Syllabus for Philosophy 102, Section 3, Schedule # 22449
Introduction to Philosophy: Knowledge and Reality
Steven Barbone/Spring 2015/M-W 14h-15h14/PSFA 318
Description from the SDSU General Catalogue: “Introduction to philosophical inquiry with
emphasis on problems of knowledge and reality. Students are encouraged to think independently
and formulate their own tentative conclusions.” Successful completion of this 3-unit course helps
fulfill the GE requirements for Foundations in Humanities and Fine Arts.
Description and objectives: This course is an introduction to philosophy. Concerns addressed in
this course begin with questions that include but are not limited to: What is real? What does it mean
to know that something is true? Is there a soul/mind and what does it do? Does God or some higher
being(s) exist? Do we have free will, or is everything fated or determined? Is there is any purpose
or meaning to our existence? Students will have many types of introduction to this subject. One
type of introduction will be to consider the thoughts of recognized philosophers; this part of the
course will consist of lectures delivered during scheduled class meetings and reading of required
texts. The second type of introduction is “hands-on” philosophy; that is, students themselves will
develop their own philosophical positions on given philosophic themes. Students may expect both
types of introduction throughout the semester.
Outcomes and assessments: (“Outcome” is the term the university uses to say what a student
should gain from taking the course: “assessment” is the term used to indicate how it is determined
whether a student has achieved any particular outcome.) Outcome: students identify and
communicate about some of the “big” questions of philosophy (e.g., How can we know whether
something is true? Who or what is responsible for our actions?) and the thoughts of some major
philosophers (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Descartes). Assessment: this will be demonstrated by the
students’ identifying some of these issues and philosophers, matching them to their appropriate
concepts, and selecting their proper entailments (written response, midterm, and final).
Outcome: students will demonstrate an ability to perceive the world in different ways. Assessment:
this will be measured by the students’ reporting in their own words others’ points of views and by
the students’ stating what these different viewpoints entail (written responses, essays, and quizzes).
Outcome: students demonstrate the ability to argue and to defend a philosophic position using
formal and informal logical reasoning skills. Assessment: this will be measured by the students’
identifying a position, stating it, and providing reasoned evidence for this position. Students may
also (but are not required to) demonstrate this ability by stating the weaknesses of contrary
positions and/or illustrating their position with classic or original examples (written responses and
essays).
Texts: Edwin Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. New York: Dover, 1992.
Green, Mitchell. Engaging Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2006.
Don LePan, Animals, New York: Soft Skull Press, 2010.
Scantron forms F-288 and/or F-289.
Bluebook(s) (optional to use for written responses, but any other paper is fine).
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All materials should be available at the Campus Bookstore; KP Books often carries all materials;
students may secure books from other sources as well (e.g., used book stores, online, etc.). Note: if
you mention my name if you rent or buy books at KP Books, you will receive an extra $5.00 off
your purchase as long as the total purchase exceeds $100.00.
Office hours: 20 Jan-7 May 2015: 434 Arts and Letters, (619-594-0249).
Mondays/Wednesdays 15h30-17h or by appointment at a mutually convenient time. I often have
lunch in the Cuicacalli dining room on Tuesdays, 12h30-14h00. I usually have some moments
immediately before or after class for quick discussions.
Email: barbone@rohan.sdsu.edu. Department phone: 594-5263.
Syllabus: To assist students in knowing what is expected and how their grades are calculated, a
short module (only 12 questions) concerning this course is available on Blackboard under
“Assignments.” Note: no grade will be assigned for any written response, essay, quiz, or exam
unless the student has correctly responded to all prompts in the module. Students may retake or
revisit the module as often as needed to achieve this perfect score.
Exams and quizzes: There will be two quizzes available online: one on Flatland and one on
Animals. Students may use the books and/or notes for these quizzes. Completed quizzes should be
printed and turned in at the beginning of class by the due date (see calendar below). There are also
two in-class exams (a mid-term and a final). Notes and/or books are not permitted for the exams.
Each quiz is worth 5% of the final grade; each exam is worth 20% of the final grade.
The quizzes on the readings will have short answers (1-2 sentences). The two exams will each be
objective (“multiple guess”) questions, and students are required to provide scantron forms (F-288
and/or F-289) to take these exams. These exams will be given as scheduled on the course calendar.
A description of the format will be provided in advance. Review sessions for each exam occur
normally on Mondays and Wednesdays from 14h00-15h15, i.e., each class is a review session for
the exams. The final exam is not cumulative. Also, all assigned readings, whether covered in class
or not, may be tested. Also, all material covered in class, whether assigned as a reading or not, may
count as material to be tested. This includes any material presented by an outside speaker.
