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INQ120-B: Living An Examined Life
In Socrates’ Footsteps: The Philosophical Quest for Right and Wrong
Fall 2014
Roanoke College
T/Th 4:30-6:00 PM
Room: West 228
Prof. Monica Vilhauer
Email: vilhauer@roanoke.edu
Office: West 317
Office Hours: Wed. 2:00-4:00pm
Syllabus:
This syllabus is a contract between professor and students:
Read it carefully and keep it handy.
Course Description:
How should I live? What is the good life? How can I achieve my highest potential? These
questions were for Socrates the most important and pressing questions human beings can
ask, and must ask, as he believed “the unexamined life is not worth living.” They are
questions that drive us to investigate what it is that we value most and why, what we
ought to value most and why, what we should strive to achieve in our individual and
communal lives, how we should treat others, and by what standards we can know and
judge such things. Following in Socrates’ footsteps, we will embark on the philosophical
quest to grasp the truth about right and wrong. This means that we will strive to move
beyond popular opinions about the good life, which we too commonly accept without
much thought, and toward knowledge grounded in reasons and evidence. In this course
we focus on a careful reading of Plato’s Apology, Crito, and Republic.
Methods:
 This class is structured as a seminar, and is discussion-based. Under this model,
students are asked to consider questions that the professor and other participants
pose to the text, and to engage in a joint effort to explore and evaluate the
meaning and relevance of the philosophical insights we read.
 This class is writing intensive, and involves three textual analysis papers of
increasing length and difficulty. Students will be learning to write in an
argumentative mode that includes both an explanation and critique of the
philosophical ideas we read, and students will be offered guidance in outlining,
drafting, and revision work throughout the course.
 Finally, this class will emphasize not only informal, but also formal oral
communication. Students will be introduced to strategies for effective formal
presentations, and will give two oral presentations based on papers they write.
Outcomes:
 Students will be able to formulate and evaluate arguments about ethical positions
— specifically those presented by Socrates and Plato.
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Students will be able to describe connections between the course topic and
broader traditions of critical reflections on the good life — in this case the
tradition of virtue ethics.
Students will be able to give an effective oral presentation — in this case on their
written papers.
Students will be able to write a paper with a clear thesis, cogent argumentation,
effective organization, and a minimum of sentence-level errors.
Students will be able to better identify, examine, and critically evaluate prominent
ethical beliefs in our culture, and develop, strengthen, and defend their own
ethical positions with reasoned argument both orally and in writing.
Required Texts:
(Available at the College Book Store)
1. The Trial and Death of Socrates, translated by G.M.A Grube, Hackett
2. The Republic of Plato, translated by Allan Bloom, Basic Books
3. A Writer’s Reference (Roanoke College edition) by Diane Hacker
Any other required readings will be posted on Inquire (as pdf files).
Course Requirements:
Class Participation/Preparation
Mini Textual Analysis Paper 1 (2-3 pages)
Midterm Textual Analysis Paper 2 (5-7 pages)
Final Textual Analysis Paper (6-8 pages)
1 short oral Presentation on Midterm paper (5 min. )
1 longer oral presentation on final paper (10 min.)
20%
15%
20%
25%
5%
10%
Participation:
 This is a discussion-based seminar (not a lecture). Discussion-based seminars
emphasize student participation and engaged learning, and depend upon students
coming to class having already read, thought about, and written about the texts we
will be discussing each day. (See my handout “What’s a Seminar?”)
 Your ability to participate is a reflection of your preparation for the class and
counts as 20% of your final grade.
 At the beginning of each class I will randomly select a handful of students to start us
out with their preliminary answers to the homework questions, in order to get the ball
rolling in our conversation. Everyone will then be expected to contribute further to
the conversation. Be ready to play both roles in class (of starter and helper) on a daily
basis. Your ability to engage in both ways is the “proof” of your preparation (see
how preparation/participation is graded below).
Preparation: Readings and Homework Questions
 For each meeting there will be an assigned selection of text to read and a handful of
homework/discussion questions (posted on Inquire) that all students are expected
to answer in writing before class, and come to class ready to talk about.
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Homework questions are meant to help direct students to the important issues to focus
on while they are reading the text, challenge each student to develop skills of reading
comprehension, analysis, and written articulation, and serve as preparation for class
discussion and papers.
Students will be asked to discuss, summarize, or read their answers in class as a
springboard for further discussion.
