Text: Twenty Questions, 7/e, edited by G.L. Bowie, M.W. Michaels & R.C. Solomon
-August-
25: Introductory lecture on the discipline of Philosophy.*
27: Arguments: Validity & Invalidity.
29: Acceptability, Induction, Deduction, Fallacies.
-September-
01: Labor Day - Campus closed.
03: Plato: p. 264.
05: Descartes: p. 266.
08: Descartes continued
10: Berkeley, p. 278.
12: Berkeley continued
15: Russell, p. 283
17: Russell continued
19: Code, p. 285
22: Code continued.
24: Kuhn, p. 136
26: Kuhn continued - {1st Weekend Question}
29: Keller, p. 150
-October-
01: Keller continued
03: The Bible, Analects, Koran, p. 579-584
06: Aristotle, p. 584.
08: Aristotle continued
10: Kant, p. 594.
13: Kant continued
15: Mill, p. 598
17: Mill continued
20: de Beauvoir, p. 604
22: Card, p. 606
24: Rawls, p. 692
27: Rawls continued
29: Nozick, p. 697
31: Nozick continued
-November-
03: Sartre, p. 469
05: Appiah, p. 471
07: Appiah continued - {2nd Weekend Question}
10: Shelby, p. 479
12: Shelby continued
14: Personhood, no readings
17: Personhood continued
19: DiFranco & Rice, p. 402
21: Thompson, p. 404
24-28: Thanksgiving Break, no classes.
- December -
01: Thompson continued
03: Walker, p. 435
05: Walker continued
08: Class decides
10: Class decides
12: Class decides
15-19: Finals Week
Paper due: 16 December, by 11am, in BSS 502B
a) 2-minute arguments. At the beginning of some class periods, I will be asking a question and asking you to answer it with an argument. You will have 2 minutes to do so. This will serve multiple purposes: allow me to assess your writing as well as argument skills; attendance; initiate discussion. These arguments will not be graded, though I will read them.
b) Quizzes. There will be a quiz each week, focusing on the lectures and the readings. The form of the quizzes will vary -- true/false, fill in the blank, short essay, multiple choice... Each quiz will be worth 10 points. The one lowest quiz score will be dropped in calculating the final grade. There are no make-ups on quizzes.
c) Weekend Questions. There will be two Weekend Questions during the semester; dates TBA. You will receive your question(s) on a Friday and must turn in your answers the next Monday, in class. Specific instructions will accompany each round of Weekend Questions. Late work will be accepted, with the proviso that 5 points will be deducted from the grade for each calendar day of lateness. An automatic 5% of the grade will be deducted for use of non-gender-neutral language. The Weekend Questions are worth 50 points each.
d) Term Paper. A research paper (7-10 pages), due Tuesday, 16 December. The topic of your paper does not have to be one of the specific topics dealt with in class. I will be handing out a sheet of “suggested topics for research papers” soon. Please consult with me before your final choice of the research topic. The term paper will be worth 100 points.
Although the topic of your paper may be based on any appropriate philosophical source(s), unless you choose one of the "suggested papers topics", you must make use of at least one essay in Twenty Questions, the text for the class. Further, the essay(s) you choose do not have to be ones we will be reading for the class. For example, the last chapter of the text is entitled "How Should I Make Money?" If this topic is one you choose to write on, then you must use one or more of the essays in the text. However, also, at least one non-internet source must be used which is outside the essays in the text.
A good research tool to locate books and papers in philosophy on specific topics is The Philosopher's Index. Other good tools are The Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Both are located in the reference section of HSU Library. The first is also available online in the Library. Late papers will be accepted, with the proviso that ten (10) points will be deducted from the grade for each calendar day of lateness. An automatic 5% of the grade of the paper will be deducted for use of non-gender-neutral language.
e) Style: The preferred style for punctuation, footnoting/endnoting, bibliography, and so on can be found in The Chicago Manual of Style. This book can be found in the reference section of the HSU Library. If you are very used to using the Modern Language Association Style Sheet, that will also be acceptable.
f) Writing Guidelines: It will be helpful to visit the following website for important information about writing for this class: http://users.humboldt.edu/goodman/writing.html
g) Plagiarism. Df = "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work" (Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, New York: Random House, 1996). Plagiarism is illegal and I judge it to be immoral. Plagiarism in any form on any assignment will result in a grade of zero ("0") for that assignment, no questions asked and no possibility for make-up.
h) Please obtain a copy of "Editing Notation" (You can find it on the web at the following address: users.humboldt.edu/goodman/ednotes.html). This will help in writing your paper and the weekend questions. Late work will be accepted (except quizzes), with the result that one full grade (10%) will be deducted per calendar day. Please use endnotes in the papers, formatting them as follows: Author, title of paper/book, title of journal, (copyright date, publisher), page number(s).
i) Grade breakdown: 100-93 = A, 92-90 = A-, 89-87 = B+, 86-83 = B, 82-80 = B-, 79-77 = C+, 76-73 = C, 72-70 = C-, 69-67 = D+, 66-63 = D, 62-00 = F. I do not grade on a curve. Hence, you will not be competing with your classmates for a grade.
j) Catalog description of PHL 107: "Questions such as: What is knowledge? Is morality objective? Does God exist? What is beauty? Is there free will?"
k) Academic honesty. It is the student's responsibility to know policy regarding academic honesty. For more information, go to the HSU catalog.
l) Students with Disabilities. Persons who wish to request disability-related accommodations should contact the Student Disability Resource Center in House 71, 826-4678 or 826-5392. Some accommodations may take several weeks to arrange.
m) Attendance & disruptive behavior. It is the student's responsibility to know the policy regarding attendance and disruptive behavior. For more information, go to the HSU catalog. As to this class, attendance is required; my reaction to disruptive behavior will be moral, legal rational, and swift.
n) Format and grade. The format of this course is lecture/discussion and satisfies three units of lower division Area C in General Education. The minimum satisfactory grade in this course for fulfilling the Area A requirement is C- (that is, C-minus).
o) Learning outcomes. The following are the learning outcomes for this course, approved by the HSU Integrated Curriculum Committee: Students will: a) apply discipline-specific vocabulary and central discipline-specific concepts and principles to a specific instance, literary work or artistic creation; b) respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences and will differentiate between emotional and intellectual responses; c) explain the nature and scope of the perspectives and contributions found in a particular discipline with the Arts & Humanities as related to human experience, both individually (theirs) and collectively; d) discuss the intellectual, historical, and cultural elements of written literature through their study of great works of human imagination.
p) Late work. Late work will be acceptable on all assignments except quizzes. There will be a 10% reduction of grade for each day the assignment is late. Example: If the assignment is due in class, then it is one day late if it is not turned in in class. If turned in the next day, it is 2 days late, and so on.
q) Website. Please go to "http://users.humboldt.edu/goodman/107prosp.html" for additional information about this course.
Some Important Dates:
Office hours, etc:
Please don't be shy about calling me at cell phone. If you need my help with something, it's important that you call.
This is a lecture/discussion class and your participation in class discussions is mandatory. It is a good idea to come to class every day with at least one question or comment you can offer for the good of the whole. Also, since we will be going to the text frequently, please bring your textbook to class, and have read the pages we will be discussing before you come to class<.i>.
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*Introductory Logic lecture: http://users.humboldt.edu/goodman/IntroLecture.html