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Philosophy 111.
Basic Problems of Philosophy. (3h) An
examination of the basic concepts of several representative
philosophers, including their accounts of the nature of knowledge,
persons, God, mind, and matter.
All sections of Philosophy 111 should conform
reasonably well to the description above (quoted from the college
bulletin), though there are important differences from section
to section. Please click the links below to see how individual
professors describe the sections of Philosophy 111 they will
be teaching this semester.
Stavroula
Glezakos
TR 9:30 – 10:45 -
Greene A308
Though you may have yet to take a philosophy class, you have
almost certainly engaged in philosophical activity. If you
have considered whether you can know anything for certain,
whether your will is free, whether God exists, or whether morality
is relative, then you have grappled with the sort of question
that philosophers seek to answer.
In this class, we will read, discuss, and write about how various
authors (contemporary and long-dead) have addressed these and
other questions. Students will: develop their ability to discern
sound reasoning in argumentation, improve the clarity of their
writing, and gain a better understanding of important philosophical
issues and of their own views and commitments.
George
Graham
TR 1:30 – 2:45 -
Tribble Hall A306
This course is about 7 basic problems of philosophy. These
include the existence of God, nature of human freedom, limits
of human knowledge, and objectivity of morals, among others.
Our discussion of the 7 problems is organized around a "philosophy
quest": the quest to develop one's own personal philosophy
of life. The course will offer students questions and guidelines
for developing a personal philosophy. These personal philosophies
will not be graded, lest the exercise be too self-conscious
and apprehensive. The philosophies will receive feedback, not
formal evaluation. Instead, course grades will be based on
a mid-term and final exam, each of which will focus on the
basic problems. We will read from great thinkers of the past
as well as contemporary thinkers. Text: PHILOSOPHY THEN AND
NOW, edited by N. Arnold, T. Benditt, and G. Graham (Blackwell
1998, paperback).
Hannah Hardgrave
TR 12-1:15
& 3-4:15 -
Tribble Hall A306
It has been said that the history of philosophy is a series
of footnotes to Plato. In this course Plato’s Republic
will introduce students to many of the basic problems of philosophy
as well as early steps in the Critical Tradition of Western
thought. Readings will include responses to Plato’s ideas
by classical philosophers including Descartes, Kant, and Mill
as well as the ideas of selected contemporary philosophers.
Contemporary films will also be used to illustrate some of
the philosophical problems and will be the subject of paper
assignments. Through student-led discussions the class will
participate in the tradition of critical thinking which had
its first flowering with Plato.
Marcus
Hester
MWF
9:00 - 09:50 -
Tribble Hall A306
In the first couple of weeks, we work on translating
arguments from English to logic and determining whether
these arguments are valid. Logic is an important tool of
the course. I have written a text for this part of the
course. Then the course consists of three problems:
1) The Nature of Morality, with two subparts: A.) Subjective Relativism and Objectivism.
We read some secondary material on the Sophists, who thought every opinion is
as true as any other. Then we read two texts by Plato (the Apology and the Crito)
about Socrates. Socrates rejected the Sophists view and thought moral opinions
could be improved by critical questioning. Last we read some early views of Plato
in the Meno. Plato thought that moral matters such as what is justice could be
rationally aroused in persons by questioning in a way parallel to questions in
math. This problem is whether expressions of a moral judgment such as “abortion
is wrong” are mere expressions of taste or personal preference or whether
such a judgments can be defended objectively by rational means. This question
is about morality. B.) Substantial Moral Codes. Instead of being merely about
morality, substantial moral codes are like the Ten Commandments in telling us
how to actually make moral decisions. J.S. Mill argues that the moral good is
doing that possible action which maximizes happiness among all those affected
by the action. Kant argues to the contrary that the best action is done solely
from duty defined by moral imperatives such as “you should not make false
promises.”
2) Free Will, Knowledge and Modern Philosophy. Aristotle thought that our body
parts, and most things in nature, served a purpose and that you could not really
explain them without referring to these purposes, a view expressed in his Physics.
