Introduction to Philosophy 1000
Updated: 06/16/2006 9:31 AM
You
may also access the course at http://webct.colorado.edu
. You will need your identikey login to
access the course. Webct is easier to
navigate. A course calendar, reading
schedule, and class discussion list can all be found here.
Instructor: Mr. Matthew (Matt) Roberts
1000-140: ECON, 3:30-4:45 117, Tu-Thr
Office
Hours: I am available before and after class with
few exceptions. I am also available by
appointment if these times do not work for you.
You may schedule an appointment with me in person or by e-mail.
Email: Matthew.Roberts("at"
sign)Colorado.edu (This is the best way to get a hold of me.)
Telephone: 303-664-0772 (This is my home phone, so
please call only between the hours of
Mailbox: Hellems 167 (The Philosophy Department
Office). The office is on the first
floor and east end of Hellems. If you need to turn something in to me, just
request that the paper be placed in my box.
Course
Description: This course is designed to introduce the
student to the broad discipline of philosophy.
Of all the disciplines, philosophy asks the deepest and most
far-reaching questions. It also asks
some of the most difficult questions to answer.
Our introduction will look at five primary areas of philosophy: philosophy of religion, epistemology,
metaphysics (human freedom and philosophy of mind), ethics, and political philosophy. Though each of these branches differs greatly
in their area of exploration, each uses the same basic tools of logic, reason,
and argumentation. Hence, our first step
will be to focus on these common tools used by all philosophers to get at the
truth of the matter.
Required
Texts:
Does the Center Hold: An Introduction to Western Philosophy, 3rd edition, by
Donald Palmer; ISBN # 0767415809.
Reason and
Responsibility:
Both
are available in the C.U. bookstore and the Colorado Bookstore (on the
Hill). Books may also be found at
various on-line sources like http://www.addall.com. If ordering on-line, make sure you get the
right edition (easily checked by using the ISBN number listed above).
There may be a few articles put on reserve in the Norlin Library. If so, you can only access them online.
See the reading
schedule for these items. If you’re
connecting to C.U. from off campus, you will need your identikey and password
to access these articles. Or,
alternatively, you may use a VPN
connection.
Assessment: There will be three exams each worth 20% of
your overall grade. Each exam will cover
1/3 of the course material, so the third exam, given during the final exam
period, will not be cumulative. Two of five possible précis
will be worth 15% each. Class participation
and attendance (10%) will account for the remaining portion of your total
grade. No extra credit will be
available.
Jump
to Heading:
Attendance Policy/Religious Observances
Discrimination and Sexual
Harassment Statement
Tips on Doing,
Reading, and Writing Philosophy
Wait List:
No
students will be allowed into the course off of the wait list. Normally, several students drop a course in
the first two weeks of a semester.
Students on the wait list for the course are then automatically let into
the course by the university's computer system depending on their position on
the wait list. Beyond this automatic
process, however, the instructor cannot allow additional people into the
course. If a student enrolled in the
course is absent the first two days of class, that student will be dropped by
the instructor from the course, thus automatically allowing one student into
the course off of the wait list.
Attendance Policy/Religious Observances: There is no required attendance for this course and
thus no need for the student to inform the instructor of a reason for his
absence. It behooves the student to be
in class for the sake of understanding the material and turning in
assignments. Few students are capable of
succeeding in this class without attending.
Since class participation and attendance is part of the student's
overall grade, regular attendance is necessary to satisfy this requirement of
the course. If the student must leave
class early, it is good to inform the instructor so he'll know why the student
is leaving. Note, if a student is absent
from the first two days of class, the instructor will drop the student from the
course per the university's policy. This
is done to allow students into the course off of the wait list.
Campus
policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort
to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious
obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams or assignments. If a religious observance conflicts with an
exam date or précis date, please talk to me at least one week before the
conflicting date to make special arrangements.
See additional policy details at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
Exams: Three exams
will be given in this course each covering the material immediately preceding
the exam. None of the exams are
cumulative, including the last exam which will be given during the final
examination period. Study guides will be
provided prior to each exam. Exams may
include essay, true-false, multiple-choice, and short answer questions. The instructor will inform the class of exam
format details upon providing the study sheet.
