Philosophy: The Art of Thinking (PHIL-1020-04 [53250])          

Prof. Edgar Boedeker           Fall 2017        MWF, 1:00-1:50   Lang 211

Office hours: 2:15-3:15pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays in my office, 2099 Bartlett. I would also be happy to meet with you at another time, to be arranged in advance. If you would like to schedule such a meeting, please contact me in person, by e-mail (edgar.boedeker@uni.edu), or give me a call at 273-7487. 

Required texts (available at University Book & Supply: 1099 W. 23^rd St.):

- Steven M. Cahn (ed.), Classics of Western Philosophy, 7th Edition (2007; ISBN: 0872208591).

- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (New York: Bantam, 1988; ISBN: 0-553-21406-3; Please note: make sure that you receive this edition, which was the only one ordered for the course).

In addition, we may use some material from a course packet of photocopied materials from John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Nietzsche.  If we do, I’ll let you know in advance and make it available at Copyworks on the corner of 23^rd and College Streets.

Course description: This course will introduce you to philosophical thinking by exploring some of the great texts in the history of Western philosophy. Among the topics we may cover are ethics, knowledge, religion, free will, God, social and political inequity, and the nature of reality.

We will read each philosopher with one eye toward applying what they say to our lives; and another, more critical eye toward identifying basic assumptions that they make. Sometimes these assumptions are right on the surface of the texts; more often, however, they will become clear only after some “digging” on our part.

Course goals: This course has three main goals:

(1) to introduce you to some of the most important figures and topics in Western philosophy;

(2) to help you recognize, analyze, and evaluate arguments; and

(3) to give you practice in writing cogently and persuasively.

Course format: Class meetings will consist of a mixture of lecture, discussion, and group work. In order to benefit from this, it is essential that you do all of the reading for each class.

Evaluation: The grade you receive for this course will be determined as follows:

1. Worksheets: 30% of your final grade will come from the worksheets you complete on the reading assignments, videos, and in-class small-group work. The purpose of the worksheets is to encourage you to do each reading assignment, and to come to class prepared to discuss them. I will drop your three lowest scores (including those for missing worksheets) on the worksheets. Note that completing the worksheets will help you greatly in doing well on the quizzes, papers, and the final examination. For purposes of review, make sure you keep all of your worksheets.

Generally, your answers to each worksheet question should be between 2 and 5 sentences. To complete a worksheet, first open the worksheet document from our online syllabus, save it on a disk or your computer hard-drive, type in your answer below each question, and then print out the whole document when you're done. Please submit only hard copies of worksheets, and staple together all the pages that go with a single worksheet.

2. Quizzes: There will be about 10 brief, in-class quizzes, all together worth 15% of your final grade. The quizzes will generally cover material discussed in class since the last quiz. Note that although no individual quiz is worth a very large percentage of your final grade, the quizzes combined are quite important. If you miss a quiz due to an unexcused absence, will receive a 0 for that quiz.  (For more on unexcused absences, see “6. Attendance” below.)

3. Final examination: There will be a cumulative final examination (about 100 multiple-choice questions) held in our regular classroom during the officially-scheduled final exam time, worth 20% of your final grade.  Please see the very end of this syllabus for the day and time of the final exam.

4. One required paper, worth 30% of your final grade, on an important aspect of one or more of the texts we read. Suggested paper topics and due-dates are linked to this syllabus below. The paper should be around 1500-2000 words in length; more important than the word count is that you give yourself enough space to make your points, while also avoiding unnecessary repetition or extraneous information. For more details, please see (5) below, “Peer assessment of others’ papers.”  

Making sense of great texts is an important skill to master, and is a lifelong pursuit. This is something that you’ll do as you write your papers, and something that we’ll practice in class. Thus I don’t require – and don’t recommend – that you use any secondary sources, i.e., anything but the texts assigned in class, but if you do use any you must cite them. In addition, refraining from using secondary sources is a sure way to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

I strongly encourage you to co-write your paper with (just) one other member of the class. Co-writing is an increasingly important skill in such fields as business, science, teaching, law, etc. Since I will hold a co-written paper to exactly the same standards as a single-authored paper, it is very likely to be to your advantage to co-write a paper. After all, two heads are (usually) better than one! If you co-write a paper, however, please make sure that you and your co-author both check it for organization, consistency, avoidance of repetition, etc.

