Intellectual Virtue and Civil Discourse
I. Course Information
PHI-015-1, Fall 2015
Porter Hall 109
MWF 9:15-10:20 AM
No prerequisites
GE Speech-Intensive Course
II. Instructor Information & Availability
Prof. Jim Taylor, taylor@westmont.edu, 805-565-6157
Porter Center 8
Office Hours: MTThF 3:15pm-4:30pm
III. Course Description & Rationale
College Catalog Course Description: A philosophical introduction to the topics of
intellectual virtue and civil discourse that includes theoretical principles, personal models,
and conversational practice. Meets GE “Writing/Speech Intensive” requirement.
Professor Taylor’s Longer Description and Rationale:
Both the classic liberal arts tradition and the Judeo-Christian tradition prize and promote
human excellence. Though the former tradition tends to use the language of intellectual
and moral virtue and the latter tradition tends to use the language of wisdom,
righteousness, and love, both traditions provide similar and to a large extent harmonious
models of human formation and maturation.
But neither of these traditions is dominant in contemporary society and culture. And
neither the contemporary academy nor the contemporary Christian church shows
adequate evidence of a significant influence of these traditions on the intellectual, moral,
and spiritual development of students or parishioners.
As a result of this current inadequate attention to growth in virtue, our societies, our
universities, and our churches are insufficiently characterized by wisdom and good will
and are rather arenas that all too frequently manifest irrationality and incivility. In sum,
our age of information, individualism, and ideology tends to be devoid of discernment,
diplomacy, and dialogue.
This course is designed to address these deficiencies by providing students with a
theoretical context that will enable them to acquire a general understanding of the topics
of intellectual virtue and civil discourse. The course also offers students concrete
illustrations of people who have succeeded and people who have failed to practice
intellectual virtue and civil discourse. These illustrations are intended both to further
students’ understanding of these topics but also to acquaint them with examples to inspire
and motivate them to become intellectually virtuous and to engage in civil discourse
themselves. Finally, the course will give students opportunities to practice attempting to
be intellectually virtuous and civil in conversations with each other about important issues
that are currently being debated in the public square.
As the professor of this course, my desire is for students to become both more intellectually
virtuous and more able to manifest their virtues in civil discourse about crucial and
controversial contemporary issues.
IV. Course Readings, Materials, and Resources
Required Course Texts
-
Roberts, Robert and Wood, Jay, Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology
Dow, Philip E. Virtuous Minds: Intellectual Character Development
Carter, Stephen L. Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy
Mouw, Richard, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World
Helpful Websites
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Biola University Center for Christian Thought (See “Intellectual Virtue & Civil
Discourse”)
FactCheck.org (Non-partisan, non-profit monitor of truth claims made by politicians)
FlackCheck.org (Exposes flaws in political arguments and advertisements)
The New York Times
ProCon.org (“Explore Pros & Cons of Controversial Issues”)
qideas.org (“Stay Curious. Think Well. Advance Good.”)
Westmont Library Philosophy Guide (Library liaison Sarah Stanley)
Some Recommended General Supplementary Resources
-
Baehr, The Inquiring Mind: On Intellectual Virtues & Virtue Epistemology
Brooks, The Road to Character
Jacobs, Original Sin: A Cultural History
Schwartz & Sharpe, “Colleges Should Teach Intellectual Virtues”
Schwartz & Sharpe, Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing
Volf, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Public Good
Biographies, Autobiographies, & Fiction
-
Augustine, Confessions
The Bible
Confucius, The Analects
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, Crime & Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov
-
Eliot, George, Middlemarch
Franklin, Benjamin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Lewis, C. S., Surprised by Joy
Machiavelli, Niccolò, The Prince
Plato, The Apology
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein
Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion
Resources on Specific Issues (Under construction)
Abortion
-
Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Marquis. “Why Abortion is Immoral”
Climate Change
Creation-Evolution
-
Lawrence & Lee, Inherit the Wind
Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One
Gay Marriage: Moral & Biblical
-
Achtemeier, The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical’s Change of Heart
DeYoung, What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?
Gay Marriage: Legal & Political
-
Jordan, “Is it Wrong to Discriminate on the Basis of Homosexuality?”