The exam will cover both lecture and reading material, so it behooves
you to stay caught up on your reading.
Students should bring a blue book to each exam. Blue books can be purchased in the C.U. or
Colorado Bookstore. Make-up exams will
only be allowed if the absence is excused by the instructor. Documentation for a legitimate absence will
be necessary to make-up an exam.
Examples of an excused absence include:
sickness or a death in the family.
Assuming the absence is documented (e.g., a doctor’s note or a funeral
program), make-ups should be scheduled with the instructor within one week of
the exam date.
Précis: The student
will write two précis. There are five
sections of the course (see the reading
schedule). Each section has one
assigned article for which the student may write a précis. The student must write his précis on
précis-designated articles only, so make sure that you’re writing on an article
designated for précis (see the reading schedule).
What is a précis?
A
précis (pronounced "pray-see"—it’s French) is a short, concise paper
that has two goals. First, the précis is
designed to sift a philosopher's article down to its essential elements (this
is the first two-thirds of the précis).
Second, the final third (and it must be a full 1/3 of the précis)
is reserved for a short response (in the form of arguments) to the
philosopher's article. In your response
section, focus on one or two arguments the author gives and respond to them
with your own arguments. Do not try to
respond to the whole article; you don't have enough room to do this. It is always easier to find something with
which you disagree than with which you agree to comment on, however, it is up
to you to choose. If you choose to agree
with the author, your strategy should be to anticipate and state potential
objections to the author's argument and then provide sound responses to these
objections. You want to avoid saying
things like “I thought the author’s argument was really convincing,” but not
say how someone might disagree and how the author might respond to these
disagreements. In short, your response
should focus on arguments.
What
are the requirements for a précis?
Précis should be no longer than 750 (about 2 1/2 pages, typed,
double-spaced) words each. A deduction will
be made if the précis is longer than 750 words or the response is not a full
1/3 of the précis. Yes, 751 words is
too many words and will count toward a deduction. A word count should be printed at the bottom
of the précis. Most word processing programs
have a "word count" feature (e.g., in Microsoft Word, go to 'Tools',
then 'Word Count'). Use the word count
tool, then type the word count number at the end of the précis. There is no penalty if the précis is shorter
than 750 words, though most précis will require this many words to adequately
summarize and respond to the article.
You will find that it can be quite difficult to get everything in that
you want to say in only 750 words, but this is the primary goal of the
précis: to force you to write concisely
and precisely about complicated ideas.
What should I keep in mind
when writing a précis?
To
write a good précis, one must be very familiar with the article being
summarized. Hence, it is recommended
that the student read the article several times to become fully acquainted with
it. One effective tool in writing précis
is the use of a detailed analytical outline.
While an outline is not a required part of this assignment, doing one
can enable one to write a clearer précis.
If you want to look at examples of good student précis check these
out: précis
on W.T. Stace's "Compatibilism", précis on J.L.
Mackie's "Evil and Omnipotence".
One of the keys to a good précis is making your first paragraph a good
summary of the entire précis. See if you
can pull this off in three to four sentences.
Students are invited and encouraged to visit with the instructor in
order to talk through the précis before turning it in. Drafts may be submitted, but must generally
be reviewed with the instructor in person.
Here
is a paper
key with the abbreviations that the instructor uses when grading student
papers. Students should familiarize
themselves with this key in order to know what the instructor looks for in a
successful précis. Grammar and style are
especially important in a philosophy paper.
As Jane Healy observes, "the way people use language is braided
together tightly with the way they think."[1] Since philosophers and philosophy students
are in the business of thinking, we want to write as clearly as possible.
What should the format of a
précis be and what if I turn it in late?
