3 Semester Hours
The Community College
of
Spring, 2006
Dr. Wayne Alt
Office: D-222
Voice Mail: 410-780-6451
Pre-Requisites: ENGL 052 or ESOL 052, or LVE 2 and RDNG 052, or LVR
2 and Math 071, or Math 081, or Math 013, or LVM 1.
Course Description: We all make
assumptions. Some think there is a God
and a supernatural realm, that humans have a soul or a mind which is different
from the body and the brain, that our thoughts and actions are free, that
people have identities that endure from birth to death and even beyond the
grave, and that there is a real knowable distinction between right and
wrong. But are any of these assumptions
correct? If so, how can they be known?
Or are there reasons to think that some are false? We shall survey the history of philosophy for
answers to these and related questions, and develop techniques of critical
thinking for evaluating our answers.
Required Text: Ultimate
Questions, Nils CH. Rauhut
Basis of grade evaluation:
1) Midterm
Exam: 21 points
2) Final
Exam: 29 points.
3) Best
three out of four Quizzes: 15 points each. Q1-2/17, Q2-3/29, Q3-4/21, Q4-5/12
4) Class
Preparation and Participation: 5 points
v Exam and quiz questions will consist of short essay, short paragraph, fill
in, multiple-choice, true-false, and matching questions.
v Make up Midterms will be taken in the
v No make-up quizzes will be given for any reason!
v Class participation and preparation points will be determined at the
end of the semester.
v
You can earn as many as 5 extra
points for Bulletin Board Contributions to the course electronic
bulletin board.
v A new extra credit question will be posted on the bulletin board at the beginning of each week.
Grade Scale:
A: 100-90
B: 89-80
C: 79-70
D: 69-60
F: 59-0
Classroom
Rules:
1) Be on time. Class begins at 9:05/10:10/11:15.
In addition to being rude, habitual lateness is not an effective learning
strategy. Points may be deducted for
it.
2) Be here now. Do not leave or return to
the classroom for trivial reasons such as: to answer your cell, get a drink,
snuggle with your honey, and so on. Do not prepare for other
classes, read, gab, carve soap, or sleep during class. I am grateful for your attention.
3) Be Sociable. Get to know each other, and help each other
succeed.
4) Don’t Cheat.
Copying answers from your neighbor during an exam, using crib sheets, handing
in someone else’s work and presenting it as your own are all cases of cheating
that could result in flunking the course as well as permanent dismissal from
the college.
WebCT: WebCT is an on-line learning tool. It enables you to:
1)
Read and download Supplemental Readings and my Lecture Notes,
2)
E-mail a classmate or me.
3)
Check your point progress in the Grade Book.
4)
Access and post messages on the course Bulletin Board.
HERE’S HOW TO
ACCESS WebCT:
1) Go to: http://www.ccbcmd.edu.
2)
Click on CCBC
3) Click on Faculty Pages.
4) Click on Wayne Alt, and you will arrive at my homepage.
5) Look down the Philosophy 101 column for WebCT.
6) Click on Current.
7) Enter your WebCT User Name. Enter the last six digits of your social security number as your Password. Once you have logged on, change your password.
8) Click GRADEBOOK, BULLETIN BOARD, PRIVATE MAIL, icons, etc.
HOW TO ACCESS MY LECTURE
NOTES: 1)
On the Homepage click the “Lecture Notes,” 2) Click the appropriate “Bag,” 3)
Click the number of the note you need.
HOW TO PRINT OUT MY LECTURE
NOTES: The
safest way to print out my notes is to download the file to a folder, a floppy,
or your desk top, call it up with Word, and print it out.
HOW TO GET EXTRA CREDIT: From time to time I will
post discussion questions in appropriate forums on the bulletin board. These
questions will usually be related to topics we are discussing in class. Try to
present a convincing case for a plausible answer. Read what others have to
say. Be charitable with their answers,
but don’t be afraid to be critical, if you think someone has made a
mistake. What is most important is that
you be prepared to defend your claims with good reasons.
1) Explain how the critical
analysis of terms, arguments, and assumptions is an essential part of
philosophical thinking.
2) Explain how cultural and
social conditioning can facilitate or impede philosophical understanding.
3) Identify and logically
evaluate philosophical arguments.
4) Explain the importance of
questioning basic beliefs and assumptions.
5) Identify five philosophical
problems. Discuss one of them in depth.
6) Explain the core ideas of several
famous and influential philosophers.
7) Distinguish subjective
opinion from justified belief.
8) Explain how philosophy has
influenced as well as been influenced by new discoveries in related
fields.
9) Access and use philosophy
research sites on the world-wide-web.
10) Apply some of the techniques of philosophical
thinking to your own efforts to understand yourself and your place in the
world.
|
SCHEDULE
OF READING ASSIGNMENTS, TOPICS & ACTIVITIES |
|
|
Topic & Activity |
Reading Assignment &
Preparation |
|
1/30:Introduction,Course
Requirements, Using |
Study R: 1-7. Read your private mail, print out the attachment,
sign it, and give it to me in class
on 2/3. (1 EC pt.) |
|
2/1: Lecture: Myth, Religion & Philosophy. |
Study R: 7-14 |
|
2/3: Lecture: Science & Philosophy, The
Branches of Philosophy. |
Study Logic Bag: # 1 |
|
2/6: Lecture: The three laws of thought. What is a
philosophical problem? Five
philosophical problems.
|
Study R: 14-19 |
|
2/8: Lecture: A logical framework for philosophy. Conceptual Analysis:
necessary and sufficient conditions. |
Study R: 20-25 |
|
2/10: Causal and Logical Possibility. Possible
worlds, thought experiments, counterexamples, Aristotle’s |
Study R: 25-33 |
|
2/13: Lecture: Arguments: Premises & Conclusion, Standard
Form, Deductive and Inductive. |
Study R: 31-37 Study Logic Bag # 3. |
|
2/15: Lecture: Conditional or Hypothetical Statements. Validity & Soundness. Modus Ponens, Modus Tollens,
Hypothetical Syllogism, Disjunctive Syllogism. |
Review R: 1-37 & Logic Bag 1 & 2 for quiz
one on 12/17 |
|
2/17: Quiz One |
Study R: 50-63 Study glossary terms: “a posteriori, a priori,
rationalism, empiricism, skepticism.” |
|
2/20: Three theories of knowledge: Skepticism,
local and global, Descartes’ rationalism.
|
Study R: 63-73 |
|
2/22: Empiricism, Naïve realism, Indirect
realism, Idealism, The problem of induction, The principle of the uniformity
of nature. |
Study R: 73-83 |
|
2/24: Rationalism: Necessary & Contingent
Truths, Analytic & Synthetic Truths |
Study R: 84-89. |
|
2/27:Free will,
Determinism, Incompatibilism or Hard determinism, Compatibilism or Soft deter-minism,
Traditional compatibilism, Deep self compatibilism, Indeterminism, Libertarianism. |
Study R: 89-94 Study Freedom Bag: # 1 & 2. |
|
3/1: Hard Determinism |
Study R: 94-96. Study Freedom Bag: # 3. |
|
3/3: Indeterminism. The dilemma of free will. |
Study R: 97-100. |
|
3/6: Traditional Compatibilism
& Counter examples to Traditional Compatibilism.
|
Study R: 101-106. |
|
3/8: Deep Self Compatibilism. Are all voluntary actions free? |
Study R: 106-111 |
|
3/10: Review for Midterm Exam |
Study for Midterm Exam |
|
3/13: Midterm Exam |
|
|
3/15: Return & Discuss the Midterm Exam |
Study R: 112-116 Study Self Bag: # 1. |
|
3/17: Persons, Identity and Personal Identity.
Illusion, Substance: Body or Soul, Memory. |
Study R: 112-121 Study Hume Bag: # 1. |
|
3/20: The Illusion Theory, Hume’s analysis of the
self. Video fragment. |
Study R: 121-126 |
|
3/22: The
self as a Substance: Body or Soul. |
Study R: 126-134 Study Self Bag: # 3 |
|
3/24: The self as a stream of conscious
interlaced memories. Reid’s
Paradox. |
Study Self Bag: # 2 |
|
3/27: Can the self survive the death of the body? |
Prepare for Quiz 2. |
|
3/29: Quiz 2 |
Study R: 135-142 |
|
3/31: The Mind Body Problem: Physicalism,
Dualism, Idealism. |
Study R: 142-148 |
|
4/3: Substance Dualism. |
Study R: 148-152 Study glossary terms: res
cogitans, res extensa Study Mind Bag: # 1 & 2. |
|
4/5: The Problem of Mind Body Interaction. |
Study R: 152-158 |
|
4/7: Varieties of Physicalism:
Behaviorism |
Study R: 158-169 |
|
Spring Vacation |
|
|
4/19: Functionalism, The Chinese Room, The
Problem of Qualia. |
Prepare for Quiz 3. |
|
4/21: Quiz 3. |
Study R: 170-175 |
|
4/24: Faith, Reason, “God,” Classical Theism,
Pantheism, New Age Jive. |
Study R: 175-178 Study glossary terms: Deism, Theism, Miracle Study God Bag: # 11 |
|
4/26: Religious Experience & Miracles. Video Clip: What a miracles is not. |
Go to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at
Useful Internet Sites on the course home page. Study the article “Miracles”
by Michael Levine. |
|
4/28: Video: “A Question of Miracles.” |
Study R: 178-183. Study God Bag: # 6 |
|
5/1: The Cosmological Argument. |
Study R: 183-191. Study God Bag: # 7 |
|
5/3: Arguments from Design |
Study R: 200-207. Study God Bag: # 8 |
|
5/5: The Argument from Evil |
Study R: 196-200. Study God Bag: # 10 |
|
5/8: Pascal’s Wager |
Study Ethics Bag: # 11 & 12. |
|
5/10: Clarifying our moral ideas. |
Prepare for Quiz 4 |
|
5/12: Quiz 4 |
Study for the Final. |
|
Final Exam |
|
Catalogue Description:
[Philosophy 101]
explores the use of critical analysis to examine philosophical issues; covers
the meaning of human existence, the justification of ethical choices, human
knowledge, the question of whether God exists, and the nature of reality. Emphasizes the relevance of philosophy to everyday situations.
Prerequisite: exemption from or successful completion of (ENGL 052 or LVE 2),
and (RDNG 052 or ESOL 054 or LVR 2) or (MATH 081 or LVM 1)
Final Exam Schedule:
|
9:05 -
10:00 |
W |
5/17 |
9:00 –
11:00 |
|
10:10 -
11:05 |
F |
5/19 |
10:00-
12:00 |
|
11:15 -
12:10 |
M |
5/15 |
11:00 –
1:00 |