Boonin, "Same-Sex Marriage and the Argument from Public Disagreement"
Sullivan, "Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality"
Gun Control
-
http://gun-control.procon.org/#pro-and-con-arguments
Health Care
Illegal Immigration
-
http://immigration.procon.org/
Racial Profiling
-
http://apecsec.org/racial-profiling-pros-and-cons/
Religion & Freedom of Speech
-
Haworth, “On Charlie Hebdo and Free Speech”
Kristof, “Mizzou, Yale, and Free Speech”
Kirby, “Paris Attacks: France Grapples with Freedom of Speech”
V. Student Learning Outcomes
1. Relative to the philosophy department’s program learning outcomes:
a. Students will demonstrate, in written essay form, their understanding of
fundamental philosophical and theological principles about the concept of
intellectual virtue and will make an oral presentation of their essay (aligned
with Philosophy “Knowledge” Program Learning Outcome).
b. Students will articulate, through a prepared speech, their acquaintance with
and appreciation of a prominent model of intellectual virtue (and vice) that
they encounter in either (auto)biography or fiction (aligned with Philosophy
“Virtues” Program Learning Outcome).
c. Students will display, through dialogue and debate about controversial
contemporary issues, evidence of their attempts to grow in intellectual virtue
and civil discourse (aligned with Philosophy “Skills” Program Learning
Outcome).
2. Relative to the GE program and Westmont institutional learning outcomes: “
Graduates of Westmont will effectively communicate orally in various contexts.”
VI. Course Assignments & Grading Information
There will be three assignments, each corresponding to a major section of the course:
1. A 1100-1300 word philosophical essay on a topic concerning the concept of
intellectual virtue and a 10-minute oral presentation* of the essay (30% of grade);
2. A 1100-1300 word autobiographical essay that draws on a classical or
contemporary model of intellectual virtue and a 10-minute autobiographical speech
(30% of grade);
3. A 1100-1300 word position paper and participation in a 20-minute dialogue* about
a controversial issue of contemporary concern (30% of grade).
Reflection Paragraphs: 5%
Attendance/Participation: 5%
*You will be assessed for oral communication specifics as well as for content.
Written Essays/Papers. You will be required to write three 1200-word papers. The first will
be a philosophical essay that should be characterized by good philosophical reasoning about
a particular intellectual virtue. Your discussion should end with personal reflections on
your past acquisition of and current experience with this virtue and your aspirations for
your future cultivation of it. The second paper will be an autobiographical essay in which
you draw on a historical or fictional example of intellectual virtue (and vice) and employ it
as a resource for reflecting on your own personal history and your personal aspirations
concerning intellectual virtue (and vice). The third paper should be a position paper on a
controversial issue of your choice (that will serve as the basis of your in-class conversation
about this issue) that contains both good reasoning for a particular position and a fairminded assessment of the arguments for the opposing position. All papers should be
written in advance of your oral presentation of them in class and then submitted via the
appropriate link on our Eureka site by the deadline following the oral presentation period.
You are welcome and encouraged to revise your papers on the basis of the feedback you
receive during your presentation.
In grading the essays, I shall be looking for three main things, weighted roughly equally:
 The quality of your essay as an essay, including such features as clarity,
organization, grammar, spelling, style, diction, accuracy, thoroughness, and
creativity (intellectual virtue: clear thinking and expression).
 The quality of your philosophical reasoning and thinking in the form of arguments
in support of the positions you need to support and explanations for the ideas you
need to explain (intellectual virtue: logical and rational thinking).
 The degree of independence, creativity, and originality of your expression and
conception of the material you discuss in the essay (intellectual virtue: independent
and autonomous thinking).
Essays must be paginated and submitted electronically on our Canvas site by midnight on
the essay’s due date (specific instructions will follow). Late essays will be penalized one
third of a grade (e.g., from ‘B’ to ‘B–’) for the first day late (i.e., any time after midnight on
the due date) and an additional third for each additional day (i.e., 24 hour period) late.
Oral Presentations. You will be required to give three 10-minute oral presentations on the
basis of the appropriate paper (see above). The first presentation will be an academic
lecture based on your philosophical essay. The second will be a speech based on your
autobiographical essay. And the third will be your contribution to a 20-minute
conversation involving you and one of your classmates. In each case, you should use an
outline with notes based on the relevant paper. There will be three or four presentations in
a single class period during the presentation sessions, so it will be important to keep within
your time limit. Whereas your written work will be evaluated on the basis of its content
and organization, your oral presentations will be graded on the basis of your presentation.
The specific aspects of your presentation that I will assess include poise, fluency, word
choice, creativity, eye contact, vocal variety, gestures, appearance, and energy.
Reflection paragraphs. To facilitate your thinking about course content, you will be
required to submit a 200-250 word reflection paragraph on each reading assignment after
the logic exam. I will provide the prompts for these paragraphs in advance of each
assignment. Your paragraph should make use of material from the assigned chapter as
evidence of your careful reading of it. You will receive 3 points for a paragraph that is (1) at
least 200 words, (2) submitted by the deadline (the beginning of the class session for which
the reading is assigned), and (3) about the reading assignment. You will receive 2 points for
paragraphs that are on topic but either late or less than 200 words, and you will receive 1
point for paragraphs that are on topic but both late and less than 200 words. You will
receive 0 points for no submission or paragraphs that are not about the reading
assignment.