Homework answers are to be individual efforts – that is, a result of your own careful
reading and analysis of the primary text alone (stay away from the internet or other
kinds of study guides – we are trying to learn to read, analyze, and critique for
ourselves, as are the primary goals of a liberal arts education).
Being prepared for this class means:
1) You have read the assigned material before class.
2) You have written down your preliminary answers to our
homework/discussion questions in your notebook, so that you are ready to
read, summarize, and discuss them in class.
3) You have marked for yourself the passages in the text that are relevant to
our discussion questions and are ready to point them out.
4) You have your own question(s) ready to ask in class, or a passage to point out
that you find particularly interesting.
5) You have all materials with you and are ready to take notes on the deeper
answers we arrive at in class.
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Tip: Give yourself ample time to prepare for class. Philosophy selections are dense,
difficult, and require slow, thorough, and often repeated readings. I suggest that you
set aside 2-3 hours to prepare each reading in order to make base line/average
progress in the course.
Penalty for Being Unprepared:
 Our group work demands that everyone contribute. Your commitment to prepare for
and contribute to our sessions is the basic work ethic necessary for this seminar (or
any kind of group work) to function, and it is key for keeping the class relevant to
your own concerns and interests.
 Students will be allowed one day where they can “pass” on preparation of the
reading/homework and still attend our discussion. If I find you are unprepared
a second time, you may attend our discussion but will be asked to take an
absence for the day (and you are allowed four absences maximum).
How Participation/Preparation is Graded:
 Since a discussion-based seminar can only succeed with the participation of its
members, your preparation and engagement in our conversation about the texts we
read is essential.
o Excellent (A level): Excellent participation reveals excellent preparation for
class. Your contributions show that you have read and thought carefully
about the material, and your comments provide depth of insight to the rest of
the class. You are able to point out relevant passages in the text, dig beneath
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the surface of their meaning, make connections to previous ideas we have
studied, and think critically about what we are reading. You participate every
day at this level. Our conversation would suffer without you.
Good (B level): Good participation shows that you have done the work of
reading and defining relevant concepts for yourself before class. You are able
to come up with thoughtful questions that show you have a basic
understanding of the ideas we are reading, but want to dig into their deeper
meaning. You participate most days at this level. Our conversation is better
because of you.
Fair (C level): Fair participation shows that you have read the material,
though perhaps not very closely, and have half-heartedly done the homework
questions. Your comments show you are thinking about our class discussion,
but they are not grounded in your own reading of the text. Your questions
lead us to review basic concepts and definitions. You only really participate
when called on. Our conversation stays on task with your input.
Barely There (D level): You avoid participating, so it is very difficult to know
if you have engaged the reading, or if you are engaged in our class-time work.
You find ways to avoid participating even when you are called on. You seem
alert enough to be listening, but our discussion would not lose anything if you
were absent.
Non-Participant (F level): You are basically silent and do not participate. I
have to assume you did not read the material or do the homework. You seem
to have your mind elsewhere, or it is not totally clear that you are listening or
awake. This, in itself, can be a real distraction and bring down the level of the
class. Our discussion would be more focused if you were not there.
Papers:
Textual Analysis Papers:
o Students will write 3 textual analysis papers over the course of the semester (one
2-3 pager, one 5-7 pager, and a final 6-8 pager). TA papers are meant to help
students engage more deeply with the text, develop skills of explanation, analysis
and critical argument, and articulate their thoughts clearly in writing.
o For each textual analysis paper, students should pick one of the textual analysis
paper questions that I post on Inquire to write on (I will select a few of the best
homework questions and make them into textual analysis paper questions).
o A philosophical paper is structured as an argument. Detailed guidance
regarding what is expected in philosophical papers (i.e., a statement of a
focused question; a thesis, reconstruction and explanation of the philosopher’s
argument with textual support (quotes); critique of the philosopher’s argument)
will be discussed in class ahead of time (see my handout “Writing a
Philosophy Paper: Textual Analysis”).
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o The final (longest) paper will involve the usual parts of all textual analysis
papers, plus an additional component of “application,” which we will discuss
ahead of time in class.
o Writing a philosophical paper takes quite a lot of time. It requires the steps of
outlining, drafting, revision, and proofreading. It takes multiple days to complete
all these steps. We will discuss outlining, drafting, revision, proofreading, and
peer review strategies in class. One of the most important resources for you while
working on any/all of the steps of your paper is the writing center.
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The Writing Center is Your Friend!
