1) Three summaries (2-3 pages; pick three out of the following four): due: 9/9 5% due: 9/16 5% due: 9/23 5% due: 9/30 5%

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1 Philosophical Problems 120F Fall 2008, T-Th pm Earth&Planetary 203 Instructor Mariska Leunissen Office: Wilson Hall Rm. 112 / Office hours: T-Th 12-lpm or by appointment Ben Floyd-Clapman bfloydcl@artsci.wusd.edu Office: Wilson HaU Rm. 116 Office hours: T 1-2 and Fr Course Description This course serves as an introduction to philosophy in the western analytic tradition. We shall discuss some of the most significant problems in epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and ethics by analyzing some of the key texts in these fields. The course will place a strong emphasis on learning how to read philosophical texts and how to assess and produce philosophically compelling arguments. Tuesday classes will generally proceed by lecture; Thursday classes will generally be devoted to a discussion of the reading questions and to group discussion sessions. Course Requirements 1) Three summaries (2-3 pages; pick three out of the following four): Descartes Meditation I Hume Enquiry section 4 Peirce Fixation of Belief Rorty Sdence as Solidarity due: 9/9 5% due: 9/16 5% due: 9/23 5% due: 9/30 5% 2) Three essays (3-4 pages; pick three out of the following four): Plato Phaedo Descartes Meditation VI Putnam Brains and Behavior Nagel What is it like to be a Bat? due: 10/14 10% due: 10/21 10% due: 10/28 10% due: 11/4 10% [total: 30%] 3) One term Paper (5-6 pages; use any combination of the following texts) Aristode Nicomachean Ethics Kant Foundation for the Metaphysics of Morals Mill Utilitarianism D e Wa a l H o w M o r a l i t y e v o l v e d d u e : 1 2 / % [total: 40%] 4) Course participation 15%

2 Note: You must complete all seven assignments to receive credit for this course. In addition, regular attendance and class participation are expected. Please bring assigned readings to class. Literature 1) Plato's Phaedo (Hackett Publication) 2) Frans de Waal, Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 5, 2006) 3) Reading Packet (on E-reserve; password 'belief) COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to adjustment) Weekl 8/28 Week 2 9/2; 9/4 Week 3 9/9; 9/11 Section One: Epistemology Theory of knowledge; rationalism empiridsm; induction; skeptiasm; pragmatism Course Introduction Plato Meno Plato Meno (continued) Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy I-II Week 4 9/16; 9/18 Kii/BW/ffi1 JiM 'm^kijtnnstiffil''jff. ti ft* smwf* T* ti +y ft i/ T' > i, I'^f-ii' (tl i *Mi X'+^Jr^l Week 5 9/23; 9/25 Week 6 9/30; 10/2 Peirce The Fixation of Belief (1877) How to Make Our Ideas Clear (1878) Gettier Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Rorty Sdence as Solidarity Section Two: Mind - Body Dualism; Behaviorism; Functionalism; Consdousness Week 7 10/7; 10/9 Plato Phaedo 72d-107d; 114d-118a Aristotle DeAnima II.1-3

3 Week 8 10/14; 10/16 Week 9 10/21; 10/23 Week 10 10/28; 10/30 Descartes Meditations VI and The Passions of the Soul (selections) Putnam Brains and Behavior Nagel What is it like to be a bat? Section Three: Ethics Virtue; deontology; utilitarianism; ethics <& evolution Week 11 11/4; 11/6 Week 12 11/11; 11/13 Week 13 11/18; 11/20 Aristotie Nicomachean Ethics, book I Kant The Foundation for the Metaphysics of Morals, Preface <& Section 1 Mill Utilitarianism, chapters 1-2 Thanksgiving Break Week 14 12/2; 12/4 Week 15 12/9 De Waal Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (part 1, without appendices) Last day of class Review of readings <& Instructions for how to write a term paper Grading Policy Philosophical Problems 120F: For each of the summaries you can earn 5 points; for each of the essays you can earn 10 points; for the final paper you can earn 40 points, and active participation in class may earn you 15 points. The total of points to be earned is thus 100. Summaries and short papers are to be turned in on the assigned date at the beginning of class. The final paper is to be turned in on the assigned date before 5 p.m. in the instructor's -box. Unless special permission is obtained from the instructor in advance, late papers will not be accepted without grade penalty, and incompletes will not be given. Permission will only be given in case there is a genuine emergency or the circumstances are exceptional in some other way. When papers are turned in late without special permission, one-third of a letter grade will be deducted (e.g., an A will become an A-) for each 24h that the paper is late. Plagiarism will be punished as severely as the university allows. Please make yourself familiar with the university's policies on plagiarism.

