Honors Introduction to philosophy,
Spring 2006
A note on using a syllabus:
Read through it carefully, and follow it. The syllabus is an implicit contract on your part:
enrolling in the class you have agreed to do the work involved in the class. The syllabus spells
out that work and spells out the consequences if you do not do what is expected of you.
Not following the instructions regarding assignments (format, due dates, and the like)
invites the suspicion that you are careless in your work.
Losing your syllabus is not a valid excuse for not having your assignments done on time
or appropriately. Go to the Blackboard site and get another copy, or make a copy from
a classmate=s syllabus.
PHILOSOPHY 101
HONORS INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY:
CRN: 9808 NOON MWF Room: TZ - 113
FALL, 2006
Why do philosophy at all?
Here is an answer from The Economist in an unsigned book review of two philosophy books
(December 17th, 2005 [volume 377, number 8457], pg 82):
“. . . philosophy’s promise to clarify has growing appeal. . . . When arguments themselves turn on
contentious principles - majority rule, moral truth, science against faith – philosophy will not go
away. Shut the door, and back it comes through the window. Philosophy, once readmitted, then
turns a characteristic trick. It makes you think how you should be arguing about those principles
and tries to make plain what should count as good and bad reasons. It guarantees no answers but
does offer the wherewithal to recognize genuine answers when they appear.”
INSTRUCTOR:
Clyde Ebenreck
Office: Marlboro 3023
(Campus Mail Box: Marlboro 3072 - English and Humanities/Liberal Arts)
Office Hours: MWF 11 – 11:45 (usually available for appointments later). Appointments
are also possible on TTH
Phone: 301-322-0947 (office) (I check my voice mail each weekday even if I do not come
into the office: leave name, message, phone and best time to call you)
E-mail: cebenreck@pgcc.edu
THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO REACH ME
(I check my E-mail daily, and at least once on weekends, you can expect some
sort of reply within 24 to 36 hours: start the "subject" line with “PHL 101H"
and your course section number then add CCGP06 “CCGP06”” is a code used
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by the college e-mail system’s spam detector to indicate that you e-mail is
legitimate.
Without that code your e-mail, especially if it comes from Yahoo or Hotmail, runs
the risk of being classified as spam and not reaching my mail box. Do not leave
the subject line blank since I automatically delete e-mails without subject lines.)
No personal fax number (and the departmental and college faxes do not always reach me
promptly)
It is always to your advantage to let your teachers know of any problems (course-related
or otherwise) you run into during the semester. Waiting until the end of the semester
usually means there is nothing that can be worked out.
OBJECTIVES FOR THE COURSE:
General objective for any college level course:
AOur campuses are producing citizens, and this means that we must ask what a
good citizen of the present day should be and should know. The present-day world
is inescapably multicultural and multinational. Many of our most pressing
problems require for their intelligent, cooperative solutions, a dialogue that brings
together people from many different national and cultural and religious
backgrounds. Even those issues that seem closest to home - issues, for example,
about the structure of the family, the regulation of sexuality, the future of children need to be approached, with a broad historical and cross-cultural understanding. A
graduate of a U.S. university or college ought to be the sort of citizen who can
become and intelligent participant in debates involving these differences, whether
professionally or simply as a voter, a juror, a friend.@
Martha C. Nussbaum, Cultivating Humanity, Harvard University Press,
1997, pg 8.
OBJECTIVES for all the introductory philosophy courses at the college (these are general
categories – each faculty member can select various sub-headings of these):
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. demonstrate a passion for truth
2. show independent thinking
3. know what a philosophical issue is
4. establish a community of intellectual cooperation
For this course (from the Honors Program and Courses 2006-2007 booklet):
This semester we will explore what it is that makes a society just (“good”) with Plato,
Aristotle, Thomas More, Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. We will do
some close reading, lots of thinking, and lots of discussion. You will end up knowing some
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classic and more modern philosophers, get better at critical thinking, and (hopefully) have
fun in the process.
TOOLS FOR THE SEMESTER:
a) Your own curiosity and a kind of drive to know what you do not already know.
b) Your ability to actively read (that is: you read in order to dialogue with the author about
his or her ideas and not just to fulfill an assignment) and comprehend what you have read.
