Philosophy 110W-03: Introduction to Philosophy

Russell Marcus, Instructor. Email me.

Hamilton College, Fall 2007

Syllabus

Meeting Times and Place:

• Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am - 10:15am
• Root 203

Texts:

• Steven M. Cahn, ed., Philosophy for the 21st Century, Oxford University Press, 2003. (Required)
• Various handouts and/or downloads, which may be announced in class.
• My lecture notes, which will be posted after class.

Objectives:

This course will survey a range of topics of interest to philosophers and prepare the student for further work in several areas of philosophy. We will examine some perennial philosophical questions and their treatments by both classical thinkers and more contemporary philosophers. Topics to be discussed include the existence of God, the possibility of knowledge, the problem of induction, identity and material constitution, the nature of mind, the nature of the good, and the relationship between the individual and the state.

Assignments, Grading, and Some Tentative Due Dates:

Successful study of philosophy requires both quiet study and active engagement. Students in this course will be expected to complete readings before class and participate in class discussions and activities. Students will be asked to prepare written assignments at home (papers) and in class (the final exam). Additionally, each student will be asked to prepare a short in-class presentation in the second half of the course. In detail, the requirements for the course, with their tentative due dates, are:

• 1. All the readings listed above, plus any others annouced in class, and on the course website
• 2. In-class participation (10%)
• 3. One ten to fifteen minute in-class presentation (10%)
• 4. Four three-to-five page (750-1500 words) essays (60% total, 15% each)
  Paper 1 due: September 11
  Paper 2 due: October 9
  Paper 3 due: November 13
  Paper 4 due: December 6
• 5. Final exam (20%) December 14, 2pm - 5pm

Some important notes about assignments:

• Late papers may be accepted, but if they are, they will be penalized. Please do not make me penalize your paper for lateness.
• You may re-write one paper, for a possible improved grade, during the term. You may not re-write the last paper.
• All rewrites of papers must be completed by December 4.
• A sign-up sheet for the presentations will be distributed in class.
• The Hamilton College Honor Code will be strictly enforced.

• More information on course requirements is available here.

For each topic below, I will prepare reading guides, which are lists of questions corresponding to each reading. You can use the reading guides to help you determine your comprehension of the assignments. In addition, the final exam will be based directly on the reading guides. I will distribute detailed instructions for each paper assignment at least two weeks before its due date. I will also prepare specific guidelines for your in-class presentations.

Some General Notes on Writing and the Oral Presentation :

This course is designated as writing-intensive, which means that you will write often, and have the opportunity to re-write in response to comments. You are always welcome to receive my comments on a paper, in advance of its due date. I do not have strict guidelines about how much time you must give me before the due date, but you must not expect me to provide comments in less than two full days. You may re-write one graded assignment, with the possibility of an improved grade, during the term.

Many Hamilton students take advantage of the excellent writers and tutors at the writing center, located in K-J 209. I do not require that you use the writing center, but I may make a strong suggestion that you do so after the first paper. You may go to the center with drafts of a paper, or even earlier in the writing process. You must make appointments, which you can do easily at their website.

Similarly, the Oral Communication Center, in K-J 152, can help you prepare an effective presentation. If you wish, you can practice your presentation, and have it recorded and analyzed. If you wish to do use the OCC, you should make an appointment early. See their website academics.hamilton.edu/occ/labhours.pdf for more information

Both the Writing Center and the Oral Communications Center have an astoundingly wonderful set of resources to help you write and speak more effectively.

Tentative Schedule:

The following list of readings is ambitious. We may drop or add some topics on the basis of time and/or class interest. Page numbers below refer to the Cahn reader. In addition to the readings listed here, each section of the Cahn reader contains brief introductions which may be helpful.

August 28 - September 6: Philosophy of Religion

• Saint Anselm, "The Ontological Argument," pp 24-5.
• Gaunilo, "In Behalf of the Fool," pp 26-7.
• Immanuel Kant, "Critique of the Ontological Argument," pp 27-8.
• G. E. Moore, "Is Existence a Predicate?" pp 28-31.
• William L. Rowe, "Why the Ontological Argument Fails," pp 32-5.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Five Ways to Prove the Existence of God," pp 35-6.
• Michael Martin, "The Cosmological Argument," pp 37-9.
• David Hume, "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion," pp 39-72.

September 11 - October 9: Epistemology

• René Descartes, "Meditations on First Philosophy," pp 101-9.
• John Locke, "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," pp 110-5.
• George Berkeley "Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous," pp 115-137.
• G. E. Moore, "Proof of an External World," pp 137-9.
• Ludwig Wittgenstein, "On Certainty," pp 140-51.
• Roderick M. Chisholm, "The Problem of the Criterion," pp 152-160.

October 11 - 23: Philosophy of Science

• David Hume, "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding," pp 241-5.
• Brian Skyrms, "The Traditional Problem of Induction," pp 245-9.
• Rudolf Carnap, "The Experimental Method," pp 254-7.
• Carl Hempel, "Aspects of Scientific Explanation," pp 257-64.
• Nelson Goodman, "The New Riddle of Induction," pp 269-273.

October 25 - November 8: Philosophy of Mind

• René Descartes, "Meditations on First Philosophy," pp 432-38.
• B. F. Skinner, "The Causes of Behavior," pp 438-43.
• J. J. C. Smart, "Sensations and Brain Processes," pp 443-50.
• Jerry A. Fodor, "The Mind-Body Problem," pp 451-9.
• Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," pp 460-75.
• John Searle, "Can Computers Think?" pp 475-81.

November 13 - December 6: Ethics

• John Stuart Mill, "Utilitarianism," pp 575-80.
• Robert Nozick, "The Experience Machine," pp 580-1.
• Immanuel Kant, "Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals," pp 582-6.
• Onora O'Neill, "A Simplified Account of Kant's Ethics," pp 587-9.
• W. D. Ross, "The Right and the Good," pp 589-93.
• J. L. Mackie, "The Subjectivity of Values," pp 561-8.
• Ronald Dworkin, "A Critique of Mackie," pp 568-70.
• Renford Bambrough, "A Proof of the Objectivity of Morals," pp 570-4.

We will not get to the following topics which appeared on the original syllabus.

Political Philosophy

• Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan," pp 705-12.
• John Locke, "Second Treatise of Government," pp 713-9.
• John Rawls, "A Theory of Justice," pp 720-30.
• Robert Nozick, "Anarchy, State, and Utopia," pp 731-41.
• G.A. Cohen, "Illusions About Private Property and Freedom," pp 741-50.

Metaphysics

• David Hume, "Of the Idea of Necessary Connection," pp 369-77.
• David Lewis, "Causation," pp 377-84.
• Bertrand Russell, "On the Relations of Universals and Particulars," pp 290-300.
• D. M. Armstrong, "Properties," pp 300-8.
• John Locke, "Of Identity and Diversity," pp 330-7.
• Sydney Shoemaker, "Personal Identity and Memory," pp 337-45.
• Derek Parfit, "Personal Identity," 345-58.
• Aristotle, "Of Motion," 358-61.
• Max Black, "Achilles and the Tortoise," 362-8.