Introduction to Philosophy: Beliefs and Values
PHIL 101- 085
Dr. Jennifer Baker
Monday, Wednesday 3-5.45
Robert Scott Smalls Building 002
March 11th to April 27th
Final Exam: May 1st. 12-3, same room.
Office: Room 103 in 16 Glebe
(Note: the Philosophy Department is in two buildings. Our mailboxes are next door in 14 Glebe.)
Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday 10-12. Office phone: 953-7272
Email: Bakerja@cofc.edu
Class blog: http://philosophy101.wordpress.com
To post, start at www.wordpress.com and enter user name: EthicsClass; password: Phil101
Text: The Meaning of Life: A Reader (Oxford)– available in the campus book store. Many of our readings will be posted on the blog.
In this course students will be introduced to the various subfields of philosophy through the analysis of primary readings. There are four goals for students in this course.
1. One goal is that students get a useful introduction to the field of philosophy and its unique methodology by critically engaging the various views we will read.
2. A second goal is that students get comfortable with the subject matter of philosophy, so they will recognize philosophical topics for what they are.
3. The third goal is that students develop and defend their own positions, becoming, in this sense, philosophers themselves.
4. A fourth and final goal is to merely learn some of the views of our well-known authors. It is crucial to become familiar with many of these authors for the sake of a liberal education.
10% of the grade is the reading responses and any in-class quizzes;
20% midterm;
10% class presentation project (requires blog posts and hand-outs);
30% final exam;
30% final paper.
Participation in this Course
There are not many subjects where disagreement will be inevitable, and there are not many subjects where debate with others will help you to understand your own position and elucidate your own values. But our class subjects have these qualities. This makes class discussion particularly important. We will learn to disagree with each other without rancor or embarrassment. But this requires that you do come to class ready to discuss the topics in the reading.
In the first class, you will be asked about the time and place you have devoted to reading for this course. Our readings are not very long (on occasion, however, they can be up to 40 pages), but philosophy is slow to read, because it requires that you do more than skim and memorize. You will need to think about the views you are reading.
For this reason, it will help you to do a reading response for every reading assignment we have. These will be posted to the class blog. These need to include a careful description and criticism of the reading’s argument or main ideas. These can be very short if they are thoughtful. You do not need to edit very carefully, and may type as you think (as long as you do answer the questions.)
To get credit for completing the assignment, these must be sent before the start of class. I will not accept any of these late (the purpose of them is just to get you ready to discuss the issues in class.)
Presentation/ Class Post. Students will also be required to post their position on a topic once in this course. I’ll explain how this works in the first class.
Paper
There is one 6-8 page paper required for this course. The final paper is worth 30% of your grade.
Academic Integrity
Do not plagiarize or cheat. It is not fair to the other students. It is insulting to your own abilities. It is also surprisingly easy to detect work that is not original, especially since the topics in this course are rather unique.
If you do not understand the material, see me as soon as possible (right after a confusing class or reading, for example.) You can certainly come to understand all of the material with some help. The penalties for cheating are very stiff, and I will report any cheating to the deans.
Attendance policy
Attendance is required. This is even more important in an Express course. The students who miss classes are going to be the ones who complain about the difficulty of the material. Crucial information about class logistics is given out in class, and students will need the help of lecture to make sense of the material. Any absence will need to be excused. Three absences are grounds for a loss of participation credit in the final grade.
SCHEDULE (B: posted on blog, M: Meaning of Life text)
March 11: Introduction. What philosophy is like. Epistemology, Metaphyics, Ethics. Plato, in class.
March 16: Plato. Forms, Knowledge, and Goodness. B.
March 18: Modernity. Albert Camus, The Myth of Sysphus, p. 72-81. M. Thomas Nagel: The Absurd, p. 143-152. M.
March 23: The methodology of analytic philosophy. Joel Feinberg: Absurd Self-Fulfillment, p. 153- 183. M.
March 25: Aristotle. Science, Knowledge, and Virtue. B.
March 30: The Meaning of Life. Susan Wolf, “The Meaning of Lives”, B.
Arthur Schopenhauer, p. 45-54. M.
April 1: The Stoics. B.
April 6: A. J. Ayer, p. 199- 202. M.
Steven Cahn, p. 236- 238. M.
Robert Nozick, p. 224-231. M.
April 8: Midterm.
April 13: Political Theory. Rawls. B.
April 15: Epistemology. Gettier and Goldman. B.
April 20: Chisholm. B.
April 22: Quine. B.
April 27: Final papers due.
Final Exam: May 1st. 12-3, same room.