Attendance. Full attendance at each class session is required (except that you are allowed
three unexcused absences). If you think you have a good reason for missing a class, being
late to a class or leaving a class early, please notify me in advance by email. I will decide
whether your reason is sufficient to warrant an excused absence or partial
absence. Unexcused absences beyond the three allowed, including late arrivals and early
departures, may adversely affect your course grade.
I will excuse an absence beyond the three you are allowed only if it falls into at least one of
the following categories:
(1) Medical conditions that temporarily affect class attendance;
(2) Family emergencies or unusual family occasions;
(3) Education students completing student teaching or observation assignments;*
(4) Students away from campus on an authorized academic field trip;*
(5) Athletic competition on recognized intercollegiate sports teams.*
* You will not be cleared unless the department or professor also notifies me about these
absences.
Plagiarism. To plagiarize is to present someone else's work—his or her words, line of
thought, or organizational structure—as your own. This occurs when sources are not cited
properly, or when permission is not obtained from the original author to use his or her
work. Another person's "work" can take many forms: printed or electronic copies of
computer programs, musical compositions, drawings, paintings, oral presentations, papers,
essays, articles or chapters, statistical data, tables or figures, etc. In short, if any information
that can be considered the intellectual property of another is used without acknowledging
the original source properly, this is plagiarism. Please familiarize yourself with the entire
Westmont College Plagiarism Policy. This document defines different levels of plagiarism
and the penalties for each. It also contains very helpful information on strategies for
avoiding plagiarism. It cannot be overemphasized that plagiarism is an insidious and
disruptive form of academic dishonesty. It violates relationships with known classmates
and professors, and it violates the legal rights of people you may never meet.
Cheating. Cheating, including plagiarism, will result in an automatic ‘F’ for that assignment
and referral to the relevant College authorities.
VII. Course Philosophy, Procedures, & Policies
Philosophy. I believe that learning is an important part of our vocation as Christians. God
created human beings with the capacity to acquire knowledge both for its own sake and for
the sake of loving and serving God and others more effectively. Some knowledge is more
valuable than other knowledge. The most important kind of knowledge is wisdom and
understanding. The knowledge that is most worth having is insight into the nature of
reality and discernment about the meaning and purpose of human existence. But we will
exercise our capacity for cultivating this kind of wisdom and understanding only if we want
to learn and know how to learn about these sorts of things. So becoming a wise person
requires both motivation and skill. We are motivated to learn when we see learning as a
good thing and we learn how to learn as we actively seek to ask and answer key questions.
In light of this, I see my role as helping you to understand and appreciate philosophical
questions and then encouraging you to wrestle with them in your thinking and
conversation. In order to achieve these goals, I will use a lecture/discussion method in the
classroom; I will both instruct you about philosophical issues, theories, concepts, and
arguments and question you about them. As a result, I hope you will experience an
informed and appreciative engagement with philosophical thinking that will help you to
acquire wisdom and understanding about the nature of reality and the meaning of life.
Policies. I use a lecture/discussion method. Class participation (questioning, commenting,
arguing, etc.) is encouraged and expected. I like to maintain an informal and comfortable
atmosphere that diminishes the reluctance many tend to feel in intellectual discussions.
However, I won’t tolerate rudeness of any kind (e.g., private conversations, reading,
sleeping, scoffing) and I may need to limit some contributions because of length or
irrelevance. I will generally not permit you to use electronic devices in class, unless I grant
you special permission for a specific purpose. If you are multi-tasking during class using
Facebook, Twitter, email, etc., you will not be attending fully to our conversation, and as a
result, your learning will be degraded. Dividing your time between our discussion and
these other sorts of things would also be disrespectful to the person talking at the time; we
owe it to each other to attend fully to each other when we are having a conversation. Of
course other non-computer activities unrelated to the course are also prohibited during
class, such as reading the newspaper or studying for another course. I will encourage all of
us (including myself) to strive to exhibit intellectual virtues and civil discourse in our
thinking and talking together about those topics.
Participation. What you get out of this course depends on what you put into it. The more
active your participation in various course activities, the more you will be rewarded with
deepened understanding of philosophy, sharpened philosophical skills, and an increased
enjoyment of philosophy. Active participation begins with carefully and thoroughly reading
each reading assignment in advance of each class for which it is assigned and writing a
thoughtful reflection paragraph on the reading. It continues with attending class regularly
and showing up to class on time. Good in-class participation involves, at the very least,
being fully attentive to both lecture and discussion. Full engagement in class lecture and
discussion will involve regularly asking questions, making comments about the material
under discussion, and talking with your classmates about questions I ask you to discuss
with each other. I’ll try hard to provide you with a variety of resources for learning
philosophy. It will be up to you to make the best use of those resources you possibly can.
