| Jennifer McCrickerd
Medbury 201A x2250 jennifer.mccrickerd@drake.edu Office Hours: MW 12-1 & R 11-12:30 |
The value of an education should not be assessed solely in terms of economic efficiency and social welfare. Equally if not more important is the role of education in enabling people to enjoy the culture of their society and to take part in its affairs, and in this way provide for people a secure sense of their individual worth. ó John Rawls, A Theory of Justice |
Intent of Class
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a variety of traditional philosophical issues and the arguments for various positions. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the issues and arguments as well as on the development of critical thinking, speaking and writing skills.
Course Requirements
Failure to complete requirements will result in a failing grade, hence requirements.
Incompletes will not be awarded on the basis of your being overwhelmed by the usual stress of college life.
The penalty for clear cases of plagiarism will be failure of the course with a recommendation of suspension or expulsion. Clear cases are any amount (phrase, sentence, paragraph) of (1) word-for-word copying; (2) synonym-for-synonym copying; (3) a word-for-word or synonym-for-synonym reorganization of someone elseís text.
Attendance: Attendance in this course is imperative. Absences will effect your final grade in the following manner. 4 absences will result in loss of the benefit of the doubt. 5-7 absences will result in the lower of your final grade a full grade. More than 7 absences will result in a failing grade. The reason for your absence is irrelevent as attendance plays a crucial role in your learning experience; why you fail to attend does not influence the effect of the lack of attendance on your learning.
Careful Reading of Assigned Texts: The reading in this class will be difficult at first, but this is no excuse for not doing it. Your success in this class and your comprehension of the material will be greatly enhanced if you carefully read the material. This requires more than the words bounce off your retina. You are required to take the time to understand the reading, not merely utter the words in your head. [See Reading Philosophy handout]
Participation: Informed participation is expected in this class. If you fail to consistently participate in an informed manner, your final grade will be dropped a full grade. If you have any concerns regarding the quality of your participation speak to me if I do not speak to you first. Informed participation requires that you actually participate (as opposed to dozing or only listening) and that your participation adds to the discussion (as opposed to being generally disruptive). [See discussion tips]
Individual Reading Quizzes (10%): At the beginning of each section of the course, you will take a quiz on the reading for that section. This is a reading comprehension quiz and will be prior to discussion of the reading in class; success on these quizzes does not require an in-depth understanding of the reading . These quizzes will be brief (5 minute) and ëobjectiveí (i.e., true/false, multiple choice). Quizzes cover only material from Perry and Bratman text. Individual quizzes may be made up only with a valid excuse (a valid excuse is one which is accompanied by a university sanctioned note [from coach, physician, dean, etc.])
Group Reading Quizzes (5%): At the beginning of each section of the course (and on the same day as the individual quiz) you will take a group quiz ó your group will be chosen at the beginning of the semester and will remain the same through all quizzes. The group quiz will be identical to the individual quiz and will be taken after all individuals turn in their individual quiz. Each member of the group who is present will receive the same grade for the group quiz. There are no make-up group quizzes.
Midterm exam (25%) Potential questions will be distributed prior to the exam
Final exam (25%) A cumulative final exam. Potential questions will be distributed prior to exam.
2 Papers (6-8 pages) (35%) May be rewritten for a higher grade if and only if the original paper is turned in on time and displays significant effort. You are required to turn in 2 papers for this class. Four different sets of paper topics will be distributed. You decide to which two sets of paper topics you will respond and turn in papers [Paper Grading Standards and Writing tips to be passed out in near future]
Required texts
Introduction to Philosophy, ed., John Perry & Michael Bratman
[P&B]
Philosophy: An Introduction through Original Fiction, Discussion,
and Readings, Thomas Davis [D]
Recommended text
What Does It All Mean? Thomas Nagel [N]
20 Introduction to course, me and philosophy
22 ìThe Value of Philosophyî Russell (pp. 9-12) [P&B]
ìThe Province of Philosophyî Smart (pp. 12-20) [P&B]
Recommended, ìIntroductionî What Does it All Mean? [N]
25 ìApology: Defence of Socratesî Plato (pp. 27-42) [P&B]
God and Evil
27 Reading quiz
ìThe Visionî & ìSurprise! Itís Judgement Dayî &
Discussion (pp. 37-63) [D]
Answer questions on pp. 50-51 before reading
discussion and bring to class
29 ìThe Ontological Argumentî Anselm (pp. 45-46) [P&B]
ìThe Existence of Godî Aquinas (pp.
