South Texas Community College
Division of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Philosophy
Spring 2004
Course: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY, PHIL 1301
Location: (G01) STRC C-317, (P01) PB6A
Time: (G01) TR 1:00-2:20, (P01) MW 1:00-2:20
Contact Information:
Instructor: Jeffrey McBride
Office: Pecan: PB1 118; Rio: PB3A
Office Hours: MWF Pecan 8-9 TR Rio 4-5
Telephone: Pecan: (956)688-2093
E-Mail: mcbridej@stcc.cc.tx.us
Course homepage: http://www.geocities.com/actual_entity
Chair: Bryant Morrison
Office: G-150
Telephone: (956)688-202
FAX: (956)688-2167
E-mail: morrison@stcc.cc.tx.us
Course Description: This is an introduction to some of the major philosophical questions that have intrigued mankind over the centuries. This will include examination of the thought of some of the most important figures in the history of philosophy from the early Greeks to modern times.
Prerequisites: Eligible for ENGL 1301
Required Textbook & Resources: Baird and Kaufman's Philosophical Classics: From Plato to Derrida , 4 th Edition
How to Approach the Course:
To get the most out of our time together, students should first realize that philosophy can be difficult. It involves the careful evaluation of a wide variety of claims and requires that you understand arguments of various forms, a skill that develops slowly over time for most people. Plan on this. Here are some general suggestions to help you succeed this semester:
A. Read all the assigned material before coming to class. Students who do not read the material will have difficulty passing the exams, are likely to be bored during class, hence are unlikely to remember much of this material after this semester is over. Be prepared to read the assigned material two or three times if necessary.
B. Attend every class. It will be hard to succeed if you miss more than two or three hours of class.
C. Ask questions. If I make a point that you don't understand, ask me to clarify my statement. Don't feel embarrassed about this. Remember: you are investing your time and your money in your education. Get the most out of it.
D. Keep in contact with your instructor. Email is a quick an easy way to get a question answered between classes. Use it. Also, remember that office hours are scheduled for you. Appointments can be made if the scheduled office hours are inconvenient.
E. Be intellectually curious. This is the most important thing that you can do. If you are genuinely interested in the ideas that we will talk about, your mind will absorb everything more easily. If you treat the topics that we will cover as just worthless degree requirements that one should quickly memorize and quickly forget, then you are squandering one of your best study aides. Keep asking yourself, “How can I apply the concepts that I am learning in this (or any other) class to the things that are important to me?
Course Requirements:
A. Quizzes (100 pts): Five (5) unannounced quizzes will be given at the beginning of certain class periods. Each quiz will be worth 25 points, and students will be able to drop their lowest score. The purpose of these quizzes is to ensure that you have read the assigned material.
B. Journal (150pts): As you read the selections this semester, I ask that you keep a journal of your own reactions to the material. This is helpful for three reasons. First and most importantly, it will help you develop your own philosophical positions on the questions that are important to you. Second, it will help personalize the material that we cover, i.e., it will help you see how seemingly abstruse topics fit in with your daily life. Finally, you will have a permanent record of your strugglings with important questions that will probably arise throughout your life. You should find keeping this journal both fun and challenging. (I have kept a philosophical journal since 1990, and I have returned to it again and again to jog my memory on the intricacies of certain arguments, to remind myself of my own initial intuitions on philosophical topics, and to help me develop new lines of research.)
Some specific guidelines:
1. A philosophy journal is a record of your own personal reactions to the material we cover in class. It is a rough attempt to think about philosophy. It does not need to be a polished paper. Grammatical errors won't be graded. However, a philosophy journal is not a dairy . Neither is a philosophy journal just a record of what we discussed in class, i.e., it's not the same as class notes .
2. I will ask to see your journal only 2 times this semester. You may turn in no more than 10 journal entries on each date . If you turn in more, I will grade only the first 10. The first pick up date is 3/3/04 for P01 and 3/2/04 for G01. Your entire journal must be turned in on 4/28/04 for P01 and 4/27/04 for G01. No journals or journal entries will be accepted after these dates. They will be returned to you during finals week.
3. You should keep the journal by writing something in it at least once a week, though there is no limit on how much you can write. Make a heading for each date you make an entry, e.g., "08/25/03", then write whatever thoughts you have that day. Each day's entry counts as one entry. I'll read the entries and decide if they are focused on philosophical material and if they relate that material to your own life. If they are, you get a "yes;" if they do not seem to be, you get a "no." An entry might be a VERY insightful, VERY perceptive single sentence, a paragraph, two separate paragraphs, or a couple of pages, but anything less than a page may not be a fully-explored entry. As a rough guideline, shoot for about 200-400 words .