You will be reading some of the most demanding texts in the world: texts that not only
require that you know the vocabulary and grammar involved, but also require you to
constantly check to see if the arguments raised are valid or not.
c) Your ability to express yourself clearly in writing and speech.
d) BOOKS (required): in the bookstore, but you may find these cheaper on-line
Title:
Date:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Aristotle: Introductory Readings
1996
Hackett Publishing Company,
0-87220-339-5
Title:
The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of
Women and Utilitarianism
2002
Random House Adult Trade Publishing: Modern Library
0-375-75918-2
Date:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Title:
Author:
Republic
Plato
C. D. C. Reeve (Translator)
Publication Date:
2004
Publisher:
Hackett Publishing Company,
ISBN:
0-87220-736-6
Edition:
3
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Rights of Man
Thomas Paine
1992
Hackett Publishing Company,
0-87220-147-3
Title:
Author:
Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society
Karl Marx
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Date:
Publisher:
ISBN:
1997
Hackett Publishing Company,
0-87220-368-9
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publisher:
ISBN
Utopia
Thomas More
1999
Hackett Publishing Company
0-87220-376-x
A recommended book: Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments . . . in the bookstore, and can be used
as a crutch to remind you on how to present a well argued paper. If you do not find it under PHL
101H, 9808, look around on the philosophy shelves - I am using it in all of my classes.
e) Other resources:
Access to a word processing system (with spell checker) and printer, ALL
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS WILL NEED TO BE TYPED (see page five), and
ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED AS A WORD PROCESSING FILE (.DOC) (via
Blackboard’s “Digital Drop Box”): the writing center and the various campus computing
labs have word processing software. Be sure to have a floppy disk with you if you use
those facilities to store your file - a lost file cannot be graded AND it makes no difference
who loses the file. If I lose it I still cannot grade it. If you are using campus facilities, plan
ahead so that you do not need those facilities when they are in fact closed. And if you are
working with your own system, you still should check out the various computer labs in
case your system fails during the middle of a project to be sure that you can still complete
your work.
The learning resources center (encyclopedias, books, journals, videos, databases)
The writing center (tutorial help on papers - walk-ins are welcome during most of
the semester) [Even if you do not intend to use the computers, it would be to your
advantage to stop in and see what they have in case your computer ever gives up on you
half-way through an assignment. For example, as far as I know, they have no Mac or other
Apple equivalents, nor anything for dedicated word-processors like Brother.]
f) And two major resources:
Your classmates - you are encouraged to work with each other on the readings, the
assignments and your questions. (But if I get two assignments with essentially the same
content and wording both you and your classmate will receive the penalty for plagiarism.
Always use your own words, not someone else=s.)
Your teacher: my office hours and time are there for you. If you can=t see me
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Spring 2006
during the scheduled times make and keep an appointment for when you can. (Common
courtesy would then require you to notify me as soon as you know you could not keep an
appointment you set up.)
THE SEMESTER'S WORK
All assigned work is expected to be done by the START of the class for which it is
assigned:
*read the assignments BEFORE, not during or after the class;
*papers and tasks are to be drop-boxed via Blackboard to me before the class time.
Expected classroom behavior:
You are to be in class on time and stay for the entire session. If you arrive after the
class starts and roll is taken you may be counted as absent.
You are not permitted to do the assignments (reading, writing, calculating) for
another course during the class: that would count as an absence in this class even if
you are physically present. Likewise you are Aabsent@ if you are listening to an Ipod or Walkman or other such device
All cell phones/pagers should be set to vibrate and not ring. In addition, you are
not free to leave the classroom to make or receive a call unless the call is a medical
emergency (you will need to provide me with the appropriate documentation in the
following class).
Eating during the class is not acceptable (smoking is not acceptable at any time
within the campus buildings) If you eat or drink before the class be sure to deposit
the wrappings and empties in the waste basket and do not leave them on the floor
or desk for someone else to clean up.
You are always free to interrupt the teacher with a question or comment, but if a
classmate is talking allow him or her to finish before making your own point. A
discussion goes nowhere unless each participant is listened to.
1: ATTENDANCE is required.
