Philosophy 150:
Introduction to Philosophical Thought
California State University, Northridge
Department of Philosophy
Spring, 2012
Syllabus
Course Description
(From the Catalogue)
Introduction to philosophy emphasizing the concepts of knowledge, reality and
mind with attention to such topics as skepticism, dogmatism, common sense,
materialism, mind-body dualism, the existence of God and free will.
Course Information for Course Number 13719
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Meeting Times................................ |
Fridays from 11:00AM to 1:45PM |
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Meeting Location............................ |
Sierra Hall (SH) 205 |
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Website............................................ |
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Reading and Assignment Schedule. |
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Instructor......................................... |
Christopher Lay, PhD |
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Contact............................................ |
christopher.lay@csun.edu
(clay@csun.edu) |
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Office Location............................... |
Sierra Tower (ST) 535 |
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Office Hours................................... |
Fridays 8:30 to10:30AM, and by appointment |
Role
in the General Education Program
This course satisfies the Arts and Humanities section of General Education, which has the following goal: Students will understand the rich history and diversity of human knowledge, discourse and achievements of their own and other cultures as they are expressed in the arts, literatures, religions and philosophy.
Texts
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Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics Of Ambiguity, translated by Bernard Frechtman and published
by Citadel. |
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Rene Descartes: Meditations
on First Philosophy, edited by John Cottingham, published
by Cambridge University Press. |
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Friedrich Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morality, translated by Carol Diethe,
edited by Keith Ansell-Pearson, published by Cambridge University
Press. |
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Plato's "Apology": http://www.gutenberg.org/ catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1446469 |
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Plato's "Meno": http://www.gutenberg.org/ files/1643/1643-h/1643-h.htm |
Course Grade and
Assignments
Participation: 10%
In-Class Quizzes: 30%
Midterm Take-Home Essay: 20%
Final Take-Home Essay: 40%
Participation
Participation in philosophy is essential. You are expected to do the readings on
schedule (i.e. before the class period indicated) and come to class prepared to
discuss them. Class participation
will decide borderline grades, either up or down, and in rare cases,
extraordinary class participation can boost your final grade up a third (e.g.,
from 'B' to "B+"). Class
participation will mainly be evaluated by the contribution the student makes
toward the learning experience of the class as a whole. Note that discussing the substantive
issues of the course in office hours and via email will also count as class
participation.
Take-Home Essays
You will be given a prompt for all take-home essays, and
approximately a week to write them.
The essays for this class must be philosophical. In line with the Course Goals and
Objectives (detailed above), you will have to represent some thesis from a
text, and then critically engage with it.
As such, your own essay must have a thesis and support for that
thesis. To succeed in writing an
essay in this philosophy course, you will need to constantly and clearly
differentiate the point of view expressed in the text in question from your own
point of view. And once you have
shown that you can critically engage with the philosophical insights found in
the texts in question, which requires you to represent the point of view in
question, you will be encouraged to express your own philosophical
insights. Other, specific expectations
for take-home essays will be spelled out in detail in the respective essay
prompts. For all essays you will be
expected to correct errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling.
In-Class Quizzes
There will be two, in-class short essay quizzes.
Make-up Quizzes and Late Paper Policy, and Extensions
You will only be able to make up in-class assignments if you
have a credible excuse (e.g., doctor's note, jury summons, obituary notice,
etc.). Likewise, late take-home
assignments will be accepted if you can provide a credible excuse. Extensions for take-home assignments
will be given only when 1) a compelling reason is given and 2) permission is
sought at least three days before the normal deadline. Without a credible excuse, late
assignments will be given a third of a letter grade penalty for each day the
assignment is late.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, cheating, or any other form of academic
dishonesty will not be tolerated.
It is your responsibility as a student to know CSUN's academic
dishonesty policy, as spelled out in the "Student Conduct" appendix to CSUN's catalogue. Any assignment produced in an
academically dishonesty way will receive an "F" grade, and the
student submitting it will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. Students who engage in academic
dishonesty in more than one assignment will receive an "F" grade for
the course. There are no exceptions
to this policy: "I didn't know that what I turned in constituted
plagiarism," "I forgot the quotation marks and citation," "It
was only one sentence," or "It was an accident, it'll never happen
again" are not valid excuses. Please, if you don't understand what
plagiarism or academic integrity is, ask me.
Students with Disabilities
This course will accommodate any disability if you have registered
with CSUN's Disability Resources and Educational Services.
Schedule
of Readings and Assignments
(with embedded links to Lecture Notes)
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Week
One |
Getting
Started |
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Friday,
January 27th |
Syllabus,
Schedule, Overview, and Introductions |
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Week
Two |
Plato's "Apology" The Case |
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Friday,
February 3rd |
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Week
Three |
Plato's "Apology" and "Meno" Knowledge, Instruction, the Gods, and
Value |
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Friday,
February 10th |
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Week
Four |
Plato's "Meno" Knowledge and Value |
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Friday,
February 17th |
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Week
Five |
Descartes' Meditations
Deception and Doubt |
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Friday,
February 24th |
First
In-Class Quiz |
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Week Six |
Descartes' Meditations
Certitude
and God |
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Friday,
March 2nd |
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Week
Seven |
Descartes' Meditations
God and Truth |
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Friday,
March 9th |
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Week
Eight |
Descartes' Meditations
Truth and the World |
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Friday,
March 16th |
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Week
Nine |
Nietzsche's Genealogy
of Morals Values of Values |
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Friday,
March 24th |
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Week
Ten |
CŽsar
Ch‡vez |
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Thursday,
March 29th |
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Friday,
March 30th |
CŽsar
Ch‡vez Day |
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Week
Eleven |
Spring
Break |
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Friday,
April 6th |
Spring
Break |
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Week
Twelve |
Nietzsche's Genealogy
of Morals Values Created |
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Friday,
April 13th |
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Week
Thirteen |
Nietzsche's Genealogy
of Morals The Sovereign Individual |
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Friday,
April 20th |
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Week
Fourteen |
de Beauvoir's Ethics
of Ambiguity Freedom and Ambiguity |
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Friday,
April 27th |
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Week
Fifteen |
de Beauvoir's Ethics
of Ambiguity Responses to Freedom |
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Friday,
May 4th |
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Week
Sixteen |
de Beauvoir's Ethics
of Ambiguity Ethics |
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Friday,
May 11th |
Part
Two |
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Finals
Week |
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Friday,
May 18th |
Final Essay
Due |