PHIL 13195 - Honors
Introduction to Philosophy, Fall 2006
Course Description
This course provides a basic introduction to some central problems in different areas of philosophy: epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, 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? If God is good and omnipotent, why is there evil in the world? Is the mind/soul different from the brain? In what sense do persons persist over time? Supposing that the physical world is deterministic, can we still maintain that humans are free? Is there a moral order in the world? What ought we to do? Is abortion morally wrong? Should we all become vegetarians?
Readings
Our textbook is Joel Feinberg, Russ Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing (13th ed., 2007). The book is available in the text book section at the Hammes book store.
Policies, requirements
Requirements and Grading
There will be three quizzes (12.5% each), three papers (3-5 pages, 15% each), and your participation will be taken into account as well, including your email comments/questions (see below) (17.5%).
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 do not 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 3:00 PM, and you would have gotten an A, you will get a B+).
Attendance & Participation
Attendance is expected. Since this is not kindergarten, I won’t officially take attendance, but, given the small size of the class, repeated unexcused absences will be noted. This course is a discussion-based seminar. Don’t be shy, talk! Philosophy is an activity.
Plagiarism
See your academic handbooks for a review of the honor code, and take a look at the philosophy department’s guidelines for how to avoid plagiarism, also available on the web at http://www.nd.edu/~ajauerni/Teaching.htm. Please do not cheat. Not respecting the honor code will cause a lot of unpleasantness for you and for me. Please be aware that detecting violations of the honor code is much easier than you think (and I am not stupid).
Use of the internet
The internet is a very useful resource for many things, but it also has certain shortcomings if not used properly in certain contexts. For your own protection, the use of the internet in connection with the assignments or the papers for this class is prohibited. All of the information you need to complete the assignments and to write perfect papers is in the book, and (hopefully) your notes/heads. Infractions of this policy will be treated as violations of the honor code.
Preparation
The assigned text(s) will provide the basis for our discussions. So, it is absolutely essential that you have read the text(s) beforehand. You are expected to email a question, objection, or comment to me concerning the assigned readings for each class by 9 PM on the day before the relevant session.
Schedule
Week I
Tue, Aug. 28 ~ Logistics, Introduction
Thurs, Aug. 30 ~ Rene Descartes, Meditations I-II, pp. 166-173
Week II
Tue, Sept. 4 ~ John Pollock, ‘A Brain in a Vat’, pp. 137-39; Peter Unger, ‘An Argument for Skepticism’, pp. 139-150; Robert Nozick, ‘The Experience Machine’ (photocopies will be distributed in class)
Thurs, Sept. 6 ~ George Berkeley, Of the Principles of Human Knowledge, pp. 205-212; G. E. Moore, ‘Proof of the External World’, pp. 216-219
Week III
Tue, Sept. 11 ~ Wesley Salmon, ‘An Encounter with David Hume’, 224-243; Karl Popper, ‘Science: Conjectures and Refutations’, pp. 264-268; optional: David Hume, An Inquiry concerning Human Understanding, pp. 222-234
Thurs, Sept. 13 ~ William Rowe, ‘The Ontological Argument’, pp. 11-21; William Paley, ‘The Argument from Design’, pp. 32-37; first quiz will be handed out in class
Week IV
Tue, Sept. 18 ~ W. Clifford, ‘The Ethics of Belief’, pp. 101-105; William James, ‘The Will to Believe’, pp. 106-114; optional: B. Pascal, ‘The Wager’, 119-122; first quiz due in class
Thurs, Sept. 20 ~ B.C. Johnson, ‘God and the Problem of Evil’, pp. 97-101; J.l. Mackie, ‘Evil and Omnipotence’, pp. 78-85; Fyodor Dostoevsky, ‘Rebellion’, you only have to read pp. 76-78, but you might enjoy reading the whole thing (pp. 72-85)
Week V
Tue, Sept. 25 ~ Brie Gertler, ‘In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism’, pp. 285-297; Frank Jackson, ‘The Qualia Problem’, pp. 297-301; topics for first paper will be handed out in class
Thurs, Sept. 27 ~ Peter Carruthers, ‘The Mind is the Brain’, pp. 301-309; Paul M. Churchland, ‘Behaviorism, Materialism and Functionalism’, pp. 309-321
Week VI
Tue, Oct. 2 ~ John Searle, ‘Minds, Brains, and Programs’, pp. 330-342; John Searle, ‘Animal Minds’, pp. 356-365; first paper due in class
Thurs, Oct. 5 ~ Derek Parfit, ‘Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons’, pp. 373-378; Daniel Dennett, ‘Where Am I?’, pp. 378-386
Week VII
Tue, Oct. 9 ~ Paul d’Holbach, ‘The Illusion of Free Will’, pp. 458-463; Derk Pereboom, ‘Why we have no Free Will and Can Live Without It’, pp. 464-477
Thurs, Oct. 11 ~ A. J. Ayer, ‘Freedom and Necessity’, pp. 414-419; John Martin Fischer, ‘My Compatibilism’, pp. 425-437; second quiz will be handed out in class
Week VIII
Tue, Oct. 16 ~ R. Chisholm, ‘Human Freedom and the Self’, pp. 438-445; R. Kane, ‘Free Will: Ancient Dispute, New Themes’, pp. 445-458; second quiz due in class
Thurs, Oct. 18 ~ James Rachels, ‘The Debate over Free Will’, pp. 478-486; Harry Frankfurt, ‘Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility’, pp. 486-492
Week IX
Fall Break
Week X
Tue, Oct. 30 ~ Thomas Nagel, ‘Moral Luck’, pp. 493-500; Susan Wolf, ‘Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility’, pp. 501-511; topics for second paper will be handed out in class
Thurs, Nov. 1 ~ Joel Feinberg, ‘Psychological Egoism’, pp. 520-532; James Rachels, ‘Ethical Egoism’, pp. 532-540
Tue, Nov. 6 ~ Plato, ‘The Immoralist’s Challenge’, pp. 540-546; Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘Master and Slave Morality’, pp. 546-554; second paper due in class
Thurs, Nov. 8 ~ no class; instead we will be watching Woody Allen’s ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’, place and time TBA
Week XII
Tue, Nov. 13 ~ Russ Shafer-Landau, ‘Ethical Subjectivism’, pp. 555-566
Thurs, Nov. 15 ~ Aristotle, The Nature of Virtue, pp. 570-586
Week XIII
Tue, Nov. 20 ~ Thomas Hobbes, ‘Leviathan’, pp. 586-600; John Rawls, ‘Justice as Fairness’, pp. 600-610
Thurs, Nov. 22 ~ Thanksgiving
Tue, Nov. 27 ~ Phil Quinn, ‘God and Morality’, pp. 610-625
Thurs, Nov. 29 ~ Peter Singer, ‘Famine, Affluence, and Morality’, pp. 678-685; Onora O’ Neill, ‘Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems’, pp. 686-692; third quiz will be handed out in class
Tue, Dec. 4 ~ John Harris, ‘The Survival Lottery’, pp. 692-696; James Rachels, ‘Active and Passive Euthanasia’, pp. 697-700; third quiz due in class
Thurs, Dec. 6 ~ Peter Singer, ‘All Animals are equal’, pp. 701-713