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IntroductiontoPhilosophy:PlatotoContemporaryFrenchPhilosophy(withsomefilms)

(PHL100­111)T/TH1:00pm‐2:30pm

Instructor:Dr.AnthonyPaulSmith(anthonypaul.smith@gmail.com)Room:Room129,MunroeHall(2312NorthCliftonAvenue)

Phone:773‐325‐3259(room)773‐931‐9570(cell)

Officehours:11:20‐12:20T/THorbyappointment

CourseDescriptionThiscourseisahistoricalintroductiontophilosophy.Thismeansthatwewillbelookingatawide‐rangeofphilosophersstartingallthewaybackinancientGreeceandendinginpresent‐day France. We will be reading short selections from each philosopher,analyzingtheirideasandarguments,andunderstandingwheretheyfitinthehistoricaldevelopmentofphilosophyitself.Thegoalofsuchawidesurveyistoexposeourselvesto thewaythatphilosophybothremains indebtedto itspastaswellas thewayseachthinkerpracticesphilosophyverydifferentlythanthatpast.Allofuswill findmuchofthisreadingdifficult.Thatdoesnotmeananyofus,includingyou,aregoingtodopoorlyinthisclass!Wewilldiscussthetextsduringthelecturesandonlywhatiscoveredinthelectures will be on the exams.Wewill come to find that by the end of the class ourunderstandingofthereadingshaveimproved.

Philosophy is ultimately concerned with difficult questions. Good philosophy alwayspushes beyond the usual surface responses in the search for realwisdom concerningthat question. These are the questions that sometimes haunt us when we have amomenttothink.Whatis love?Whydowelovethewaywedo?Whatdoesitmeantobe?IsmyexperienceoftheworldthesameasthepersonIlove?Whatisthepointofallof this? So, while philosophy is difficult, it isn’t difficult in the same way thatmathematicsisdifficult.It’sdifficultbecauseithastodowithhowyouliveyourlife.

Becausephilosophycrossesbeyonditsownborderswewilllookattwofilmsinordertoassistusinunderstandingthephilosopherswearereadingaswellastothinkaboutthefilmswewatched.

LearningOutcomesUponcompletingthecoursethestudentshouldbeableto:

• showanunderstandingofthemajorthemes,figures,andquestionsofthewesternphilosophicaltradition

• expresshowthistraditionrelatestotheirownlivesandtheworldaroundthem• applyphilosophicalthinkingtoalloftheirfutureacademicwork,regardlessof

theirmajor• articulatetheirownphilosophicalthinkinginbothwrittenandverbalform

GradeSummaryTherewillbetwoexams(comprisedofshort‐answerquestionsandessayquestions)andafinalpaper(10‐pages,double‐spaced).Eachexamwillcountfor33.3%(foratotalof66.6%)ofyourfinalgradeandthefinalpaperwillcountfor33.3%.

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Itisimportantthatyoudonotmissaclassandespeciallyanexam.Anymake‐upforthein‐classexamswillonlybegivenduetoextremesituations,andthisisdoneveryrarely.Youmusthavepriorpermissionfromtheinstructortotakeamake­up.

ThepaperisdueviaDesire2Learn(clickthe“Dropbox”tab)bytheendoftheday(11:59PM)onThursday,November17th.Thepaperistobesubmittedelectronicallyonly.Detailsconcerningthepaper(itsformatandcontent)willbepassedoutafterthefirstexam.Latepaperswillnotbeacceptedexceptforextremesituations.Cheating/plagiarismwillbedealtwithastheseriousinfractionsthattheyare,possiblyleadingtofailure;seetheStudentHandbookfordetails.

Attendanceisimportantbutwillnotbetakenforagrade.Itisyourresponsibilitytoattendeveryclass.Icanguaranteethatpoorattendancewillmakeitimpossibletodowellinthisclass.

CellPhoneandLaptopPolicyWhileIunderstandtheaddictiontocellphones,especiallysmartphones,thematerialwearestudyingisverydifficultandthereforerequiresyourundividedattention.Ifyouarecaughtusingyourphoneduringalectureyouwillbegivenonewarning(eitherverballyorbyemail).Ifyouarecaughtasecondtimeormoreyouwillfaceareductionoffivepointsforeachoffensefromyourhighestscoringpieceofcoursework.Pleaseturnallcellphonesoffduringthelecture.IfIcandoit,socanyou.

Laptopsareacceptableintheclass,butfornotetakingonly.Ifyouappearnottobepayingattentionbecauseyou’redistractedbysomethingnon‐lecturerelatedonyourlaptopthenIwillaskyoutoreadthelastlineofnotesyouhavejustwritten.Ifyoucan’tthenyouwillbegivenawarning(eitherverballyorbyemail).Ifyouarecaughtasecondtimeormoreyouwillfaceareductionoffivepointsforeachoffensefromyourhighestscoringpieceofcoursework.

