We will be concerned with the quality of the arguments given for these conclusions and the significance of the conclusions reached. As such, one goal of the course is to further develop the student’s sense of what makes an argument a good one and what conclusions are of most importance to reach in the first place. A side-effect will be to challenge and/or to further clarify the conclusions and methods of the other disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences, including philosophy itself. It is quite mistaken, then, to think of this as a course in the history of ideas, or as a “survey“ course: matters of who said what and when is of only instrumental importance to us.

The amount of reading required for class preparation is perhaps sparse compared to the amount required in, say, a literature or a history course. However the texts are typically very dense and so will require intensive, careful reading. Similarly, the papers written for the course are both short and few, but are nevertheless quite demanding. In addition, two of those papers must be discussed with both myself and one or two other students in “tutorial” meetings on or after the paper’s due date.

There are no exams.

Attendance: Class meets two times/week for 75 minutes each period. After 3 misses, serious consideration will be given to either lowering the student’s grade, or by assigning a failing grade so that credit for the course cannot be earned. Quite simply, it matters in philosophy--and to my method of teaching the course in particular--that there be regular class attendance. Please note that there are no excused absences, but only absences. No student will receive credit for the course if, in my estimation, he or she has been absent too many times, regardless of the reasons for the misses.

Regular Reading: Most class periods will require that students have read assigned material prior to class. Typically, the amount will be no more than 10-15 relatively difficult pages per class meeting. Study questions will sometimes accompany the reading assignments. In these cases students are expected to answer them for the sake of facilitating class discussion of the material; in no case will your answers be “collected” or evaluated.

Tutorial Papers and Meetings: Each student must write 3 tutorial papers for the course, each no longer than two pages, single spaced. In addition, each student must meet with myself and with one or two other students in a “tutorial meeting” to discuss each completed paper. These meetings take place outside of class time and are arranged ahead of time. Students should expect that the papers will take approximately two weeks to prepare, and that a regular amount of time will need to be devoted to the paper per day. The questions on which your papers are based are typically quite challenging, and the reading needed to prepare your answers demands multiple reads.

Final Exam: There is no final exam, but the scheduled final exam period for this course will be used for completing any remaining tutorial meetings. You are therefore obligated to the course for that exam day and time until further notice.