Introduction to Philosophy

INTROduction to philosophy

California State University, Fresno

Philosophy 1

Fall 2001

Instructor:	Tim Black
My office:	Music Building, Room 112
My office hours:	MWF, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. TTh, 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Other hours by appointment
My office phone:	(559) 278-4940
My e-mail addresses:	tblack@csufresno.edu

I invite you to visit me during my office hours and to talk with me via telephone and e-mail. I always welcome your comments and questions, and I am exceptionally happy to talk with you about the course material or about other philosophical or administrative matters.

Department office:	Music Building, Room 102; M-F, 8:30 a.m. – 12 noon, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Department phone:	(559) 278-2621

Aims of the Course: This course is designed to show you how to use the tools of philosophy when considering some of its central issues. It is not our aim to consider a great number of these issues. Instead, the issues that we will consider will provide us with a subject matter on which to practice philosophy. And we’ll be more concerned with practicing philosophy than with arriving at any particular conclusion or establishing as right any particular point of view. We are most interested in introducing to you the philosophical tools that can aid you in formulating your own thoughtful opinions and in thoughtfully evaluating the opinions of others. By the end of this course, you should be able to clearly express, both verbally and in writing, arguments for your own opinions and points of view. Here, then, are the goals of this course: (1) to examine some important philosophical issues as they are presented in some important philosophical texts, (2) to develop an ability to use the tools of philosophy in evaluating these texts and in considering these issues, (3) to develop an ability to use the tools of philosophy in formulating your own opinions about these issues, (4) to see how these issues are raised, not only in esoteric works of philosophy, but also in exoteric works of art, such as popular movies, and (5) to develop an ability to clearly and persuasively express both your own philosophical opinions and your arguments for those opinions.

General Education: This course satisfies the General Education requirement for Breadth in Area C2 (new program) and in Division 6 (old program). To be enrolled in this course you must have completed the General Education requirements for Foundation in Area A2.

Required Text: Feinberg, Joel and Russ Shafer-Landau, eds. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy, 10^th edition

Attendance and Participation: Since you are responsible for any and all material presented in class, regular attendance is essential to doing well in this course. Furthermore, philosophy is akin to, say, chemistry in that it is an activity and not merely a set of purported facts. So just as you cannot develop your abilities as a chemist without doing some work in the lab, you cannot develop your philosophical abilities without practice. And practicing philosophy means, among other things, discussing philosophical issues and arguments both in class and outside of class. Such discussion can benefit you in a number of ways: it will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the sometimes fairly difficult material and will thus help you to perform better on the exams. Both class attendance and participation in the discussion of philosophical issues are therefore quite essential to doing well in this course. I subscribe to and will enforce the University’s policy on student absences as stated on page 44 of the California State University, Fresno 2001-2002 General Catalog.

Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability, please identify yourself to me and to the University so that we can reasonably accommodate your learning and the preparation and evaluation of the work that you must do for this course. Please contact Services for Students with Disabilities, Henry Madden Library, Room 1049, (559) 278-2811.

Other Concerns: If you think that you might need help with writing, time management, note-taking skills, test anxiety, and the like, please contact either me or the Learning Resource Center, Lab School, Room 137, (559) 278-3052. Visit the LRC online by clicking here. You might also take advantage of the English Writing Center, which is located in the Education Building, Rooms 184 and 186.

Evaluation: Your final grade in the course will be based on the following:

Exam 1

Thursday, 27 September 2001

17%

Exam 2

Tuesday, 13 November 2001

17%

Exam 3

Thursday, 20 December 2001

8:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

18%

Paper

1^st version, due 1 November 2001

2^nd version, due 4 December 2001

19%

Reading questions

Due as indicated on

the Schedule (see below)

14%

Group presentation

Topic 1, 9 October 2001

Topic 2, 18 October 2001

Topic 3, 6 November 2001

Topic 4, 20 November 2001

15%

Grades: Letter grades are assigned according to the following system: 100-90% = A; 89-80% = B; 79-70% = C; 69-60% = D; 59-0% = F. If your final grade falls just short of some higher grade, I will consider the quality of your verbal participation as grounds for improving your final grade. I strongly encourage your verbal participation, which can come in class, in office hours, by phone, or by e-mail.