Under the rarest circumstances, if a student is absent the day of an exam, that student may request a
make-up exam. No student should assume that the request to have a make-up will be honored.
Make-ups are possible only for the most extreme reasons; the instructor reserves the right to decide
whether a student merits the opportunity to take a make-up exam. Students ought to expect that any
make-up exam may be more difficult than the one given in class (since the student will presumably
have had more time to prepare, it would be fair that the exam be more difficult). If a student
foresees having to miss a scheduled exam, that student may request to take the exam at an earlier
time without penalty. Any exam not completed within 10 calendar days will be scored as zero. See
the course calendar for the date and time of the final exam; it is not scheduled during the normal
class time!
Essays: Three short writing assignments (average about 2 pages each) will be collected by the
instructor for grading. Each essay is worth 10% of the final grade so that all essays together will
count for 30% of the final grade. Each essay will receive a score from 0 to 4 (inclusive) and is due
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no later than the end of the scheduled class time on the dates listed on the calendar. A late penalty
of no more than 1/2 point per class day will be subtracted from essays received later than the
assigned date. Essays should be turned in on paper; no essay will be accepted via email or through
Blackboard (though drafts of essays may be sent electronically). Written assignments not turned in
during class time may be left pinned to the instructor’s door (AL 434) if a student is otherwise
unable to bring the assignment to the class meeting. A student may turn in an essay for credit or to
get feedback before the due date.
In assigning point values to the essays, although a student’s reasoning ability determines the major
portion of the score, other factors such as style, grammar, spelling, etc. are considered. See
information under “Course Information” in Blackboard.
Essay themes: Essay 1 (due 11 February) “Is What You See What You Get?”
Essay 2 (due 25 March) “Body or Soul?”
Essay 3 (due 20 April) “Death or Cake?”
Written responses: Students respond to several prompts found in Engaging Philosophy, and the
responses should be turned in for evaluation. There are 2 sets of prompts, and each set is worth
10% of the final grade (20% total). The first set includes the student’s choice of any 4 of the 7
study questions found at the end of chapter 2 of Engaging Philosophy (page 28); the second set
includes one prompt each from chapters 3, 5, 6, and 7 (that is, a student must select one study
question from these 4 different chapters to have 4 responses in all for this second set). See course
calendar for due dates; students may submit their written responses before the due dates. Like the
essays, students are encouraged to submit work early to get feedback before submitting it for a final
grade. Printed or handwritten copies are acceptable (but not electronic copies except for drafts).
Attendance: Attendance is expected, and absence does not excuse a student from taking a quiz or
from learning the material covered in the missed class(es). The instructor will not normally do a
roll call or mark attendance. It is in a student’s better interest to attend each class meeting.
There are no make-up classes but for one exception. If a student foresees being absent and
communicates this to the instructor before the absence, this class can be made up at a time mutually
convenient to both instructor and student. A make-up class is a privilege and not a right with the
exception that students who know that they will have to miss a class because of participation in an
official SDSU sponsored event as a member of an athletic team, band, etc., and/or because of
religious holidays are reminded that university policy requires that they notify their instructors
within the first two weeks of classes in order to have their schedules accommodated. 3 February is
the last day to arrange for make-up sessions for such foreseeable absences. There are no other
exceptions to the attendance policy.
Grades: Scores for the written responses, quizzes, essays, and exams will be made according to the
guidelines in the SDSU General Catalogue. That is, 4.0 = A; 3.7 = A-; 3.3 = B+ 3.0 = B; 2.7 = B-;
and so on. A grade of 2.0 (C) signifies that the work is acceptable; 1.0 (D) signifies that the work is
barely acceptable for credit; 0 (F) signifies that the work is not acceptable for credit; 3.0 (B)
signifies that the work is better than average; 4.0 (A) signifies excellence, and excellence is truly
rare. Other grades may be assigned (e.g., 3.5, 2.3, etc.) By university policy, grades will be shared
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only with the student who earned the grade unless the student provides a written and signed
statement that authorizes the sharing of her/his grades and with whom they may be shared.