The Writing Center @ Roanoke College, located on the lower level of Fintel
Library, offers tutorials focused on written and oral communication for students
working on assignments and projects in any field. Writers at all levels of
competence may visit the Writing Center at any point in their process, from
brainstorming to drafting to editing, to talk with trained peer tutors in informal,
one-on-one sessions. The Writing Center is open Sunday through Thursday from
4 to 9 pm. Simply stop in, or schedule an appointment by going to
www.roanoke.edu/writingcenter, where our schedule of writing workshops and
creative writing playshops is also posted. Questions? Email
writingcenter@roanoke.edu or call 375-4949.
Paper-related penalties
o Papers that are turned in to me late will drop one step of a grade (i.e., from
an A to an A-) each day that it is late (this means each calendar day, not each
class day). If you are absent on the day your final paper is due, email it to me
that day.
o In each of your papers you are expected to include all the parts of the paper
assigned. If I find that you have not done the assignment, you may have your
paper returned for you to complete. In this case the late penalty will apply to
your paper, and you will lose a step of a grade (i.e., from an A to an A-) each day
it takes for you to return it to me.
o Papers are expected to be proofread, polished, and professional. It is expected
that you can recognize and correct your own grammatical mistakes, having
graduated from grammar school. A college level paper should have few to no
grammatical errors. If I find that there are more than three grammatical
errors per page, then your paper is not yet in a state for another person (me) to
read, and you may have your paper returned for you to proofread. In this
case the late penalty will apply to your paper, and you will lose a step of a grade
(i.e., from an A to an A-) each day it takes for you to return it to me.
o For some papers you are asked to fulfill certain steps in the planning and drafting
stages of writing. For instance, you might have a required individual meeting
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with me to discuss an outline, you might be required to attach an outline, a draft,
or a peer review form to your final paper, or you might be required to visit the
writing center before handing in your paper. (The calendar below specifies which
things are required and when). For each required planning or drafting step
that is missing, your grade on your paper will drop a step of a grade (e.g.,
from an A to an A-).
o On a scheduled peer review day, if a student does not have a complete first
draft of their paper to bring, they will not be able to participate by trading
papers with a partner, and will have to take one of their absences for the day.
In this case, the student will still have to go through the peer-review process
with a willing friend (who will read the paper and fill out the peer-review
questionnaire) outside of class before they turn in their final paper to me, with
their draft and the peer review questionnaire attached.
Oral Presentations:
o Students will do two oral presentations during the semester: 1 short presentation
on the midterm TA paper (about 5 min, worth 5 %), and one longer presentation
on the final TA paper (about 10 min., worth 10%) at the end of the semester.
o We will discuss ahead of time in class what should be included in the
presentation, such as (1) an explanation of the question investigated and its
relevance, (2) a declaration of your thesis, (3) a summary of the main argument
found in the text, and (4) the student’s own critical evaluation of this argument.
We will also discuss how presenters can most effectively communicate with their
audience and utilize aids/handouts. (See my handout “Effective Oral
Presentations”)
o Students will make an outline to use during their presentation, using guidance
from the “Effective Oral Presentations” handout, and will turn in that outline to
me when their presentaiton is complete.
Penalty for not showing up to your Oral Presentation:
o If you have to be absent on the day your oral presentation is scheduled, you must
make other arrangements with me far in advance. If you simply do not show up
on the day of your oral presentation, you forfeit the credit.
Course Policies:
Attendance:
o One of the reasons you and I have come to Roanoke College is that we believe
that genuine education is an interactive endeavor. If you are not in class, you are
not actively engaging in your education.
o For a class that meets twice a week, I will allow a student 4 absences (regardless
of reason) before dropping him/her from the course. This means you should
THINK AHEAD! Everyone will likely have something happen during the
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semester which will cause them to miss class (flu, funeral, etc.). You should save
your absences for such emergencies!
o If you must miss a class due to some emergency or other pressing reason, please
talk to me about it or email me asap. If you are absent, you are responsible for
asking a classmate about the contents of our class discussion.
o When you have reached your maximum absences in the class, you will receive an
email officially notifying you of this fact.
Lateness:
If you are more than a couple of minutes late to class, it is a problem. Three times late
will equal one absence.
Academic Integrity:
This course will uphold all academic integrity policies as laid out in the pamphlet
“Academic Integrity at Roanoke College.” Students are responsible for knowing these
rules, and professors are obliged to report any violation of these rules when they find
evidence for it.