Note,
students should put only their student number on their précis. This preserves anonymity and assures both the
student and the instructor that content, and nothing else, like personality, is
being graded. Précis are due at
the beginning of class, so make sure you're on time as once the papers are
picked up, any subsequent précis will be counted as late. A 10%
deduction will be levied for every school day the précis is late. For example, if the précis is due on a
Thursday and you turn it in Monday, that’s 3 days or a 30% deduction. If the précis is turned in on the day it is
due, but not at the beginning of class, a 10% deduction will be levied. There are no legitimate excuses for late
précis (e.g., faulty printers, disks, software, etc.; the post-college world is
full of deadlines for which an empty ink cartridge won’t suffice to explain why
a job is incomplete. Save yourself
enough time to take care of printer and computer problems.) My suggestion: show up to class 5-10 minutes early that day,
just to be safe. A hard-copy (no e-mail
submissions will be accepted) must be given to the instructor in person (not by
a friend). Précis will be returned as
soon as is practically possible (usually about two weeks). Précis due dates can be found in the reading
schedule. There will be 5
different opportunities to write the two required précis. Précis should be typed, double-spaced,
stapled, and have page numbers on each page (though the first page may be
excluded). Show that you care about your
work by taking care of the little things.
Précis are graded 50% summary and 50% response.
Lecture Notes:
As
in all college courses, it is strongly recommended that you take notes during
lecture and while you read. I find that
reading notes are often best taken in the text itself. For your benefit, lecture notes will be posted
on the web for each lecture. Just click
on the link for that day’s lecture.
Note: Old copies of lectures are
available prior to class. Current
versions of the power point slides will be posted within a week after a given
lecture. Some students like to print out
lecture notes before they come to class as a lecture aid. Feel free to do so if this is helpful. Sometimes, current versions of the notes will
differ substantially from the old lecture notes.
Disabilities: If you
qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit a letter to
me from Disability Services by
www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices
Academic Integrity: All students of the
Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
Statement: The
Success
in this Class: Philosophy is hard. It takes work and lots of patience. But it is ultimately rewarding and has
tremendous application in virtually all disciplines—and just everyday
life. Success is primarily up to the
student. While effort is not the sum
total of one's grade, it is the larger part.
If one puts in the effort (reading, studying (not merely cramming),
re-reading, thinking), she will be far more likely to succeed. The instructor is here to help you gain a
good handle on the material that we are studying. Utilize the instructor and ask questions if
you are unclear about something. One key
to success that I have found in teaching this course is that careful attention
to the detailed instructions found on this syllabus seems to mark successful
students. So, pay careful attention to
instructions for assignments, especially précis. Here are some tips
on doing, reading, and writing philosophy.
Also, it is much easier to study one's notes throughout the semester
than to cram right before an exam. There
is a lot of information in this class and it can't really be learned in a short
period of time. It may in fact take less
time to review one's notes after class, again at the end of the week, and once
again before an exam than to try and cram everything in right before an exam.
Class Rule: There is only one class rule
for this course: You may do whatever
you want as long as it doesn't cause a problem for anyone else. Of course, this covers a great deal of
various behaviors. Essentially, this
rule is founded on mutual respect between the student and instructor. The instructor seeks to treat each of his
students with utmost respect, recognizing his unique individuality and her
tremendous potential for greatness in all walks of life. Alternatively, the instructor expects respect
from his students. Since the instructor
invests a significant portion of his time in preparation for the course and
seeks to make the class a rewarding and enriching experience for each student,
shows of disrespect by a student do cause a problem for the instructor (and
thus, violate the class rule). The most
common example of such behavior is talking while the instructor is lecturing or
ostensibly showing a failure to be engaged during class sessions (reading
extra-class material like "The Onion", sleeping, staring out the
window for the whole class period, etc.).
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an
appropriate learning environment. For
more details on the expectations of the university for classroom behavior and potential
consequences for failing to meet these expectations, see http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code
.
Class Participation: Philosophy is an interactive discipline that
involves the process of inquiry using verbal and written communication. Thus, participation in class is one way to
measure the student’s interaction with the course material. Students will be graded based on a variety of
factors including but not limited to:
class attendance, class discussions, on-line discussions (you must use
Exam
#1 Thursday, February 16th (in class)
Exam
#2 Tuesday, April 4th (in class)
Exam
#3 During Final Exam Period:
PHIL
1000-130 (Meets Tues.-Thurs. 2-3:15) Saturday, May 6,
PHIL
1000-140 (Meets Tues.-Thurs.
Précis Due Dates:
(You must and may only do two; see the reading schedule for details).
#1 Thursday 2/2
#2 Thursday 3/2
#3 Thursday 3/16
#4 Thursday 4/13
#5 Tuesday 4/18
[1] Jane M. Healy, Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think and What We Can Do About It (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), 105.