-7 | Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, sections 243-316 |
Empiricism Without the Dogmas
| M 11-12 | Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, Introduction (pp. 5-16); Hempel, "The Empiricist Criterion of Meaning" |
| W 11-14 | Carnap, "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology" |
| M 11-19 | Quine, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" |
| W 11-21 | NO CLASS |
| M 11-26 | Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, sections I-IV |
| W 11-28 | Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, sections V-IX |
| M 12-3 | Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, sections X-XVI |
The "End" of Analytic Philosophy
| W 12-5 | Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, chapters III-IV |