Course Syllabus

Philosophy 101

Introduction to Philosophy

Summer 2018

 

Course Description:        The field of philosophy is diverse and unique. If we consider philosophy in the most general sense of the word, it refers to the study of two basic questions: how should we think and how should we act. Thus, its domain includes subjects pertinent to every area of study in the sciences and in the arts and humanities. You will not find a field with a wider scope of application, but it would be a mistake to consider philosophy as a substitute. Philosophy is at its best when it serves as handmaiden to other subjects – in particular, philosophy has much to offer to anyone who, in the course of their studies, engages in any degree of theorizing. Being one of the most challenging and rigorous theoretical fields, studying philosophy is a great way to sharpen your analytic tools (and maybe develop some new ones!) no matter what area you plan to specialize in or what shape your life takes.

Philosophy can also be considered in a narrower way when it is defined in terms of the tradition of western analytic philosophy. The material in this course will be limited to work done in this tradition. This is an academic tradition that begins with the Pre-Socratics in ancient Greece, follows work done in Europe up through the 17^th-19^th Centuries, and has had its modern manifestation in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries by thinkers predominantly from Britain, the United States, and Australia (although philosophers from other countries are still very much a part of the discussion). Analytic philosophy is characterized by more formal and rigorous intellectual standards, but there is a lot of creative diversity within the field and it would be a huge mistake to take the style as evidence of a dogmatic, close-minded attitude.

Philosophy is also sensibly understood as a distinct methodology. Philosophical inquiry values robust argumentation and the dialectical interactions of competing positions. Many disciplines hold intellectual diversity and even conflict as an academic virtue. But in philosophy this is not just a stated value – it is embodied in the style of intellectual engagement philosophy is conducted in. This class intends to familiarize you with the critical environment that is the philosopher’s natural habitat. This can be at times uncomfortable and can even appear threatening, but with practice and some useful tools the format of philosophical debate can be exciting, productive, and at its most ideal, a dynamic place for growth and a powerful expression of mutual respect.

Instructor:                           Tim Linnemann

timbcphilosophy@gmail.com

206-919-6934

Office Hours: Mon-Thur 11:30-12:30

 

These office hours are only the most protected times I am available. Most of the time you can meet with me with no warning or appointment in advance. Just call or text me anytime and if I’m free, I’d love to talk with you!

 

Text:                                      All readings will be available electronically. I will be emailing attachments with the reading selections which you can then print at your discretion.

 

Objectives & Outcomes: The two main goals of this course are to inspire a philosophical imagination and to provide you with a strong foundation of analytic tools. In pursuit of the first objective, we will be traveling through a wide range of philosophical topics, styles, and historical periods. A fully comprehensive representation of the field of philosophy is impossible, but we will be trying to take as broad a look as we can. In regards to the second objective, the goal is to give you confidence in both reading comprehension and intellectual expression. Philosophy has some of the most challenging academic texts to sort through and we’ll be working to develop strategies for getting the most out of these readings as we can. Philosophy is also quite intimidating to actually do yourself. We will be taking time out of our reading schedule throughout the semester to help give you some guidance in how to write careful, organized, and clear argumentative papers. Articulating thoughts effectively is certainly a skill and the writing elements of this class are primarily designed to develop it. Finally, class discussion is something that should help with all of these objectives and participation is strongly encouraged; we can learn from each other as well as from the philosophers we will be reading.

 

Grading:                              Class Participation/Attendance  25% (see note below!)

                                                Journal Entries                                  15%

                                                Writing Assignments (3)                40% (15/10/15% respectively)

                                                Reading Comments                         20%

 

 

Reading Comments: These assignments will be composed of at least 3 questions or comments you have prepared for class discussion. There will be one reading comment assignment linked to every individual reading we’ll cover (with the occasional extra assignment for our very long readings that cover more days). Consider them as possible contributions you’d make in class – so about as much as you’d say if you raised your hand in class to ask a question or respond to an idea being presented. Another analogy to help you think about what I’m looking for here would be to just transcribe the kinds of things you might write in the margins as notes to yourself as you’re working through the reading. Comments on a reading will be due on the day we are planning to begin covering that reading. I want these in hardcopy (typed or handwritten), turned in at the beginning of the class. These do not need to be extensively explained, but they should be pursued thoughtfully. Nor is it required that you actually share these contributions in class discussion, but the hope is that in doing these short assignments as you work through the reading, you may find it easier to make contributions in our class discussions since you already know what you’d want to say.

