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.
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.