introduction to philosophy - brandeis university · pdf filein its aim and format the course...

INTRODUCTIONTOPHILOSOPHYBrandeisUniversity•Fall2016ProfessorAndreasTeuber

I. IntroductionThecourseseekstounderstandaswellasansweranumberofcentralquestionsinphilosophythroughthewritingsofcontemporaryandmajorWesternphilosophersaswellasthroughtheclosestudyofseveralfundamentalissuesthathaveariseninthecourseofthedevelopmentoftheWesternphilosophicaltradition,suchasfreewill,ourknowledgeofthe"external"world,andthemeaningandvalueoftruthandjustice.ReadingswillbedrawnfromthewritingsofmajorphilosopherssuchasPlato,Aristotle,Anselm,Aquinas,Descartes,Locke,Berkeley,Hume,Leibniz,Kant,JohnStuartMill,andBertrandRussell,aswellasprominentcontemporaryphilosopherssuchasPeterSinger,JohnRawls,RobertNozick,DanielDennett,MarthaNussbaum,JohnSearle,BernardWilliams,JudithJarvisThomson,HilaryPutnamandThomasNagel.Themainfocusofthecourse,however,willbeonthequestions:Whybegood?Whatisconsciousness?Dopersonshaverights?Ifso,invirtueofwhatdotheyhavethem?Whatdohumanbeingsknow,ifanything,abouttheworldtheyinhabitandhowdotheyknowit?Ifpersonsdonothavefreewill,doesitstillmakesensetopraiseandblamethem?Thecourseismoreaboutthinkingandthinkingthingsthroughthanitisaboutcoverageorthememorizationofabunchoffacts.

DRAFT MARCH. 15, 2016

TopicswillincludeargumentsforandagainsttheexistenceofGod,thevalueofreligiousbeliefandfaith,theproblemofevil,thenatureofscientificexplanation,perceptionandillusion,minds,brainsandprograms,personalidentity("whoamI?"),freedomanddeterminism,moral"truth"v.moralrelativity,forgivenessandjustice,andwhatmakeslifeworthliving...tonameafew.Thecourseisdesignedtobeanintroductiontophilosophyanditsproblemsandassuchitisnotintendedtobecomprehensiveorexhaustive.Theclassicmaterialsareselectedtoprovideabasisforunderstandingcentraldebateswithinthefield.ThecourseisdividedintofoursectionsandeachsectionisdevotedtoakeyareawithinWesternphilosophy,intheareasofepistemology,generalmetaphysics,ontology,philosophyofmind,philosophyofreligion,politicalphilosophy,ethics:

• Preamble:“WhatisThinking?”• PARTI: REASON&FAITH• PARTII: MIND&BODY• PARTIII:KNOWLEDGE&REALITY• PARTIV:ETHICS,JUSTICE&THEGOODLIFE

Initsaimandformatthecourseismoreaninvitationtodophilosophythananintroduction.Introductionsseektomapoutaterritoryorlaythegroundworkformoredetailedstudy.Therewillbesomeofthathere,butinsofarasinvitationsbeckonandintroductionspoint,thecoursebeckonsstudentstothestudyofphilosophyratherthanpointstheway.

TheSyllabusforPHIL1A:IntroductiontoPhilosophyhasbeenlistedamongthetoptenmostpopularphilosophysyllabiintheworldforanumberofyearsnow.

“TheTenMostPopularPhilosophySyllabiintheWorld”

http://www.dancohen.org/blog/posts/10_most_popular_philosophy_syllabiII. ClassTimesThecoursewillmeetonTuesdays&Thursdaysfrom2:00to3:20PM.

III. CourseRequirementsandReadingCourseRequirementswillremainmoreorlessthesameasinprioryears.ProfessorTeuberhasbeenteachingthecourseatHarvard(intheSummer)andatBrandeis(intheFall)formorethantenyearsnow.ThisFallatBrandeisitwillmoreorlessfollowthesametrajectoryitdidlastyearanddrawonmanyofthesamereadings.ThepublicSiteatHarvardandtheResourcesandLinkspagefrom2014arestillonlineandwillgiveyouaprettygoodideaofwhatthecoursethisFallislikelytobeupto.Takealook:

HarvardIntroductiontoPhilosophyhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~phils4/

HarvardIntro:Resources,Links&LectureNoteshttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~phils4/notes.html

NOTE:ForthecoursethisFallallthereadingswillbemadeavailableonlineonthecoursesite.Youwillnotberequiredtopurchaseatextbookorcoursepak,buttheNortonIntroductiontoPhilosophy(2015)hasmostofthecoursereadingsbetweenitstwocoversandisstronglyrecommended.ItisthebestintroductorytextavailableinEnglishandwillhelptobringhomethemanyproblemsweshalltackleandquestionsweshallask.

IV. WritingFourshortpapersarerequiredontopicsgrowingoutofthereadingsandclassdiscussions.Theshortpapersshouldbenomorethan5to6pagesinlength.Papertopicswillbeavailableseven(7)to ten(10)daysbeforea paper isdueaswellaspubliclysharedon thewebto alloweveryoneintheclasstoshowthequestion,iftheywish,tofamilyandfriendsandarguewiththemaboutit. The firstof the fourpaperswillnotbe graded. Itwill be a credit/nocreditwritingexercise.Whatacredit/nocreditexerciseiswillbeexplainedonthefirstdayofclass.Therewillalsobethree“takehome”ReaderResponseExerciseswhichwillrequirenomorethanaparagraphortwo.