Quizzes on the readings will be general in nature, and their purpose is to ensure that the material
has been read by the students. Those students who demonstrate some thought and insight about the
reading will earn a higher grade than those who merely show familiarity with the work. A rubric for
assigning grades for these quizzes is available under “Course Information” in Blackboard and at the
end of this syllabus. Grading for the quizzes is based on a student’s providing the following
evidence:
0: little or no evidence of having read the book
1: having read some/most of the book
2: having read the book but adds nothing new
3: having read the book and relates it to class
4: having extremely insightful thoughts about book
The essays allow students to do their own philosophy. For these essays, students make a
philosophical claim and provide evidence and reasoning why that claim is at least as acceptable as
other rival claims. Students will have the opportunity to learn argumentation styles and techniques
during lectures and through reading; various positions and the reasons for and against them will
also be presented during the lectures. A rubric for assigning grades to these essays is available
under “Course Information” in Blackboard and at the end of this syllabus.
Written responses to the assigned readings give students the opportunity to show that they can
identify major concepts, reason correctly about them, and apply them in their own way. A rubric
for assigning grades to these responses is available under “Course Information” in Blackboard and
at the end of this syllabus.
The exams will measure how much of the lecture material the student has remembered and is able
to apply to related situations and the main issues focused on in the course. Scores for the exams
will be determined a posteriori using a system of statistical analysis based on a bell curve with the
mean score achieved fixed at 2.3. The stand deviation, whatever it turns out to be, will be used to
compute other grades so that one standard deviation higher than the mean likely will turn out to be
3.3, and one lower likely will count as1.3. This sample curve is provided as “insurance.” The
instructor reserves the right to place the breakpoints at lower (but never higher) values depending
on how the grades cluster on a standard histogram. This grading policy will be explained in class,
and information on the exam results will be distributed following the first exam.
The final grade is computed by averaging the quiz, written response, essay, and exam grades
according to the percentages noted above. The average final grade for this class historically has
been close to C+.
Grades for individual quizzes, essays, written responses, and exams will be posted on Blackboard.
It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor if there appears to be any discrepancy
between recorded grades and returned work.
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Other: Some course material (some notes, extra readings, etc.) will be made available to students
on Blackboard. Such material is optional reading for students, and students will be informed about
when these optional readings are posted. Except for the module on the course and the two quizzes,
students are not required to use Blackboard or email, but they are encouraged to make use of these
resources for study materials, questions, email communications, and keeping track of their grades.
In many cases, Blackboard will be the sole source of this type of information. If you have not
already done so, establish an account on Blackboard and verify (through webportal) that your
university contact information is up to date. Students with difficulties navigating Blackboard
should use the on-line help at
https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/Reference/Blackboard_Learn_Videos.
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class [e.g.,
additional time for an exam, sign language interpreter, oral texts rather than printed ones], it is your
responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the
receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as
possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and that accommodations based upon
disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation
letter from Student Disability Services. Students who have concerns that might prevent them from
otherwise doing well in this course should discuss this with the instructor so that arrangements may
be made to accommodate their conditions.
All students are expected to follow the administrative rules and standards of conduct detailed in the
SDSU General Catalogue. Students are expected to submit only their own work on papers. It is the
student’s responsibility to know and to observe all SDSU’s rules concerning academic integrity and
plagiarism. Students should become familiar with SDSU’s Academic Senate Policy on plagiarism
found at http://senate.sdsu.edu/policy/pfacademics.html. Here are some highlights:
2.0 Definitions
2.1 Cheating shall be defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic
work by the use of dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Examples of cheating include,
but are not limited to (a) copying, in part or in whole, from another’s test or other examination;
(b) discussing answers or ideas relating to the answers on a test or other examination without
the permission of the instructor; (c) obtaining copies of a test, an examination, or other course
material without the permission of the instructor; (d) using notes, cheat sheets, or other devices
considered inappropriate under the prescribed testing condition; (e) collaborating with another
or others in work to be presented without the permission of the instructor; (f) falsifying
records, laboratory work, or other course data; (g) submitting work previously presented in
another course, if contrary to the rules of the course; (h) altering or interfering with the grading
procedures; (i) plagiarizing, as defined; and (j) knowingly and intentionally assisting another
student in any of the above.
2.2 Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific substance
of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained, and submitting same to the
University as one’s own work to fulfill academic requirements without giving credit to the
appropriate source. Plagiarism shall include but not be limited to (a) submitting work, either in
part or in whole, completed by another; (b) omitting footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or
conclusions that belong to another; (c) omitting quotation marks when quoting directly from
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another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof; (d) close and lengthy paraphrasing
of the writings of another; (e) submitting another person’s artistic works, such as musical
compositions, photographs, paintings, drawings, or sculptures; and (f) submitting as one’s own
work papers purchased from research companies.