Cheating and Plagiarism: I consider academic dishonesty a very serious issue. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty or about the possible repercussions of and penalties for acts of academic dishonesty, please consult page 36 of the Fall 2001 Schedule of Courses or page 486 of the California State University, Fresno 2001-2002 General Catalog. Moreover, I subscribe to and will enforce the Policies and Regulations of California State University, Fresno as they are stated on pages 483-486 of its 2001-2002 General Catalog.

Exams: The exams are designed to determine whether you understand the material discussed in class and in the readings. Exam 1 will cover the material discussed between 28 August and 18 September. Exam 2 will cover the material discussed between 20 September and 1 November. Exam 3 will cover the material discussed between 8 November and 11 December. Each exam will consist of three parts. The first part of each exam will consist of a list of terms that we have encountered and employed. You will be asked to define – in one or two or three sentences – some of those terms. The second part of each exam will consist of a list of questions to which you must provide a short answer (a.k.a. short-answer questions). You will write about four or five sentences, or approximately one paragraph, in response to some of those questions. The third part of each exam will consist of a list of questions to which you must provide an essay-length answer (a.k.a. essay questions). You will write an essay in response to some of those questions. You may take a make-up exam only if either (a) you have received, prior to the scheduled date of the exam, my permission to do so or (b) you miss the exam due to a documented medical or family emergency. I will grade your responses to the exam questions on the basis of the accuracy of your claims about what the authors say.

Paper: The paper assignment requires you to write an essay of 2500-3000 words (or about 5-7 pages). A Guide to Writing Philosophy Papers should come in handy here. (Click here to see links to other guides to writing.) The 1^st version of the paper is due on 1 November 2001. I will read and comment on your 1^st version, and then return it to you as soon as I can. You will then revise the paper and submit the 2^nd version no later than 4 December 2001. I will not accept late papers. I will grade your paper on the basis of the quality of the arguments you provide in favor of your position. More specifically, your paper (a) must be well organized and readable, (b) must demonstrate your ability to clearly and critically consider a serious philosophical issue, (c) must demonstrate your ability to present and defend your own reasonable and persuasive philosophical argument, and (d) must demonstrate your ability to critically evaluate philosophical arguments.

Paper Topic: Read the distributed selection from Plato’s Republic and watch the movie Hollow Man. Then write a paper in which you do the following:

Respond to the following question: If the scientists in Hollow Man were to perfect the invisibility formula (so as to eliminate all physiological and psychological side effects), and if Sebastian Caine (or anyone else for that matter) could become invisible and then act in any way he pleased without ever being detected, would he have any reason to be moral? That is, would he have any reason to act in ways that we think of as right or good and to avoid acting in ways that we think of as wrong or bad? If you think that he does have reason to be moral, you must say what reason he has. If you think that he has no reason to be moral, you must say why he has no such reason. In either case, you must defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory.
Consider a potential objection to your argument, that is, an objection that someone might raise against the argument you give in responding to the question in 1.
Respond to the potential objection.

Reading Questions: At almost every meeting of the class, I will distribute a set of reading questions. You must answer and submit each set of reading questions according to the Schedule (see below). I will not accept late submissions of your reading questions. I will grade your responses to the reading questions on the basis of (a) the accuracy of your claims about what the authors say and (b) whether your responses demonstrate a serious attempt to read and to understand the assigned chapters.

Group Presentations: Each member of the class must participate in and actively contribute to one group presentation. I will divide the class into small groups, and assign each group one of the following four topics:

In The Matrix, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, while attempting to achieve certain goals, often kill those who are trapped in the matrix. Is it morally permissible for them to kill those who are trapped in the matrix? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
In The Matrix, does Neo really know that he is in the real world? Defend your answer. (If you think that he does really know, then you must say how he knows. If you think that he does not really know, then you must say why he doesn’t.) How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
Given that the people who are trapped in the matrix act at all, do they act freely? That is, are they free to act as they do? Defend your answer. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
What is the relationship of the mind to the body as it is depicted in The Matrix? Is this a plausible depiction of that relationship? Defend your answer. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?

A typewritten version of your group’s presentation, which should be about 1500-2000 words long (or about 3-4 pages long), is due in the class immediately following the class in which your group makes its presentation. I will not accept late submissions of the typewritten version of your group’s presentation, and neither your group nor any members thereof may make a late presentation. I will grade your group’s presentation on the basis of the quality of the arguments you provide in favor of your position. More specifically, your presentation (a) must be well organized and easy to follow, (b) must address each part of the assignment, (c) must demonstrate a serious attempt to tackle complex philosophical issues, (d) must demonstrate your ability to work together as a group in presenting and defending your own reasonable and persuasive philosophical argument, and (e) must demonstrate your ability to work together as a group in critically evaluating philosophical arguments.

