Philosophy 100 – Introduction to Philosophy – Page 1

Philosophy 100: Introduction to Philosophy University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Fall 2013

T R, Section 7 3:35-4:50, Section 9 5:00-6:15 Dr. Ryan Hay (rhay@uwsp.edu); Office: CCC 419

Office Hours: TBD Description This course is meant to provide you with a general broad overview of the field of philosophy. The course is divided into several different units. These units represent broad areas of interest within philosophy, but they do not constitute an exhaustive set of all fields of philosophical investigation. This course is not meant to be a chronological historical introduction to Western philosophy, but we will read philosophical works from ancient, early modern, and contemporary periods. Essential Questions for the Course

What are the rules of good reasoning and philosophical argumentation?

What is truth and what is its relation to belief and knowledge?

What is it for some action to be right or wrong, and furthermore do we even have the ability to freely choose how we act?

How is the mind related to the body, and how is the mind related to language and the world? Enduring Understandings You will come to understand that:

Philosophy encompasses a broad set of very fundamental questions, and the philosophical method can be applied to rationally investigate these.

There are independent (or objective) standards for how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ a philosophical argument is.

Philosophical argumentation is essentially connected to many other academic disciplines and professional activities.

While some philosophical questions are not settled and may never be, this doesn’t necessarily mean that progress cannot be made, and that some philosophical positions aren’t rationally better than others.

Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions You should be able to:

Employ philosophical concepts and terminology appropriately.

Distinguish logically good arguments from logically bad arguments.

Identify key philosophical positions on knowledge, value, free will, the mind-body relation, and meaning.

Identify, interpret, and analyze the arguments of others

Compose and support your own arguments

Develop your own pre-philosophical intuitions into a coherent position

Demonstrate these skills in both writing and speech

Appreciate the value of the philosophical method in applying not just to abstract core philosophical concepts, but also to thinking and reasoning about the world in general and their other academic work

Appreciate the relationships between a variety of philosophical problems

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Sources for Required Readings Philosophy: The Quest for Truth edited by Louis Pojman (PQT) Many other readings will be made available on Desire 2 Learn (D2L) Assessment Midterm Paper (600 words) 20 % Term Paper (1200 words) 30 % Unit Quizzes (6, with lowest score dropped) 25 % Short Presentation (5 minutes, on your research topic) 10% Attendance and Participation (This includes 10 online response questions) 15 % Unit Quizzes There will be six unit quizzes given in this course. These quizzes consist of eight multiple choice (A-E) questions. Quizzes will be given after the end of each unit, and they will be announced no later than the class before they are scheduled to be given. Material covered on the quizzes may come from either my lectures or the assigned readings. In general, PowerPoint slides will be made available on D2L after the end of each unit. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped, and the resulting score will be curved. Plagiarism & Cheating It should be clear that cheating on quizzes will not be tolerated. I have no problem with students helping each other to learn the material, but copying another’s work on an assignment is not acceptable. Basic principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the work of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. Clear cases of plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing grade on the assignment in question, and a referral for academic disciplinary procedures. All written papers will be run through D2L’s Turn-it-in originality report service. Late Work In the interest of fairness to all students, written work received more than a week after the stated deadline with no pre-arranged excuse will be limited to a grade no higher than the lowest a student received for turning in the assignment on time. In the Classroom In general, I am fairly laid back. But it is important to remember to be respectful, both to me and to your fellow students. Some claims in a philosophy course may be controversial. Reasonable disagreement and argument is a fundamental part of the philosophical enterprise. In addition, there are two further points that should be made here. First, if you are going to sleep in class – don’t, just sleep at home. It is more comfortable for you there. Second, if you are talking to another student during class and I can hear you, I will be distracted. I generally find that kind of behavior offensive, and especially so if you do it when a fellow student is talking or giving a presentation. Your performance here may affect your participation grade.

Accommodations Any student who has a disability and is in need of classroom and/or exam accommodations, please contact both me and Disability Services. UWSP’s Office of Disability Services is located in 103 Student Services Center. The Disability Services Mission is to ensure that qualified students with disabilities are provided equal access and accommodations appropriate to their disability in all UWSP programs and academic pursuits.

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Tentative Schedule

Meeting: Topic/Question: Reading Due:

9-3 Introduction: What is philosophy? None

9-5 Does philosophy as a discipline make progress?

What is Philosophy? (PQT), Russell - The Value of Philosophy (PQT)

9-10 Logic: What are the rules of ‘good’ reasoning?

A Little Bit of Logic (PQT)

9-12 Knowledge: Does knowledge aim at and reach truths that are true for everyone?

Plato – Excerpts from Theaetetus and Meno (D2L)

9-17 Knowledge: What are the proper roles of truth, belief, and justification in the attainment of knowledge?

Gettier – Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? (D2L)

9-19 Skepticism: Introduction None; In-class Screening: The Matrix

9-24 Skepticism: Of what, if anything, can we be absolutely certain?

What Can We Know? (PQT)

9-26 Skepticism Continued… Hume - The Origin of Our Ideas and Skepticism… (PQT)

10-1 Responses to Skepticism Moore - Proof of an External World (D2L)

10-3 Writing Philosophy Papers Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper (D2L)

10-8 Ethics: Introduction and Overview Ethics: Introduction (PQT)

10-10 Ethical Relativism: Isn’t morality all just relative?

Benedict - Morality is Relative, Rachels - Morality is not Relative (PQT)

10-15 Morality and the Divine: Does morality depend on theology?

Prager - Why Young Americans Can't Think Morally, Plato - Euthyphro (D2L)

10-17 Normative Ethics: What makes an action morally right, (or wrong)?

Which is the Correct Ethical Theory? THROUGH Mill - Utilitarianism (PQT)

10-22 Applied Ethics: Should you donate to charity?

Singer – The Singer Solution to World Poverty (D2L)

10-24 The Problem of Free Will: Do we have the ability to freely choose what we do?

Freedom of the Will and Determinism - Introduction (PQT)

10-29 Determinism: Are events determined?

Holbach - We Are Completely Determined (PQT); Screening: Futurama: “Free Will Hunting”

10-31 Responsibility: What is the relationship between free will and responsibility?

Lamont - Freedom of the Will and Human Responsibility (PQT)

11-5 Compatibilism: Both free will and determinism are correct…

Stace - Compatibilism (PQT)

11-7 Philosophy of Mind: How is the mind related to the body?

The Mind-Body Problem: Introduction (PQT)

11-12 Dualism: The mind and the body are distinct entities.

Descartes: Dualistic Interactionism (PQT)

11-14 Physicalism: Can machines think?

Ryle - Exorcising Descartes' "Ghost in the Machine" (PQT)

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11-19 Consciousness: What is it for something to be conscious? Can consciousness be reduced to a scientific property?

Nagel - What Is It Like to Be a Bat? (PQT)

11-21 Personal Identity: What makes you a thing that exists over time?

Parfit & Vesey - Brain Transplants and Personal Identity (PQT)

11-26 Philosophy of Language: What is it for a sentence to be true?

Russell - The Correspondence Theory of Truth (PQT)

12-3 Meaning: What is the relation between language and the world?

None

12-5 In-class Presentations Prepare for presentations

12-10 In-class Presentations Prepare for presentations

12-12 In-class Presentations Prepare for presentations