PHL 111, Philosophies of Life
Syllabus subject to change at discretion of instructor. Check announcements regularly!
Instructor: Lisa Kemmerer, lkemmerer@msubillings.edu (*THIS IS MY ONLY CONTACT
FOR ONLINE COURSES*)
Office: LA 409
Course description: Through some combination of books, articles, PowerPoints, and short
video clips, this course explores various answers to fundamental philosophical questions, such as
“What is the self?” “How should I live?” and “What is the meaning of life?” Course offers
students a chance to ponder their own answers to vital questions that structure the basic ways we
think about the universe and our place in the world. Course includes perspectives from around
the world, offering an empathic yet critical and analytic approach. Students must be willing to
entertain and examine controversial, minority, and divergent points of view.
Outcomes—The intent of the course is that students be able to:
 List a handful of core questions of philosophy.
 Compare and contrast a variety of perspectives on core questions of philosophy.
 Name critical thinkers and/or philosophical outlooks associated with different thinkers and or
different areas of the world.
 Review their own understandings and their society’s conventional answers to core philosophical
questions.
Books:
Main Text: Solomon and Higgins, The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy (8th
Edition, less than $1).
Other required books, each book is less than $1 online, unless indicated:
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (1996, $5), Fischer, Gandhi: His Life and
Message for the World (any version, mine is 1991), and readings (free) placed on reserve.
Books total: $7
Contact: Lkemmerer@msubillings.edu (*This is my only e-mail*) If you need to contact me,
please put “ONLINE 111” in the SUBJECT heading and include the section number for your
course (800, or 801, for example). I often zip through my daily quota of e-mail specifically
looking for online students who need help—this lets me know you are an online student. If I do
not respond within 48 hours, please send the message again.
If you prefer to use a title when contacting me, the appropriate title is “Dr.” (not Ms., Miss., or
Mrs.); I prefer just to be called my name, lisa.
Do not ask me technical questions, like how to access library materials (ask the library), or why
you can’t open a quiz or a PowerPoint, your grades, or online videos (all helpline), or the date
when finals week starts (check university online calendar). These wrongly directed messages
clog my e-mail, slowing my response to appropriate questions. Please remember that I am a
philosopher—not IT or admin. For technical questions, please contact: Desire2Learn, E-Learning
Operations: (406) 657-2191; E-mail msubonline@msubillings.edu.
If you are about to contact me about something, please be sure that your question is not
covered in the syllabus, is not technical or administrative, and expect me to be blunt with
you if it is. If covered in the syllabus, I will refer you back to the syllabus, rather than reexplain. (I think carefully about how I word information on your syllabus, and this is where you
need to go for full and dependable answers to course questions.) Some teachers dock points
when students ask admin questions, tech questions, or questions already covered on the
syllabus. I have come to understand why—it asks students to pause and think before firing off
an e-mail.
Finally, if you write to ask me a question, please, be specific about what you need so that I
don’t have to write back to you to ask for more details. For example, if you want help with a
quiz, along with your course title, please note the UNIT, and the TOPIC of that unit. Imagine
receiving your e-mail, and ask yourself if you have provided ALL the information that I will
need in order to help you specifically from among my roughly 120 current students.
A FEW CRITICAL GUIDELINES:
 Studying philosophy is fascinating and very important. Try to enjoy your studies and
focus on the material at hand—not your grade or your hoped-for diploma.
 You must proceed through the units in order. I have put the material together so as to
build from one topic to another. If you work units out of order, it will reduced your learning
experience, and I will dock you accordingly, up to half a mark from your final grade for each
out-of-order unit.
 Within each unit, it will benefit you most if you work through the materials in the order they
are listed, which should be the following order: unit introduction, other readings, PowerPoint,
videos, quiz. Do not take the quiz until you double-check that you have covered all
materials for that unit.
 During a full term (not summer or interim) you will need to complete a little less than 1.5
units per week in order to finish the course on time. To encourage students to keep up
and try to prevent students from failing the course, the first 7 quizzes close after
(roughly) the first half of the semester (check the exact time of day, as it is set by the
computer to the time of day when I set the dates, and is therefore random), at which
point you ought to be on unit 10 (because we are halfway through the term). If you
have not taken the first 7 quizzes by that time, please drop the course while you can—I
almost never sign late drops. If you are in a shorter course (such as summer), you will need
to cover the same material in a shorter period of time—please plan for this. You are
responsible to pace yourself and to complete all work before the course closes. Winter or
summer, I will close the first 7 units round-about the halfway point. This course offers a great
deal of freedom, which requires responsibility.
 There is no final exam. This course closes FRIDAY PRIOR TO FINALS WEEK, just
before midnight. However, you may continue to work if you are not done—at your own
risk. If you wish to be SURE that quizzes are completed before I tally grades, finish all
course material by Friday, midnight, before finals.
