FAO 231, 974-5571
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00-5:00 and by appointment
Discussion/Section Leaders/Teaching Assistants:
Christopher Hudspeth, FAO 238 chudspet@helios.acomp.usf.edu
Jeremy Kelly, FAO 202 jjkelly@helios.acomp.usf.edu
Edward Matusek, FAO 238 edmatusek@hotmail.com
Elisabeta Sarca, FAO 232 sarca@helios.acomp.usf.edu
Required Texts:
Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Day
(Richmond Lattimore, trans.)
Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates (Euthyphro,
Apology, Crito. G.M.A. Grube, trans.)
Aristophanes, The Clouds (William Arrowsmith,
trans.)
Plato, The Republic (G.M.A. Grube, trans.)
Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
W.V.O. Quine and
J.S. Ullian, Web of Belief
Assignments and Topics for Tuesday’s Lecture
08-27 Introductory
Lecture: What is Philosophy?
09-03 Assignment: Hesiod, Theogony.
Topics: Traditional Literature
and Traditional Knowledge.
“First
of all, came . . . “
Part I of film: Euripides’ Iphigenia
09-10 Assignment: Hesiod, Works and
Days.
Part II of film: Euripides’ Iphigenia
Topics: Mortals and Immortals
Laws
(nomoi) and customs (ethē)
Searching for the “first stuff” (archē)
09-17 Assignment:
Aristophanes’ Clouds. Plato, Euthyphro
Topic: The Fifth Century
Greek Enlightenment—Human Laws vs. Physical Nature (The nomos/phusis Debate)—The Sophists and Socrates.
09-24 Assignment:
Plato, Crito and Apology.
Topic:
Socrates and Philosophy. The Socratic
Dialogue
10-01 Assignment:
Plato, Republic. Books I, II, III
Topics:
Justice in the City (polis) and the Soul (psychē).
Traditional Education (paideia):
gymnastics (gymnastikē) for the body and poetry (mousikē)
for the soul (psychē)
10-08 Assignment:
Plato, Republic. Books IV, V,
VI
Topics:
Philosophical Education
The Tripartite
Soul (psychē)
Education
of Women and Men
The Definition of the Philosopher
Philosophical Knowledge
10-15 Assignment:
Plato, Republic. Books VII, VIII, IX, X. Topics:
The Education of the Philosophers
The Decline of the City (polis)
The Ancient Rivalry between Poetry
and Philosophy
10-22 Assignment:
Descartes’ Meditation I, II
Topics: A New Method for Philosophy
“I doubt, therefore I think; I
think, therefore I am.”
10-29 Assignment:
Descartes’ Meditations III, IV
Topics:
Argument for the Existence of God
The
Problem of Error and Evil
11-05 Assignment:
Descartes’ Meditations V, VI
Topic: The Mind/Body Problem
11-12
Assignment: Web of Belief, chapters I, II, III
Topics: science and knowledge
Belief
and Change of Belief
11-19
Assignment: Web of Belief, chapters IV, V,
Topics: Self-Evidence and Testimony
11-26 Assignment:
Web of Belief, chapters VI, VII, VIII
Topics:
Hypothesis
Induction,
Analysis and Intuition
Confirmation
and Refutation
12-03
Assignment: Web of Belief, chapters, IX, X
Topics:
Explanation
Persuasion
and Evaluation
Assignments and Evaluation:
Students will be required to submit a paper of 2-4 pages on either Hesiod or Iphigenia on September 24th. This paper will count as 10% of the final grade for the course. Students will also be required to submit a paper of 6-8 pages on Plato on October 22, and a 6-8 pages paper on Descartes on November 19th. These papers will each count as 25% of the final grade. All papers must be submitted to their section leaders. There will be a final examination on the Web of Belief during the final exam week. This examination will count as 20% of the final grade. The remaining 20% of the final grade will be determined as follows: 10% for attendance/participation and 10% for section assignments made by the section leaders.
ATTENDANCE and GRADING:
It should go without saying that attendance is
expected, indeed, mandatory, and that the final grade for the course may be
affected by absences. However, to be
legalistic about it, please note the following.
Students are expected to attend all class meetings
(of course). This includes lectures and
discussion sections. Any student who misses four or more class meetings
cannot expect to receive a grade higher than a 'B' for the course; students
missing six or more classes cannot expect a grade higher than a 'C'; students
missing eight or more classes cannot expect a grade higher than a 'D'.
Obviously, plagiarism or cheating will not be tolerated; this can hardly come
as a surprise. See the policy on academic dishonesty in the Undergraduate
Catalogue for the consequences of academic dishonesty.
S/U GRADING:
The
request for a grade of S/U must be made by the 10th week of the semester. This request should be made to the
instructor AND the section leader.
INCOMPLETE
POLICY:
Incompletes
will be given at the request of the student and the discretion of the
instructor in accordance with the policy on incompletes stated in the
Undergraduate Catalogue.
MISSED
WORK/MAKE-UPS:
There
will be one announced date for completing missed assignments. All requirements of the course must be met
in order to receive a final grade for the course.