Suffolk County Community College, Grant Campus
Department of Communications and Arts
PL11: ISSUES IN PHILOSOPHY
Prof. Marc R. Fellenz
Email:
fellenm@sunysuffolk.edu
mfellenz@suffolk.lib.ny.us
PL11-6661, Spring 2005
Office:
Sagtikos 110, 851-6539
Mailbox: Sagtikos 201
Office hours:
 M/F: 12:30-1:45
 T/Th: 12:30-1:45, 5:00-6:00
 W: by appointment
I. COURSE OUTLINE
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Course Objectives: Through historical and critical analyses, the student will:
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Texts:
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get a sense of the history of Western philosophy, and the fundamental issues it has dealt with;
learn the principal ideas of some of the major figures in the tradition;
understand the systematic nature of philosophical thinking;
develop the basic skills of critical analysis.
Steven M. Cahn, Classics of Western Philosophy, 6th edition (required).
Donald Palmer, Looking at Philosophy (recommended).
Requirements:
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Attendance: Since the material for all assignments and exams will come primarily from class lecture and
discussion, attendance is extremely important. You will be withdrawn if you have more than two unexcused
absences; if you are not passing at the time you last attended you will receive an F for the class.
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Assignments (51% of the final grade): These include three 4-page papers. These assignments will
challenge you to form positions concerning the readings and lectures. They will not test your ability to
summarize or recall the material covered in class, nor are they research projects. Clarity and originality of
thought, quality of argument and writing will be the criteria for grading the assignments. They must be
typed, and will not be accepted after their designated due dates.
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Exams (each worth 15% of the final grade): There will be midterm and final exams. They will be in-class,
essay-style exams that will test your comprehension of the course material.
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Class participation (19% of the final grade): This means active participation, including initiating
discussion, answering questions, and seeking help (in class, during office hours, or by email). You may also
earn credit by participating in Philosophy Club meetings. Mere class attendance does not qualify as
participation!
Academic honesty:
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The rise in popularity of the Internet and other electronic research tools has led to an alarming rise in
plagiarism. Your work in this and all classes is expected to be your own. Any student caught
submitting plagiarized work will receive a failing grade for the assignment, and will be referred for
academic discipline.
PL11-6661
Spring 2005
II. SYLLABUS
Dates
Topic
Reading
2/1, 2/8
Introduction: Opinion, knowledge, and wisdom. The nature of
philosophy and its relationship to other activities that attempt to
give an account of reality. The fundamental areas of philosophy.
The nature of a philosophical system.
Looking at
Philosophy:
Introduction
2/15
Socrates: The search for wisdom. Philosophy vs. mythology.
The early Platonic dialogs. The Socratic method of philosophical
examination. The value of the examined life. Assignment #1 will
be handed out 2/15.
2/22, 3/1
Plato and metaphysics: Is there more to reality than the
world around us? Plato and Socrates. The later dialogs. The
metaphysical theory of the Forms. Plato's anthropology,
epistemology, and ethics. Assignment #1 due 3/1.
LAP: Chapters 1-2;
Classics of
Western
Philosophy:
Apology
LAP: Chapter 2;
CWP: Republic
3/8, 3/15
Aristotle and ethics: What does it take to be a good person? LAP: Chapter 2;
Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle's critique of the Platonic forms.
CWP: Metaphysics,
Aristotle's anthropology and epistemology. The details of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
ethical philosophy in The Nicomachean Ethics. Assignment #2
will be handed out 3/8.
3/22
Review of ancient philosophy. Midterm exam.
3/29
No class.
4/5
Descartes: The modern revolution. Review of the structure of LAP: Chapter 5;
traditional philosophical systems. Modern science and the quest for CWP: Meditations
certainty. The turn to subjectivity in The Meditations.
on First Philosophy
Assignment #2 due 4/5.
4/12,
4/19
Kant and epistemology: What do we really know about the
world? Modern science and the problems of traditional
epistemology. Kant's revaluation of traditional metaphysics. A
priori synthetic knowledge and its importance. The “Copernican
revolution.” Assignment #3 will be handed out 4/12.
4/26, 5/3 Existentialism: What is the meaning of human existence?
The tension between ancient and modern philosophy. Nietzsche and
the Twilight of the Idols. Sartre's atheistic existential analysis of
human freedom and responsibility. Assignment #3 due 4/26.
5/10
Review of ancient philosophy. Final exam.
LAP: Chapter 5;
CWP: Critique of
Pure Reason
LAP: Chapters 6-7;
CWP: Twilight of the
Idols; Humanism of
Existentialism