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2016 ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMICS
SUMMER SCHOOL
Introduction to Philosophy
Course description:
Philosophy deals with foundational questions in everyday life. Where does knowledge come
from? Is there A truth to everything? What is the relationship between mind, body and spirit?
What is the essential meaning of life, if there is one? Are we moral beings with virtues?
How to live a good and moral life? Do we even have control over our own lives under free
will? In short, Philosophy is a discipline asking the “why” questions about everything. In this
course, students are expected to understand the philosophical ways of approaching those
questions and to learn to reason with logic. Throughout this course, students are also guided
to develop critical thinking abilities and to defend their own positions in their writing while
weighing in evidence from different philosophical perspectives.
Required book:
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY
READINGS, 5TH EDITION, edited by John Perry, Michael Bratman and John Martin Fisher,
Oxford University Press, 2009
Other required readings will be available in class or on class website
Optional readings and resources:
PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE, by Matthew Chrisman, Duncan Pritchard, Jane Suilin
Lavelle, Michela Massimi, Alasdair Richmond, and Dave Ward, Routledge: London, 2014
THE STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY: http://plato.stanford.edu/
Course Hours:
The course has 40 sessions in total. Each session is approximately 60 minutes in length.
Exams and paper: There will be two papers over the four weeks. One short paper (3-4 pages)
will be due midterm, and one long paper (6-8 pages) will be due at the end, each accounting
for 40% and 50% of the final grade, respectively.
Attendance and Participation: The remaining 10% of the student’s grade will be
determined by attendance and participation in class. Attendance is mandatory in the class.
You are allowed to have 1 unexcused absence before completely losing 10% of your final
grade.
Before coming to the class each session, you are expected to read and cover all the required
study materials, e.g., textbook chapters and printouts. And thus fully prepared participation is
anticipated.
Unjustified absences, and lack of participation in class will have a negative impact on your
score. In rare cases, if you are shy or feeling uncomfortable talking in front of others, talk to
the instructor beforehand and with the instructor’s permission, you may substitute your inclass participation with edited notes/comments about class materials sent directly to instructor,
but again this should be considered rare cases.
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Schedule (tentative):
Week 1:
Introduction
Plato, “The Myth of the Cave”
Plato, “Meno”
Plato, “Repbulic”
Week 2
Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”;
Nozick, Excerpt from “Philosophical Explanations”
Descartes, “Meditations”
Midterm Paper Due
Week 3:
Kant, “Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals”;
Aristotle, “Nichomachean Ethics”;
Nozick, "Justice and Entitlement"
Week 4:
Chisholm, "Human Freedom and the Self";
Inwagen, “The Powers of Rational Beings”;
Hume, “Of Liberty and Necessity”
Week 5:
Frankfurt, “Alternate Possibilities” and “Freedom of the Will”;
Taylor, “Freedom and Determinism”;
Augustine, “On Free Choice of the Will”
Leo Tolstoy, “A Confession”
Final Paper Due
Cheating, Academic Integrity, & Plagiarism:
Don't cheat! Cheating will normally result in zero point on the exams or assignment, and can
lead to failing the course and/or action with your university/college.
Plagiarism is the repetition, replication and reproduction of the words or ideas of others’ as
one’s own without proper acknowledgement. To avoid plagiarism, direct quotation must be
identified by quotation marks and must be properly cited in the text or in a footnote. In order
to avoid inadvertent plagiarism, always try to rephrase or paraphrase others’ words in your
own with appropriate acknowledgement.