Phil 101-Section 02: Intro to Philosophy – ETHICS
Spring Semester 2015
Schedule Number: 22442
INSTRUCTOR and CLASS INFORMATION
Instructor: H. Reyes
Email: hreyes@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours Location: AL 427
Office Hours: MWF 11-11:50am; F 10-12:00n; and by appointment
Class Location: PSFA 350
Class Meeting Times: MW10:00-10:50am
COURSE OVERVIEW
Course Catalog Description
Phil 101: Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics (3) (GE) – Philosophical inquiry, with emphasis on problems of moral value. Students are encouraged to think independently and formulate their own tentative conclusions concerning a variety of vital contemporary issues facing individual and society.
Course Objectives
In this Phil 101 Intro to Phil: Ethics course, we shall explore a wide variety of classical ethical theories and learn how philosophers both past and present have approached fundamental ethical questions. In addition, we shall apply the ethical theories and valid moral principles we have learned to analyze current moral problems in our society. Specific goals of this course include:

To present central moral theories and most influential ideas in Western philosophy: divine law theory, hedonism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, deontologism, virtue ethics, feminist ethics, and existentialism

To introduce students to original writings of classical and present day philosophers: Plato,
Aristotle, Hobbes, Bentham, Mill, Kant, Nietzsche, Sartre, etc.

To compare and contrast opposing philosophical points of views and understand the similarities and differences in light of cultural and historical factors
 To broaden students’ perspectives and help them appreciate well-structured arguments and significant conceptual distinctions

To teach students to apply ethical theories to controversial moral issues and practical situations such genetic cloning, abortion, euthanasia, etc.

To train students to criticize the reasoning of others and to develop some analytic and logical skills

To challenge students to think about what kind of life to live, what kind of person to be, and what things are worth living or dying for
General Education Outcomes
Philosophy 101 is a General Education course aimed at “providing the breadth of knowledge necessary for meaningful work, life-long learning, socially responsible citizenship, and intellectual development. Among the “seven essential capacities” emphasized by San Diego
State’s General Education program, Philosophy 101 develops in students the ability to
1. Construct, analyze, and communicate arguments;
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2. Apply theoretical models to the real world;
3. Contextualize phenomena;
4. Negotiate differences;
5. Integrate global and local perspectives;
6. Illustrate relevance of concepts across boundaries;
7. Evaluate consequences of actions.
Philosophy 101 fulfills the goals for GE Courses in the Humanities and Fine Arts . Students will acquire “capacities for reflection, critique, communication, [and] cultural understanding.”
Goal 1 : Analyze written, visual, or performed texts in the humanities and fine arts with sensitivity to their diverse cultural contexts and historical moments.
Goal 2 : Develops a familiarity with various aesthetic and other value systems and the ways they are communicated across time and cultures.
Goal 3 : Argue from multiple perspectives about issues in the humanities that have personal and global relevance.
Goal 4 : Demonstrate the ability to approach complex problems and ask complex questions drawing upon knowledge of the humanities.
COURSE MATERIALS
REQUIRED TEXT: Cahn, S. (ed.). Classics of Western Philosophy (8 th
ed.). 2012. Hackett.
(ISBN: 978-1-60384-8)
NOTE: In addition to this text, I will be posting some e-lectures on Blackboard (BB) for your reading and reflection.
COURSE STRUCTURE and CONDUCT
Our course is a blended (or hybrid) class . It is a blended class where we have face-to-face class (F2F) meetings twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays 10-10:50 am. Our third meeting of the week will take place online. On Fridays, students will either view carefully reflect on an e-lecture posted on Blackboard (BB) and work on an Online Discussion Board (ODB).
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
1) To see whether you meet the distance learning prerequisites, please take SDSU’s “readiness survey” at https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/pls/webapp/survey.hybrid_learning.main
2) Download Mozilla’s
Firefox is recommended (however, some students claim that Safari or
Chrome work better for them).
3) Download (for free) all necessary software , including the latest versions of: Adobe’s
Acrobat Reader and Flash Player , QuickTime Player , and Java .
4) Have a backup plan for fulfilling course obligations when/if your computer malfunctions. For example, to find out about computers at the library; go to http://scc.sdsu.edu/home.php
.
5) If you need to learn how to use Blackboard, go to: http://its.sdsu.edu/blackboard/student/
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6) Re: Technology -- The instructor cannot provide IT support. You are responsible for your computing needs. When problems occur on the SDSU end (blackboard crash, our clerical errors), you will not be penalized. However, when problems occur on your end, you must fix them prior to any deadlines. Student IT problems are not an acceptable excuse for non- completion of work . You can go to Student Computing Center in Love Library for help or to use their computers; call (619) 594-3189; email scc@rohan.sdsu.edu
; or click http://scc.sdsu.edu/home.php
.
7) To be successful in this course, students are also required to:

