Course Title：Great Thinkers and Problems of Western Philosophy

This is an introductory level course on the history of philosophy, through some of its most representative figures, from Socrates to Kant, and through some of its classic problems, for example: the problem of knowledge, truth, personal identity, the external world, etc. Taking advantage of the summer school schedules, every session is divided into two separate but related parts. The first part is dedicated to introduce the students into the philosophy of a great thinker, through the exposition and discussion of a (fragment of a) major writing of said thinker. The second part is used to approach a major philosophical problem: first, from the perspective of the text studied in the first part of the session but, secondly, from a more general and open perspective. The objectives of this course are for the student 1) to have a global vision of western philosophy, 2) to read and discuss some of the major works of the main representatives of western philosophy and 3) to understand and be able to analyze some of the most relevant philosophical problems. The preferred teaching methods for this course are text analysis and discussion, and the maieutic (Socratic) method. Therefore, the preferred form for this course is a seminar, and reading the assigned texts will be taken into account as part of the assessment; although there will also be a final exam.