 Grades are posted in the grade-book. If you do not see your grades, please check with the
helpdesk. You are responsible to watch your quiz scores and know where you stand and
what you need to do in order to succeed. I do not report grades to individual students
before final grades are posted. (Please remember that I usually have about 120 students
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each term). You can easily figure your own likely grade using the syllabus and your quiz
scores.
Please let me know if anything seems amiss with the course, such as materials out of place
or incomplete, quiz duration not set correctly, something missing that is mentioned in the
intro to the unit, not clear where to find readings, etc. (Please help me correct any problems
quickly for other students working behind you.)
To drop this class, do it before the deadline, and do it through the registrar, do you do
not need my signature. You have a very good idea what your grade will be all along, based
on quiz scores, so I do not grant late drops; integrity requires students to take the grade
earned rather than withdraw at the end of the course. (Also, at MSUB you can retake courses,
after which any grade earned previously does not affect your GPA.). Please know that this
course is always full and there is always a waiting list for this course, so if you prefer another
class, please switch early, allowing another student your spot.
Discussions: We do not have “discussions” in this class because I found them to be more like
chat sessions than classroom discussions. Furthermore, online discussions inevitably unfold
without faculty guidance, and can be damaging to students on sensitive subjects like
homosexuality and abortion—I can’t be online 24-7. Therefore, I protect students by not
including discussions in philosophy courses online. Instead, I encourage you to dialogue with
me directly, not out of obligation in the hope of improving your grade, but when and if you have
a genuine interest in the material. Your grade is not affected if you do or do not engage in
dialogue. I find that this greatly improves my interactions with students.
Grading: I do not decide your grade – you do. The course is designed to rest only on hard data
from quizzes, not faculty assessment of your work or your viewpoints. In this course it requires
much reading to earn an A. Remember that classroom students have 3 hours of class per week,
plus weekly readings and assignments. I require just as much from online students because I
want you to learn just as much as students learn in the classroom. Consequently, you are
assigned more readings.
Here are the percentages, though they are not cast in stone and can be affected by other
factors, such as working units out of order or rudeness when corresponding with me. (“Range”
includes plus and minus grades):
F: 60% or less
D Range: 60-70%
C Range: 70-80%
B Range: 80-90%
A Range: 90-100%
Quizzes: Each quiz has 10 questions; each question is worth one point; you have 8 minutes. If
you do poorly on quizzes, here is my advice:
 Make sure you are rested and focused when you read—reading first thing in the morning
is more effective than reading at any other time of day.
 Be sure you do not offer answers that are based on previous understandings or previous
units. Questions are to be answered solely from the materials in the unit in which the quiz
appears, not from general knowledge or any previous or later readings. (Authors may
provide divergent viewpoints.)
I do not allow students access to completed quizzes because students would then be able to print
quiz questions and answers, which would jeopardize the integrity of the course. You are
welcome to send an e-mail and ask me about a question or two that you wonder about. If you
need more than this, I prefer that you arrange a time to come to my office and view each/all of
your quizzes on my computer.
After each quiz, the grade-book shows a percentage from the total points possible for the
entire course. Watch this score over time to be sure you reach the percentage that you intend to
earn when the course closes. If you work overtime while taking a quiz, your quiz score will
not show—watch the timer and do not work beyond the allowed time! Contact me if you do not
receive your score and I will likely help—once. If you open the wrong quiz, close it
immediately—within 3 seconds—in which case I will reset the quiz for you (again, only once
for any one person as I need to keep course integrity). If you answer questions, or keep the quiz
open for more than a few seconds, I cannot reset the quiz out of fairness to other students—you
are stuck with your guesses. For safety’s sake, SUBMIT each answer before you move to the
next question.
Student Integrity-Work must be done with integrity. A breach of integrity (any of the
following) can lead to failing the course, or grade reductions. Integrity includes (but is not
limited to):
 Engage only in thoughtful, considerate, and respectful interactions. It is best to re-read an
e-mail before you send. Inconsiderate or overtly rude interactions can affect your grade
up to half a mark.
 Work with enough care to pass quizzes if that is your intent for the course.
 Understand the course syllabus and please do not ask questions which I have already
explained on the syllabus.
 Work independently. Complete your quizzes on your own. I may require any student, at
any time, to retake a quiz (by telephone or in person) to replace a previously taken score.
OTHER DETAILS:
Counseling: If you feel angry or depressed and need help, please contact Student Health Service in
the SUB (657-2153), or after hours: Billings Clinic Emergency Department (657-4150), Billings
Clinic Hospital Emergency Room (2800 10th Ave N) or Community Crisis Center (259-8800),
704 N 30th.
Disabilities: Students with a disability seeking accommodations should contact Disability Support
Services in the Academic Support Center (657-2283).
Please remember that you are here to learn; learning is a worthwhile, enjoyable, and neverending part of life.