PHILOSOPHY 1: Introduction to Philosophy I
 Professor Doug
McFerran
email: dmcf34@yahoo.com office hours: M-Th, 9:30-10:30, BEH 1310 or outsside in the park area phone: 818-364-7710 |
from
the Pierce Catalog: This is an introduction to some of the fundamental issues of philosophy and humanity that include topics such as knowledge and reality, the meaning of the supernatural, the foundations of truth and science, and the nature of human consciousness/self. in other words: Our questions are about who or what we think we are (what we talk about in the area called metaphysics), and how can we be sure we're right (what we talk about in the area called epistemology). |
Text:
Rachels, The Truth About the World:
Basic Readings in Philosophy (2nd ed) |
Student
Learning Objectives (what should be true at the end of the course): Students will have the ability to formulate some of the core questions of philosophy and understand various philosophical responses to them in their historical and present context. Students will have the ability to analyze and evaluate philosophical claims, arguments and theories using rigorous philosophical methods. These methods include but are not limited to logical analysis and the identification of fallacies. Students will embody the qualities of an open-minded but critical thinker in the examination or formation of their philosophy. |
Grading: Each week before the last I'll ask for a one-page paper that responds to a question posed the week before. During class I'll select some of these for further discussion. What you do with these papers (that you do them at all and that you respond thoughtfully rather than just dashing something off) will be the basis for half your grade. The other half will depend on an essay final exam. Grading standards: "A" is a thoughtful analysis that shows a careful reading of the selections in the text (agreement with the instructor's point of view, if you can even guess what it is, is not at all a factor here) and an awareness of the issues under discussion "B" is a determined effort to understand the material that falls short in some way "C" represents an effort to deal with the material that indicates serious gaps in understanding it "D" represents a definite lack of effort with the expected papers or the exam "F" represents an absence of effort (you stop coming to class, for instance, or you are continually unprepared) |
Schedule: Each week we will discuss a specific issue, linking it with one or more readings from the text as well as other materials. In the first week, for example, we will discuss what you think you should expect from the study of philosophy, and I will ask you to read the first two selections from Plato in the text dealing with the trial of Socrates and the explanation he offers for refusing to escape when he could do so. We'll then move on to the question of whether we can ever know anything for sure with a selction from a contemporary philosopher on radical skepticism, and your first paper will be an initial effort to decide how we should try to deal with philosophy as a process of questioning. Caution: Please do not expect a class that will be in any way like most of the classes you take at Pierce. I am not going to lecture, for instance, and ordinarily I am not going to put material on the board. I would expect you to take notes as we carry on our day's discussion, and during exams you are allowed to use these as well as the text and any other materials you may choose to bring in. |
These are the selections that you will definitely be expected to read and be able to discuss on the final exam.
Week 1: What can we expect from philosophy?
Socrates' Trial (p. 7), Socrates' Decision to Die (p. 32), The Lure of Radical Skepticism (p. 240)
Week 2: How can we know what is real?
Meditations I and II (p. 225), Does Matter Exist (p. 235), Reality (p. 258)
Week 3: Can we know anything for sure about God?
Five Ways to Prove That God Exists (p. 55), Why Doesn't God Intervene? (p. 83), Why I Am Not a Christian (p. 99)
Week 4: What does it mean to be something that thinks?
Split Brains and Personal Identity (p. 132), Where am I (p. 141), Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness (p. 173)
Week 5: So, once more, what can we expect from philosophy?
Existentialism is a Humanism (p. 195), The Meaning of Life (p. 314)
additional online links: http://www.internetlogic.org/phil1links.html
for more chance at discussion, sign up for the Nicenet class site by using the key Z297020P3Z