You have three Afree@ absences, after those three you will lose 3 points from your end of
semester total for each absence. Thus, if you miss 13 classes you will have 30 points
deducted from your final score.
Late arrival (or early departure) counts as an absence - but, if you explain such events to
me you may escape being marked as absent.
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2: Participation - you are expected to carry your share of the classroom discussions by asking
questions, sharing ideas, answering the questions of the teacher and others. I will not
directly grade participation, but in case your final score is on the borderline between
grades, I will consider your participation and be more inclined to move you to the higher
grade if your participation has been regular and substantive.
3: For every class in which a reading is assigned you are required to do the reading before the
class.
4: Short essays (5 - 7 pages: worth 20 points) are to be e-mailed before the start of the class on
the due day. To be perfectly safe you may also turn in a hard copy of the e-mailed file.
(General format for all the papers: typed, double -space, use standard 12 point
type [no script, or ornate type faces] and one inch margins, no cover page, pages
numbered; your full name, section number of the course, date when the assignment
is due in the upper right hand corner: not following these simple directions will
cost you points even before I read the essay.)
The topic for these short essays is assigned in the class schedule which follows. If the topic
has several parts be sure that you cover each part. An incomplete essay cannot receive full
credit. You will set out to define, clarify and substantiate your position on an issue. It
may require reference to other thinkers (including our texts) but when it does, your own
position has to be clear, and the referenced texts need to be accurately cited (see section 5
below).
Always keep a back up copy of any written work in case I lose your paper.
5: Mid-Term paper, 40 points, 10 pages – see the question in the schedule of classes.
Whenever you use a source even in a paraphrase (giving the sense of the citation
with some modification of wording) you need to give an accurate citation for it (author,
title, publishers, date, page). If your source is something from the Internet, give the full
http address of the page you actually use, not just the home page address. Internet entries
also have authors and dates. If you cannot find who wrote the piece you are citing you can
be pretty sure that the information is not accurate. The Learning Resource center staff can
help you identify what is a reliable source and what is not.
(Note, it is always wise to use SEVERAL independent sources <both with print
and electronic material> - a single source may simply be incorrect. An
independent source is one which does not simply echo the data from another
location.
For example, there is a contemporary piece of imaginative fiction, The DaVinci
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Code which contends that there was a conspiracy within Christianity to hide the
purported fact that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a daughter with
her. The author claims to have spent a lot of time researching the issue, but if you
look at his sources you see that they all repeat the same information coming from a
single very dubious source B a forged French document pretending to be ancient.
While it is not particularly important for a novel to be accurate, if the author is
claiming that there are historical foundations upon which he builds his story and
those foundations are not true, you know that the author is playing some kind of
head game with you.
Another example - in a previous semester, a student paper dealt with a
psychological study which claimed to prove scientifically that there was no such
thing as Alove@. Unfortunately, the study itself was a hoax published by a British
on-line satirical journal. Just entering the supposed author’s name into Google
turned up only additional postings of the same “research”. Another clue, if your
sources all use the same wording you can be certain they are not independent
sources.
If the sources you use disagree with each other, then you need to be clear on why you
accepted one interpretation and not the other. Some sources are notoriously unreliable:
personal home pages and blogs, Web sites (especially .org and .com) that have a specific
agenda they are promoting <for example, pro or anti-abortion; pro or anti- the war on
terrorism, pro or anti-legalized marijuana, pro or anti-President Bush>. If you use any
sources like these, be sure another source backs up your data. Such biased sources can
nudge you to rethink some of your notions, but because the odds are very high that they are
not presenting the information accurately: you cannot simply rely on their data merely
because they say it is true.
Not citing your source can lead to penalties for PLAGIARISM (you get zero on the
assignment plus a ten percent drop in your semester total. In addition, the fact of
that plagiarizing will be reported to the honors coordinator, Dr. Frederick).
Always use your own words: cutting and pasting is not thinking. Anything that is simply
cut and pasted will count as plagiarized unless you accurately give the source immediately
after those words (so, if your cut and paste takes parts from three sources to make up your
sentence or paragraph, after each pasted item there would be the specific reference to
where you got those words and phrases). Finally, a paper which is substantially quoting
accurately cited sources is still not your work and could not receive full credit. Try to limit
the number of direct quotes and paraphrases to that which is absolutely essential to your
argument (as a rule of thumb for this class, no more than 20%) See the final pages of this
syllabus for more details on avoiding plagiarism.