Descartes in his Meditations on First Philosophy has no use for this sort of
explanation of material bodies in terms of purpose. Instead, our bodies, and
all animal bodies, are just machines behaving according to laws of nature. Yet
we do not think of ourselves as machines in our thoughts, actions and art works.
Descartes struggles to reconcile this modern scientific mechanical view with
the way we think of ourselves. Then we read Aristotle’s theory of voluntary
actions in relation to his kind of science in his Nicomachean Ethics. Last we
read Hume’s attempt to reconcile liberty with his belief that everything
we do is causally determined.
3) Rational Grounds for Belief in God. Some thinkers have thought that one can
prove by argument that God exists. Anselm tries to prove that the very definition
of God, defined as a being than which none greater is conceivable, implies that
God necessarily exists. Aquinas tries to prove that God exists from things we
see in nature such as motion and degrees of perfections such as justice and goodness.
Hume casts doubt on all such proofs and argues that at best we can make belief
in a powerful and good God consistent with the massive evils we observe in the
world.
In terms of grading, we have short weekly tests on the readings, and a midterm
and final exam. The midterm and final exams consist of problems in logic and
essays on the problems covered in the course. There is an optional paper on any
topic in philosophy.
Ralph Kennedy
TR 8-9:15
am - Tribble Hall A307
We’ll discuss the following three problem-areas
in philosophy: (1) skepticism and the mind-body problem; (2)
self-knowledge and personal identity; and (3) free will, fate
and time. Readings will be drawn from classical and contemporary
sources. In addition, the viewing of three movies will be required,
corresponding to the three topics of the course: The Matrix,
Blade Runner, and Twelve Monkeys.
Grades will be determined on the basis of participation, writing
assignments, and possibly an exam.
Win-Chiat
Lee
MWF 2-2:50
- Tribble Hall A306
In this course, we will focus on five classic philosophical
texts and study them in chronological order. We will study
a number of basic philosophical subjects through the careful
and critical examination of the views and arguments presented
in these texts. The goal, however, is not only to study what
some great philosophers think about certain subjects, but also
to help students, through the examination of these texts, develop
skills to philosophize and think critically for themselves.
The philosophers we will study are Plato, Descartes, Berkeley,
Hume and Kant. The topics discussed will include the existence
of God, the relation between the mind and the world, skepticism
and the nature of knowledge, free will and determinism, the
nature of moral and value judgments, the mind-body problem,
and the nature of the self. First-year students only.
Charles
Lewis
MWF 10-10:50 - Tribble
A306
This course, after examining the common sense and religious
background of the first scientific thinkers or philosophers,
turns to the study of Plato and Aristotle, the major shapers
of pre-modern scientific, theological, and philosophical thought.
Then the course turns to Descartes, the first great architect
of the modern scientific and philosophical ways of thinking.
The study of this momentous departure from pre-modern belief
in the purposive natures of all things--and thus from classical
moral and political philosophy--is followed by the study of Hume,
one of Descartes' major critics who takes modern skepticism to
a new level. Twentieth-century existential nihilism is introduced
along the way in order to consider its place in modern thought
and its radical critique of conventional assumptions about the
meaning or purpose of human existence. Attention is given throughout
to how an examination of modern and pre-modern ways of thinking
can help us to understand contemporary conceptions of self and
world.
Christian
Miller
MWF 11-11:50 & 12-12:50 - Tribble A306
This course will be concerned with some of the most challenging and interesting
questions in all of human experience. For example, we will consider whether there
are any good arguments for the existence of God, whether God would allow evil
to exist, whether faith is compatible with reason, whether we have genuine freedom,
whether there is an objective morality, whether we should be moral, whether the
death penalty is morally permissible, and whether animals have rights. In each
case, we will examine particular questions not only with an aim at arriving at
the truth, but also with an aim at determining what relevance these questions
have to our ordinary lives.
The text will be Louis Pojman’s anthology, Philosophy: The Quest for Truth
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), and our readings will be drawn from
both classic and contemporary sources.
Clark
Thompson
MWF 11-11:50 & 1-1:50 - Tribble C115 & A306
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