Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10am- 10:50am Room: Biddle 211 Instructor: Dr. Derek Leben leben@pitt.edu Phil 83- Introduction to Philosophical Problems Spring 2018 Course #24742 office hours: M/W/F, 12pm-1pm, and by appointment 223B Biddle Hall Course Description: Philosophy is the use of arguments and evidence to address foundational issues in human experience. This class will be an introduction to these issues, the methods philosophers use to address them, and some arguments that have been proposed to answer them. The topics are divided into six sections: (I) Religion: Does God exist, and why does that matter? (II) Mind: What kind of thing am I? (III) (IV) (V) (VI) Epistemology: What can we know, and how can we know it? Ethics: How should we treat each other? Society: How should we organize society, and who should be in control? The Purpose of Life: Why is death to be avoided, and life to be preferred? Texts: Exploring Philosophy (ed. Stephen Cahn) ****available in the bookstore**** You are officially encouraged to buy your book at the campus bookstore. While I am fine with purchasing copies of the book elsewhere (i.e., Amazon), you are expected to have the book by the second class to keep up with the readings. General Education Requirement: This class satisfies a general education requirement for the World of Society and Civics. One of the goals of the class is to demonstrate knowledge of the diverse ways that humans define and enforce boundaries and rules on their behavior and interactions.
Attendance and Participation (5%) Weekly responses (20%) Mid-term exam (20%) Final Exam (20%) Term Paper (35%) Requirements: Note: The total points tally on courseweb does NOT take these weights into account. If you want to keep track of your grade, take the percent signs off all the numbers above and multiply your percentage on each assignment by that number, then add those numbers up and divide by 100 (or the current total possible points, whichever is lower). Further Remarks on Requirements Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required. Please let me know if you will be missing a class and come to office hours that week to discuss the material missed that day. Texting in class will be penalized with a polite request to stop texting in class. Students are expected to come to class with the assigned readings completed Outstanding preparation and participation will be considered when grading borderline cases Weekly Responses: Every Friday, starting on 1/12/18, you will have a 1-page weekly response due in class (not counting Thanksgiving week) Discuss a claim from one of the readings and whether you think that author made a persuasive case Responses are given full credit (on a 1/0 basis) so long as they discuss a substantive point about one of the readings from that week Responses must be turned in as a hard copy in class (no emailed responses) Missed responses cannot be made up. Papers: Papers must be emailed to: lebenphilosophy@gmail.com Late papers will be assessed a one-third-grade penalty per day (a B+ will become a B, a B will become a B-, etc.). In special circumstances, a student may prior to the due date request an extension. It is the responsibility of students to understand what constitutes plagiarism and what its consequences are. If you re in doubt, please ask. Plagiarists will be dealt with harshly. Try to avoid referring to your own attitudes or using the term: I feel. Here is a list of 101 expressions to use instead of feels: http://people.umass.edu/klement/100/101.html Exams: Both exams will be multiple choice Exam questions will be about definitions, positions, and arguments Final exam is not cumulative
Rubric for Papers: A: COMP + ACC + ARG + SUPP (Arguments are supported by research, examples, objections, and replies) B: COMP + ACC + ARG (Arguments are presented that is relevant and effective) C: COMP + ACC (Material is accurate and coherent) D: COMP (Paper is complete and about the assigned topic) F: None of the above For further advice on writing a philosophy paper, see Jim Pryor s website: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html Grading Standards A = 92.5 100% A- = 89.5 92.4% B+ = 87.4 89.4% B = 82.5 87.4% B- = 79.5 82.4% C+ = 77.4 79.4% C = 72.5 77.4% C- = 69.5 62.4% D+ = 67.4 69.4% D = 62.5 67.4% D- = 59.5 62.4% F = < 59.4 Students with disabilities and special needs: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Health & Wellness (OHW), G-10 Student Union Building, (814) 269-7119 to schedule an appointment as early as possible in the term. OHW will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course
Readings and Schedule: Readings marked with (*) are provided by instructor on courseweb 1 M 1/8 W 1/10 F 1/12 2 M 1/15 W 1/17 F 1/19 3 M 1/22 W 1/24 F 1/26 Introduction: What is Philosophy? History of Philosophy Logic: Evaluating Arguments No class The Ontological and Cosmological Arguments The Design Argument and Pascal s Wager The Paradox of Omnipotence and The Problem of Evil Theodicies The Problem of Disagreement and Evidentialism The Value of Philosophy Defense of Socrates Plato The Elements of Argument Cahn, Kitcher, and Sher Improving Your Thinking Stephen Barker Does God Exist? Ernest Nagel Summa Theologiae Thomas Aquinas Natural Theology William Paley Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion David Hume (*) Evil and Omnipotence John Mackie Why God Allows Evil Tom Dougherty The Problem of Hell Marilyn Adams (*) The Ethics of Belief William Clifford Faith and Reason Michael Scriven
4 M 1/29 W 1/31 F 2/2 5 M 2/5 W 2/7 F 2/9 6 M 2/12 W 2/14 F 2/16 7 M 2/19 W 2/21 F 2/23 Mind-Body Dualism Consciousness The Causal Interaction Problem & The Problem of Other Minds Minds and Machines (pt.1) Minds and Machines (pt.2) Personal Identity Free Will Determinism Compatibilism Review Midterm Exam Knowledge The Mind-Body Problem Paul Churchland Body and Soul Richard Taylor The Qualia Problem Frank Jackson What is it Like to be a Bat? (*) The Argument from Analogy for Other Minds The Ghost in the Machine Gilbert Ryle Computing Machinery and Intelligence Alan Turing Do Computers Think? John Searle The Problem of Personal Identity John Perry Free Will The Principle of Alternate Possibilities Harry Frankfurt Free Will and Determinism W.T. Stace Free Will or Determinism? Stephen Cahn What is Knowledge? A.J. Ayer Appearance and Reality
8 M 2/26 W 2/28 F 3/2 9 M 3/5- F 3/9 10 M 3/12 W 3/14 F 3/16 11 M 3/19 W 3/21 F 3/23 Skepticism The Cogito Rationalism Spring Break Empiricism The Problem of Induction Science and Pseudoscience Moral Theories Utilitarianism Utilitarianism in Action Meditations on First Philosophy (Book I) Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy (Books II- III) Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy (Books IV- V) Rene Descartes An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding David Hume The Problem of Induction (*) Science, Conjectures, and Refutations Karl Popper (*) Science at the Bar Larry Lauden How Not to Answer Moral Questions Tom Regan (*) Euthyphro Stephen Cahn Utilitarianism J.S. Mill Famine, Affluence, and Morality Peter Singer Assessing Utilitarianism Louis Pojman
12 M 3/26 W 3/28 F 3/30 13 M 4/2 W 4/4 F 4/6 14 4/9 4/11 4/13 15 4/16 4/18 4/20 Natural Rights Kantian Ethics The Treatment of Animals A Flourishing Society The Social Contract A Cooperative Society Death Absurdity Existentialism Purpose in Life (pt.1) Purpose in Life (pt.2) Review (*) Second Treatise on Government, ch.2 John Locke Kant s Ethics Onora O Neill The Case for Animal Rights Tom Regan Republic Plato Leviathan Thomas Hobbes Second Treatise on Government John Locke Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 Karl Marx Writings Epicurus Death The Badness of Death Shelly Kagan (*) The Absurd (*) The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus Existentialism Jean-Paul Sartre The Meaning of Life Richard Taylor Meaning in Life Susan Wolf