you have to tell me what it is. (I'm not a mind reader.)
please make it terse -- a paragraph
or two, not a chapter, or anything like a chapter.
(I have to read the passage side by side with your outline,
to check that the latter correctly represents the argument in the former.)
My experience is that attempts to outline longer stretches of text
don't generally work out well.
Aug. 25 (for those of you who have already taken a class
from me, who know what these outline
assignments -- not the same as microcommentary assignments!
-- are supposed to look like, and who want to get an early
start): Descartes, first Meditation, paras. 2-3.
(If you already have the Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch
Philosophical Writings, this is on p. 12, starting
"But to accomplish this..."; if you're using the temporary
online link on the Readings page, it will be on pp. 6-7,
"Now for this object..."
Sept. 1: Either
Descartes, second Meditation, para. 6 (CSM II:18,
starting "But what shall I now say that I am..."),
or
Davidson, "The Method of Truth in Metaphysics," end of
sec. 1, from "We do not need to be omniscient..." (but
you'll need to draw on the prior para., starting "Beliefs
are identifed and described...").
Sept. 8: Either
Descartes, third Meditation, para. 2 (CSM II:24,
starting "In this brief list...")
or
para. 32 (CSM II:33f, starting "I must therefore now ask myself...").
Sept. 15: Either
Descartes, fourth Meditation, para. 9 (CSM II:40,
starting "From these considerations I perceive..."),
or
Williams, Descartes:
The Project of Pure Enquiry, in ch.6, the
para. starting "But actions are the central case..." (in
the Routledge edition, this is on p. 157; in the Penguin
edition, it's pp. 171f).
Sept. 22: Either
Descartes, sixth Meditation, para. 19 (CSM II:59,
starting "The first observation I make..."),
or, in
First Objections,
at CSM II:69f, para.
starting "But now use this rule to make..." (make sure to
unpack the "well-worn maxim").
Sept. 29: Either
in the Second Objections (Mersenne's), at
CSM II:90, in the first full para., starting "How can you establish...,"
to the end of the para.,
or,
Frankfurt, Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen, p. 39,
para. starting "He appears, in fact, to be caught from the beginning..."
Oct. 6: Either
CSM I:140, from "Secondly, even though such machines..."
to the end of the para.,
or,
Frankfurt, Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen,
pp. 51-53, from "One might naturally expect Descartes..."
to "...incoherently undermining the basis of his
enterprise".
(If you take the second option, keep in mind that despite
the length of the passage, this is a short argument.)
Oct. 13 (Fall Break catchup opportunity!): Stuart
Hampshire, Thought and Action,
Either
pp. 86f, from "The absurdity is more fundamental" to
"...traceable back to the point of origin, now,"
or, pp. 88f, from "Whether or not it is finally
acceptable..." to the end of the paragraph.