Course Schedule
Refer to this table for all your assigned readings, assignments, and suggested media for each module
of this 8-week course. I reserve the right to modify the schedule for your benefit (e.g., removing an
assigned reading).
NIP = Rosen et al., The Norton Introduction to Philosophy, Second Edition, 2018. (Textbook)
Module
Dates
Readings/Assigned
Content
Assignments
Due
WEEK 1
6/22 - 6/28
Introduction;
Logic and
Argumentation
- Rosen et al., “A Brief
Guide to Logic and
Argumentation” (NIP pp.
xxxiii- xliv)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 6/28
WEEK 2
God and the
Problem of
Evil
- Aquinas, “The Five Ways”
from Summa Theologica (NIP
pp. 13-19)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 7/5
- The Seventh Seal
(1957)
- 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 7/12
- The Truman Show
(1998)
- The Matrix
(1999)
- Inception (2010)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 7/19
- Being John
Malkovich (1999)
- Her (2013)
- Ex Machina
(2014)
6/29 - 7/5
- Antony, “No Good
Reason - Exploring the
Problem of Evil” (NIP pp.
36-45)
Suggested
Media
- Pascal, “The Wager” (NIP
pp. 68 - 71)
WEEK 3
Skepticism
7/6 - 7/12
- Descartes, “Meditation I:
What Can Be Called into
Doubt” (NIP pp. 264 - 267)
- “Meditation II: The
Nature of the Human
Mind” & “Meditation
IV:...The Real Distinction
Between Mind and Body”
(NIP pp. 312 - 319)
WEEK 4
Mind and
Consciousness
7/13 - 7/19
- Searle, “Can Computers
Think?” (NIP pp. 341 347)
- Nagel, “What Is it Like to
Be a Bat?” (NIP pp. 356 364)
WEEK 5
Free Will
7/20 - 7/26
- Strawson, “Free Will”
(NIP pp. 600- 608)
- Frankfurt, “Alternate
Possibilities and Moral
Responsibility” (PDF)
WEEK 6
Personal
Identity
7/27 - 8/2
- Locke, “Of Identity and
Diversity” (NIP pp. 505 511)
*Philosophy
Podcast due
Wed., 7/22
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 7/26
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 8/2
- Memento (2000)
- Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind
(2004)
- Severance (2022,
Apple TV)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 8/9
- The Dark Knight
(2008)
- Snowden (2016)
- Avengers: Infinity
War (2018)
- The Good Place
(2016, Hulu)
- Wolf, “Meaning in Life
and Why it Matters” (NIP
pp. 984- 995)
Quiz and
Discussion due
Sun., 8/16
- Nagel, “The Absurd”
(NIP pp. 997 - 1005)
*Final Essay due
Mon., 8/17
- Groundhog Day
(1993)
- Arrival (2016)
- Everything
Everywhere All at
Once (2022)
- Parfit, “Personal Identity”
(NIP pp. 520 - 531)
WEEK 7
Moral Theory
and Critique of
Morality
8/3 - 8/9
- Mill, “Utilitarianism”(NIP
pp. 790 - 798)
- Kant, “Groundwork of
the Metaphysics of Morals”
(NIP pp. 801 -810)
- Optional: Nietzsche, “On
the Genealogy of Morals”
(NIP pp. 831 - 840)
WEEK 8
Meaning of
Life
8/10 - 8/16
- 12 Monkeys
(1995)
- Minority Report
(2002)
- Dark (2017,
Netflix)