INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY - Brandeis University · PDF fileIn its aim and format the course...
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INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY Brandeis University • Fall 2016 Professor Andreas Teuber I. Introduction The course seeks to understand as well as answer a number of central questions in philosophy through the writings of contemporary and major Western philosophers as well as through the close study of several fundamental issues that have arisen in the course of the development of the Western philosophical tradition, such as free will, our knowledge of the "external" world, and the meaning and value of truth and justice. Readings will be drawn from the writings of major philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Leibniz, Kant, John Stuart Mill, and Bertrand Russell, as well as prominent contemporary philosophers such as Peter Singer, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Daniel Dennett, Martha Nussbaum, John Searle, Bernard Williams, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Hilary Putnam and Thomas Nagel. The main focus of the course, however, will be on the questions: Why be good? What is consciousness? Do persons have rights? If so, in virtue of what do they have them? What do human beings know, if anything, about the world they inhabit and how do they know it? If persons do not have free will, does it still make sense to praise and blame them? The course is more about thinking and thinking things through than it is about coverage or the memorization of a bunch of facts. DRAFT MARCH. 15, 2016
Transcript of INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY - Brandeis University · PDF fileIn its aim and format the course...
INTRODUCTIONTOPHILOSOPHYBrandeisUniversity•Fall2016ProfessorAndreasTeuber
I. IntroductionThecourseseekstounderstandaswellasansweranumberofcentralquestionsinphilosophythroughthewritingsofcontemporaryandmajorWesternphilosophersaswellasthroughtheclosestudyofseveralfundamentalissuesthathaveariseninthecourseofthedevelopmentoftheWesternphilosophicaltradition,suchasfreewill,ourknowledgeofthe"external"world,andthemeaningandvalueoftruthandjustice.ReadingswillbedrawnfromthewritingsofmajorphilosopherssuchasPlato,Aristotle,Anselm,Aquinas,Descartes,Locke,Berkeley,Hume,Leibniz,Kant,JohnStuartMill,andBertrandRussell,aswellasprominentcontemporaryphilosopherssuchasPeterSinger,JohnRawls,RobertNozick,DanielDennett,MarthaNussbaum,JohnSearle,BernardWilliams,JudithJarvisThomson,HilaryPutnamandThomasNagel.Themainfocusofthecourse,however,willbeonthequestions:Whybegood?Whatisconsciousness?Dopersonshaverights?Ifso,invirtueofwhatdotheyhavethem?Whatdohumanbeingsknow,ifanything,abouttheworldtheyinhabitandhowdotheyknowit?Ifpersonsdonothavefreewill,doesitstillmakesensetopraiseandblamethem?Thecourseismoreaboutthinkingandthinkingthingsthroughthanitisaboutcoverageorthememorizationofabunchoffacts.
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TopicswillincludeargumentsforandagainsttheexistenceofGod,thevalueofreligiousbeliefandfaith,theproblemofevil,thenatureofscientificexplanation,perceptionandillusion,minds,brainsandprograms,personalidentity("whoamI?"),freedomanddeterminism,moral"truth"v.moralrelativity,forgivenessandjustice,andwhatmakeslifeworthliving...tonameafew.Thecourseisdesignedtobeanintroductiontophilosophyanditsproblemsandassuchitisnotintendedtobecomprehensiveorexhaustive.Theclassicmaterialsareselectedtoprovideabasisforunderstandingcentraldebateswithinthefield.ThecourseisdividedintofoursectionsandeachsectionisdevotedtoakeyareawithinWesternphilosophy,intheareasofepistemology,generalmetaphysics,ontology,philosophyofmind,philosophyofreligion,politicalphilosophy,ethics:
• Preamble:“WhatisThinking?”• PARTI: REASON&FAITH• PARTII: MIND&BODY• PARTIII:KNOWLEDGE&REALITY• PARTIV:ETHICS,JUSTICE&THEGOODLIFE
Initsaimandformatthecourseismoreaninvitationtodophilosophythananintroduction.Introductionsseektomapoutaterritoryorlaythegroundworkformoredetailedstudy.Therewillbesomeofthathere,butinsofarasinvitationsbeckonandintroductionspoint,thecoursebeckonsstudentstothestudyofphilosophyratherthanpointstheway.
TheSyllabusforPHIL1A:IntroductiontoPhilosophyhasbeenlistedamongthetoptenmostpopularphilosophysyllabiintheworldforanumberofyearsnow.
“TheTenMostPopularPhilosophySyllabiintheWorld”
http://www.dancohen.org/blog/posts/10_most_popular_philosophy_syllabiII. ClassTimesThecoursewillmeetonTuesdays&Thursdaysfrom2:00to3:20PM.
III. CourseRequirementsandReadingCourseRequirementswillremainmoreorlessthesameasinprioryears.ProfessorTeuberhasbeenteachingthecourseatHarvard(intheSummer)andatBrandeis(intheFall)formorethantenyearsnow.ThisFallatBrandeisitwillmoreorlessfollowthesametrajectoryitdidlastyearanddrawonmanyofthesamereadings.ThepublicSiteatHarvardandtheResourcesandLinkspagefrom2014arestillonlineandwillgiveyouaprettygoodideaofwhatthecoursethisFallislikelytobeupto.Takealook:
HarvardIntroductiontoPhilosophyhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~phils4/
HarvardIntro:Resources,Links&LectureNoteshttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~phils4/notes.html
NOTE:ForthecoursethisFallallthereadingswillbemadeavailableonlineonthecoursesite.Youwillnotberequiredtopurchaseatextbookorcoursepak,buttheNortonIntroductiontoPhilosophy(2015)hasmostofthecoursereadingsbetweenitstwocoversandisstronglyrecommended.ItisthebestintroductorytextavailableinEnglishandwillhelptobringhomethemanyproblemsweshalltackleandquestionsweshallask.
