INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Fall 2002

Christopher C. Robinson

275 New Snell Hall, Office Phone: 3986

“We cannot learn philosophy; for where is it, who is in possession of it, and how shall we recognize it? We can only learn to philosophize.”

Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Philosophy has a reputation for being an overly abstract subject and pursuit. What this course will reveal is philosophy’s practicality. It is a mode of reflection and a style of life that strengthens our ability to ask critical questions that release ourselves from self-imposed restrictions and improve the quality of life of fellow humans. The study of philosophy rewards us with a powerful vocabulary for critical self and social/political reflection. By the end of the semester we will appreciate the complexities, difficulties, and joys of leading what Socrates called “the examined life,”

COURSE TEXTS

Christopher Phillips, Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy

John R. Burr and Milton Goldinger, Philosophy and Contemporary Issues

(There will be other readings distributed in class.)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The main requirement for this course is doing the assigned readings with care. These texts are difficult, but through them you will discover philosophy’s capacity to alter the way you see the world around you. The physical act of reading philosophy is therefore an essential part of engaging in the activity of philosophizing. To aid you in this endeavor, you will be divided into reading/presentation groups. On a rotating basis these groups will be responsible for providing a summary and discussion questions for the day’s reading assignment. Attendance in class is mandatory. Please arrive on time and ready to engage in informed discussion of the day’s readings. A significant portion of your final grade is determined by class participation.
Assignments and Grading: 1) Thirty percent of your final grade will come from your course journal project. Instructions on this project are appended to your syllabus. 2) There will be two five page papers assigned over the course of the semester. These papers are designed to serve as “integrative experience” for you. See the course outline for the relevant dates on these papers. These papers will determine thirty percent of your final grade. If you are not a strong writer, then you should complete a first draft early enough to take to the Writing Center (first floor of New Snell Hall) for revision and grammatical help). 3) Twenty percent of your final grade will come from your work in your reading/presentation groups. On the days that your group is responsible for leading class discussion, your group will turn in a two to three page précis or summary of the reading. Appended to the group précis will be the questions you will use to inspire discussion. These summaries are to be double-spaced and well written. Please use a ten or twelve point font. 4) The final ten percent of your grade will come from individual participation. I will look especially at your participation on days when your presentation group is not “up.” More than three unexcused absences will result in the reduction of your final grade by one letter. If you sleep in class, then you will be marked absent. If discussion lags and indicates that students are not doing the reading, then I will institute a set of weekly quizzes that will affect your final grade.
Academic Honest/Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a growing problem on college campuses across the country. The main culprits contributing to this problem are the Internet, the computer’s cut and paste functions, and bad personal choices. Plagiarism is a matter of using other people’s words or ideas without crediting them. This should not be a problem in this course. What I want is your personal response to the course texts. Nevertheless, we the Liberal Arts faculty have purchased software that will help us identify incidents of plagiarism. Should you be caught plagiarizing, the result will be immediate failure in the course. You will also be asked to appear before the university’s committee on academic integrity for further consideration. This committee is there to ensure that you have been treated fairly by your instructor. If you suspect that you may be plagiarizing an idea or phrase on a paper, then please stop by and we can talk about how to cite the source.
Atmospherics: What we are seeking in the classroom is a friendly environment for the free exchange of ideas and questions. Dare to challenge yourself! If you are shy, strive to say something as early as possible in class. Once you have broken the ice, participation gets easier. If you tend to succumb to peer pressure that is manifested usually as a form of anti-intellectualism, then resist and present yourself as the interested student that you are. You will help create an atmosphere of real intellectual excitement. Most importantly: Be considerate of the opinions and feelings of others.

COURSE OUTCOMES OR GOALS

This is a writing intensive course that provides students opportunities to work on their skills in written communication and the art persuasion.
Students will become acquainted with the discipline, practice, and subfields of philosophy. These areas will be presented as both historical discourses and as approaches to real life problems.
Students will gain a vocabulary for critical political, ethical, and personal reflection.
Students will learn how to apply practical and ethical questioning and deliberation to their major fields of academic and professional concern.

COURSE OUTLINE (Class dates designated as “Open” are there to facilitate continued discussion of issues and questions.)

Aug. 26: Introduction to the Course

Aug. 28: What is Philosophy?

Aug. 30: Discussion of Plato’s Apology (Rd. pp. 7-27 in Burr & Goldinger)

Sept. 2: Further Discussion

Sept. 4: Rd. Phillips, Chapt. 1

Sept. 6: Rd. Phillips, Chapt. 2

Sept. 9: Rd. Phillips, Chapt. 3

Sept.11: Rd. Phillips, Chapt. 4

Sept.13: Rd. Phillips, Chapt. 5

Sept. 16: Film: “Wit”

Sept. 18: Film: “Wit”