Carefully read the assigned reading(s) found in the Cahn textbook before coming to class

Make use of the e-lectures and other course materials available via Blackboard. These electures are only available in Blackboard for a period of time, so be sure to access these materials as soon as these are posted on BB.
•
Participate in class discussion and submit the ODBs on the due date (and time) these are supposed to be submitted. NO EXTENSION of due dates is allowed.
• Complete readings and assignments by the dates indicated on the syllabus.
•
Check your emails and pay attention to the announcements made in Blackboard
8) CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
Use of laptop/tablet in class is ALLOWED ONLY for the purpose of accessing the electronic version of the text and for note taking. Students will lose this privilege if they use their laptop/tablet for other than those specified activities.
Students should also refrain from any activity/behavior that may be disturbing to other students who are making the effort to be attentive. Let us show RESPECT FOR EACH
OTHER by coming to class on time, not sleeping during class, not letting our cell phone to ring as class is going on, and by being actively engaged in whatever is going on in class.
Finally, the classroom is not the proper place for sleeping.
COURSE ASSESSMENT AND GRADING
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1.
Attendance and Participation (in-class and on-line):

Because of the nature of the course and the structure by which it is conducted, it is imperative for the students to attend each class on time. It will be to your benefit to avoid unnecessary absences as such absences drastically affect your appreciation and understanding of the materials discussed as well as your performance in the tests.

To be prepared for each class and actively participate in class activity. You will have
(or at least have tried to) read and thought about the assigned reading before each class. Be sure to bring the assigned text or handout with you to class. Active participation requires that you follow closely the on-going class-discussion, and think of the questions asked and the answer offered even though you may not be the one being asked. Keep in mind that you are a major participant to the philosophical conversation going on in class.

On-line class participation will be through the Blackboard Discussion Board. For every major reading assigned, you will be asked to answer some questions based on the reading, or make comments about some passages taken from the reading, or participate in a group discussion or activity.
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2.
2 Writing Assignments (WA): For every major reading assigned, you will be provided with guide questions that are intended to help you better understand the issues presented in the reading. For two of these major readings you will submit what is called Writing Assignment.
Your WA will consist of your answers to the guide questions provided for a particular reading. Please refer to the course outline section of this handout for the due dates for these
2 WAs. Five (5) points will be deducted from the WA grade for every class meeting the
WA is submitted late.
3.
3 Major Exams: These are announced/scheduled 50-minute long essay exams. One week before the scheduled quiz (to give focus and direction in your preparation) you will be provided with guide questions from which the quiz questions will be chosen at random.
Please refer to the course outline section of this handout for the dates of the quizzes.
4.
Final Exam – The final exam is comprehensive (i.e., will include all the philosophers and readings discussed in the course). One week before the final exam (again, to give focus and direction in your preparation), you will be provided with guide questions from which the final exam questions will be chosen at random.
NOTE: I encourage you to aspire for excellence. I encourage and recognize hard work, diligence and genuine effort on your part. To reward such qualities, I provide for an opportunity for you to be exempted from the final exam. A student will be exempted from the final exam if the following conditions are met: Your pre-final grade is at least 90% and
you have NO (repeat, NO) absences
Grading Policy:
Your final grade will be based on the following distribution of points:

45% --------------- 3 Major Exams

15%---------------- Discussion Board
 20% --------------- 2 Writing Assignments

20% --------------- Final Exam
100%
Your letter grade will be determined based on the following scale:
96 – 100 % -------------------- A
90 – 95% ---------------------- A-
86 – 89% ---------------------- B+
83 – 85 % --------------------- B
80 – 82% ---------------------- B-
76 – 79% ---------------------- C+
73 – 75 % --------------------- C
70 – 72% ----------------------- C-
65 – 69 % --------------------- D+
60 – 64% ----------------------- D
NOTE
: Anything below 60% is an “F”
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STUDENT DISABILITY & RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
Student Disability Services
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, 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. Your cooperation is appreciated.
The CSU Office of the Chancellor defines a learning disability as “... a generic term that refers to the heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders occur in persons of average to very superior intelligence and are presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction. Even though a learning disability may exist concomitantly with other handicapping conditions (e.g., sensory impairments) or environmental influences (e.g., cultural/language difficulties), it is not the direct result of these conditions or influences.” If you think something might prevent you from doing well in this course, you should discuss this with me so that proper arrangements may be made to accommodate your needs.
Religious Observances
By the end of the first week of classes, students should notify the instructor of planned absences for religious observances. They must inform faculty members within the first week in order to be excused from scheduled tasks on scheduled days.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism . These activities will not be tolerated in this class. Become familiar with the policy
(http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html). Any cheating or plagiarism will result in failing this class and a disciplinary review by Student Affairs.
Examples of Plagiarism include but are not limited to:

Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences, paragraphs and/or pages of work)

Copying and pasting work from an online or offline source directly and calling it your own

Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit

Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases

Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class
If you have questions on what is plagiarism, please consult the policy
(http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html) and this helpful guide from the Library :( http://infodome.sdsu.edu/infolit/exploratorium/Standard_5/plagiarism.pdf
)
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COURSE OUTLINE/SCHEDULE (ONLY for the F2F Class Meetings)
NOTE: Please pay attention always to the e-lectures that are to be posted on BB. You will receive an announcement via BB when an e-lecture is posted on BB.
01/21/2015 (W): INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
Get acquainted, class orientation, discuss course requirements, etc.
Introductory discussion
Assignment: Read Plato’s Apology and work on Discussion Board (DB) #1 (Apology), and begin work on Writing Assignment #1 (Apology)
01/26/2015 (M) & 01/28/2015 (W): SOCRATES
Discuss Apology
ONLINE DISCUSSION BOARD (ODB) #1 (Apology) DUE: Friday, 01/30/2015
(11pm)
Assignment: Read Plato’s Crito; and work on Writing Assignment (WA) #1 (Apology)
02/02/2015 (M) & 02/04/2015 (W): SOCRATES
Continue to discuss Apology and read Crito
ODB #2 DUE : Friday, 02/06/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Complete WA #1 and Read Book 2, Book 6, and Book 7 of Plato’s
Republic
02/09/2015 (M) & 02/11/2015 (W): PLATO
Discuss the Plato’s Republic
WA #1 DUE: Monday, 02/09/2015 (Hardcopy of WA #1 to be submitted during class time)
ODB #3 DUE: Friday, 02/13/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Read Book 1 and Book 2 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
02/16/2015 (M) & 02/18/2015 (W): ARISTOTLE
Discuss Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics
ODB #3 DUE: Friday, 02/20/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Review for Major Exam #1
02/23/2015 (M) & 02/25/2015 (W): ARISTOTLE
Continue to discuss the ethics of Aristotle
MAJOR EXAM #1: Wednesday, 02/25/2015
Assignment: Re-read all the e-lectures on Plato and Aristotle
03/02/2015 (M) & 02/04/2015: PLATO and ARISTOTLE Comparative Analysis
Compare and contrast: Plato and Aristotle
ODB #4 DUE: Friday, 03/06/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Read chapters 13, 14, 15 and 17 of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan
03/09/2015 (M) & 03/11/2015 (W): HOBBES
-
Discuss Hobbes’ ethical and political views
ODB #5 DUE: Friday, 03/13/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment:
Read Kant’s Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals
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03/16/2015 (M) & 03/18/2015 (W): KANT
- Discuss Kant’s Ethics
- ODB #6 DUE: 10/21, Friday, 03/20/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Continue to re-read the Kant reading and review for Major Exam #2
03/23/2015 (M) and & 03/25/2015: KANT
Continue to discuss the ethics of Kant
MAJOR EXAM #2: Wednesday, 03/25/2015
Assignment: Read the Bentham reading
SPRING RECESS – 03/30/2015 (M) – 04/03/2015 (F) – NO CLASS
04/06/2015 (M) & 04/08/2015 (W): BENTHAM
Discuss Bentham’s Utilitarianism
ODB #7 DUE: Friday, 04/10/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Read Mill’s Utilitarianism and work on Writing Assignment #2
04/13/2015 (M) & 04/15/2015 (F): MILL
Discuss Mill’s Utilitarianism
ODB #8 DUE: Friday, 04/17/2015 (11 pm)
Assignment: Complete WA #2 and re- read the Mill reading
04/20/2015 (M) &04/22/2015 (W): Mill
Continue to discuss Mill
WA #2 DUE: Wednesday, 04/22/2015 (A hard copy of WA#2 to be submitted in class)
Assignment: Read Sartre’s the Humanism of Existentialism
04/27/2015 (M) & 04/29/2015 (W): SARTRE
Discuss the existentialism of Sartre
ODB #9 DUE: Friday, 05/01/2015
Assignment: Review for Major Exam #3
05/04/2015 (M): MAJOR EXAM #3
05/06/2015: Distribute pre-final grade; and review for final exam
FINAL EXAM: Friday, 05/08/2015 (8:00-10:00 am)
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