47-49) [P&B]
February
1ìThe Wagerî Pascal (pp. 49-52) [P&B]
ìWhy I Am Not a Theistî Russell (53-56) [P&B]
3ìGod, Evil and The Best of All Possible Worldsî Leibniz (91-93) [P&B]
ìHume on Evilî Pike (93-102) [P&B]
5ìEvil and Omnipotenceî Mackie (103-110) [P&B]
Knowledge and Reality
(Recommended ìHow Do We Know Anything?î (pp. 8-18)
[N])
8 Reading quiz
ìWhy Donít You Just Wake Up?î & Discussion (pp. 163-174)
[D]
Answer questions on p. 166
before reading discussion and bring to class
ìIntroductionî (pp. 111-115) [P&B]
10ìMeditations on First Philosophyî Descartes (pp. 116-139) [P&B]
12ìOf Scepticism with Regard to the Sensesî Hume (pp. 176-190) [P&B]
15ìAn Enquiry Concerning Human Understandingî Hume (pp. 190-216) [P&B]
17ìAn Argument from Illusionî Ayer (pp. 217-220) [P&B]
ìThe Argument from Illusionî Austin (pp. 221-229) [P&B]
19ìHow to Defend Society Against Scienceî Feyerabend (pp. 277-283)
[P&B]
22ìKnowledge, Human Interests, and Objectivity in Feminist Epistemologyî Anderson (pp. 284-304) [P&B]
Minds, Bodies, and Persons
(Recommended ìOther Mindsî & ìThe Mind-Body Problemî (pp. 19-37)
[N])
24 Reading quiz
ìStrange Behaviorî & ìLife After Lifeî & discussion
(pp. 131-153) [D]
Answer questions on p. 141 before reading discussion
and bring to class
ìIntroductionî (pp. 305-311)
[P&B]
26 ìThe Argument from Analogy for Other Mindsî Russell (pp. 314-316)
[P&B]
ìDescartesís Mythî Ryle (pp. 316-323) [P&B]
March
1 ìThe Nature of Mindî Armstrong (pp. 324-331) [P&B]
ìMad Pain and Martian Painî (pp. 331-336)
[P&B]
3 ìTuring Machinesî Putnam (pp. 354-355) [P&B]
ìComputing Machines and Intelligenceî Turing (pp.
355-368) [P&B]
5 ìMinds, Brains, and Programsî Searle (pp. 368-380) [P&B]
8 ìWhat Is It Like to Be a Bat?î Nagel (pp. 382-390) [P&B]
ìWhat Mary Didnít Knowî Jackson (pp.
390-393) [P&B]
10 Midterm exam
12 ìA Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortalityî Perry (pp. 396-416)
[P&B]
Free Will & Determinism
(Recommended ìFree Willî (pp. 47-58) [N])
15 Reading quiz
ìPlease Donít Tell Me How the Story Endsî &
ìA Little Omniscience Goes a Long Wayî &
Discussion (pp. 1-27) [D] Before reading discussion,
answer questions on pp. 16-17 and bring
these answers to class.
17ìHas the Self ëFree Willí?î Campbell (pp. 417-426) [P&B]
19ìFreedom and Determinismî Taylor (pp. 437-449) [P&B]
22-26 Spring Break
29ìFreedom of the Will and the Concept of a Personî Frankfurt (pp. 450-459) [P&B]
31ìFreedom and Resentmentî Strawson (pp. 460-473) [P&B]
Ethics and Society, I
(Recommended Reading ìRight and Wrongî (pp. 59-75)
[N])
April
2 Reading quiz I
ìThe Land of Certus,î ìThose Who Help Themselves,î
& Discussion (pp. 73-95) Prior to reading
Discussion, answer questions on p. 83. Bring
these answers to class.[D]
ìDeath on Demandî & Discussion
(pp. 107-123) Prior to reading Discussion, answer questions on
p. 115. Bring these answers to class.
[D]
Introduction (pp. 475-482) [P&B]
5ìThe Principle of Utilityî Bentham (pp. 483-486)
[P&B]
ìUtilitarianismî Mill (pp. 486-502) [P&B]
7ìCriticisms of Utilitarianismî Carritt (pp. 503-505) [P&B]
ìUtilitarianism and Integrityî Williams
(pp. 512-520) [P&B]
9ìGroundwork of the Metaphysic of Moralsî Kant (pp. 529-545) [P&B]
12ìFamine, Affluence and Moralityî Singer (pp. 521-528)
[P&B]
ìKantian Approaches to Some Famine Problemsî
OíNeill (pp. 546-551) [P&B]
14ìWar and Massacreî Nagel (pp. 552-563) [P&B]
16ìNichomachean Ethicsî Aristotle (pp. 564-579) [P&B]
ìAristotle on Eudaimoniaî Nagel (pp.
580-584) [P&B]
19 Reading quiz II
ìVirtue Theory and Abortionî Hursthouse
(pp. 584-497) [P&B]
Ethics and Society, II
(Recommended ìRight and Wrongî &ìJusticeî (pp. 59-86) [N])
21 ìA Theory of Justiceî Rawls (pp. 598-611) [P&B]
ìJustice and Entitlementî Nozick (pp. 611-619)
[P&B]
23ìThe Subjection of Womenî Mill (pp. 650-654) [P&B]
ìMarkets in Womenís Reproductive Laborî
Satz (pp. 654-668) [P&B]
26ìRacismsî Appiah (pp. 668-678) [P&B]
28ìAn Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Moralsî Hume (pp. 715-739) [P&B]
30ìMorality and Advantageî Gauthier (pp. 739-747) [P&B]
ìThe Law of the Jungle: Moral Alternatives and Principles
of Evolutionî Mackie (pp. 747-752) [P&B]
May
3 ìThe Subjectivity of Valuesî Mackie (pp. 753-764) [P&B]
ìEthics and Observationî Harman (pp. 765-768) [P&B]
ìMoral Explanationî Sturgeon (pp. 769-784) [P&B]
5 Last day of class
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