Phil 111 Introduction to Philosophy  Fall 2009
Ezio Vailati, 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 5-6; W 11-12 and by appointment if necessary

 

I. Course Description: An introduction to some of the main themes in philosophy.  We'll discuss freedom of the will, personal identity, theoretical and applied ethics, and liberty.  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.

III. Course-Format: Mostly lecture, with discussion as far as possible.  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 as you see fit.  Note that the on-line lectures may contain more (or less) than is presented in class. For this reason, on-line lectures cannot substitute for the readings, class attendance, and class participation, which are essential in considering the problems raised in the course.

I would appreciate if while in class you avoid reading the newspaper or material unrelated to the course, playing games on some electronic device, falling asleep, gossiping, or behaving disrespectfully towards your fellow students.

IV. Texts:
1) Perry/Bratman (eds.), Introduction to Philosophy   Fourth edition  (Rental Text) [I]
2 ) John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Rental Text) [L]
3 ) Handouts, and assorted on-line material, including episodes from Philosophy Talk.

V. Course outline, readings and quizzes.

Weeks 1-2: Atheism and God; some arguments for and against Readings: Download Paley's argument and Clarke's argument; Anselm's Ontological Argument in (I)

Week 3:  Holiday
Week 4: Free Will and Determinism: I 451-463. Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk. Fourth week: First quiz.

Week 5: Movie: Groundhog Day.  Discussion

Week 6: The Self and its Identity. Reading: I 369-382. The memory theory of personal identity. Split brain video.  More split brain. Sixth week: Second Quiz

 Week 7: Movie: Memento. Discussion.

Week 8: Midterm.  Preliminary remarks on ethics. 

Week 9: The origin of morality.  How do we reach moral judgment? Listen to All in the Mind. The relation between morality and religion.  Ninth week: Third Quiz

Week 10: Universalization and the Golden Rule; Utilitarianism. Reading: I 489-508. Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk.

 Week 11: Kant. Reading: I 536-552.  Eleventh week: Fourth Quiz.

Week 12: Suicide. Reading: (Download Hume's "On Suicide " ) (Download Aquinas on suicide only article five is directly relevant); handout: Kant on suicide. Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk. If you're interested in assisted suicide, you may want to listen to this episode from Philosophy Talk (not required).

Week 13: Death Penalty. Readings: Handout. Marshall's dissenting opinion in Gregg v. Georgia. Listen to episode from Philosophy Talk. Thirteenth week: Fifth Quiz.

Week 14: Animals.  Fourteenth Week: Paper due (download paper topics ) 

Week 15: Final discussion.  Last day of class: Sixth Quiz

VI. Course requirements.
1) 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, or episodes from Philosophy Talk listed in the syllabus. There may be some unannounced pop quizzes for extra points; only students in class at the time may take them; no exceptions.
2) A one-hour long midterm, worth 20% of the course grade.  For date, consult the syllabus

3) One paper, typed, double spaced, and 4 full pages long, worth 30 points, that is, 30% of the course grade.  For due date, consult the course outline. Do not e-mail your paper to me unless in extreme circumstances.
4) A one hour long comprehensive final exam, consisting of a multiple choice quiz and a short essay, which will be worth 20% 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.

VII. 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 by 100 and then divide by the number of possible points up to that time (excluding any extra points resulting from pop quizzes, etc.). 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 9 you have 35 points. Since the maximum number of points obtainable by then (excluding possible extra points) is 42 (12 from quizzes and 30 from the first paper), one gets 35x100=3500, which divided by 42 gives 83.3, a letter grade of B.

VIII. 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.

IX. Paper
1) You are encouraged to give me rough drafts of your 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.
If you get stuck, talk about it to your colleagues or come and talk to me during my office hours.
2) 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.
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.
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,

X. Thought Questions (download). As this course is always changing, in addition to pertinent material they contain some extra stuff you need not concern yourselves with. Many students find this course difficult, mainly because they are unused to thinking philosophically. Diligence and class participation usually solve the problem.