PHIL 180
University Seminar: Reason and Responsibility
Course Description
This course provides a basic introduction to some central
problems in different areas of philosophy: epistemology, philosophy of
religion, philosophy of art, philosophy of mind, and ethics. The questions that
will be addressed include: Is there an external world? Can we know the future?
Can we prove the existence of God? Is the mind/soul different from the brain?
What is an artwork? Supposing that the physical world is deterministic, can we
still maintain that humans are free? Is abortion morally wrong? Should we all
become vegetarians?
Our textbook is Joel Feinberg, Russ Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason
and Responsibility, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing (12th ed.,
2004). The book is available in the text book section at the Hammes book store.
For the section on the philosophy of art additional readings will be
distributed in class.
Policies, requirements
Requirements and Grading
There will be four short quizzes (10% each), a mid-term paper
(5-8 pages, 20%), and a final paper (5-8 pages, 20%). Your class participation
will be taken into account as well (20%).
Extensions
If you are unable to hand in your work on time for a legitimate
reason, we can arrange for you to submit your work at a later time. If you
don’t have a good excuse there will be an automatic late-penalty of 0.333 on
the usual grading scale for every begun 3 hours of being late. (Example: if you
were supposed to hand in your assignment in class, but you hand it in at 6:05
PM, and you would have gotten an A, you will get a B).
Attendance & Participation
Attendance is expected. Since this isn’t kindergarten anymore I
won’t officially take attendance, but given the small size of the class
repeated unexcused absences will be noted, and if you are not here you can’t
participate. This course is a discussion class. Please don’t be shy but talk -
philosophy is an activity.
Plagiarism
Honor Code, see your academic handbook, or http://www.nd.edu/~hnrcode/.
Please respect the honor code. Not doing so will cause a lot of unpleasantness
for you and for me. Two facts you should be aware of: 1) the detection of
violations of the honor code is much easier than you think, 2) I am not stupid.
Preparation
The assigned text(s) will provide the basis for our discussion
in class. So, it is absolutely essential that you have read the text(s)
beforehand. Each one of you will be asked to prepare one question, objection,
or comment concerning the assigned readings for each class and to e-mail it to
me by 9 PM on the day before class.
Tentative Syllabus
Week I
~ Logistics, Introduction
Epistemology
~ Rene Descartes, Meditations I, II, III (focus on
I+II, III time permitting)
Week II
~ John Pollock, ‘A Brain in a Vat’; Robert Nozick, ‘The
Experience Machine’ (photocopies of the latter will be distributed in class)
~ G. E. Moore, ‘Proof of the External World’, George Berkeley, The Principles of Human Knowledge, 1-34
Week III
~ Wesley Salmon, ‘An Encounter with David Hume’; optional: David
Hume, An Inquiry concerning Human Understanding, (pp. xxx)
~ Philip Kitcher, ‘Believing where we cannot prove’; first quiz
will be handed out in class
Philosophy of Religion
Week IV
~ W. Clifford, ‘The Ethics of Belief’; William James, ‘The Will
to believe’; optional: B. Pascal, ‘The Wager’; first quiz due at the beginning
of class
~ D. Mathieu, ‘Male Chauvinist Religion’
Week V
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, Rebellion; B.C.
Johnson, ‘God and the Problem of Evil’
Philosophy of Art
~ Noël Carroll, ‘Art as
representation’, ‘Art as Expression’, (selections, photocopies will be handed
out in class)
Week VI
~ Noël Carroll, ‘Art as Form’ (selections, photocopies will be
distributed in class), Film excerpts: Leni Riefenstahl, ‘The Will to Power’
~ Visit of the Snite
Museum; second quiz will be handed out in class
Problems in the Philosophy of Mind
Week VII
~ Richard Swinburne, ‘A Defense of Substance Dualism’, Frank
Jackson, ‘The Qualia Problem’; second quiz due at the beginning of class
~ David Papineau, ‘The Case for Materialism’; Peter Carruthers,
‘The Mind is the Brain’
Week VIII
~ John Searle, ‘Minds, Brains, and Programs’, Willliam Lycan,
‘Robots and Minds’
~ Derek Parfit, ‘Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons’’;
Daniel Dennett, ‘Where Am I?’, mid-term
paper topics will be handed out in class
Week IX
Fall Break
Problems in Ethics
Week X
~ A. J. Ayer, ‘Freedom and Necessity’; Walter Stace, ‘The
Problem of Free Will’, mid-term paper due at the beginning of class
~ R. Chisholm, ‘Human Freedom and the Self’; R. Kane, ‘Free
Will: Ancient Dispute, New Themes’
Week XI
~ Thomas Nagel, ‘Moral Luck’; Susan Wolf, ‘Sanity and the
Metaphysics of Responsibility’
~ Film: Woody Allen, ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’, third quiz will
be handed out
Week XII
~ Joel Feinberg, ‘Psychological Egoism’; James Rachels, ‘Ethical
Egoism’, third quiz due in class
~ Plato, ‘The Immoralist’s Challenge’ (selected pages);
Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘Master and Slave Morality’
Week XIII
~ Phil Quinn, ‘God and Morality’
~ Peter Singer, ‘Famine, Affluence, and Morality’; Onora O’
Neill, ‘Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems’
Week XIV
~ John Harris, ‘The Survival Lottery’; James Rachels, ‘Active
and Passive Euthanasia’
~ Thanksgiving
Week XV
~ J. Jarvis Thomson, ‘A defense of abortion’; D. Marquis, ‘An
Argument that Abortion is wrong’
~ P. Singer, ‘All Animals are equal’; fourth quiz will be handed
out in class
Week XVI
~ Wrap-Up; fourth quiz due at the beginning of class; final
paper topics will be handed out in class