Plagiarism:
o Philosophy, in particular, is about learning to think, reason, articulate and know
for oneself. Nothing is learned by copying someone else’s work.
o Borrowing another’s ideas or words without giving the author their due credit,
and presenting them as one’s own, is a deception and contrary to academic and
social/moral values.
o Plagiarism is met with serious consequences at Roanoke College (the usual
minimum penalty being an F in the course, and the maximum penalty being
expulsion). It is the student’s responsibility to familiarize himself/herself with the
school’s policy as laid out in “Academic Integrity at Roanoke College” (esp. p.
16-19).
o To avoid inadvertent plagiarism, remember the following:
o All direct quotes should be placed in quotation marks, and accompanied
by a citation.
o All ideas, interpretations, or arguments learned from another source
should be credited with an introduction such as “Taylor argues that . . . .”
or “Sallis believes that . . . .”.
o Your summary of another’s ideas should be put in your own words, and
organized in your own way – that is, in such a way that it supports your
point or argument – as well as accompanied by a citation.
Professionalism:
All students are expected to behave in their courses as young professionals. This
involves treating your classmates, your professor, and the privilege of attending
college with respect. To be clear, this involves:
o coming to class on time
o coming to class prepared
o contributing to the group work of the class
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taking notes in class
listening to others while they speak
showing up on time to appointments you make with your teacher
never sleeping in class
not leaving the room during class, except in the event of an “emergency” (such
“emergencies” should be rare for any given student)
o embracing the challenges of your classes as laid out in this syllabus, and not
complaining about them, avoiding them, or trying to find ways to get out of them.
o Electronic Devices: It is my aim to make our classroom a space that is as free
from distracting technology as possible. It is my aim to eliminate texting,
emailing, web-surfing, facebook, etc. from our classroom. There should be no
use of phones, laptops, etc. in class except in an emergency situation (which
would only happen very rarely for a given student).
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Class Grading Scale:
A
AB+
B
93-100%
90-92
87-89
83-86
BC+
C
C-
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
D+
D
DF
67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59
Special Services:
The Office of Disability Support Services, located in the Goode-Pasfield Center for
Learning and Teaching in Fintel Library, provides reasonable accommodations to
students with identified disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are provided based on
the diagnosed disability and the recommendations of the professional evaluator. In order
to be considered for disability services, students must identify themselves to the Office of
Disability Support Services. Students requesting accommodations are required to provide
specific current documentation of their disabilities. Please contact Rick Robers, M.A.,
Coordinator of Disability Support Services, at 540-375-2247 or e-mail
robers@roanoke.edu.
If you are on record with the College's Office of Disability
Support Services as having academic or physical needs requiring accommodations,
please schedule an appointment with Mr. Robers as soon as possible. You need to
discuss your accommodations with him before they can be implemented. Also, please
note that arrangements for extended time on exams, testing, and quizzes in a distractionreduced environment must be made at least one week before every exam.
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Schedule:
(The schedule of readings is meant to be somewhat flexible; there may be changes to fit the pace
of the group.)
Date:
Reading Due:
(Homework Questions on Inquire)
Topics:
Introduction: What is Philosophical Ethics?
Week 1:
Tues.Aug 26:
Thurs.Aug. 28
“Ethical Relativism: Who’s to Judge
What’s Right and Wrong?” (p. 26-41,
posted on Inquire)
Facing Ethical Relativism
Is ‘right and wrong’ whatever you think it is? Is
‘right and wrong’ in the eye of the beholder?
Week 2:
Tues Sept. 2
Plato’s Apology 17a-28b (12p)
The Search for an Ethical Standard Begins:
Plato’s Apology:
Short Intro to Plato Lecture
Discussion topics from the Apology: Truth and
persuasion, sophistry and philosophy, the charges
against Socrates, Socrates’ mission to cultivate a
care for wisdom and virtue in his fellow citizens.
Discuss “Writing a Philosophy Paper: Textual
Analysis”
Thurs. Sept. 4:
Plato’s Apology 28b-42a (12p)
How should we face death? Why the
“unexamined life is not worth living.”
Discuss Chicago Manual of Style
Visit from writing center tutor (?)
Make a (recommended) appointment to see me
about your outline for your first TA paper
Make a (recommended) appointment to take your
draft into the writing center
Week 3:
Tues. Sept. 9
Plato’s Crito (12 p.)
Plato’s Crito: Should one abide by the laws,
even when they seem unjust?
Thurs.Sept. 11
Class Cancelled
Please attend, instead, Nicholas Davey’s
lecture on the practical value of the
humanities, Pickle, 4:15-5:45
Plato’s Republic: Book I, 327a-350d (25p.)
