Introduction to Philosophy
PHH 2000:014
Fall 2002
Monday, Wednesday, 12:30-1:45
SOC 149
Course Objectives:
The objective of this course is to introduce the student
to major texts in the history of western philosophy. By reading and discussing these texts, the student should gain a
preliminary understanding of philosophy and its specific disciplines (metaphysics,
epistemology, ethics, logic, and aesthetics).
The primary focus will be the philosophical discipline of ethics. We will discuss major shifts in conceptions
of the good life from the time of antiquity to the present. We will be dealing mainly with primary
sources that are not easy to handle.
Students will find the material much easier to understand if they attend
class regularly and participate in class discussions.
Course Requirements:
There will be a midterm and a final examination worth forty-percent of your grade. The midterm will be October sixteenth and the date of the final will be announced. There will be two essays worth forty-percent of your final grade with due dates to be announced. We will discuss essay topics and mechanical requirements during the semester.
The remaining twenty-percent of your grade is reserved for class participation. Students will be required to show a clear understanding of the readings assigned and the material covered in class. One class meeting per week students are expected to bring a one-page essay concerning the assigned reading. The essay should include either an exegesis of the major themes of the assigned reading(s) or a well-constructed critical reflection of the assigned reading(s). At the discretion of the instructor, these essays will be collected only five times during the semester and may take the form of an unannounced quiz. Please do not ask me to accept essays if you have not been in class. Students are expected to come to class prepared and have something intelligent to say about the reading. Neither can be accomplished if the student does not attend. It should be noted that nothing on this syllabus is written in stone and can be changed with prior notice from the instructor.
Make-up Exams: Make-up exams may be scheduled with the permission of the instructor. Prior consent should be obtained.
Grading: Two tests 20% each
Two Essays 20% each
Class Participation 20%
Attendance Policy: For every unexcused absence exceeding two, the student’s grade will drop ten-percent.
Required Texts:
Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Meno
Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics
Rene Descartes: Discourse on Method, Meditations on First
Philosophy
Immanuel Kant: Groundwork
for the Metaphysics of Morals
John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
Friedrich Nietzsche: Twilight
of the Idols
Supplemental Texts: On Electronic Reserve
Martha Nussbaum: Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings
Peter Singer: A
Utilitarian Defense of Animal Liberation
Readings:
August 26, 28 Introduction,
Euthyphro
September 2, 4 Labor Day, Euthyphro
September 9, 11 Apology
September 16, 18 Crito, Meno
September 23, 25 Meno, Phaedo
September 30, October 2 Nicomachean Ethics
October 7, 9 Nicomachean Ethics
October 14, 16 Human Capabilities Female Human Beings
and Review, Midterm Exam
October 21, 23 Lecture
on Medieval Philosophy, Meditations on
First Philosophy
October 28, 30 Meditations on First Philosophy
November 4, 6 Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
November 11, 13 Veteran’s
Day, Utilitarian Defense of Animal
Liberation
November 25, 27 Twilight of the Idols
December 2, 4 Conclusion and Review