A note and a warning: I have access to “Turnitin.com” a massive data base of
published and submitted essays, articles, books, web sites: when you turn your
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paper in to me I may submit it to that service to be checked against their data. This
makes it very easy for me to find out if you have Aborrowed@ the material without
citing it. Your paper, if I submit it, also becomes part of their data base.
If in fact you had submitted your paper to another faculty member either here or at
another institution and that faculty member submitted your paper to Turnitin.com,
the paper you hand in to me will be scored as “not original” . . . i.e. plagiarized.
You can use the research you have done for other classes or other colleges, but not
the actual wording you used in presenting that research. Philosophy has its own
way of thinking and dealing with things.
A special note on citations from standard alphabetical reference works (dictionaries,
encyclopedias), usually the title of the work and its date, plus the name of the article and
author (in an encyclopedia) is sufficient. However, if the article runs for several pages,
also cite the page. The purpose of any citation is to make it clear to the reader where the
information can be easily verified.
If you use the Torah, Bible or the Qur’an, page references are not expected, instead one
would identify the specific book, chapter and verse for the Torah and Bible, and the surah
and verse for the Qur’an. For example: ”Gn: 1, 4-6” would point the reader to the first
book of Genesis, verses 4 to 6. Or “Surah 16 ‘The Bee’, 8” would indicate the 16th surah,
eighth verse (if the version of the Qur’an you are using does not number the surahs, the
alternative is using the title of the surah and verse number). “The Bible says . . .” or “In
the Holy Qur’an . . .” are not adequate citations.
I will be looking for the philosophical reasoning that you do; whether you support your
position with coherent arguments (consulting the Weston book would help you here) and
accurate data; and whether you interpret the readings and other sources accurately. A
grammatically correct paper with accurately spelled words points to a well thought-out
paper, careless grammar and spelling will hurt your grade. I do not grade you on whether
or not what you say agrees with my ideas . . . what I do grade is careful thinking even if
the results turn out opposed to my notions. A well thought through challenge to my
position is absolutely welcome.
7: MAJOR PAPER at the end of the semester (60 points): fifteen pages on any topic, but it
must be treated from a philosophical standpoint and related in some direct way to
philosophy. Your introductory paragraphs should not only state the thesis you are trying
to show but also clearly state why the issue is a philosophical one. Your paper needs to
directly say why a particular question is philosophical by identifying the philosophical
concern that the paper deals with. It is not enough to say that because philosophy often
involves controversy, your topic is philosophical because it is controversial. Philosophical
controversies are of a specific kind and you need to identify that kind. The paper would
then go on to work out the presentation and defense of your thesis following the methods
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of good argumentation (Weston gives details on what that method is). The norms on
format and citations mentioned previously also hold here.
LATE WORK?
I do not accept late or make-up papers. If you know you will have to miss class,
turn in your assignment beforehand. If there is an emergency absence and if the
emergency is such that you cannot turn in the paper electronically, make an appointment to
see me when the emergency is over to discuss the issue.
EXTRA CREDIT? Only in the most exceptional cases will I consider a request for such work.
(Exceptions that I have in mind would be documented medical absences which prevented
you from sending me your work, or sudden mobilization of your military unit where you
could not have access to the website to send me your work. If your reserve unit
is called up for an undefined duration, you may want to consider dropping the course and
asking the college for a refund. In the past the college has done so.)
The amount of extra credit would not exceed covering the number of absences and graded
papers missed during those absences. You would need to meet with me in my office (not
as a quick conversation around class time) to directly discuss the possibility of an extracredit assignment - have the documentation supporting your absence with you. Any extra
credit work would need to be turned in before the official withdrawal date.
Asking at the end of the semester if there is any extra credit work you can do to
improve your grade will be turned down.
