INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Overview

While this course is introductory, it is not particularly elementary. There are no simple philosophical problems. We will survey some of the major areas of philosophy: logic, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Our texts will include more or less central works in Western Philosophy. The goal is to come away with an appreciation of both the subject matter and the methodology that distinguish philosophy as a unique discipline.

Texts (available at the campus bookstore)

Jay Rosenberg, The Practice of Philosophy: A Handbook for Beginners, 3rd edition (Prentice Hall)

Plato, The Republic, translated by G.M.A. Grube, revised by C.D.C. Reeve (Hackett)

René Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4th edition (Hackett)

Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (Oxford)

John Searle, Minds, Brains, and Science (Harvard)

Books on Reserve

I have also put a number of ancillary works on reserve at the Central Library for those of you who are especially interested in a topic or who are having difficulty understanding a particular topic.

Tentative Schedule

Introduction: What is philosophy? (Rosenberg) / Plato -- 7 weeks (2 weeks during a summer session)

Exam 1

Descartes -- 3 weeks (1 week during summer)

Russell -- 2 weeks (1 week during summer)

Searle -- 2 weeks (1 week during summer)

Exam 2

Evaluation of Students' Performance

Semester grades will be determined on the basis of the average of your performance on two examinations (to be given after we complete our considerations of the nature of philosophy and Plato and of Descartes, Russell, and Searle, respectively) and on your keeping a course notebook. Specifically, letter grades (and not points) for each exam and the notebook will be recorded and averaged to obtain your overall semester grade. Each exam and the notebook will be weighted equally (i.e., each exam grade and the notebook grade will account for approximately 33% of your semester grade).

The exams will be essay in format. Study questions will be provided approximately one week before each exam. The exams will then consist of a number of questions chosen from the study questions (e.g., two exam questions selected from four study questions or three exam questions selected from six study questions). The instructor, not the student, will do the choosing.

The exams will be taken in class. You will have approximately one hour for each exam.

The notebooks will serve to record your summaries of the assigned readings, any questions you have about those readings or the lectures, and a number of additional short writing assignments to be specified later. Notebooks should be used only for this class and only for this purpose (e.g., DO NOT use your "notebook" for the keeping of general class notes). Entries must be clearly labelled. Failure to do this will severely affect your grade!

Several times during the semester notebooks will be collected and certain randomly selected portions will be graded. You will be given no prior notice concerning when these times will occur. Therefore, you are expected to bring your notebook to class and keep it up to date.