PHILOSOPHY 101: BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES
FALL SEMESTER 2005
SYLLABUS
Instructor: Dr. Robert Greene
Office: Hibbard 616 Telephone: (715) 836-3167 E-mail: greener@uwec.edu
Office Hours: Tu,11-12 and by appointment.
Required Texts:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Martin Ostwald. Library of Liberal Arts. (PURCHASE BOOK)
Gennaro, Rocco J. Mind and Brain: A Dialogue on the Mind-Body Problem. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1996. (PURCHASE BOOK)
Melchert, Norman. Who’s to Say? Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co. (PURCHASE BOOK)
Perry, John. A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1978. (PURCHASE BOOK)
Velazquez, Manuel. Philosophy: A Text With Readings. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1999. (RENTAL BOOK)
Williams, Clifford. Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1980. (PURCHASE BOOK)
Other Materials:
(E) Electronic reserve: http://www.uwec.edu/Library/
Handouts
General Course Information:
There will be four examinations, including the final. They normally will consist of a closed-book, short-answer part and an open-book, open-notes essay part.
Attendance and class performance will be taken into account in determining the final grade. Students who miss more than one week of classes without a legitimate reason risk losing credit on their final grades.
The examinations count for 80% of your grade, attendance and class performance 20%. The latter is especially important in a philosophy class because by the nature of the subject our discussions will be wide-ranging and will touch on facts and ideas germane to our readings, but which will not be directly covered on the tests. Had we more time, we could explore at great length the connections between philosophy and all other disciplines. But since we don’t, your presence is all the more important to show you how this sort of thing can be done.
Your presence also is vital to provide necessary feedback so that the course can be successful. I will lecture a lot, but there will be plenty of discussion, during which much of the feedback will come.
Any students who are handicapped or disabled should notify the instructor so that necessary accommodations can be made.
While a term paper is not required in this class, the essay questions on the examinations are aimed at encouraging your interest in writing and, as time permits, developing your skills in it. Since philosophy consists largely of the analysis and criticism of ideas, concepts, terms, and arguments, we hope to improve your skills in these areas. Hence, the course will include a small amount—again, as time permits—of formal and informal logic.
In all writing assignments, students should be careful to document properly any sources they may use, including quotations and paraphrases from our readings. They should be careful to avoid plagiarizing the work of others. Plagiarism is the unauthorized and unacknowledged use of someone else’s work—that is, passing it off as one’s own. The penalties for plagiarism are listed on p. 36 of the UWEC Student Handbook.
UW-Eau Claire lists 11 Goals of the Baccalaureate Degree. This course contributes to nine of them: understanding of a liberal education; appreciation of the University as a learning community; ability to inquire, think, analyze; ability to write, read, speak, listen; historical consciousness; international and intercultural experience; understanding of science and scientific methods; appreciation of values; understanding of human behavior and human institutions.
The UWEC Catalogue Description of Philosophy 101 reads :
A survey of fundamental problems of philosophy.
Broadly speaking, the study of philosophy combines the history of ideas with the analysis of ideas and arguments made to support them.
The aims of an introductory course in philosophy, as I see them, are:
1) to acquaint the student with the major figures and ideas in the history of philosophy and to show that they form a continuous tradition;
2) to show the connections between philosophy and the rest of the curriculum. The so-called “great philosophers” wrote about all subjects. The philosopher, it has been said, “picks everybody’s brains”;
3) to show the connections among the other disciplines themselves, by virtue of the perspective philosophy provides;
4) to acquaint students with some of the classics of philosophy, and with the concept of “great books” of enduring interest and value;
5) to improve students’ fluency, both in speech and in writing, with philosophical ideas.
CALENDAR
The following calendar of activities is subject to small changes as appropriate.
Week 1: Sept 6-8
Velazquez, 11-17
Gennaro, Mind and Brain, First Night (pp. 1-21)
Week 2: Sept 13-15
The Death and Life of Philosophy, ch. 1 (pp. 7-19) (E)
Velazquez, 2.3, 104-118
Gennaro, Second Night (pp. 22-45)
Week 3: Sept 20-22
Gennaro, Third Night (pp. 46-67)
The Death and Life of Philosophy, pp. 79-80, the distinction between primary and secondary qualities.
Handout: Aristotle’s concept of the soul
The Death and Life of Philosophy, Appendix, pp. 277-283 (E), with emphasis on Aristotle’s argument for the unity of mind, pp. 278-279
Handouts: Hume on self-identity, Aristotle’s concept of mind
Velazquez, C.E.M. Joad, 168-171
Week 4: Sept 27-29
Velazquez, 2.4, 2.5 (119-141)
FIRST EXAM.
Week 5: Oct 4-6
Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality
Introductory comments on Plato.
Week 6: Oct 11-13
Plato, The allegory of the line, the myth of the cave (E)
Plato: the myth of Er (E)
Plato, selection from Phaedo (E)
Week 7: Oct 18-20
Complete Plato. Review for exam.
Thursday, October 20: SECOND EXAM.
Week 8: Oct 25-27
Velazquez, 152-155, “Aristotle”
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, ch.1-5, 7-10, 13. Book II (all).
Week 9: Nov 1-3
Nicomachean Ethics, III, 1-5; brief definitions and passages from Books V, VI, VII.
Book VIII, 1-3; IX, 4; X, 1, 4-8.
Week 10: Nov 8-10
Williams, Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue
Week 11: Nov 22
THIRD EXAM
Week 12: Nov 29-Dec 1
Perry, Who’s to Say?
Week 13: Dec 6-8
Velazquez 469-478, Kant
Velazquez, ch. 7 on ethics, pp. 499-532
499-502, “Is Ethics Relative?”
503-514, “Do Consequences Make an Action Right?”
514-532, “Do Rules Define Morality?”
Week 14: Dec 13
Velazquez, ch. 4, 272-293, “Does God Exist?”
Review for final.
Week 15: Dec 16-22
FINAL EXAMS