GRADES: e-mail assignment - 5; presentation - 15; short papers - 80; midterm - 40; final major
paper - 60
TOTAL: 200
A: 180 - 200
B = 160 - 179
C = 140 - 159
D = 120 - 139
The best way to keep track of your grade during the semester is to subtract any missed
points (including any plagiarism, attendance or comments penalties) from the total of 200
and you will know what grade is still possible for you in the semester. If you check with
me about your grade during the semester, all that I will be able to tell you is how many
points you have at that point - I will not be able to tell you what grade you will get by the
end of the semester (in particular, more than a fourth of your total score is in the major
paper which is not due until the last weeks of class).
************************************************************************
KEEP A COPY OF ALL WRITTEN WORK IN CASE I MISPLACE IT BEFORE I
GRADE IT.
KEEP ALL YOUR GRADED WORK UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER
IN CASE I FORGET TO RECORD YOUR SCORE.
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THE SEMESTER=S SCHEDULE:
If the college closes (it does not follow the county school pattern: the announcements must
specifically say that the college is closed; check WMAL, WPGC, WRC, WTOP, WAVA,
WASH, WHUR, WWMX, WGAY and TV channels 4, 5, 7, 8, 9. Sometimes the college
web site includes a notice of weather related closings, but it is not always up to date), any
written assignment will be due the next class that the college is open. The reading
assignments will be adjusted as necessary:
If I am unable to make it to class, and the college was open, your assignments is still due.
If I miss class, no one is counted as absent, but you may lose points if the assignment is
not in my inbox on time.
Note # 1: most of the time you will need to read the assignment more than once:
schedule at least two hours of preparation for each hour of class. You would be
very well advised to go through the entire syllabus now and note those assignments
that are longer than a few pages to allow yourself to start reading them early. You
will need to have finished reading them by the start of the class for which they are
assigned.
Note #2: the most dangerous ideas are the ones you presently have. You hold
them as true and certain. However they may deafen you to hearing opposing
claims for truth. Try with each reading and discussion to first understand the
reasons upon which the other person makes his or her claim, see what evidence
they have, compare their evidence to the justification you have for your own idea then you will be able to more reasonably judge how much value the other person=s
idea has. Refusing to question your own ideas wastes your time in a philosophy
class.
Note #3: Students with Disabilities
Any student with a documented
disability, including learning disabilities, that the student feels may affect
classroom performance should discuss the matter privately with the instructor at
the beginning of the semester so that reasonable accommodations can be made. It
is also recommended that the student make contact with the Disability Support
Services Office (M-1042) 301-322-0838 (voice) or 301-322-0122 (TTY) for
additional assistance with classes and campus activities.
This is a tentative schedule, subject to change due to class pace, unexpected class cancellations and
other factors. Changes will be announced on Blackboard and via an e-mail distribution list (see the
assignment for August 30).
You would be advised to use this schedule to keep track of your attendance and the scores you get on
your assignments. I will be entering the grades into Blackboard’s grade book, but by keeping your own
record you will be able to detect any times that I make a mistaken entry. Late assignments are not
accepted, early ones are. If an emergency prevents you from getting your work in on time, as soon as
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you are back on campus, make an appointment to see me in my office on what can be done about the
late work.
W
ee
k
1
2
3
Dates
Aug 28Sept 1
Topics - Readings
Assignments
Writing and other assignments and initial
topics for classroom discussion
(28) Orientation to the
semester, get syllabus, figure
out if you want to be in this
course, get your books
28) explore Blackboard - there will be
regular on line discussions where you will
have to use the site, as well as using the
“drop box” to submit your work. I will use
the on-line grade book to enter your scores.
(30) By now you should have
your books: read the
introduction and/or preface to
each one, look over their tables
of contents, get a feel for what
the books are going to be
dealing with.
(30) The easiest 5 points of the semester by the end of the day LOG INTO THE
BLACKBOARD SITE and enter your
current e-mail address and phone numbers
I will use the Blackboard e-mail contact list
for information I want the entire class to
know throughout the semester
(modifications of assignments and their due
dates, other changes in the syllabus and the
like), and the phone numbers will help me if
there is an issue I need to directly discuss
with you.
(1) We will start philosophy by
writing an in-class, short essay
that will be shared and
discussed with the class “What
is justice and should nations be
just?” This will not be graded
but will be collected.