 

Journal Entries:                 Each week (for the first 4 weeks of the quarter) you will be asked to write a short (min 500 word) response paper on a topic being discussed during class the previous week. (Exception: for the first week’s journal I have a special prompt!) The journals are intended to be a forum for you to explore your ideas regarding the issues under consideration and have some practice in articulating them in an argumentative style. You will also be expected to include a short summary of the ideas you are responding to, so the journals will also help you get practice at quickly and accurately explaining the ideas of others. These are less formal then the writing assignments and will be graded only on a simple pass/fail/half system. I am willing to comment on journal entries if students are interested – let me know if you don’t want them! Journals are due on the Friday of each week (with some TBA exceptions I will indicate). Your journals can be submitted on our Canvas website.

There are three important instructions for these journals. First, just pick one thing to talk about – a claim, argument, position, etc. You don’t need to try to cover the entire week – don’t try! I prefer a deeper treatment of a smaller scope over a superficial treatment of a broad area. Second, the first half of your journal should be spent explaining the idea you want to discuss. Describe it as though you were presenting it to someone not in the class as much as possible. In other words, don’t write it for me! Be sure to not spend more than half the journal doing this. Lastly, the second half of the journal should see you responding to and evaluating the idea you presented. Tell us what you think of this idea – it is useful? Misguided? Needs fixing? Be sure to not just register your opinion, but to argue for it. Defend your stance as much as possible. This is the work of the philosopher and I’d like to see you getting into the game!

 

Writing Assignments:    The writing assignments will be the primary place in which you will practice philosophical writing. Special classes will help prepare you for the assignment. The first assignment (due Aug 3^rd) will actually not require you to write a full paper. Instead, you will be instructed to compose a detailed outline. Writing a good philosophy paper requires careful preparation and organization and this assignment serves to emphasize this. The second assignment (due Aug 9^th) will involve reading one of the papers of your classmates from the second assignment and writing a critical response to it. Finally, in the third assignment (due Aug 16^th) you will revise your paper to accommodate criticisms – both from the responses in the second assignment but also drawing from ideas outside of that source. Even in its written form philosophy is still a dialogue!

 

Class Participation:         I am making participation part of your final grade to emphasize the importance of philosophic engagement in its social dimension. I will be striving to create a classroom atmosphere where these debates can be pursued productively and comfortably, but I will need your help in realizing this project. Three things will be of particular advantage: mutual respect as a standard for discussion, careful listening, and critical engagement.

For our purposes, respect must not be a conclusion, but rather a premise. Disrespectful engagement is unprofessional and unphilosophical regardless of whether it is offensive. As an example, to consider a certain line of thinking as indicative of a lack of intelligence does nothing to provide a reasonable argument for why we should consider such reasoning philosophically problematic. The disrespectful attitude does nothing to add to the debate (whatever else it does contribute).

                Careful listening and critical engagement are very closely connected. To properly respond to an idea, one must first understand it as thoroughly as possible. But just understanding the point of someone’s idea is also not enough – we must analyze its virtues and deficiencies. Our discussions will always be oriented toward gauging the strength of proposed ideas, and in as much as we will contribute ideas of our own, we will be assessing how well our attempts fare as well. When engaging in this way with one another an open audience is as crucial as a critically invested audience – respect helps prepare us for both.

                Finally, back by popular demand, if you have 5 or more unexcused absences you will automatically fail the course! A lot of this course happens in the classroom, and you’ve got to show up!

 

Discussion Labs: I am super excited to be holding an optional discussion lab once a week. I pledge to stay for at least an hour, but I don’t want to necessarily limit ourselves to that! Tim and location is TBA.

                These labs are intended to be another useful supplement to the coursework. They will be an opportunity for you to ask more questions about the ideas in the readings, and to have more extended discussions about those ideas in a more informal setting. I’m quite open to adapting the format to suit the needs and preferences of those students who attend, but I’m hoping that two goals are getting met no matter what we do: 1) that students who want to increase their mastery of the material achieve that goal and 2) that students have the opportunity to engage more directly in conversation and debate with each other (and not necessarily with me!). I encourage this in the classroom too of course, but sometimes a more informal setting is more conducive for this.

If the time doesn’t fit with your schedule and you want to attend, please be sure to let me know!

