PHIL 105OS: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Summer 2014, Trinity Western University
Instructor:
Course Duration:
Email:
Dr. Myron A. Penner
July 2 – August 08
Myron.Penner@twu.ca
Text:
 Elliot Sober, Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings, 6th ed. (Prentice Hall:
2013).
Course Objectives:
1. Develop tools of analysis that will help you engage some basic philosophical questions with
intelligence and clarity.
2. Digest some writings of a few great thinkers within the history of philosophy.
3. Examine some of the questions important to western philosophy, including: What, if
anything, can we know? Is it rational to believe that God exists? Are human beings
physical objects or nonphysical souls?
Requirements:
 Exam 1
 Exam 2
 Exam 3
 Paper
 Exam 4
15%
20%
20%
15%
30%
Exams:
This course will have four exams. The first three exams will be based on material covered in the
preceding section. The final exam will be cumulative and focus on material covered since the
beginning of the course. (Helpful Hint: The “Review Questions” and “Problems for Further
Thought” listed for the Sober readings in the course outline may suggest potential exam
questions. If you’re able to correctly answer the designated Review Questions and Problems for
Further Thought, you’ll be in a position to succeed on the exams.)
Papers:
This course will have one short paper (2000 words, plus or minus 10%). Your paper topic will
come from a list of possibilities which I will provide for you. You must submit a one page
proposal outlining the argument of your paper on the specified due date. Specific instructions
for this course are outlined in the document “Summer 2014, PHIL 105 OS Paper Topics”.
Some Policies to Note:
PHIL 105OS Syllabus
Myron A. Penner
1
All course assignments (i.e. exams and term paper) are to be completed by August 15, 2014.
Exam 1 is based on content from the readings and audio material for lectures 1 – 4. Exam 2 is
based on content from the readings and audio material for lectures 5 – 12. Exam 3 is based on
content from the readings and audio material for lectures 13 – 16. Exam 4 is based on content
from the readings and audio material for lectures 1 – 20. All of the exams have time limits and
must be completed within two hours of starting the exam.
PHIL 105OS Syllabus
Myron A. Penner
2
“RQ” = Review Questions; “PFT” = Problems for Further Thought
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Lecture #
Topic/Reading
Very Introductory Logic
1
2
3
4
Chapter 1: What is Philosophy? (3-9)
 RQ: 1, 2
Chapter 2: Deductive Arguments (11-21)
 RQ: 1-8
 PFT: 1, 2
Chapter 3: Inductive and Abductive Arguments (24-37)
 RQ: 1-4, 6
 PFT: 1-3
Chapter 3: Cont’d
EXAM ONE
Reason and Belief in God
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
PHIL 105OS Syllabus
Myron A. Penner
Chapter 4: Aquinas’ Four Ways (43-56); Aquinas Reading on Mycourses
 RQ: 1-7
Chapter 5: The Design Argument (59-66)
 RQ: 1-5
 PFT: 1, 3
Hume’s Critique of the Design Argument; Hume Reading on MyCourses
Chapter 6: Evolution and Creationism (68-81)
 RQ: 1, 2, 4
 PFT: 1
Chapter 7: Can Science Explain Everything? (83-90)
 RQ: 1-5
 PFT: 1, 4
Chapter 9: Is the Existence of God Testable? (101-107); Ayer Reading on
MyCourses
 RQ: 1-4
 PFT: 1, 3, 5
Chapter 10: Pascal and Irrationality (108-116); Pascal Reading on
MyCourses
 RQ: 1-5, 7
 PFT: 2
Chapter 11: The Argument from Evil (119-126)
3


RQ: 1-6
PFT: 1, 2
EXAM TWO
Knowledge and Justified Belief
13
14
15
16
Chapter 12: What is Knowledge? (137-145)
 RQ: 1-5
 PFT: 2
ES Chapter 13: Descartes’s Foundationalism (147-158); Descartes Reading
on MyCourses
 RQ: 1-4, 7
 PFT: 1, 2
ES Chapter 14: The Reliability Theory of Knowledge (161-171)
 RQ: 1, 4, 5
 PFT: 3
Plantinga’s “The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology”; Plantinga
Reading on MyCourses
EXAM THREE
Mind-Body Problem
17
18
19
20
PHIL 105OS Syllabus
Myron A. Penner
ES Chapter 19: Dualism and the Mind/Body Problem (203-213)
 RQ: 1-5
 PFT: 1, 5
Chapter 22: The Mind/Brain Identity Theory (229-234)
 RQ: 1-4
 PFT: 1, 4
David Chalmers, “The Puzzle of Conscious Experience”; Chalmers Reading
on MyCourses
Alvin Plantinga, “Materialism and Christian Belief”; Plantinga Reading on
MyCourses
4