Sept. 20: Discussion of Film

I. Free Will and Determinism

Sept: 23: Open Class First Thought Piece Assigned

Sept. 25: Rd. Text, pp. 30-54

Sept. 27: Rd. Text, pp. 55-93

Oct. 2: Rd. Text, pp. 94-111

Oct. 4: Open Class

II. God and Religion

Oct. 7: Rd. Text, pp. 116-140

Oct. 9: Rd. Text, pp. 141-157

Oct. 11: Rd. Text, pp. 158-182

Oct. 14: Rd. Text, pp. 183-195

III. Morality and Society

Oct. 16: Rd. Text, pp. 200-237 First Thought Piece Due

Oct. 18: Rd. Text, pp. 238-279

Oct. 21: Rd. Text. pp. 280-88

Oct. 23: Open Class Second Thought Piece Assigned

IV. State and Society

Oct. 25: Rd. Text, pp. 292-338

Oct. 28: Rd. Text, pp. 339-363

Oct. 30: Rd. Text, pp. 364-385

Nov. 1: Rd. Text, pp. 386-392; and “The Zen TV Experiment” [Handout]

Nov. 4: Open Class

V. Mind and Body

Nov. 6: Rd. Text, pp. 398-426

Nov. 8: Rd. Text, pp. 427-441

Nov. 11: Rd. Text, pp. 442-462

Nov. 13: Rd. Text, pp. 463-472

Nov. 15: Open Class

VI. Knowledge and Science

Nov. 18: Rd. Text, pp. 476-496 Second Thought Piece Due

Nov. 20: Rd. Text, pp. 497-514

Nov. 22: Rd. Text, pp. 515-527

Nov. 25: Rd. Text, pp. 528-536

Dec. 2: Open

Dec. 4: Open

Dec. 6: Course Conclusion: Journal Project Due

“Do you want to know what philosophy offers humanity? Practical guidance. One man is on the verge of death. Another is rubbed down by poverty…. These are ill treated by men, those by the gods. Why, then, do you write me these frivolities? There is no time for playing around: you have been retained as a lawyer for unhappy humanity. You have promised to bring help to the shipwrecked, the imprisoned, the sick, the poor, to those whose heads are under the poised axe.

Seneca, Moral Epistles

“As long as I breathe and have the strength to go on, I won’t quit philosophizing, I won’t quit exhorting you and whomever I happen to meet, in my customary way: Esteemed friend, citizen of Athens, the greatest city in the world, so outstanding in intelligence and power, aren’t you ashamed to care so much to make all the money you can, and to advance your reputation and prestige – while for truth and wisdom and the improvement of your soul you have no care or worry?

Socrates, Apology

“Working in philosophy – like work in architecture in many respects – is really more a working on oneself. On one’s interpretation.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value

“To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books … Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.”

Michel de Montaigne, Essays

“Philosophy does not stand outside the world any more than man’s (sic) brain is outside of him because it is not in his stomach; but philosophy, to be sure, is in the world with its brain before it stands on the earth with its feet, while many other human spheres have long been rooted in the earth and pluck the fruits of the world long before they realize that the “head” also belongs to this world or that this world is the world of the head.”

Karl Marx

“The philosopher desires

And to not have is the beginning of desire.

To have what is not is its ancient cycle …

It knows that what it has is what is not

And throws it away like a thing of another time,

As morning throws off stale moonlight and shabby sleep.”

Wallace Stevens, Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction

“Empty is that philosopher’s argument by which no human suffering is therapeutically treated. For just as there is no use in a medical art that does not cast out the sickness of bodies, so too there is no use in philosophy, unless it casts out the suffering of the soul.”

Epicurus

JOURNAL PROJECT

DUE: LAST CLASS

Description: The journal project is designed to help you integrate the course readings with actual life experience. Formally, it entails one page per week (minimum) of writing, but I do not want to overemphasize the length of each entry. Rather, I want you to think of each page of your journal as an open space for exploration and experimentation. You may try to write on what you found most difficult in the reading assignments for that week or comment on something that was said in class. You should feel free to go beyond the parameters of the class and write on the way the concepts and questions you confront in your work intersect with, and help you comprehend and reflect upon, experiences in your non-academic life. For example, this more personal tact might take the form of a moral dilemma (however small or large) you are confronting and the way philosophy has either helped or failed to help you in your deliberation on what to do.

Goal: As an integrative experience, this journal is meant to help you take possession of some of the most important ideas in philosophy. A consequence of this learning activity is that you will see the world differently at the end. This experience of altered perception is something you should feel free to discuss with your classmates. Thus, although the journal is a piece of personal writing, it should help you rehearse ideas and questions that you will then raise in our class discussions. A teacher of mine described this learning experience as “openness to growth, which means being vulnerable. We don’t learn with our minds only, but with our emotions, our will, and our bodies. The ‘banking system’ view of education, wherein deposits are made into our minds as into trunks, is no education at all. Learning means embodying fresh perspective, new skills, value systems, commitments and relationships.”

Grading: The assignment counts as 30% of your final grade. The main criterion I use for evaluating a student journal is the care put into the reflections (which, in turn, reveals the care a student puts into reading the class texts). It is fairly easy to tell the difference between a journal composed over the course of the semester and one cobbled together the night before it is due. Your journal should be well written – with attention paid to spelling and grammar – and with each entry dated. Please feel free to come in and discuss the progress of your journal at any point during the semester.