PHIL. 102
INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY: KNOWLEDGE & REALITY
Spring 2011 (section 4)
Dr. Robert Francescotti
Office Hours (in Arts & Letters Bldg., room 438):
Monday 3:30-5:00 pm
Tuesday 12:30-1:30 pm
Wednesday 3:30-5:00 pm
Thursday 4:00-5:30 pm
Office phone and e-mail : 619-594-6585, rfrances@mail.sdsu.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION You will learn about the philosophical method by
exploring some main areas of philosophical interest. The first issue we will discuss is
whether God exists. We will consider various arguments designed to show either that
God exists or that (S)he does not. This first section of the course is a good introduction
to the structure of argumentation (one of the main tools of the philosophical method).
Then we will investigate the Free Will debate. Science has shown that much of our
behavior is the result of factors beyond our control. The environment in which we were
raised obviously affects our behavior greatly. Non-conscious mental activity and
genetic factors are also thought to play a major role; and, of course, the state of our
brains is a major culprit. But if our actions are the result of these factors (which seem
largely out of our control), then in what sense can we be considered “free”? And what
then happens to moral and legal responsibility?
Many people believe that in addition to the body, there is some immaterial aspect to
our being. We might call this the soul – or perhaps spirit, or simply the mind. Does this
immaterial component really exist? Might it be that we are nothing more than our
physical bodies? A closely related question is: In what does your identity as a person
consist? What is it about you 3 years ago and you now that makes you now the same
person as that person then?
We will consider what various influential thinkers have said regarding these deep
questions, and then we will try to decide for ourselves how the questions should be
answered. Whether or not we reach any definite conclusions, we will still accomplish
the main goal of the course. The course is designed to provide the basic conceptual
tools needed to effectively think through philosophical issues on your own. So in
addition to learning specific facts about particular philosophers and their
theories/arguments, you will also learn how to do philosophy. Moreover, the
analytical skills you will develop are those that prove beneficial to clear thinking and
good reasoning about all facets of life.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- become familiar with philosophical discourse and learn how to identify when a
discussion counts as philosophical
- learn how to identity arguments and their main components
- learn how to evaluate arguments and theories in a variety of philosophical contexts
- learn to critically discuss arguments and theories effectively
- gain practice thinking and writing in a clear, logically rigorous fashion
- be able to develop and defend your own views on various philosophical topics
REQUIRED TEXTS & READINGS
Two course packets (Phil 102: Readings I and II) available at CalCopy contain:
- Cover and Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1994) -- ch. 2, sec. 1: “Logic”.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Five Ways,” from Summa Theologica. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau
(ed.), Reason and Responsibility, 13th edition (Wadsworth, 2008).
- St. Anselm, from Proslogium. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau (ed.), Reason and Responsibility, 13th
edition (Wadsworth, 2008).
- William Paley, excerpts from Natural Theology, 1802. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamozov, 1880. The course packet contains excerpts under the
title, “Rebellion,” reprinted in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau.
- Blaise Pascal, from Pensees, 1669. In Blaise Pascal, Penees and Other Writings, Honor Levi, trans. (Oxford
Univ. Press, 1995).
- excerpts from Paul Holbach’s System of Nature, 1770. The course packet contains the reprint under the
title, “The Illusion of Free Will,” in Feinberg (ed.), Reason and Responsibility, 8th edition (Wadsworth, 1993).
- Clarence Darrow, “Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of Compulsion,” in Weinberg (ed.), Attorney for the
Damned, (The University of Chicageo Press, 1957).
- Walter Stace, “The Problem of Free Will,” from his Religion and the Modern Mind (J. B. Lippincott
Company, 1952). Reprint in Pojman (ed.), Philosophy: The Quest for Truth (Oxford University Press, 2006).
- excerpts from Richard Taylor’s Metaphysics (Prentice-Hall, 1992).
- Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641. Reprint in Pojman (ed.), Classics of Philosophy
(Oxford, 1988).
- Rene Descartes, Treatise on Man, 1664 -- in Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch (trans.), Philosophical
Writings of Rene Descartes, vol I (Cambridge University Press, 1985).
- Cover & Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1994) -- ch. 2, sec. 3: “Dualism
and the Relationship Problem”
- Alan Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” Mind, vol. 59, 1950. Reprint in Feinberg and
Shafer-Landau.
- John Locke “Of Ideas of Identity and Diversity” from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690.
Reprint in Pojman (ed.), Philosophy: The Quest for Truth.
- Thomas Reid, “Of Mr. Locke’s Account of Our Personal Identity,” in Essays on the Intellectual Powers of
Man, 1785. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau
GRADES & REQUIREMENTS
Your final grade is based on the percentage of 300 possible points you earn on 3 in-class
essay EXAMS
Exam I is on February 14th and is worth 75 pts.
Exam II is on March 21st worth 100 pts.
Exam III on May 18th is worth 125 pts.
The exams must be taken at the scheduled times. I will allow make-ups only for those
with a compelling reason for missing, and I must be notified prior to the exam to judge
if the reason is compelling enough.
The number of points you earn on the exams is your BASE SCORE, which may be
influenced by:
DISCRETIONARY POINTS
On the basis of class participation, significant
improvement in grades, and genuinely strong effort, I might add a point or two or perhaps
even a few to your base score. For example, suppose you receive a grand total of 300
pts on the exams. 236 is 78.67% of 300, which gives you C+. But if you participated
very well in class discussion and also showed significant improvement in grades, then I
might add 4 pts, for example, to the 236 which gives you 240. Since 240 is 80% of 300,
you would move up to bottom of the B- range in that case. (See percentage/letter grade
conversion chart on page 4.)
But note: points for positive performance in one area (such as improved grades)
might be eliminated or even outweighed by negative performance in another area (for
example, significant lack of participation or evidence that you’re not doing the
readings). So your final score could end up being lower than your base score, and in
some cases this could result in a lower letter grade being assigned. (Imagine a change
the opposite of that described above -- going from 279 to 275.)
In particular, ATTENDANCE is especially important, for whether or
not you actually participate in class discussion on a particular day,
attendance is necessary to even be prepared to participate. So I’ll keep
track of attendance and subtract 2 pts from the base score per absence. With
poor attendance, then, the score could be lowered quite a bit.
over →
Here’s how the percentages convert to letter grades:
100%
92.5%
A
76.5%
89.5%
A-
72.5%
C
86.5%
B+
69.5%
C-
82.5%
B
66.5%
D+
79.5%
B-
62.5%
D
C+
59.5%
D-
F
Disabilities
Any students with special needs due to a documented medical condition should avail
themselves of the resources at Student Disability Services, Calpulli Center, room 3101
(594-6473). Students who have such concerns that might prevent them from otherwise
doing well in this course should discuss this with the instructor so that special
arrangements may be made to accommodate their conditions. “Student Disability
Services provides support services for students with mobility limitations, learning
disabilities, hearing or visual impairments, psychological disabilities, attention deficit
disorder, and other disabilities. Counselors are available to assist students in making
personal, academic, and vocational choices, and show how best to utilize campus
facilities. Prior to receiving assistance, appropriate medical documentation must be
submitted to Student Disability Services” (p. 32, 2010-11 General Catalog).
Religious Observances
“By the end of the second week of classes, students should notify the instructors of
affected courses of planned absences for religious observances. Instructors shall
reasonably accommodate students who notify them in advance of planned absences for
religious observances” (p. 20, 2010-11 General Catalog). Please notify me by the end of
the second week of classes if you plan to be absent for religious observance.