Note on the papers:

One thing that a philosophy paper should not be is a “book report,” i.e., an attempt to summarize an entire philosophical text. Instead, a good philosophy paper should give a close and concise analysis of a single key argument in a text. An “argument” in this sense isn’t a verbal fight (this isn’t the Jerry Springer Show, after all!). Rather, an argument (as we’ll be using the term) is a chain of reasoning from certain statements (called the “premises”) to another statement (called the “conclusion”) that the argument claims is supported by the premises.

A good philosophy paper contains both a careful, concise, and accurate analysis of such an argument; and some criticism of it.  “Criticism” here doesn’t mean disagreement (it’s fine to agree or disagree with a philosopher!), but rather an examination of possible objections to the argument you’ve analyzed.  A good criticism consists of giving reasons (1) why one or more of the premises of the argument you’ve analyzed might be false (in which case the conclusion still might be true, but just for different reasons); and (2) why these premises, even if they were true, might not support the conclusion (in which case the conclusion still might be false even if the premises were true). If you end up finding the philosopher’s argument faulty in either or both of these ways, then try to “tinker” with the premises, conclusion, or chain of reasoning as charitably as possible, to see if you can come up with a modification of the argument to make it more cogent.  What matters most is the quality of your reading, writing, and argumentation.

Remember that the reasons you give for or against an argument should be more than simply your beliefs or opinions. Rather, they should be potentially convincing to someone else, even if this person may not initially share your beliefs or opinions. After all, are you convinced that something is true just because someone else happens to believe it? So don’t just state whether or not you agree with the author’s conclusion. Instead, try to give reasons for or against the author’s argument for this conclusion.

In my experience, the most common way for paper grades to suffer is due to a lack of documentation in the texts. You should use direct citations sparingly – generally only if the exact wording of the passage is either directly relevant to the argument you’re making, or particularly clear and concise. Short direct citations should be placed in quotation-marks; direct citations over 3 lines long should be offset, indented, single-space, and without quotation-marks. In other cases, use indirect citation – paraphrasing in your own words what the author says, and telling the reader where he or she says it. Also, please number the pages to make it easier to comment on them.  

I strongly encourage you to discuss your paper with me before you turn it in, and I’m happy to read drafts and offer comments.

5. Peer assessment of others’ papers.  You’ll read someone else’s paper and use a rubric (to be distributed) to assess it with constructive criticism.  This peer assessment of someone else’s paper will be worth 5% of your final grade.  I plan to distribute a detailed rubric covering the various aspects of a good philosophy for you to use in commenting on the paper.  In assessing the paper, give as much advice as you can to help the author(s) improve the paper in order to get a better grade.  (Since grading for this course is not on a “curve,” doing a good job in giving feedback can only improve your own grade, not lower it.)  Thus feedback that simply praises the paper will receive little or no credit.  Here, what counts as being “nice” isn’t making someone feel good temporarily, but actually pointing out areas that are already strong, but also those that could use improvement!

6. Attendance: I will take attendance at the beginning of virtually each class period.  You are permitted two unexcused absences during the semester.  For each unexcused absence beyond these two, your final grade will be reduced by one third of a letter grade.  For example, someone with a B+ average with 4 unexplained absences (i.e., 2 more than the 2 allowed) will receive a B- in the course.  Although I’d appreciate it if you inform me prior to class that you’ll be absent, not all announced absences will count as excused. The only excuses I will accept are a weather emergency, illness documented by doctor’s note, documented funeral, documented mandatory participation in UNI athletics, or documented military service.

I realize that this is a fairly strict attendance policy.  I have instituted it mainly because much of the learning that you will do in this course will take place in class.  Asking questions, raising objections, making observations, and listening to others are important skills that you will get to practice in class discussions.  In addition, coming to class is necessary to doing well in this course. After all, anything discussed in class could appear on the quizzes or final examination; and (virtually) nothing will appear on the final examination that was not discussed in class.

7. Class participation: I expect that all students will participate actively and constructively in classroom discussions.  Asking questions and responding to what I or fellow students say are excellent ways for you to learn.  Doing so regularly will boost your final grade by as much as one third of a letter-grade, for example, from a B+ to an A-.  On the other hand, if your presence in class contributes to a negative learning environment, this can reduce your final grade by one third of a letter grade per episode.

