PHIL 1301 online course 1 P H I L 1 3 0 1 : I n t r o d u c t i o n T o P h i l o s o p h y Instructor: Cynthia R. Nielsen Course: PHIL 1301 online course Email: [email protected] (preferred) Prerequisite: Developmental Reading 0093 or English as a Second Language (ESOL) 0044 or have met the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) standard in Reading. Textbooks: (1) Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, Jostein Gaarder, ISBN: 0425152251 [required]; (2) The following text is not required but is highly recommended: Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy by Simon Blackburn. ISBN: 0192831348; (3) From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophical Quest, by T.Z. Levine, ISBN: 0553251619. *You may purchase used copies of Sophie’s World online via Amazon.com for very reasonable prices. Course Description/Goals: An introduction to philosophical topics such as: the good life, the nature of reality, the existence of God, the acquisition and characteristics of knowledge, and the nature of humans. Students will evaluate both ancient and modern theories about these issues in terms of their logic, historical significance, and meaning in everyday life, as they practice the methods for engaging philosophy. Having successfully completed the course, a student will be able to identify major philosophers of the Western tradition, identify and intelligently discuss important philosophical issues and theories held by major philosophers of the tradition, and formulate their own responses to the philosophical positions studied (3 Lec.) Important Preliminary Instructions and Special Instructions for Those Receiving Financial Aid: PHIL 1301 is a self-paced, online course. Thus, you may complete this course at any time according to your schedule and needs. However, there are exceptions: (a) you must complete all work by the final day of class (see the permanent announcement entitled ―IMPORTANT DATES‖; you must take both the midterm and the final) and (b) if you are receiving financial grants or loans, you must show active participation in the class prior to the certification date (see the permanent announcement entitled ―IMPORTANT DATES‖). Otherwise, you will not be certified to receive your financial aid. You can meet this second requirement simply by logging in to the course prior to the certification date. Course Certification: All students (whether receiving financial aid or not) must show evidence of class participation prior to the certification date (see the permanent announcement entitled ―IMPORTANT DATES‖ for the exact date). You may do this by logging in to the course prior to the certification date. [N.b. The certification date is typically the twelfth day after the official course start date. It is your responsibility to know this date].PHIL 1301 online course 2 Course Structure/Components: As mentioned above, this is a self-paced, online course. Thus, you may work at your own pace; however, I highly recommend that you set goals to accomplish on a weekly basis, as cramming or procrastinating will result in a poor grade, a failing grade, and more importantly, it will subvert the learning process. The components of the course are as follows: (1) assigned readings from Sophie’s World, (2) course lectures in podcast form (click on the folder, “Course Documents,” to access the podcast lectures), (3) nine reading quizzes on your reading assignments from Sophie’s World (plus a quiz over the syllabus), (4) two exams—a midterm and a final exam—based on the content of the course lectures. Reading, Lecture and Testing Schedule: The following chart is a list of required readings and lectures for the course, as well as suggested schedule for you to following in order to successfully complete the required assignments for the course. (N.b. If you are taking the fast-paced, Wintermester or Maymester version of this course, then you will need to complete three weeks of work for each week of the course). Suggested Schedule Quizes (Q)/ Exams (E) Assigned Reading (SW= Sophie’s World; the numbers in parentheses = chapter numbers) Courses Lectures (via Podcast) Week 1 Q1: covering chapters 4, 5, 7 of SW SW: (1) The Garden of Eden; (2) The Top Hat; (3) The Myths(4) The Natural Philosophers; (5) Democritus; SW: (7) Socrates Lecture 1: Introduction What is Philosophy?; Periodization of Philosophy; PreSocratic Philosophers Week 2 Q2: covering chapts 9, 11 of SW SW: (9) Plato; (11) Aristotle Lecture 2: Plato; Aristotle Week 3 Q3: covering chapts 12, 15 of SW SW: (12) Hellenism (15) Middle Ages; Lecture 3: Hellenism; Neoplatonism; Medieval Philosophy I: through Augustine Week 4 Lecture 4: Medieval Philosophy II: Anselm and Aquinas Week 5 *The MIDTERM EXAM will cover the material in Lectures 1-4. Week 6 Q4: covering chapts 16, 18 of SW SW: (16) Renaissance; (18) Descartes Lecture 5: Renaissance IX. Descartes Week 7 Q5: covering chapts 20, 21 of SW, SW: (20) Locke; (21) Hume Lecture 6: Locke, Hume Week 8 Q6: covering chapts 24, 25 of SW SW: (24) The Enlightenment; (25) Kant Lecture 7: Kant Week 9 Q7: SW, (27) SW: (27) Hegel; Lecture 8: Hegel, Kierkegaard Week 10 Q8: covering chapts 28, 29, 30 of SW SW: (28) Kierkegaard; (29) Marx; (30) Darwin; Lecture 9: Nietzsche; Heidegger (―The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking‖ and ―What is Metaphysics‖) Week 11 Q9: covering chapt 32 of SW SW: (32) Our Own Time [on Nietzsche and Sartre] Week 12 *The FINAL EXAM will cover the material in Lectures 5-9.PHIL 1301 online course 3 Requirements and Grading Procedures: Your grade will consist of three parts – (1) ten reading quizzes (60% of your grade), (2) a Midterm Exam (20% of your final) and a final exam (20% of your final). See below for the details of each of these requirements. The Final Course Grade will be based on the following grading scale: 100-90 A 89-80 B 79-70 C 69-60 D 59-0 F Reading Quizzes from Sophie’s World: These quizzes consist of 10 short questions (worth a total of 100 points each). The question format includes: true/false, multiple choice, fill in the blank and so on. Spelling mistakes will count against you, so be sure to check your spellings before submitting an answer, and read the directions thoroughly before you being the quiz. Also, if you happen to have a different version/edition of Sophie’s World, it is possible that your chapters