The use of laptop computers is allowed, but students should be mindful that flickering screens are
generally very distracting to those around them; please refrain from using a computer for activities
other than taking notes. No one is required to be attentive or interested in classroom activities, but
all students are expected to behave as if they were interested in order not to disturb or to distract
students who are making the effort to be attentive.
Essay information: Essays are expected to be well written, and both machine-written and handwritten papers are acceptable. You should put some form of identification on each page (name
and/or red-id number), and the pages should be numbered sequentially beginning with “1.” Pages
should be mechanically attached with a staple or paper clip. These are standard practices that you
should follow for every class, and they are required for this class. In fact, the instructor will not
read any page that is not mechanically attached to the first page, nor will he read any page that
doesn’t have some form of identification (name or red-id) on it. (If it’s not good enough to have
your name on it, it’s not good enough for me to read.) See the “Course Information” section on
Blackboard for some further information about your essays.
Philosophy majors and minors: This course, along with the introductory courses in logic, is one
part of the fundamentals of philosophy that will serve as your grounding in the discipline and
provide you an opportunity to select the area(s) in which you will specialize as a philosophy major.
If you have any questions about developing your academic path in philosophy, including the
specifics of the philosophy major or minor, please feel free to talk with me or with the
undergraduate advisor, Prof. Francescotti.
End of syllabus
Course Calendar
Philosophy 102, section 3
Spring 2015
Though dates for lecture topics are tentative, due dates for quizzes on readings, essays, and written
responses are firm! There will likely be a series of guest lecturers in this course, but information
when they might come was not available when the calendar was put together.
Page numbers are underlined and refer to readings in Engaging Philosophy and are assigned
readings for the particular week where they are noted (though everyone must read all of chapters 13 and 5-7 in order to complete the written responses). Students from past courses say that keeping
up with readings as assigned greatly helped make sense of class discussions.
Week 1: 21 Jan-23 Jan
Introduction and that’s all there is. 1-7; 9-28.
Week 2: 26 Jan-28 Jan
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What counts as belief or knowledge? Illusion. 9-28.
Week 3: 02 Feb-04 Feb
Flatland and us. 9-28.
!!! Reading quiz #1 – Flatland – due 02 February !!!
*** Last day to add/drop classes – 03 February ***
*** Last day to apply to graduate in May – 03 February ***
Week 4: 09 Feb-11 Feb
This world is an illusion; only the mind or soul is real. 97-99.
!!! Essay #1 – “Is What You See What You Get?” – 11 February !!!
Week 5: 16 Feb-18 Feb
Can we be certain about anything? 99-105.
Week 6: 23 Feb-25 Feb
Does God exist? Yes! 31-51.
!!! Written responses to Engaging Philosophy, set #1 – 23 February !!!
Week 7: 02 Mar-04 Mar
Does God Exist? No. The problem of evil. 51-61.
Week 8: 09 Mar-11 Mar
More God, more evil, and, of course, the midterm. 31-51.
!!! Mid-term exam 11 March. Bring scantron !!!
Week 9: 16 Mar-18 Mar
Bodies and souls. 97-117.
Week 10: 23- Mar-25 Mar
Let’s get physical! 97-117.
!!! Essay #2 – “Body or Soul?” – 25 March !!!
*** Spring Break: 30 March-03 April ***
Week 11: 06 Apr-08 Apr
Animals and other people. 143-154.
!!! Reading quiz #2 – Animals – due 06 April !!!
Week 12: 13 Apr-15 Apr
What makes that happen? 121-139.
Week 13: 20 Apr-22 Apr
Do you have a choice? 121-139.
!!! Essay #3 – “Death or Cake?” – 20 April !!!
Week 14: 27 Apr-29 Apr
(What) Are you thinking? 97-117.
!!! Written responses to Engaging Philosophy, set #2 – 29 April !!!
Week 15: 04 May-06 May
Is your friend a zombie? 143-154. The meaning of life!
Week 16: 11 May-13 May
Final.
!!! Final exam, Monday, 11 May, 13h! Bring scantron !!!
End of calendar
Philosophy 102 –spring 2015
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Grading criteria for quizzes
The goal for the student is to provide evidence that s/he has read the assigned reading and thought
about it. “+” = very good; “—” = satisfactory; “~” = ok for credit (barely); “X” = did not fulfill
this criterion.
To earn an F, you provide hardly any or no evidence of having read the assignment.
To earn a D or higher, your responses provide some evidence of your having looked at the
assignment:
You answer correctly some but not all basic questions about the main ideas or characters.
You show some recognition of main ideas or characters’ names.