V. RewritingYouwillhavetheopportunitytorewriteone,perhapstwo,ofthethreegradedpapers.Rewritesmustbeaccompaniedbyacopyoftheoriginalpaperwiththecomments,plusacoversheet,statinghowyouhaveimprovedthepaperandspellingoutwhatyoudidtomakeyourpaper,nowrewritten,thatmuchmorewonderful.Thegradeyoureceiveonyourrewritewillbethegradeyouwillreceiveforthepaper.Itwillnotbeanaverageofthetwogrades.Morewillbesaidaboutrewritingonthefirstdayofclassandatthetimetherewriteoptionkicksin.VI. ExaminationsTherewillbeaquizinclassneartheendoftheFallterm).Thequizshouldtakeabouttwentyminutes.Therewillbenofinalexamandnomidterm.Otherthanthequiz,therewillbenoexaminationsofanykind.

VII. ParticipationYoumaymeettheparticipationrequirementbyparticipatinginclassdiscussions,attendingdiscussionsessions,talkingandcorrespondingwithfamilyandfriendsaswellasclassmates,bykeepingadiaryorjournal,bycommunicatingonFacebook.Attheendofthesemestereveryonewillbegiventheopportunitytosendanemaildescribingwhattheydidinandoutsidetheclasstomeettherequirement.

VIII. AttendanceTheattendancepolicyiscurrentlyunderreview.Thepolicywillbeannouncedonthefirstdayofclass.IX. GradingThecoursecallsforfourshortpapers,thefirstofwhichwillbeacredit/nocreditpaper,threeshortreader-responseexercises,aquizandparticipation.Assumingthateveryonereceives“credit”onthefirstpaper,thethreeremaininggradedpaperswillbeweightedasfollows:35%foryourbesteffort,25%foryournextbesteffortand20%fortheonewhichisleastsuccessfulofthethree.Thethreereadingexerciseswillcount10%andthequizandparticipationwilleachcount5%ofyourfinalgrade.

X. TeachingAssistantsSeveralTeachingAssistantshavebeenassignedtotheCourse.TheTeachingAssistantswillbeprimarilyresponsibleforreadingyourpapersandmakingcommentsonthemaswellasparticipatinginandhelpingtoleaddiscussionsessions.TheTeachingAssistantswillalsobeavailabletodiscussyourideasforhowyouwishtoaddressthisorthatpapertopic.IshalllreadallthepapersbeforetalkingwiththeTAs,hearingwhattheythinkandbeforegradesarehandedoutandindependentlydecidewhatgradeseachpapershouldreceive.Ifyouareconvincedanerrorhasbeenmade,firsttalkwithyourteachingassistantwithwhomyouhavebeenworking.Ifyouarestillnotsatisfied,youmaybringyourpapertome.

XI. CourseWebSiteTheCoursewillhaveitsownLatteWebSite.

XII. OfficeHoursIwillholdofficehours(RABB330)onThursdaysfrom3:15until4:15andbyappointment.Ifyouwishtoleavemessagesforme,sendmeanemailatteuber@g.harvard.eduorteuber@brandeis.edu.TheTeachingAssistantswillalsoholdofficehoursandbereachablebyemail.TheirhourswillbeannouncedinthefirstweekoftheFallsemester.

XIII. AcademicIntegrityBrandeisexpectsyoutounderstandandmaintainhighstandardsofacademicintegrity.BreachesofacademicintegrityaresubjecttoreviewanddisciplinaryactionbytheAdministrativeBoard.Examplesincludeplagiarism,inappropriatecollaboration,cheating,duplicationofassignmentsandfalsificationandmisrepresentationofresearchresults.SeetheBrandeisPoliciespageathttp://www.brandeis.edu/svpse/academicintegrity/

XIV. ResourcestoSupportAcademicIntegrityHarvardoffersessentialinformationabouttheuseofsourcesinacademicwriting.

TheHarvardGuidetoUsingResourceshttp://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do

Toreceivethemostbenefit,readallsevensectionsoftheguide.Youwillgainadeepappreciationforwhyandhowsourcesareusedinacademicwritingandtheethicalimplicationofimpropercitation.XV. AccessibilityandAccommodationServicesAcademicServicesathttp://www.brandeis.edu/acserv/disabilities/offersavarietyofaccommodationsandservicestostudentswithdocumenteddisabilities,permanentandtemporaryinjuries,andchronicconditions.IfyouareastudentwithadisabilityBrandeiswillengageyouinaninteractiveprocesstoprovideyouwithanequalopportunitytoparticipatein,contributeto,andbenefitfromtheacademicactivitiesandmaterialsintheINTRODUCTIONTOPHILOSOPHYcourse.Themanagerofaccessibilityserviceswillworkwithyouonanindividualized,case-by-casebasis,toprovideappropriateservicestoensureyouhavearichandrewardingacademicexperience.

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