Please don’t text on an electronic device, wear headphones, etc.  I’ve found that the use of such devices is very distracting to me, reduces my ability to teach effectively, and hence does a disservice to the students in the class.  In addition, some folks need a bit of practice in breaking the habit of feeling the need to text during inappropriate times.  Thus if you do this, I will have to ask you to leave class, and this will count as an unexcused absence.

8. Optional extra credit paper: If you wish, you may write a final paper on one of the topics indicated in the link at the bottom of the syllabus.  This can boost your final grade by as much as 10 points, but counts as extra credit at all only if the paper grade is C or higher.

Website: Much of our course material will be linked to eLearning, including:

- our syllabus (i.e., this document),

- worksheets for you to fill out and hand in on the readings and videos,

- handouts (which are for you to keep) outlining lectures,

- materials for use in in-class group projects, and

- suggested topics for the required paper (and the optional paper as well).

Please check your e-mail regularly for due-dates and announcements of updates. It will be your responsibility to check your e-mail regularly, read the announcements, and print out all attachments.  I strongly recommend that you obtain a 3-ring binder to organize and store the various handouts for this class.

Except for the reasons listed in (6) above, extensions for papers and alternative times for the final exam will not be granted.

Cheating and plagiarism: It is your responsibility to read UNI’s Student Academic Ethics Policy (Chapter 3.01 of UNI’s Policies and Procedures Manual, available at https://www.uni.edu/policies/301, from which some of the following is copied or otherwise borrowed).  Using the terminology defined in this document, please note the following:

Any student who commits a Level One violation will receive no credit for the entire assignment in question.

Any student who commits a Level Two violation will receive no credit for the entire assignment in question; and, in addition, a reduction in the course grade by two full letter grades, i.e., 20% (e.g., from a B- to a D-).

Any student who commits a Level Three violation is mandated by the University to receive a disciplinary failure for the course. (This will automatically appear on the student’s transcript.)  As your professor, UNI also requires me to reprimand the student in writing in the form of a letter addressed to the student and copied to the Head of the Department of Philosophy and World Religions, the student’s department head (if different) and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

You are also responsible for reading all of the information about plagiarism on this site:

http://www.uni.edu/bergv/homepage/plagiarism.htm

It’s your responsibility to ask me any questions you might have about this. Please note that if someone does anything that fits the definitions of “plagiarism” given in this document, he or she has committed plagiarism, whether or not he or she intended to do so.

Disabilities: Please contact me if I can be of assistance in this area. All qualified students with disabilities are protected under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C.A., Section 12101. The ADA states that “no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.” Students who desire or need instructional accommodations or assistance because of their disability should contact the office of Student Disability Services, located in 103 Student Health Center (voice: 319-273-2677; for deaf or hard-of-hearing, use Relay 711).

Academic Learning Center: I encourage you to use the Academic Learning Center for assistance with writing and college reading and learning strategies. The following services are available to you at no charge:

- One-on-one writing feedback. Certified Writing Coaches work with you to help you successfully manage all phases of the writing process, from getting started, to citing and documenting, to editing and proofreading. Schedule appointments at 008 ITTC or 319-273-6023.

- Assistance in transitioning to college-level reading and learning expectations at UNI. Students may work with trained and certified Academic Coaches by scheduling appointments at 008 ITTC or by calling 319-273-6023.

- Workshops to help you retain and understand course material, become more effective learners and test-takers, or more effective readers. Register for workshops at uni.edu/unialc by clicking the ALC Workshops and Registration tab.

Further note: Each semester, I teach almost 100 students. Although I give you as much individual time and attention as I possibly can during the semester, I will not be able to send you your individual grade for the course at the end of the semester. I submit the grades to the Registrar as soon as I can during the week of final exams, and ask you to kindly wait see your grade until it has been reported electronically.

Tentative course schedule:

The assignments are due in class on the date indicated.

All reading assignments except The Communist Manifesto (and those specifically noted as in our course packet) are from Cahn’s Classics of Western Philosophy.

I. Ancient Greek philosophy (c. 600-250 B.C.E.): being as constant, eternal presence

Introduction. PLEASE bring this handout with you to our first class meeting; don’t fill it out in advance, but please do so in class.

Plato (c.428-348 BCE), Meno, 70a-80d: Worksheet.

Plato, Meno, 80c–100b: Handout Worksheet.

