Phil 111 Introduction to Philosophy (Ezio Vailati)  Spring 2012
Office: PH 2212.

Phone #: x. 3376

Homepage: http://www.siue.edu/~evailat (click on "Courses" and then on "Introduction to Philosophy")

email: evailat@siue.edu.  If you email me, identify yourselves as taking this class.

Office Hours: M 11-12; T 5-6 and by appointment if necessary

 

I. Course Description: An introduction to some of the main themes in philosophy.  We'll discuss God and atheism, freedom of the will, personal identity, and some theoretical and applied ethics.  Some of the primary sources will be available on-line at my homepage; you are responsible for downloading them. If you do not have a computer account, get one for free from SIUE.

II. Course objectives: (1) to assist students in acquiring an understanding and appreciation of some philosophical issues and perspectives; (2) to develop the ability of students to identify, evaluate and compare philosophical positions on the basis of arguments; (3) to develop the capacity of students to reason to their own views on philosophical issues; (4) to teach students to read philosophical texts.

III. Course-Format: Mostly lecture, with discussion as far as possible at the beginning of the course.  As students increase their philosophical proficiency, lecturing will diminish until it will almost disappear towards the end of the course.  As a courtesy towards the students in this class, I have put my lectures on-line; they are reachable by clicking on the appropriate items in the syllabus.  Please look at them before you come to class.  Note that the on-line lectures may contain less, or more, than is presented in class.  On-line lectures cannot substitute for the readings, class attendance, and class participation, which are essential for learning the course material.

IV. In class behavior: Students are required to display common courtesy.  Hence, while in class avoid activities like reading the newspaper or material unrelated to the course, playing games on some electronic device, texting, surfing the net in the back of the class, gossiping, or behaving disrespectfully towards your fellow students.  Keep in mind that class discussion is best conducted in a serene climate even when opposing views are strongly held by the participants.  Hence use your common sense: on the one hand we want to avoid ‘respect creep’ and on the other hand we want to avoid being offensive. Remember that one can say almost anything without being impolite.

V. Texts:
1) Perry/Bratman (eds.), Introduction to Philosophy   Fourth edition (Rental Text) [I]
2) Handouts, and assorted on-line material

VI. Course outline, readings and quizzes.

Weeks 1-3: Atheism and God; two arguments for and against. Readings: Davies’ article handout; Download Paley's argument

January 16 MLK day-- Holiday

End of third week: First quiz

 

Week 4: Atheism, death, and the meaning of life.  Readings: Nagel handout; Download Epicurus’ argument. 

  
Week 5:
Free Will and Determinism.  Readings: Download.

Week 6: The Self and its Identity. Reading: I 368-382.. Look at this Split brain video.  More split brain.  End of sixth week: Second Quiz

Week 7: Student debate on topic to be announced.

Week 8: In-class discussion of the material covered up to now as a preparation for the midterm.  Come with questions, issues we had to postpone because of time constraints, topics you would like to discuss or feel unsure about.

Week 9: Preliminary remarks on ethics.  End of ninth week: Midterm

Week 10: The relation between morality and religion.  Readings: handout on divine command theory; Listen to mini-debate between Kagan and Craig.  Two ideas: Universalization and the Golden Rule.  End of tenth week: Third Quiz

Week 11: Utilitarianism. Reading: I 489-508.

Week 12: Kant. Reading: I 536-552.   Value Pluralism  End of twelfth week: Fourth Quiz.

Week 13: Suicide. Reading: Download Hume's "On Suicide " ; Download Aquinas on suicide (only article five is directly relevant); Kant on suicide handout.  Watch “Suicide Tourist”. End of thirteenth week: Fifth Quiz.  W. class: come with a 2 page rough draft of your paper containing a clear thesis statement to be discussed in class with other students.

Week 14: Death Penalty. Readings: Handout. Marshall's dissenting opinion in Gregg v. Georgia. Last day of week 14: Paper due

Week 15: Animals.  Readings: handout.   Last day of class: Sixth Quiz

VII. Course requirements.

·         Regular attendance; missing more than 5 classes without proper excuse amounts to losing 10% of the points obtained in the course.

·         Six multiple-choice quizzes (for dates, see the course outline), some take home and some in class, each worth 5 points (5% of the course grade). The quizzes may be based on class lectures, class discussion. There will be some unannounced pop quizzes for extra points; only students in class at the time may take them; no exceptions.

·         A one-hour long midterm, worth 20% of the course grade.  For date, consult the syllabus

·         One paper, typed, double spaced, and 4 full pages long, worth 25% of the course grade.  For due date, consult the course outline. Do not e-mail your paper to me unless in extreme circumstances.

·         A one hour long comprehensive final exam, consisting of a multiple choice quiz and a short essay, which will be worth 25% of the course grade. The essay topic will be chosen by me out of the following Topics For Final. You do not get to choose the essay topic.

VIII. The correspondence between points and grades is as follows: above 90: A; 89-80: B; 79-70: C; 69-59: D; fewer than 59 points: F. To determine how you are doing at any time in the semester, multiply the number of points you have gained up to that time, including those from pop quizzes, by 100 and then divide by the number of possible points up to that time, excluding any extra points resulting from pop quizzes. A look at the correspondence between points and grades given above will tell you the letter grade you have earned. For example, suppose that by week 10 you have 30 points. Since the maximum number of points obtainable by then (excluding possible extra points from pop quizzes) is 35 (15 from quizzes and 20 from the midterm), one gets 30x100=3000, which divided by 35 gives 85.7, a letter grade of B.  

IX. Academic policies.
Students are responsible for knowing what has been said in class, especially announcements concerning reading assignments and papers.  Papers or quizzes may be based on classroom discussions not derived from any written material.  If for any reason you miss some classes, make sure to find out what has been done in class.
Be aware that SIUE's policies against plagiarism are very severe and that I am bound to implement them.

X. Paper

·         Students are strongly encouraged to give me electronic rough drafts of their paper.  Keep in mind that I can return them with significant comments only if: i) they are given to me at least one week before the papers are due; ii) they are written reasonably clearly.  Rough drafts consisting only of disjointed paragraphs or, worse, mere paragraph headings cannot be properly evaluated.  You may turn in your rough drafts as many times as you like, compatibly with the above requirements.  My reading a student's rough draft of a paper does not entail that the paper, even if my comments are considered, will get a B or an A.   Often a bad paper must be revised more than once to become good.

·         If you get stuck, talk about it to your colleagues or talk to me.

·         Grading criteria for papers are as follows.  A paper providing all the information adequately and accurately in clear prose substantially free of spelling and grammatical mistakes will be in the C to low B range.  A paper which in addition to meeting this requirement shows reasonably clear and cogent arguments will be in the B range.  A paper which shows significant clarity and cogency will be in the A range.

·         A half letter grade will be subtracted from a given paper for every solar day it is late.  If you cannot turn in the paper on time, talk to me before the due date.

·         Here is some useful advice on how to write a philosophy paper. If you're interested, here is a very good sample paper. If your writing is particularly bad, there is little help I can offer; I strongly suggest you find professional help at the writing center.