(1) check your e-mail to see if you have
entered your information accurately on the
30th. If you do not have a group e-mail
message from me by 6 a.m. this morning,
determine why your address did not work,
correct that, and let me know that a
correction has been made.
( 6) Plato’s Republic bks 1
and 2
(6) the discussion of justice begins
Sept 6- 8
Sept 1115
(8) Republic bks 3 and 4
(8) is happiness a good to be sought ?
(Aristotle in the Ethics will also deal with
this)
(11) Republic bks 5 and 6
11) the need for rulers to also be
philosophers
(12) Maryland Primary
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Elections
(13) Republic bks 7 and 8
(15) Republic bks 9 and 10
18) video/Film: “The Great
Bread Machine Film”
4
5
6
Sept 1822
Sept 2529
15) justice and the higher pleasures of
philosophy (a notion returned to by Mill)
(18) first short paper (five pages – 20
points): “Is Plato’s diagnosis of how states
grow and function correct? If so, what does
that say about the chances of the United
States surviving as a nation for the next
century? If not, where are his flaws, and
has this nation escaped those flaws?
(20) Aristotle, Ethics i - iii
(20) What are the norms for choosing
between alternative ways of acting?
(22) Aristotle, Ethics v - x
(22) How does happiness relate to a “good”
life?
(25) Aristotle, De Anima all
(25) to know what a good state would be we
first of all have to know what a human is
(27) Aristotle, Politics i - ii
(27) so how does this human animal come
together in a community/society/state?
(29) Aristotle, Politics iii, vii
(29) and what kind of state is best?
(2) video, Karl Hess, Toward
Freedom
(4) Paine - pgs 1-81
(2) (Second short paper, five pages, 20
points) How would Aristotle have defined
political justice (the justice of a state or
nation )? Is that justice – as he described it
- something that can in fact be put into
practice in this country?
(6) Paine - pgs 113-169
(4) Are there any of these rights that are
simply custom and not a natural right?
Oct 2 - 6
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13) Book 7’s Allegory of the Cave is
perhaps the most frequently cited sections
of the Republic
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(6) To what extent can a constitution
produce justice?
(9) More – 39-55
7
8
9
1
0
Oct 9-13
Oct 1620
Midterm
18
Oct 2327
Oct 30Nov 3
Clyde Ebenreck
(9) Why do we want dreamers to have not
dreamt but to have had an actual experience
of their vision.
(11) More – 56-89
(11) What kind of philosophy do Kings
have time for?
(13) More - 90-160
(13) Should a well planned society get into
the details of daily life?
(16) More – 161-168
(16) fantasy or truth, More still distances
himself.
(18) a defense of the hidden – or the truth
which does not first appear is better than the
surface truth
(18) More – 169-192
(20) work on your midterm –
no class
(20) I will be in my office for consultation if
desired
(23) share highlights of your
midterm with the class
(23) (Midterm – mid length paper – 10
pages, 40 points) Compare and contrast
Paine and Moore to Plato and Aristotle on
the concept of an ideal society/state/nation.
(25) Marx 54- 66
(25) Philosophy vs religion
(27) Marx 96-105
(27) Natural law, human rights – natural or
positive (legislated)?
(30) Marx 136-142
(30) Marriage, a natural right, a religious
issue, a secular issue?
(1) Marx 202-248
(1) Is he anti-Semitic?
(3) Marx 282-337
(3) Does economics, or history, or culture
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FALL 2006
turn humans into objects instead of persons?
(6) why bother voting
tomorrow?
1
1
1
2
1
3
Nov 6-10
(8) Mill 3-76
(8) To what extent is freedom of speech a
matter of justice?
(10) Mill 77-122
(10) Should society be indifferent to how an
individual treats him or herself?
(13) Mill 123- 152
(13) How and why do men seek to enslave
the minds of women?
(15) Mill 153-173
(15) Is it true that the freedom which
depends upon law is a precarious freedom?
(17) Mill 174- 232
(17) Are there any biological traits which
limit a woman’s freedom?
Nov 1317
Nov 20
20) work day on final paper,
no class but your Mill paper
needs to be in on time.
