History of Analytic Philosophy

Catalog description

This class is a survey of the history of the analytic tradition, a style of doing philosophy that originated in the early 20th century Britain and continues to dominate academic philosophy in the US. Analytic philosophy is not characterized by a set of shared doctrines but by shared assumptions about the useful ways of approaching philosophical problems and the proper aims of philosophy. Some characteristics of the early analytic tradition are the use of the method of logical analysis, the idea that traditional philosophical problems are problems of language and meaning, and the goal that philosophy should have the status of a science. This class will introduce students to classic works of analytic philosophy, spanning the first half of the 20th century, including those by Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Elizabeth Anscombe, and W. V. O Quine. Counts towards the satisfaction of the Philosophy major requirement to take two courses from among PHI 105, PHI 106, PHI 107, and PHI 108. Satisfies Philosophy major and minor requirement. Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.