You correctly identify some but not all concepts introduced or reviewed in the reading.
You correctly identify and apply some but not all terms introduced or reviewed in the
assignment.
To earn a C or higher, your responses provide evidence of your having read the assignment:
You answer correctly all basic questions about the main ideas and characters.
You show recognition of all main ideas or characters’ names and their respective
associations.
You correctly identify all concepts introduced or reviewed in the reading.
You correctly identify and apply all terms from the assignment.
Your writing is relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors (dictionaries are
allowed).
You use some specific example from the reading to illustrate your answers.
To earn a B or higher, your responses provide evidence of your having read the assignment and
understanding how it relates to discussions in the classroom:
You use specific and detailed example(s) from the reading and explicitly relate them to you
your answers.
You apply ideas from the reading to correspondent ideas presented in the classroom.
You use examples from the lectures to illustrate the concepts in the reading.
To earn an A, your responses provide evidence of the above plus that you have really thought about
the assigned reading:
You use very original examples to illustrate the concepts of the reading.
You apply very specific events or discussions from the reading to some new situation.
Your writing is excellent and/or your style is very interesting.
Philosophy 102 – spring 2015
Grading criteria for essays
Your goal is to address the prompt by taking a position for or against some claim. You want to
identify your position and to explain why your position makes sense. “+” = very good; “—” =
satisfactory; “~” = ok for credit (barely); “X” = did not fulfill this criterion.
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To earn an F, you do nothing or your paper does not fulfill any of the conditions listed below.
To earn higher than D, your paper meets all of these conditions:
Your name or other form of identification is on each page.
You have a main point (thesis statement), but it is not so clearly stated.
You do offer some reasoning (though not so good or not so clearly) to support this thesis
whether it’s stated or not.
To earn a C or higher, your paper must meet all these conditions:
Special and/or new terms (if any) are clearly defined.
You use appropriate terms to identify concepts and ideas in context.
A thesis statement is clearly and identifiably expressed.
You offer evidence or reasons to support your thesis (though not necessarily convincing ones).
Your writing is relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors.
Optional: you use an example from class or readings to illustrate your point.
To earn a B or higher, your paper must fulfill all these conditions:
The thesis is well supported by argumentation, especially by a type reviewed in class or in
Engaging Philosophy.
You use an original example, either your own or someone else’s, to illustrate points.
You acknowledge some alternative position to your own.
Optional: you appropriately relate your position to some idea presented in class or a reading.
To earn an A, your paper meets at least one of these conditions:
Your work is interesting to read (e.g., your style is easy to follow or humorous or you use very
original or new examples to support your point).
You correctly identify the type of argumentation that you use.
Your work either suggests a new idea and/or it applies the concepts in a novel way.
You support your thesis with solid argumentation.
You state an alternative position and explain why your position is stronger.
Philosophy 102 – spring 2015
Grading criteria for written responses
Your goal in addressing prompts from Engaging Philosophy is to demonstrate that you have read
the material and are able to write intelligibly about the concepts covered therein. You want to
identify the prompt to which you are responding and provide evidence that you have understood the
material. “+” = very good; “—” = satisfactory; “~” = ok for credit (barely); “X” = did not fulfill
this criterion.
To earn an F, you do nothing or your responses do not fulfill any of the conditions listed below.
To earn higher than D, your responses meet all of these conditions:
Your name or other form of identification is on each page or on the cover of the bluebook.
You identify the prompts to which you are responding.
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You respond to the prompt, and your response is related to the prompt.
Your response is grounded in the material found in the corresponding chapter.
To earn a C or higher, your responses must meet all these conditions:
Special and/or new terms (if any) are clearly defined.
You use appropriate terms to identify concepts and ideas in context.
Your response is clearly based on the corresponding reading.
You offer some example from the reading to illustrate your response.
Your writing is relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors.
Optional: you use an example from class or other readings to illustrate your point.
To earn a B or higher, your responses must fulfill all these conditions:
The response is well supported by argumentation, especially by a type reviewed in class or in
Engaging Philosophy (this especially applies to the second set of responses).
You use an original example to illustrate points.
You correctly apply some idea presented in class or readings to develop your response.
Optional: you explicitly take a position for or against the response.
To earn an A, your responses meet at least one of these conditions:
Your work is interesting to read (e.g., your style is easy to follow or humorous or you use very
original or new examples to support your point).
Your work either suggests a new idea and/or it applies the concepts in a novel way.
You support your response with solid argumentation.
You support your position for or against the response with solid argumentation.