Nov 22-26 Thanksgiving
vacation
1
4
Nov 27Dec 1
Clyde Ebenreck
(6) (third short paper, five pages, 20 points)
Marx, like Plato, Aristotle and More link a
good (just) society to how that society
manages its human and material resources.
Marx’s ideas are the only ones that have
been slightly tried out in actual nations.
What do you think of those ideas of Marx,
where are they valid, where to they fall
short?
(27) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice :
perhaps concerns that have not
Page 14
(20) (fourth short paper, five pages, 20
points) Mill is a great defender of political
and social freedom for those who are
capable of such freedom. Do you think he
would defend abortion, gay marriages,
bestiality, recreational drug use, pedophilia,
pornography, slavery, professional sports,
hunting, Hummers, scrimshaw, a permanent
professional military, the military draft,
prostitution, commercial television?
For the class discussions, you may use
handouts, but you will be held to the time
limit.
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
Spring 2006
been addressed in the
semester, perhaps themes from
your final paper - it is your
decision about what should be
discussed in a philosophy class
(25 minutes, 15 points)
(29) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice (as on
the 27th)
(1) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice (as on
the 27th)
Because you might be tempted to cut class,
these discussion classes will carry double
weight: each discussion class counts as two
classes in calculating your attendance.
(1) Major Paper (15-20 pages, 60 points):
Design a just society (a Utopia if you will),
be clear on what essential components
would be needed and why those would be
essential. Lay out whatever pragmatic
considerations would have to come into the
picture. Then analyze your design and show
what its strong and weak points are.
(4) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice (as on
the 27th)
1
5
Dec 4- 8
(6) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice (as on
the 27th)
(8) Lead a class discussion on
an issue of your choice (as on
the 27th)
Dec 11
Clyde Ebenreck
(11) Final Double Class will
run for two hours. Catching
up on loose ends from the
semester, Missing this double
class would mean getting six
points deducted from your
final score.
Page 15
I will be returning your final papers, and a
score sheet listing my record of what you
have earned during the semester along with
any points deducted because of absences or
missed written work.
Bring all of your graded work to class in
case my record is in error.
If I made a mistake in my record, come up
with your graded work and I will correct
your score. So, when you leave the
classroom you will know your grade for the
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
FALL 2006
semester.
E- mail
Leading the class discussion
Short papers: 20 each
Mid-Term
Final Paper
=
=
=
=
=
5
15
80
40
60
TOTAL
= 200
After three absences, you will lose 3 points
from your semester total for each additional absence.
And you may also have plagiarism penalties
A = 180 - 200, B = 160 B 179, C = 140 B 159, D = 120 - 139
=====================================================================
Some Final Ideas
"Ordinary waking consciousness sees the world as fixed . . . . Extraordinary consciousness sees patterns and
relationships rather than fixed objects."
Starhawk (Miriam Simos), The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess,
Harper and Row, 1979, p18
"People realized that logic and philosophy are messy, that language is messy, that chemical kinetics is messy,
that physics is messy, and finally that the economy is naturally messy. And it's not that this is a mess created
by the dirt that's on the microscope glass. It's that this mess is inherent in the systems themselves. You can't
capture any of them and confine them to a neat box of logic."
Brian Arthur, economist, in M. Mitchell Waldrop, Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of
Order and Chaos, Simon and Schuster, 1992, pg 329
APhilosophy should be a work of imagination, fun, and excitement, dreaming new possible worlds by
transforming the one we have always loved.@
Glen A. Mazis, Earthbodies: Rediscovering our Planetary Senses, SUNY Press, 2002, p. ix
AOnce we are mature and aware, we can self-consciously select the stimuli to which we will respond and that
will affect what and who we are in the future. At that point we are as responsible for who we will become as
is the environment. And once again, this is true for each of us both as members of a community and as
individuals.@
Alicia Juarrero, Dynamics in Action: Intentional Behavior as a Complex System, MIT Press, 1999
p 260.
"[T]he clue to the nature of a passionate mind: You have to think as somebody, not as anybody or nobody."