VIII. Support, Accommodations, & Wellness
Office hours. If you would like individual assistance from me in order to understand the
course material or to prepare to take an exam or to write an essay, please see me during
my office hours at a time I have regularly scheduled for that purpose or at a time the two of
us agree on if you cannot see me during a scheduled office hour. Also, please feel free to
drop by my office during my office ours (or at a pre-arranged time) for conversation,
whether about the course material or any other topic you would like to discuss with me. My
office hours this semester are: MTThF 3:15pm-4:30pm.
Academic Accommodations. Students who have been diagnosed with a disability (chronic
medical, physical, learning, and/or psychological) are strongly encouraged to contact the
Disability Services Office as early as possible to discuss appropriate accommodations for
this course. Formal accommodations will only be granted for students
whose disabilities have been verified by the Disability Services Office. These
accommodations may be necessary to ensure your full participation and the successful
completion of this course. For more information, contact Sheri Noble, Director of Disability
Services, snoble@westmont.edu, 565-6186, or visit the website.
Writers’ Corner, the campus writing center, is an academic support service free for all
students. Peer tutors are available to help you with invention (getting started),
arrangement (getting organized), style, genres of writing, thesis statements, paragraph
development and structure, integrating sources, and common citation styles. One-on-one
tutorials are held in Voskuyl Library (VL 215). Open hours are typically from 4-11 p.m.
Monday through Thursday and from 6-11 p.m on Sunday. Drop-ins are welcome, though
keep in mind that the writing center will be busier during peak times of the semester
(before mid-term and each holiday break) as well as later in the evening (9-11 p.m.). For
more information, visit the writing center website.
Counseling Center. Personal concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties,
depression, cross-cultural differences, etc., can interfere with a student’s ability to succeed
and thrive in college. For helpful resources contact the Westmont Counseling Center.
IX. Course Schedule (Subject to change – with notice; See the course Canvas site for dates.)
Principles: Intellectual Virtue (Roberts & Wood and Dow)
1. Course Introduction
2. Goods (R&W: 2)
3. Virtues (R&W: 3)
4. Faculties (R&W: 4)
5. Practices (R&W: 5)
6. Love of Knowledge (R&W: 6)
7. Firmness (R&W: 7)
8. Courage and Caution (R&W: 8)
9. Humility (R&W: 9)
10. Autonomy (R&W: 10)
11. Generosity (R&W: 11)
12. Practical Wisdom (R&W: 12)
13. Oral Presentations (Dow: 1-4)
14. Oral Presentations (Dow: 5-10)
15. Oral Presentations (Dow: 11-Concl.)
People: Intellectual Virtues (Mouw & Readings on Canvas)
1. Old Testament: David, Solomon, Job (Mouw: Intro. & 1)
2. New Testament: Jesus, Paul, John (Mouw: 2 & 3)
3. Christian Philosophical Theologians: Augustine, Pascal, Lewis (Mouw: 4 & 5)
4. Ancient Philosophers: Confucius, Buddha, Socrates (Mouw: 6 & 7)
5. Ancient Women: Antigone, Diotima, Cornelia (Mouw: 8)
6. Modern European Men: Montaigne, Franklin, Johnson (Mouw: 9)
7. Religious Women: Julian, Eliot, Weil (Mouw: 10)
8. Novelists: Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Tolkien (Mouw: 11)
9. Speeches (Mouw: 12)
10. Speeches (Mouw: 13)
11. Speeches (Mouw: 14 & Afterword)
Practice: Civil Discourse (Carter & Readings on Canvas)
1. Abortion/Carter, Chapter 1
2. Abortion/Carter, Chapter 2
3. Gay marriage/Carter, Chapter 3
4. Gay marriage/Carter, Chapter 4
5. Gun control/Carter, Chapter 5
6. Gun control/Carter, Chapter 6
7. Immigration/Carter, Chapter 7
8. Immigration/Carter, Chapter 8
9. Racial discrimination/Carter, Chapter 9
10. Meet with Journalism class/Carter, Chapter 10
11. Racial discrimination /Carter, Chapter 11
12. Religion and free speech /Carter, Chapter 12
13. Religion and free speech /Carter, Chapter 13
14. Conversations/Carter, Chapter 14
15. Conversations/Carter, Chapter 15
16. Conversations/Carter, Chapters 16 & 17