Schedule:

	Topic	Readings	Assignment
28 August	Course introduction
30 August	Introduction to logic	Handout, “Good Reasoning”	Reading questions, set I
4 September	Ethics and morality: Introduction	Pages 540-546, Introduction to Part V
6 September	Ethics and morality: Relativism	Pages 616-623, James Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”	Reading questions, set II
11 September	Ethics and morality: Egoism	Pages 559-566, James Rachels, “Ethical Egoism”	Reading questions, set III
13 September	Ethics and morality: Consequentialism	Pages 694-707, John Stuart Mill, “Utilitarianism”	Reading questions, set IV
18 September	Ethics and morality: Deontologism	Pages 679-694, Immanuel Kant, “The Good Will & The Categorical Imperative”	Reading questions, set V
20 September	Applying ethics	Pages 708-715, Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”	Reading questions, set VI
25 September	Applying ethics	Pages 716-722, Onora O’Neill, “Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems”	Reading questions, set VII
27 September	Exam 1
2 October	Film, The Matrix
4 October	Film, The Matrix
9 October	Presentation, Topic 1
11 October	Knowledge and skepticism	Pages 152-154, John Pollock, “A Brain in a Vat”
16 October	Knowledge and skepticism	Pages 173-182, René Descartes, “Meditations on First Philosophy”	Reading questions, set VIII
18 October	Presentation, Topic 2
23 October	Free will and determinism: Introduction	Pages 456-462, Introduction to Part IV
25 October	Free will and determinism: Hard determinism	Pages 462-467, Paul Holbach, “The Illusion of Free Will”	Reading questions, set IX
30 October	Free will and determinism: Compatibilism	Pages 481-486, A. J. Ayer, “Freedom and Necessity”	Reading questions, set X The 1^st version of your paper is due.
1 November	Free will and determinism: Libertarianism	Pages 492-499, Roderick M. Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self”	Reading questions, set XI
6 November	Presentation, Topic 3
8 November	The mind-body problem	Pages 338-342, Introduction to Part III
13 November	The mind-body problem	Pages 342-355, Keith Campbell’s “Dualisms” Pages 355-359, Frank Jackson, “The Qualia Problem”	Reading questions, set XII
15 November	Presentation, Topic 4
20 November	Exam 2
22 November	Thanksgiving recess
27 November	Does God exist?: The ontological argument	Pages 2-6, Introduction to Part I Pages 6-8, Saint Anselm, “The Ontological Argument, from Proslogium” Pages 11-21, William L. Rowe, “The Ontological Argument”	Reading questions, set XIII The 2nd version of your paper is due.
29 November	Does God exist?: The cosmological argument	Pages 22-23, Saint Thomas Aquinas, “The Five Ways, from Summa Theologica” Pages 24-33, William L. Rowe, “The Cosmological Argument”	Reading questions, set XIV
4 December	Does God exist?: The argument from design	Pages 40-45, William Paley, “The Argument from Design”	Reading questions, set XV
6 December	The problem of evil	Pages 100-107, J. L. Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence”	Reading questions, set XVI
11 December	The problem of evil	Pages 108-120, Peter van Inwagen, “The Magnitude, Duration and Distribution of Evil: A Theodicy”	Reading Questions, set XVII
20 December 2001 (Thursday)	FINAL EXAM 8:45 a.m.–10:45 a.m. in SR6 015

Note: Everything in this syllabus is subject to revision. I will announce any and all revisions in class and, in general, do my best to make sure that each and every student knows about revisions. If you miss class, you must nevertheless submit assignments according to any revisions that I make to the Schedule. You should either make sure that you don’t miss class or find a sure way of becoming aware of any revisions that I make to the Schedule or to the syllabus.

Guides to writing on the web

Writing guides for philosophy papers

· A Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays

· How to Get Better Grades for Your Philosophy Papers

General writing guides

· The University of Victoria’s Hypertext Writer’s Guide

· The National Writing Centers Association, contains a fairly comprehensive list of university on-line writing centers

· Michael Harvey’s The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing

· Writing at the University of Toronto

· The University of St. Thomas’s Study Guides and Strategies

· The Writing Center at Colorado State University

· Charles Darling’s Guide to Grammar and Writing

Return to the syllabus

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