IV. WritingFourshortpapersarerequiredontopicsgrowingoutofthereadingsandclassdiscussions.Theshortpapersshouldbenomorethan5to6pagesinlength.Papertopicswillbeavailableseven(7)to ten(10)daysbeforea paper isdueaswellaspubliclysharedon thewebto alloweveryoneintheclasstoshowthequestion,iftheywish,tofamilyandfriendsandarguewiththemaboutit. The firstof the fourpaperswillnotbe graded. Itwill be a credit/nocreditwritingexercise.Whatacredit/nocreditexerciseiswillbeexplainedonthefirstdayofclass.Therewillalsobethree“takehome”ReaderResponseExerciseswhichwillrequirenomorethanaparagraphortwo.
V. RewritingYouwillhavetheopportunitytorewriteone,perhapstwo,ofthethreegradedpapers.Rewritesmustbeaccompaniedbyacopyoftheoriginalpaperwiththecomments,plusacoversheet,statinghowyouhaveimprovedthepaperandspellingoutwhatyoudidtomakeyourpaper,nowrewritten,thatmuchmorewonderful.Thegradeyoureceiveonyourrewritewillbethegradeyouwillreceiveforthepaper.Itwillnotbeanaverageofthetwogrades.Morewillbesaidaboutrewritingonthefirstdayofclassandatthetimetherewriteoptionkicksin.VI. ExaminationsTherewillbeaquizinclassneartheendoftheFallterm).Thequizshouldtakeabouttwentyminutes.Therewillbenofinalexamandnomidterm.Otherthanthequiz,therewillbenoexaminationsofanykind.
VII. ParticipationYoumaymeettheparticipationrequirementbyparticipatinginclassdiscussions,attendingdiscussionsessions,talkingandcorrespondingwithfamilyandfriendsaswellasclassmates,bykeepingadiaryorjournal,bycommunicatingonFacebook.Attheendofthesemestereveryonewillbegiventheopportunitytosendanemaildescribingwhattheydidinandoutsidetheclasstomeettherequirement.
VIII. AttendanceTheattendancepolicyiscurrentlyunderreview.Thepolicywillbeannouncedonthefirstdayofclass.IX. GradingThecoursecallsforfourshortpapers,thefirstofwhichwillbeacredit/nocreditpaper,threeshortreader-responseexercises,aquizandparticipation.Assumingthateveryonereceives“credit”onthefirstpaper,thethreeremaininggradedpaperswillbeweightedasfollows:35%foryourbesteffort,25%foryournextbesteffortand20%fortheonewhichisleastsuccessfulofthethree.Thethreereadingexerciseswillcount10%andthequizandparticipationwilleachcount5%ofyourfinalgrade.
X. TeachingAssistantsSeveralTeachingAssistantshavebeenassignedtotheCourse.TheTeachingAssistantswillbeprimarilyresponsibleforreadingyourpapersandmakingcommentsonthemaswellasparticipatinginandhelpingtoleaddiscussionsessions.TheTeachingAssistantswillalsobeavailabletodiscussyourideasforhowyouwishtoaddressthisorthatpapertopic.IshalllreadallthepapersbeforetalkingwiththeTAs,hearingwhattheythinkandbeforegradesarehandedoutandindependentlydecidewhatgradeseachpapershouldreceive.Ifyouareconvincedanerrorhasbeenmade,firsttalkwithyourteachingassistantwithwhomyouhavebeenworking.Ifyouarestillnotsatisfied,youmaybringyourpapertome.
XI. CourseWebSiteTheCoursewillhaveitsownLatteWebSite.
XII. OfficeHoursIwillholdofficehours(RABB330)onThursdaysfrom3:15until4:15andbyappointment.Ifyouwishtoleavemessagesforme,[email protected]@brandeis.edu.TheTeachingAssistantswillalsoholdofficehoursandbereachablebyemail.TheirhourswillbeannouncedinthefirstweekoftheFallsemester.
XIII. AcademicIntegrityBrandeisexpectsyoutounderstandandmaintainhighstandardsofacademicintegrity.BreachesofacademicintegrityaresubjecttoreviewanddisciplinaryactionbytheAdministrativeBoard.Examplesincludeplagiarism,inappropriatecollaboration,cheating,duplicationofassignmentsandfalsificationandmisrepresentationofresearchresults.SeetheBrandeisPoliciespageathttp://www.brandeis.edu/svpse/academicintegrity/
XIV. ResourcestoSupportAcademicIntegrityHarvardoffersessentialinformationabouttheuseofsourcesinacademicwriting.
TheHarvardGuidetoUsingResourceshttp://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do
Toreceivethemostbenefit,readallsevensectionsoftheguide.Youwillgainadeepappreciationforwhyandhowsourcesareusedinacademicwritingandtheethicalimplicationofimpropercitation.XV. AccessibilityandAccommodationServicesAcademicServicesathttp://www.brandeis.edu/acserv/disabilities/offersavarietyofaccommodationsandservicestostudentswithdocumenteddisabilities,permanentandtemporaryinjuries,andchronicconditions.IfyouareastudentwithadisabilityBrandeiswillengageyouinaninteractiveprocesstoprovideyouwithanequalopportunitytoparticipatein,contributeto,andbenefitfromtheacademicactivitiesandmaterialsintheINTRODUCTIONTOPHILOSOPHYcourse.Themanagerofaccessibilityserviceswillworkwithyouonanindividualized,case-by-casebasis,toprovideappropriateservicestoensureyouhavearichandrewardingacademicexperience.
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