PHIL 1a: Introduction to Philosophy
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 11:00am-1:20pm
Instructor: Nicole Dular
Email: ndular@syr.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description
This course will offer a general introduction to philosophy. It will comprise units on three central
branches of the discipline: ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. In these areas we will consider
traditional questions such as: What makes one thing right and another wrong? What can we know,
and on what basis? What is free will, and is it possible to have free will in a causally determined
world? The aim is to motivate these questions and to familiarize students with the methods by which
philosophers have approached them.
Readings
All readings for the course will be posted to LATTE.
Requirements
 First Paper: 25%
 Second Paper: 25%
 Third Paper: 25%
 Workshop and general classroom participation: 25%
Each paper will focus on one of the three main branches of philosophy we’ll be studying, and each
will have a recommended length of approximately six pages. I will supply writing prompts for the
papers in advance.
Presentation workshops will consist of students presenting first drafts of their papers and receiving
feedback from their classmates and me. Your workshop participation grade will be determined both
by your preparedness on your own workshop date (i.e. having a full-length draft) and by your
participation as commenters on other students’ workshop papers.
Late Assignments and Extensions
Late papers will be penalized one third of a letter grade per day, including weekends.
Students must request extensions by e-mail at least 24 hours in advance of the due date of the
assignment.
Laptop Policy
Laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other electronic devices are not allowed in class.
Learning Goals
The course aims to provide students with a general overview of the three main branches of
philosophy: ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Students will be familiarized with traditional
approaches to these fields, and will learn how to think critically both about the subject matter of
those fields and about whether traditional approaches to the subject matter are apt.
The course also aims to sharpen students’ academic writing skills. Students will be exposed to works
by leading authors in contemporary academic philosophy. Assignments will be graded partly on the
basis of writing quality; emphasis will be placed on good writing in addition to comprehension of and
critical engagement with course material.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty will be reported to the Department of Student Development and Conduct. If
you have questions regarding what constitutes academic dishonesty, please do not hesitate to ask me.
It is not dishonest to ask others to read and comment on your papers, but all writing assignments
must be in your own words. More information can be found on the Brandeis web site at the following
address:
http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/index.html
Disability
If you are a student with a documented disability on record Brandeis and need to have special
accommodations for this class, please see me immediately. I am very happy to make the relevant
arrangements.
Schedule of Readings
7/7 Introduction; Basic argumentation and Fallacies
7/8 Ethics: Consequentialism
John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism Ch. 1, 2, 4
7/10 Ethics: Consequentialism’s Critics
J.J.C. Smart, “Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism”
Judith Jarvis Thomson, “The Trolley Problem”
Bernard Williams, “A Critique of Utilitarianism” sections 3, 4, and 5
7/14 Ethics: Famine Case Study
Onora O’Neill, “The Moral Perplexities of Famine Relief” Sections I and II
Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
Virginia Held The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global Ch. 1 p.9-13
Lisa Cassidy, “Starving Children in Africa: Who Cares?”
7/15 Ethics Workshop
7/17 Epistemology: What is knowledge?
Linda Zagzebski, “What is Knowledge?”
Plato, “Meno”
Edmund Gettier “Is Knowledge Justified True Belief?”
7/18 Epistemology: Skepticism
Keith DeRose and Ted Warfield Skepticism: A Contemporary Reader Ch. 1
Hilary Putnam “Brains in a Vat”
G.E. Moore “Proof of an External World”
7/21 Epistemology: Testimony
Elizabeth Fricker, “Testimony and Epistemic Autonomy”
Jennifer Lackey, “Testimonial Knowledge and Transmission”
7/22 Epistemology: Feminist Epistemology
Miranda Fricker Epistemic Injustice Ch. 1
Rae Langton, “Feminism in Epistemology”
7/28 Epistemology Workshop
7/29 Free Will: Determinism
David Hume “The Obviousness of the Truth of Determinism”
Paul Holbach “The Illusion of Free Will”
Patricia Churchland “Is Determinism Self-refuting?”
7/31 Free Will: Indeterminism
Roderick Chisholm “Human Freedom and the Self”
Dana Nelkin “The Sense of Freedom”
8/4 Free Will: Moral Responsibility
Susan Wolf “Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility”
Harry Frankfurt “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility”
8/5 Free Will Workshop
Schedule of Assignments
7/18
Ethics Paper Due
8/1
8/7
Epistemology Paper Due
Free Will Paper Due