Desire2LearnPleasemakesurethatyouchecktheemailattachedtoyourDesire2Learnprofile.Iwillbesendingweeklyemailstothataddress.Allcoursedocuments,powerpoints,audiooflectures,andotherhelpfullinkswillbeavailableontheDesire2Learncoursepage.Iwillalsobesettingupforumswhereyoucandiscusstheweek’sreadings.Thesearenotgraded,butitwillbeahelpfulresourceforthosewhowanttoaskquestionsaboutthereading.Iwillcheckinontheseforumsandparticipate.

RemarksonLectures,Readings,Films,andClassroomDiscussionsWearedealingwithadultthemesandarangeofdifferentbeliefsystemsinthisclass.Youwillbeexposedtodifferentwaysofthinkingbothinthereadings,thelectures,anddiscussionsinclass.Attimesyoumayfindyourselfoffendedbyoneormoreoftheideaspresentedandwhenyouarenotoffendedafellowclassmatemaywellbe.Thisisok!Whileofcourseverbalorphysicalabuseisstrictlynottolerated,wehavetogiveeachotherpermissiontobeoffensive(withintheboundsofrespectfuldiscourse)andtobeoffended.Byremaininginthiscourseyouareagreeingtohaverespectfulconversationsaboutawiderangeofdifferentbeliefs.

Thisgoesespeciallyforthefilmsandclipswewillwatchinclass.AttimesIhavechosenmaterialthatmaybeoffensivetosome.Somefilmswillberated‐RandsomeclipsfromTVshowswillberatedTV‐MA.Byremainingenrolledinthisclassafterthefirstsessionyouareenteringintoanon‐verbalagreementthatyouunderstandandacceptyouwillbeaskedtowatchthesefilmsandclips.

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RequiredTexts

• RobertPaulWolff(editor),TenGreatWorksofPhilosophy(availablefromtheLPCBookstore)

• e‐reserveCourseReaderhttp://eres.lib.depaul.edu/eres/courseindex.aspx?page=search(SearchforSmith,passwordPHL100)

OutlineofCourseandReadingScheduleReadingslistedaretobereadforthatclassperiod.IfthereadingislistedunderSeptember14th,itistobereadpriortotheSeptember14thsessionofclass.Tohelpguideyourreading,Iwillprovidetwostudyquestionperreadingassignment(viaemail)whichyoushouldcometoclassaspreparedaspossibletoanswer;writingoutanswersbeforehandisnotrequiredbutisencouraged.Thescheduleandproceduresforthiscoursearesubjecttochangeintheeventofextenuatingcircumstances;changeswillbeannouncedinclass.

(10GW)=TenGreatWorksofPhilosophy(ER)=e‐reserveCourseReader

TheGreekOriginsofPhilosophyandtheChristianAppropriationSeptember8th Introduction,Plato September13th Film:HedwigandtheAngryInch Plato(10GW),pp.1‐62September15th PlatoandAristotle Aristotle(10GW),pp.63‐103 September20th MedievalPhilosophy St.AnselmandSt.ThomasAquinas(10GW),pp.104‐117(I

suggestyoualsotakesometimetobeginreadingforthenextclassperiodhere)

ModernPhilosophySeptember22nd RenéDescartes Descartes(10GW),pp.118‐195September27th DavidHume Hume(10GW),pp.198‐252,341‐345 September29th ImmanuelKant Kant(10GW),pp.349‐372,418‐456(Focusonthesesections,but

trytoreadtheentiretextpp.346‐475)October4th BenedictdeSpinoza Spinoza(ER),TheEthics,pp.564‐603 October6th Exam1PhilosophyafterKantOctober11th GWFHegelandKarlMarx Marx(ER),TheMarx­EngelsReader,pp.70‐81,143‐145 October13th SørenKierkegaard

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Kierkegaard(ER),FearandTrembling,pp.5‐8,27‐53 October18th FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche(ER),OntheGenealogyofMorality,pp.11‐37October20th Film:EternalSunshineoftheSpotlessMind Twentieth­CenturyPhilosophyinGermanyandFranceOctober25th (FinishFilm)HenriBergson Bergson(ER),CreativeEvolution,pp.120‐152,155‐161,168‐173

(Focusonthesesections,especiallythefirsttwo,buttrytoreadthewholechapter)

October27th Phenomenology(EdmundHusserlandMartinHeidegger) Heidegger,BeingandTime,pp.21‐35November1st GillesDeleuzeandFélixGuattari DeleuzeandGuattari(ER),WhatisPhilosophy,pp.1‐12,44‐49November3rd LuceIrigaray Irigaray(ER),“AnotherLook,AnotherWoman”,pp.7‐19 ContemporaryFrenchPhilosophyNovember8th AlainBadiou Badiou(ER),ManifestoforPhilosophy,pp.113‐138.November10th FrançoisLaruelle Laruelle(ER),“WhatCanNon‐PhilosophyDo?”,pp.169‐189November15th Exam2