4 Grading policies per writing assignments: General policy: - No drafts will be accepted, BUT you are strongly encouraged to visit office hours to discuss paper topics and/or outlines with the T.A. or the instructor. Rewrites will be accepted, but note that in order to get a better grade you will have to do more than just fix the problems noted by the T.A. or the instructor. Summaries C3: total of 15 credit points): The purpose of writing these summaries is to make you familiar with the strategies to read, deconstruct and analyze philosophical texts. The overall impact these summaries will have on your final grade is relatively low, but they provide useful exercises for the essays. The scale used is: 1 point = Well, you handed in something, and it looks like a summary. 2 point = This summary has serious problems: the author has completely misunderstood the reading, and the writing is very unclear and unorganized. 3 points = It is clear that you read and studied the text, but there are some major problems: either you misunderstood what the philosopher is saying, or the way you organized the material is less than optimal. 4 points = This is a good summary, but there are some minor flaws: you may have misrepresented the philosopher's views on one or two occasions, or there are minor problems in your writing. 5 points = This is a very good summary: it is clearly written, and it captures the most important views of the philosopher. You should be really proud to have earned 5 credit points for it. Essays C3: total of 30 credit points'): These essays are exercises for you to learn how to integrate philosophical interpretation (= summary skills: how to read and carefully represent the views of the philosopher) and critical reflection (= some of the skills we practice during the discussions). Focus on one issue in the readings that you think is interesting, problematic, or worth thinking about: give a fair representation of what the philosopher has to say about this issue, and then offer your opinions, analyses, argumentations, etc. This is an exercise that prepares you to write philosophical essays of considerable length and depth. Final Essav CI: total of 40 credit points'): This essay is the most important assignment in this class, and it will way heaviest upon your final grade: this is where you demonstrate to able to handle (= read, understand, summarize, think, form opinions and write about) philosophical texts: your representation of the philosopher(s) you are discussing is precise, fair, careful, to the point, and clearly written (= summary skills); you are able to reflect critically about the readings and formulate your own opinion about them in a well-structured and clearly written way (= essay skills + group discussion skills).

5 This is a rough description of the grading scale for essays: A+ This is a truly outstanding essay. It is clearly written, well-argued, and original (i.e. original as compared to your fellow students; you're not expected to do groundbreaking philosophical work in an intro to philosophy-class). An essay that just gives a straightforward or 'obvious' response to some philosophical or interpretative problem would not merit an A+, even if it is clear. An A+ essay does something extra - but not at the cost of a clear treatment of the problem. If you receive an A+ on an essay you have reason to feel extremely proud of your work. A/A- This is a really good essay, one that operates at an advanced level. It is clearly written. (If there are any significant problems with the writing or the organization of the essay, then it won't merit an A. This is because good clear writing and organization are not separable from good philosophical thinking.) The essay may have a couple of minor mistakes or confusions, or it may fail to unpack some of its arguments sufficiendy. It may have an original argument or interpretation, but if so, that will be offset by some other flaw. For example, in a longer essay, perhaps there is too little philosophical back-and-forth (considering objections and challenges, and responding to them). Or perhaps it is not as engaged with the texts as it should be. The gravity and amount of the minor flaws determines whether it will be an A or an A- essay. B+ This is a well-written essay with nothing terribly wrong. The writing may have some small problems, or it may be flawless. The essay may make some mistakes or have some ambiguities that have to be sorted out, but overall it will be a good essay. It will show more promise or originality than a B essay, but nothing will make it stand out like an A/A- essay, or it won't be operating at as advanced a level as an A/A- essay. (Or perhaps the essay would stand out if some of its ideas were properly developed, but as it stands they aren't.) B This is a solid essay, with some notable mistakes or obscurities, but no serious misunderstandings. The writing may not be super-clear. To earn a B, the essay needs to make it clear why the problem addressed in the essay is a problem, and offer some response to it. (It may be a straightforward or unoriginal response; it may not be a decisive response; the essay may even end by showing that a certain response doesn't work. But the essay must put forward or examine some response to the problem.) A B essay does not seriously misrepresent the views of other philosophers. B- There are starting to be some serious problems. Perhaps the writing is really unclear or the essay is poorly organized. Or perhaps there are straightforward mistakes and misunderstandings about what the problem is, or about what other philosophers say. Or perhaps the essay presents the problem correcdy, but doesn't really address it. Still, there is an effort. The author has some understanding of the problem and of the relevant texts. She does offer some argument. An essay with no argument won't merit a B-. C+ There are more serious problems. Either the writing is really hard to get through; or the essay has no discernable structure; or the author doesn't understand the text or the positions she is discussing; or the essay doesn't really attempt to offer any argument. Essays with more problems will earn grades of C or below. It is difficult to give a general gloss on those grades since the problems that beset these essays are quite varied.

6 Grading Policies for Class participation Ctotal of 15 credit points): Group discussion sessions C5 sessions; total of 15 credit points): For each time you participate actively and constructively in a group discussion session, you earn three credit points. There will be five of these group discussion sessions during the semester. In order to earn full credit for participation, class attendance will thus be required. Class Participation Cbonus: maximum nf S credit nnintsv I give extra participation credits (a maximum of five over the whole semester) to those of you who are active and involved in class, i.e. ask questions, answer reading questions, challenge the views of the philosopher we discuss, etc. These extra credits will be added as bonus to your total score. GRADING SCALE: