Syllabus for INDV
101: Philosophical Perspectives on the Individual, Spring 2005
Web address for the library’s electronic reserve system: http://eres.library.arizona.edu
Course web address: http://eres.library.arizona.edu/coursepage.asp?cid=3999&page=01
Password: matrix
Prof. Terry Horgan
Office: Social Sciences 209
Office Hours: M
Office Phone: 621-7100
Email: thorgan@email.arizona.edu
Teaching Assistants
Annie Baril
Office: Social Sciences 130
Office Hours: MW
Office Phone: 621-7098
Email: baril@email.arizona.edu
Laura Howard
Office: Social Sciences 138
Office Hours: m 11:00am012:30pm, W
Office Phone: 621-7098
Email: lmhoward@email.arizona.edu
Michelle Jenkins
Office: Social Sciences 130
Office Hours: MW
Office Phone: 621-7098
Email: jenkinsm@email.arizona.edu
Robbie Wagoner
Office: Social Sciences 138
Office Hours: MW
Office Phone: 621-7098
Email: rsw1@email.arizona.edu
Sharon Deckert
Office:
Office Hours: MW
Office Phone: 626-4835. Messages can be left for her at 621-1836 (English Dept.)
Email: sdeckert@email.arizona.edu
Course Description
This course will introduce you to some central topics in philosophy, concerning
how human beings conceive of themselves and their place in nature. Topics
include: (1) Skepticism and the Problem of Knowledge. Is it
possible that you are now dreaming or having a perfect hallucination? Could you
be a brain in a vat somewhere and thus be massively mistaken about your
ordinary beliefs about the world? If these things are possible, then how can
you know anything? (2) The Relation Between Mind
and Body. Is the mind something material, like the brain? If so, then
how can we make sense of feelings, thoughts, and emotions as somehow material? Is
the mind something immaterial? If so, then how can there be
any interaction between the body and the mind? Could a computer or a
robot have a mind? (3) Personal Identity and Immortality. What
makes you the same person over time? Your body? Your brain? Your memories? A soul? How does one’s answer to this question affect the
prospects for immortality? (4) Freedom and Determinism. Are all
events, including human actions, causally determined? If so, then how is
freedom of choice and action possible? If not, then does that mean that there
are uncaused events in the world? What would that be like?
Course Requirements and Grading
Reading Assignments: There
will be a reading assignment for most lectures. I expect you to have read the
assignment before each lecture. There are several good reasons to keep up with
the reading. In order to learn the material and how to think philosophically,
you need to read and think on a steady basis. Cramming will not work. Also, if
you have done the reading assigned for a lecture before that lecture, you will
be much better able to understand the lecture than you would be hitting the
lecture cold. Also, you and the others in your discussion section will get much
more benefit from your group discussions if all participants are reading
consistently and thinking for themselves about the reading.
Attendance: Attendance at
lectures is strongly recommended. Do not arrive late or (except in emergencies)
leave early, because doing so disrupts the class. Do not talk
to others during class, because this is disruptive; if you must communicate
with someone, pass a note.
Examinations: There will be three
in-class exams and a final exam. Makeup exams for those who miss an exam will
be allowed only when the student has a legitimate excuse for missing the in-class
exam (be prepared to provide written documentation), and must occur within one week of the in-class exam.
Paper Assignments: You are
required to write a a 300-500 word short essay,
printed and double-spaced, and to submit both a first draft and a revised
version to your TA; the first draft is due on Jan 28 and the final version is due on Feb 18. You also are required to write a 1200- to 1500-word
longer essay, printed and double-spaced, and to submit both a first draft and
revised final version to your TA; the first draft is due on Mar 11 and the final draft is
due on Apr 15. (See the
course schedule below.) The topics for the two essays will be assigned in
advance, and there will be instructions and guidelines for writing them. You
will receive written comments on the first draft of each essay, to be used as
the basis for the revised version. Late
submissions of the first draft or the final version will not be accepted,
for either essay. You will not be allowed to submit a final version if you do
not submit an on-time first draft.
Writing Assistance:
Sharon Deckert will be available to give writing assistance. Any student in the
class may consult her for help with the writing assignments. Some students will
be required to consult her, and others will be strongly encouraged to do so;
see Grading, below.
Quizzes: There will be several
pop quizzes on the reading assignments, to help you stay on top of the reading.
