PHIL 451W/854:  Advanced Topics in the History of Philosophy:  History of Pleasure

Spring Semester 2014 | Evening | Burnaby

INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Shapiro, WMC 5661 (lshapiro@sfu.ca)

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Nicholas Malebranche, The Search After Truth, Cambridge UP 978-0521589956
• Baruch Spinoza, A Spinoza Reader, Princeton UP 978-0691000671
• Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, Treatise on Sensations, will be made available on reserve or electronically

COURSE DESCRIPTION

What is pleasure? Or perhaps better, in what way is pleasure philosophically interesting?  This course is premised on the idea that, historically, pleasure has been conceived in an array of different ways, and that in contemporary discussion, which focuses on pleasure as motivating of action, one of those ways – the role of pleasure in our cognitive life – has dropped out of view.  This course explores some philosophers' ways of understanding pleasure as integrated into our understanding of the world, rather than as interfering with our ability to achieve knowledge. This focus is not to deny that pleasure plays a role in motivating action (as is a focus of ethicists), or in our affective experience of beauty (as is a focus of aesthetics) but rather to acknowledge the epistemic role of pleasure. We will be particularly interested in the following questions:  How is pleasure related to other sense modalities?  What role, if any, does pleasure play in mental representation?  How is the cognitive role of pleasure related to its motivational role?  What sorts of philosophical considerations led to the discounting of the cognitive role of pleasure in favor of its motivational role?  We will be focusing our attention on three early modern philosophers:  Nicholas Malebranche, Baruch Spinoza, and Etienne Bonnot de Condillac.  We may, however, begin by briefly considering Aristotle on pleasure and Descartes’ account of sensation. 

NOTE:  In early May, SFU Philosophy will host a workshop that will consider the concept of pleasure from this refocused perspective, drawing on a broader range of historical figures.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Undergraduates

• Presentation -15%                                                   
• Short responses to readings (7) (1-3 pp) -25%         
• Longer paper 10-15 pp -50%                                   
• Participation -10%                                                   
  

Graduate Students

• Presentation -15%                                                    
• Short responses to readings (7) (1-3 pp) -25%        
• Longer paper (15-20 pp) -50%                                 
• Participation -10%                                                  
  

Prerequisites:  Two 300 level PHIL courses.  This course may be applied towards the W-requirement.