Begin Plato, the Apology of Socrates (469-399 BCE): Worksheet Handout.

Finish Plato, Apology: Worksheet.

Plato, Phaedo, 57-77d, 86e-87a: Handout Worksheet.

Plato, Phaedo, 77d-95e: Worksheet Handout #1 Handout #2.

Plato, Phaedo, 95e-118: Worksheet.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE), “Categories,” Chapters 1-5, especially 4-5: Handout Worksheet; Aristotle, “Physics,” 192b1-195a27: Worksheet. This will be the only day on which 2 worksheets are due.  They are brief, but difficult.  This is to a large extent because the texts themselves are a “mess.”  We’ll try to make hem clearer with small-group work on the four “causes” of substances.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book I, Chapters 1-10: Worksheet.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book I, Chapter 13; and Book II: Handout Worksheet.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book III, Chapters 1-5: Worksheet.

Aristotle, Book VI: Worksheet. 

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book VII, Chapters 1-3: Worksheet.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book VIII, Chapters 1-3, 9; and Book IX, Chapters 4, 7, 8, 9, and 12: Worksheet.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book X: Worksheet.

II. Medieval philosophy (c. 387-1400 C.E.): free will, and being as exerting “efficient” causality on something

Augustine (354-430 CE) on God as creator; read Confessions (398 CE), Book XI (pp. 353-365): Handout, Worksheet.

Augustine on God and the good; read On Free Choice of the Will (395 CE), Book I (pp. 338-341): Worksheet.  

First draft of paper due (exact date to be announced toward the end of our discussion of Aristotle). Please see the paper topics and assessment rubric on our eLearning site.  

One week after the draft of the first paper is due, the peer assessments of the papers are due.

One week after this, the final draft of the paper is due.

As you write your paper, you’ll probably find it helpful to consult the rubric that will be used to assess and grade it.

Augustine on free will; read On Free Choice of the Will, Book II (pp. 341-343): Worksheet Handout.

Augustine on divine providence; read On Free Choice of the Will, Book III (pp. 344-352): Worksheet. In-class small-group work on the Andrea Yates case.

(We won’t be reading any Renaissance philosophy [c. 1400-1610] in this course.)

III. Early modern (or “Enlightenment”) philosophy; being as what can be legitimately willed by an individual (mainly c.1610-c.1830, but still including John Stuart Mill [1806-1873])

Classic criticisms of the concept of “free will”: read Thomas Hobbes (1558-1679), selections from Leviathan (1651: in course packet). Also read Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), Ethics (1677), Part I: Concerning God, Proposition 17, its two Corollaries and its “Scholium” (= “Note”: pp. 558-559 in Cahn textbook); and from Propositions 32 and 33 (including Scholium 1 and Scholium 2 to proposition 33) through the end of Part I, especially the Appendix (pp. 564-570 in Cahn textbook): Worksheet. 

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), first half of selection from On Liberty (1859), in course packet. Worksheet.

Mill, On Liberty, second half of selection, in course packet. Worksheet.

IV. Critiques of some Western philosophical and religious traditions (c. 1830-present)

Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), The Communist Manifesto (1848), pp. 1-32: Handout Worksheet.  Revision of paper due.

Marx & Engels, Communist Manifesto, pp. 32-43, 56-58: Worksheet.

View the documentary The Corporation (no new reading). Please bring this worksheet with you to fill out in class; it will count as two worksheets.  These things can change, but it has been available on youtube.com at the following URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y&list=PLFA50FBC214A6CE87&feature=plcp

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Twilight of the Idols (1888), pp. 1087-1094: Handout Worksheet.

Nietzsche, The Antichrist (1888), pp. 570-599 in course packet: Worksheet.

Nietzsche, The Antichrist, pp. 599-628 in course packet. Worksheet.

View a lecture on the historical Jesus by John Dominic Crossan (b. 1934), given at UNI back in 2000.  It’s available on youtube.com at the following URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2m7I4WEoso&list=HL1354577216&feature=mh_lolz

Please complete the associated worksheet.

Tuesday, December 12, 1:00-2:50, in our regular classroom: final examination (here’s a very brief study guide; naturally, the final exam will cover only those philosophers and issues we’ve addressed in the course).

(Tuesday, May 2, by the time of our final exam: optional second paper due. Early e-mail submissions are welcome, but make sure that you send the document in Microsoft Word format.)