Students will be given 10 minutes to complete each quiz. Normally answers should
be one to three sentences long. If you complete all the quizzes, the lowest
quiz score will be dropped.
Grading: Each of the four
exams is worth 15% of the total course grade. The short essay is worth 9% (3%
for the first draft, and 6% for the second). The long essay is worth 24% (8%
for the first draft, 16% for the second). Quizzes are together worth 7%.
If you receive a score in the D range (60-69) or the E range (0-59) on the first draft of a writing assignment, then you will be required to consult with Sharon Deckert before writing the final draft. After you do so your score on the initial draft will be increased to 70, the lowest score in the C range. (This does not guarantee a minimum score of 70 on the final version, however. The final version will be scored on its merits.)
If you receive a score in the C range (70-79) on the first draft of a writing assignment, then you will have the option of consulting with Sharon Deckert before writing the final draft. If you do so then your score on the initial draft will be increased to 80, the lowest score in the B range. (This does not guarantee a minimum score of 80 on the final version, however. The final version will be scored on its merits.)
If you receive a score in the D
range (60-69) or the E range (0-59) on the final
draft of a writing assignment, you will have the option of consulting with Sharon Deckert and then rewriting the final
draft and submitting the rewrite to her. After she receives the rewritten final
draft, she will decide whether, and how much, to increase the score on the final
draft. The maximum possible increase would be to a score of 70, the lowest
score in the C range. An optional rewrite of the final draft of the short essay must be submitted to her by
Fri Mar 11. An optional rewrite of
the final draft of the long essay
must be submitted to her by Fri May 6.
A Note on the
If you have never taken a philosophy course, then the
reading material for this course may be far more challenging than anything you
have read before. Be prepared to work
on the reading. You should expect to have to read the material more than once.
Teaching Assistants
You should know that that the graduate program in
philosophy at the
This class is very fortunate to have Sharon Deckert as a TA
for writing assistance.
Academic Integrity
All students taking this course are bound under the
Code of Academic Integrity. Students should familiarize themselves with this code,
which can be found at:
http://catalog.arizona.edu/policies/974/acacode.htm
Tests will be closed-book, and use of notes is prohibited. You must answer all
test questions by yourself. You must do all writing assignments by yourself. If
you use someone else’s wording in a writing assignment, you must indicate that
you are doing so, by using quotation marks and citing the source. If you are
using someone else’s idea, you must credit that person for his/her idea. To
fail in either of these respects, and thus to represent as your own work what
is not your own, is to plagiarize. (The teaching staff in philosophy is well
aware of the common sources of plagiarized papers and the means of acquiring
them. Our experience makes plagiarized papers easy to spot.) If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing,
you will fail the course and your violation of the
Text (required to be
purchased)
Reason and Responsibility, 12th
edition, eds. Joel Feinberg and Russ Shafer-Landau
COURSE SCHEDULE
Knowledge and Skepticism
Introductory lecture, Jan 19
Pollock, A Brain in a Vat, Jan 24
Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, First Meditation (pp. 147-49), Jan 26
First draft of
short essay: Due Friday Jan 28
Chisholm, The Problem of the Criterion, Jan 31 & Feb 2
Summary/review session, Feb 7
Exam 1, Feb 9
The Mind-Body Problem
Introductory lecture, Feb 14
Swinburne, A Defense of Substance Dualism, Feb 16
Final draft of
short essay: Due Friday Feb 18
Papineau, The Case for Materialism, Feb 21
Churchland, Behaviorism, Materialism, and Functionalism, Feb 28
Summary/review session, Mar 2
Exam 2, Mon Mar 7
Personal Identity
and Survival of Death
Introductory lecture, Mar 9
First draft of
longer essay: Due Fri Mar 11
Dennett, Where Am I?, Mar 21
Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity, Mar 23, 28, 30
Summary/review session, Apr 4
Exam 3, Apr 6
Can Non-Humans Think?
Introductory lecture + Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Apr 11
Searle, Minds, Brains, and Programs, Apr 13
Final draft of
longer essay: Due Friday Apr 15
Summary/review session, Apr 18
Determinism, Free Will and
Responsibility
Introductory lecture, Apr 20
Holbach, The Illusion of Free Will, Apr 25
Ayer, Freedom and Necessity, Apr 27
Chisholm, Human Freedom and the Self, May 2
Summary/review session, May 4
Final Exam: Wed May 11, 11:00am – 1pm