4. I will sometimes make comments on your journal, but I will not grade the entries. Feel free to explore the ideas in class, even if you're not sure where your thoughts will wind up.
5. Keep your journal in a separate spiral notebook . Do not try to use the notebook in which you keep your class notes; do not try to keep loose papers as your journal because they will get lost.
6. Your grade on this assignment will be determined by how many "yes" entries you have. If you make 1 entry a week for 15 weeks—again, you can make more, you'll have 15 entries. Each “yes” entry is worth ten (10) points toward your final grade. So, 15 “yes” entries are worth 150 points, 12 “yes” entries are worth 120 points, 10 “yes” entries are worth 100 points, etc… You can collect a maximum of 150 points for your journal.
C. Exams (200 pts): There will be two exams. Each will consist of multiple choice, matching, and true/false questions, along with definitions, and short answer essays. These exams will be non-comprehensive, e.g., the final exam will cover only the material presented since the second exam. Each exam is worth 100 pts.
D. Extra Credit : Late in the semester I will assign an optional paper over some topic in non-Western philosophy. This paper will be worth 10-15 extra credit points. No other extra credit work will be accepted.
Grading
Exams (100 x 2 = 200) 200
Journals 150
Quizzes (4 x 25 = 100) 100
450 total
A: 450-403; B: 402-358; C: 357-313; D: 312-268; F: 267 and below
Tentative Calendar of Events:
I. What is philosophy?
II. Greek Philosophy
A. Presocratic philosophy
B. Socrates —as seen in the early Platonic dialogues
1. The Elenchos ( Euthyphro pp8-14 [2a-9d])
2. His Trial (Apology pp21-33 [17a-35d])
C. Plato
1. Theory of the Forms ( Phaedo I'll read this to you [65c-66a], pp47-48 [74a-75b], p52 [79c-d & 80b]; Republic p127 [476a], p129-130 [479a-480a])
2. Theory of Recollection (p65-72 [ Meno 80a-86c])
3. Analogy of the Line ( Republic pp134-137 [509b-511c])
4. Allegory of the Cave ( Republic pp137-141 [514a-518d])
D. Aristotle
1. Third Man Argument
2. Theory of Categories Categories pp147-151 [1a-4b]
3. Virtue Ethics Nichomachean Ethics pp185-188, 190-192, & 203-206 [1094a-1095b, 1097a15-1098a19, & 1106a14-1108b10]
III. Hellenistic and Christian Philosophy
A. Epicurus
1. Letter to Menoeceus pp250-253
2. Principal Doctrines pp254-256
B. St. Anselm
1. Proslogion pp324-326
2. Gaunilo and Anselm Debate: pp326-330
Exam#1
IV. Modern Philosophy
A. Rene Descartes
1. First Meditation pp405-408
2. Second Meditation pp408-414
3. Third Meditation pp414-423
B. Thomas Hobbes
1. Leviathan Chapter 13 pp467-469
2. Leviathan Chapter 14 pp469-471
3. Leviathan Chapter 17 pp475-478
C. David Hume
1. Enquiry Section II pp720-723
2. Enquiry Section III pp723-724
3. Enquiry Section IV pp724-731
D. Immanuel Kant
1. Foundation Second Section pp893-900 [paragraphs 10-41: “From what has been said it is clear that…” … “…obedience to this law is duty”]
V. 19 th Century Philosophy
A. Søren Kierkegaard
1. Fear and Trembling pp989-997
B. Friedrich Nietzsche
1. How the “True World” Finally Became a Fable p1052-1053
2. Morality as Anti-Nature pp1053-1055
VI. 20 th Century Philosophy
A. Jean-Paul Sartre
1. Existentialism is a Humanism pp1169-1175
B. Philosophy and Film
1. Babette's Feast
2. Crimes and Misdemeanors
Exam#2
Policies
A. Late Work: I will not accept any late work in this class.
Quizzes: Since you have the ability to drop one of the five quizzes, a single missed quiz will not count against you. Should you miss two or more quizzes, you will have zeros for these grades. I will not allow students to take a quiz who are not present within five minutes of the start of the quiz. Since quizzes are given at the beginning of class, students should make arrangements to arrive at class on time.
Journals: Your journals may be turned in a week before a scheduled pick up date, but they may not be turned in late . Should you fail to turn in your journal by one of the two scheduled pick up dates, you will be limited to ten total entries, i.e., 100 total points on the journal portion of your grade. If you fail to turn in the journal on both of the scheduled pick dates, you will receive a zero for the journal portion of your grade.