Mini Textual Analysis Paper due by email on
the Apology (2-3 pages, with outline attached)
Week 4:
Tues. Sept. 16
Plato’s Republic: What is Justice? Is Justice
settling your debts? Can money buy you justice?
Is Justice helping your friends and harming your
enemies? Should the just man ever harm? Is
Justice the advantage of the stronger? Is it better
to be unjust?
Discuss Nicholas Davey’s Lecture
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Thurs. Sept.18
Book I, 350d -354c
Book II, 357a-373e (~22p.)
Why is being just good? Why is being just good
in itself?, shouldn’t we be unjust if we can get
away with it?, defining justice by first looking
for justice in the city, healthy cities and feverish
cities, the origin of war.
Week 5:
Tues. Sept. 23
Book II, 373e-383c
Book III, 386a-398c (~25 p.)
The need for guardians, how do we educate good
guardians of the city? Do we need censorship?
Book III, 412b-417b
Book IV, 419a-427c
In Class:
 Sign up for midterm paper topics
 Sign up for (required) individual meeting
time with me
 Review of what should go into your outline
that you bring to your individual meeting
 Hand out oral presentation guidelines
 Make (required) writing center appointment
Who should rule?, The state’s noble lie to its
citizens: Should it be told?
Thurs. Sept 25
In Class
 Discuss oral presentations
Individual Meetings with me in my office
about outlines
Bring your Outline
Week 6:
Tues. Sept. 30
Homework: Draft midterm paper and visit
writing center (one writing center visit for
midterm paper required)
Individual Meetings with me in my office
about outlines
Bring your Outline
Thurs. Oct. 2
Week 7:
Tues. Oct. 7
Book IV, 427c-445e
Homework: Draft midterm paper and visit
writing center (one writing center visit for
midterm paper required)
The virtuous city and the virtuous soul
Discuss oral presentations again
Midterm Textual Analysis Paper Due (5-7
pages, with outline, and draft you took to the
writing center attached)
Thurs. Oct. 9
Short Oral Presentations in class (with
presentation outline that you’ll turn in)
Week 8:
Tues. Oct. 14
Thurs. Oct. 16
FALL BREAK
Week 9:
Book V, 449a-473b (25p.)
The role of women in the just city
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Tues. Oct. 21
Discuss Final Paper, especially the additional
“application” component
Thurs. Oct. 23
Week 10:
Tues. Oct. 28
Class Cancelled
(Vilhauer at Conference)
Book V, 473b-480a
Book VI, 484a-505a (~30p)
Who are the true rulers? Who are the truly wise?
Thurs. Oct. 30
Book VI, 505a-509d
Book VII, 514a-521d (~15p)
The highest study needed for wisdom, the sun
analogy, the cave analogy, the turning of the soul
of a true education
Week 11:
Tues Nov. 4
Book VIII, 543c-569c (28p.)
The five types of political regimes, good and
bad, what’s so bad about democracy?, too much
freedom leads to too much slavery, tyranny.
Thurs. Nov. 6
Book IX, 571a-576c, 588b-592b
In Class:
 Sign up for Final Paper Topic, and (required)
Individual Meeting time with me
 Reminder about what goes into your outline,
including new application component
The soul of the tyrant
Final Discussion of the Republic
In Class:
 Discuss final oral presentations
 Sign up for oral presentations
Individual Meetings in my office
Bring your Outline
Homework: Draft your final paper
Week 12:
Tues. Nov. 11
Thurs. Nov.13
Individual Meetings in my office
Bring your Outline
Homework: Draft your final paper
In Class: Watch Movie: The Examined Life
Week 13:
Tues. Nov. 18
Work on paper
In Class: Watch Movie: The Examined Life
Thurs. Nov.20
Work on paper
Week 14:
Tues. Nov. 25
Thurs. Nov.27
Week 15
Tues. Dec. 2
Thurs. Dec. 4
Thanksgiving – No Evening Classes
Thanksgiving – No classes
Long Oral Presentations (Group 1)
(with presentation outline you will turn in)
Homework: Work on Final revisions and visit
Writing Center (one visit required on final paper)
Long Oral Presentations (Group 2)
(with presentation outline you will turn in)
Homework: Work on Final revisions and visit
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Writing Center (one visit required on final paper)
Week 16
Tues. Dec. 9
Final Exam Period 6:30-9:30
Long Oral Presentations (Group 3)
(with presentation outline you will turn in)
Final Textual Analysis Paper Due
(with outline and draft attached. The writing
center will send me proof of your required visit.)