PL 101 Division V Core Requirement

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

SYLLABUS FOR SUMMER 2010

Instructor: Dr. Sharon Kaye

Office: Philosophy Department (AD, B11)

Phone: 397-4769

Email: skaye@jcu.edu

Office Hours: Please email for an appointment.

Class Meetings: None.

Course Work: Four exams, each worth 10%

Three Papers, each worth 10%

Eight sets of exercises, together worth 30%

Required Texts: About Philosophy, by Robert Paul Wolff (Pearson, 10^th edition) with access code for MyPhilosophyKit online

Course Description:

The unexamined life is not worth living. This is what Socrates said in the fourth century B.C. He set out to examine his life, and in so doing he launched the tradition of Western Philosophy. How do I know what is true? Do I have a soul? Does God exist? Do I have control over my fate? How should I live? These are some of the questions philosophers ask. Anyone who takes time to think carefully about important issues can be considered a philosopher, but philosophy at its best is a discipline that requires training and practice.

In this course we will survey the central problem areas of philosophy through classic authors of the ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary periods. Our goal will be two-fold: first, to learn how these authors thought through philosophical problems; second, to think them through for ourselves. Our method will be to study the art of argumentation. By the end of the course you should be able to identify arguments, analyze arguments, and construct arguments of your own.

Evaluation:

Your final grade will be calculated in accordance with standard university letter grades.

A = 92 and above A- = 90-92 B+ = 88-89 B = 82-87 B- = 80-81

C+ = 78-79 C = 72-77 C- = 70-71 D+ = 68-69 D = 62-67 D- = 60-61

F = 59 and below

Exams:

There are four exams for this course; all are required in order to pass. Questions for these exams will be similar to the exercises (multiple-choice, pattern-matching, and essay). On the dates listed on the timetable I will email the exam to you at noon and you must email it back to me in 90 minutes. The exams are open-book. There are no make-ups for exams: missing results in zero.

Exercises:

Purchase a textbook packaged with an access code for the MyPhilosophyKit web page (http://www.myphilosophykit.com/). You can also purchase the access code separately on-line. You will need to register online for our course. By noon on each day listed on the timetable you must submit the multiple choice, pattern-matching, and essay exercises under “Chapter Review” on your MyPhilosophyKit page. These exercises will be graded automatically to give you your score.

Papers:

There are three papers for this course; all are required in order to pass. Your topics are as follows:

Paper 1: Do you know anything?

Paper 2: How does science differ from art?

Paper 3: Is anything that happens in a virtual reality moral or immoral?

Follow the instructions for paper writing found in the appendix of your textbook. For each paper, you are required to cite three sources found in the Research Navigator under “Study and Research Tools” on your MyPhilosophyKit. Papers are due by noon on the day listed on the timetable. Late papers are automatically penalized 3% per day.

Timetable

Date Reading Assignment

Monday July 26	Syllabus and Appendix	Purchase book, register online
Tuesday July 27	Chapter One	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Wednesday July 28	Chapter Two	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Thursday July 29		Exam 1
Monday August 2		Paper 1
Tuesday August 3	Chapter Three	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Wednesday August 4	Chapter Four	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Thursday August 5		Exam 2
Monday August 9		Paper 2
Tuesday August 10	Chapter Five	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Wednesday August 11	Chapter Six	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Thursday August 12		Exam 3
Monday August 16		Paper 3
Tuesday August 17	Chapter Seven	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Wednesday August 18	Chapter Eight	MyPhilosophyKit Exercises
Thursday August 19		Exam 4