Sam Keen, Hymns to an Unknown God, Bantam Books, 1994, pg 101
================================================================================
Clyde Ebenreck
Page 16
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
Spring 2006
One of the things that philosophy should lead you to do is to contact your political leaders and let them know you
considered thoughts on issues they are facing:
President Bush: http://www.whitehouse.gov/webmail
Your senators: Paul Sarbanes - http://sarbanes.senate.gov/pages/email.html
Barbara Mikulski – http://mikulski.senate.gov/contactme/mailform.html
Your representative: http://www.house.gov/ you then enter your zip code and the site will alert you to whom you
representative is and how to contact that person.
Governor Ehrlich: http://www.gov.state.md.us/mail/
Avoiding Plagiarism
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Academic writing in American institutions is filled with rules that
writers often don=t know how to follow. A working knowledge of these
rules, however, is critically important; inadvertent mistakes can lead
to charges of plagiarism or the unacknowledged use of somebody else=s
words or ideas. While other cultures may not insist so heavily on
documenting sources, American institutions do. A charge of plagiarism
can have severe consequences . . . .
Choosing When to Give Credit
Need to Document
*
When you are using or referring to somebody else’s words or ideas
from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web
page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
*
When you use information gained through interviewing another person
*
When you copy the exact words or a "unique phrase" from somewhere
*
When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, and pictures
Clyde Ebenreck
Page 17
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
FALL 2006
*
When you use ideas that others have given you in conversations or
over email
No Need to Document
*
When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations,
your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a
subject
*
When you are using "common knowledge@, folklore, common
sense observations, shared information within your field of study
or cultural group
*
When you are compiling generally accepted facts
*
When you are writing up your own experimental results
===============================================================================
Making Sure You Are Safe
Action during the writing process
Appearance on the finished product
When researching, note-taking, and interviewing
* Mark everything that is someone else=s words with a big Q (for
quote) or with big quotation marks
* Indicate in your notes which ideas are taken from sources (S) and
which are your own insights (ME)
* Record all of the relevant documentation information in your notes
Proofread and check with your notes (or photocopies of sources) to
make sure that anything taken from your notes is acknowledged in
some combination of the ways listed below:
* In-text citation
* Footnotes
* Bibliography
* Quotation marks
* Indirect quotations
Clyde Ebenreck
Page 18
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
Spring 2006
When paraphrasing and summarizing
* First, write your paraphrase and summary without looking at the
original text, so you rely only on your memory.
* Next, check your version with the original for content, accuracy,
and mistakenly borrowed phrases
*
Begin your summary with a statement giving credit to the source:
According to Jonathan Kozol, ...
*
Put any unique words or phrases that you cannot change, or do not
want to change, in quotation marks: ... "savage inequalities"
exist throughout our educational system (Kozol).
When quoting directly
* Keep the person=s name near the quote in your notes, and in your paper
* Select those direct quotes that make the most impact in your paper
-- too many direct quotes may lessen your credibility and
interfere with your style
*
Mention the person=s name either at the beginning of the quote, in
the middle, or at the end
*
Put quotation marks around the text that you are quoting
*
Indicate added phrases in brackets ([ ]) and omitted text with
ellipses (. . .)
When quoting indirectly
* Keep the person=s name near the text in your notes, and in your paper
* Rewrite the key ideas using different words and sentence
structures than the original text
*
Mention the person=s name either at the beginning of the
information, or in the middle, or at that end
*
Double check to make sure that your words and sentence structures
are different than the original text
Deciding if something is "Common Knowledge"
Material is probably common knowledge if . . .
*
You find the same information undocumented in at least five other
sources
*
You think it is information that your readers will already know
*
You think a person could easily find the information with general
reference sources
Clyde Ebenreck
Page 19
3/3/2016
Honors Introduction to philosophy,
FALL 2006
-----------------------------------------------------------------------The following information must remain intact on every handout printed
for distribution.
This page is located at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
Copyright 81995-2004 by OWL at Purdue University and Purdue University.
All rights reserved.
Use of this site, including printing and distributing our handouts,
constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use, available at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/fairuse.html.
To contact OWL, please visit our contact information page at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/contact.html to find the right person
to call or email.
Clyde Ebenreck
Page 20
3/3/2016