Exams: You are expected to be present in class for all exams. The circumstances under which you will be allowed to make up an examination are few. For example, work related excuses are generally unacceptable. If you must miss an exam, you should contact me in advance of the absence so that we can schedule the make up at a mutually acceptable time. In no case will a makeup exam be given more than 6 days after the regularly scheduled exam.
Use of the internet or email to submit work for this class is expressly prohibited.
B. Attendance is expected and participation encouraged. Failure to attend class will result in a lower grade due to missed assignments and or unfamiliarity with material . Failure to attend class does not guarantee being withdrawn. If the student wants to drop the class, he/she is responsible for filling out the appropriate paperwork. It is the policy of STCC to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays. Please notify me as soon as possible in order to make appropriate arrangements for classwork or rescheduling of exams.
C. Academic Honesty : Students should exhibit the qualities of honesty and integrity. Any form of dishonesty such as cheating or plagiarism may make you subject to disciplinary action. Refer to the student handbook for more information regarding institutional policy. NB: I routinely check student work for plagiarism. If I detect it, especially plagiarism from internet sources, I will make every attempt to see that the offender is punished for his/her actions to the maximum extent allowed by STCC policy.
D . Harassment Policy: Racial, sexual, and ethnic harassment and any other type of disruptive behavior are not conducive to a good learning environment. These behaviors will likewise not be tolerated.
E . ADA Students with Disabilities Statement: Reasonable accommodations may be made that allow disabled students to be successful at STCC. Accommodations may be provided for those students who submit the appropriate documentation by an outside/independent professional evaluator or agency. Contact an STCC ADA/DSS Counselor in the Annex (Pecan) or call (956) 688-2006. Students may volunteer to inform the Instructor about their disability and associated classroom limitations, if applicable.
F. Developmental Studies Policy Statement: Failure to remain in at least one Developmental Studies course for students who have not met the passing standard on an approved assessment instrument in reading, writing, and/or mathematics may result in the student's withdrawal from ALL college courses. All developmental courses including the College Success course will be included in the Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) for all students at STCC. Students in Developmental Studies will be limited to a maximum of 13 credit hours of course work per semester and 7 credit hours per summer session. Students taking 12 or more credit hours per semester who have not met the passing standard on an approved assessment instrument will be required to take two or more developmental courses every semester if they are deficient in more than one academic skill (reading, writing, and mathematics).
Learning Outcomes:
1. Exemplary Educational Objectives for Core Component Area
• Demonstrate knowledge of the influence of literature, philosophy, and/or the arts on intercultural experiences.
• Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
• Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
• Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
2. Departmental outcomes:
• Distinguish and analyze different types of historical evidence and differing historical points of view;
• Recognize and apply reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence;
• Read and interpret philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion;
• Analyze philosophical importance of the area under study;
• Understand the roles of choice and of cause and effect;
• Assess the use and the potential misuse of philosophical analogies in contemporary situations.
3. Intellectual Competencies
• READING: Reading at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials—books, articles, and documents. A core curriculum should offer students the opportunity to master both general methods of analyzing printed materials and specific methods for analyzing the subject matter of individual disciplines.
• WRITING: Competency in writing is the ability to produce clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. Although correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are each a sine qua non in any composition, they do not automatically ensure that the composition itself makes sense or that the writer has much of anything to say. Students need to be familiar with the writing process including how to discover a topic and how to develop and organize it, how to phrase it effectively for their audience. These abilities can be acquired only through practice and reflection.
• COMPUTER LITERACY: Computer literacy at the college level means the ability to use computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems, and acquiring information. Core-educated students should have an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology, and should have the tools necessary to evaluate and learn new technologies as they become available.
• SPEAKING: Competence in speaking is the ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. Developing this competency includes acquiring poise and developing control of the language through experience in making presentations to small groups, to large groups, and through the media.
• LISTENING: Listening at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication.
• CRITICAL THINKING: Critical thinking embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and to construct alternatives strategies. Problem solving is one of the applications of critical thinking, used to address an identified task.
4. Perspectives
• Perspective 1: Establish broad and multiple perspectives on the individual in relationship to the larger society and world in which he or she lives, and to understand the responsibilities of living in a culturally and ethnically diversified world. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 2: Stimulate a capacity to discuss and reflect upon individual, political, economic, and social aspects of life in order to understand ways in which to be a responsible member of society. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 3: Develop personal values for ethical behavior. ( Required ) Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 4: Use logical reasoning in problem solving. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 5: Integrate knowledge and understand the interrelationships of the scholarly disciplines. ( Required ) Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