 

BC Policies

Student academic conduct: The principle of academic honesty underlies all that we do and applies to all courses at Bellevue College.  One kind of academic dishonesty is plagiarism, which may take many forms, including, but not limited to, using a paper written by someone else, using printed sources word-for-word without proper documentation, and paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas of others without acknowledging the source.  Plagiarism can also occur when non-written ideas are taken without documentation--using someone else's design or performance idea, for example.  In short, plagiarism is passing off someone else's ideas, words, or images as your own; it amounts to intellectual theft--whether or not it was your intention to steal.  Bellevue College instructors have access to commercial plagiarism detection software, so please be advised that any work you submit may be tested for plagiarism.

Participating in academic dishonesty in any way, including writing a paper or taking a test for someone else, may result in severe penalties.  Dishonestly produced papers automatically receive a grade of "F" without the possibility of make-up.  The Dean of Student Services will also be notified of such conduct, and repetition of the behavior will result in progressively more serious disciplinary action (for example, an instructor may recommend that the student fail the course for a second offense or even that a student be expelled for a serious offense, such as stealing an exam).

 

Grades lowered for plagiarism or other forms of dishonesty may be appealed through the regular channels, and any further disciplinary action taken by the Dean may also be appealed through existing processes.

 

Information about Bellevue College's copyright guidelines can be found at: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/id-2050/

 

BC’s Affirmation of Inclusion: Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination. We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect.

 

Values Conflicts: A liberal arts education requires that students be willing to engage with ideas and forms of expression that might conflict with their personal values. Students do not have to endorse or adopt ideas that conflict with their values, but they are expected to engage with them as part of the learning process. Some instructors may require that you read or view required texts (books, films, music videos, art work, etc.) that may offend you. If you decline to engage with material you consider offensive, that could affect your course grade, and the instructor is not required to give you an alternative assignment. If you have questions about this, please talk to your instructor (me!).

 

Disability Resource Center: The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible. 

 

If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.

 

If you are a student with a documented autism spectrum disorder, there is an additional access program available to you. Contact asn@bellevuecollege.edu or 425.564.2764. ASN is located in the Library Media Center in D125.  www.bellevuecollege.edu/autismspectrumnavigators/

 

The DRC office is located in B132 or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498. Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110. Please visit our website for application information into our program and other helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc

 

Accommodations for Reasons of Faith or Conscience: Students who expect to miss classes, examinations, or any other assignments as a consequence of their religious observance should be provided with a reasonable alternative opportunity to complete such academic responsibilities. It is the obligation of students to provide faculty with reasonable notice of the dates of religious holidays on which they will be absent, preferably at the beginning of the quarter. Students who are absent on days of examinations or class assignments should be offered an opportunity to make up the work without penalty (if they have previously arranged to be absent), unless it can be demonstrated that a makeup opportunity would constitute an unreasonable burden on a member of the faculty. Should disagreement arise over what constitutes an unreasonable burden or any element of this policy, parties involved should consult the department chair, or Dean.

Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting: As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. It is my goal that you feel able to share information related to your life experiences in classroom discussions, in your written work, and in our one-on-one meetings. I will seek to keep information you share private to the greatest extent possible. However, I am required to share information regarding sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct (e.g. dating violence, domestic violence, stalking) that may have occurred on campus or that may impact someone on campus with the Title IX Coordinator. Students may speak to someone confidentially by contacting the BC Counseling Center at (425) 564-2212. The Title IX Office can be contacted at 425-564-2441 and more information can be found at www.bellevuecollege.edu/titleix/.

Public Safety: Public Safety is located in the K building and can be reached at 425-564-2400 (easy to remember because it’s the only office on campus open 24 hours a day—2400).  Among other things, Public Safety serves as our Parking Permits, Lost and Found, and Emergency Notification center.  Please ensure you are signed up to receive alerts through our campus alerting system by registering at http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/alerts/?ref=footer

 

If you work late and are uneasy about going to your car, Public Safety will escort you to your vehicle. To coordinate this, please phone ahead and let Public Safety know when and where you will need an escort.

 

Please familiarize yourself with the emergency postings by the door of every classroom and know where to go in the event of an evacuation.  Your instructor will be asked if anyone might still be in the building, so check in before you do anything else.  Emergency responders will search for anyone unaccounted for.

 

If a major emergency occurs, please follow these two rules:

1) Take directions from those in charge of the response - We all need to be working together.

2) Do not get in your car and leave campus (unless directed to) - Doing so will clog streets and prevent emergency vehicles from entering the scene.  Instead, follow directions from those in charge.

 

Please do not hesitate to call Public Safety if you feel safety questions or concerns at any time.

 

 

Disclaimer: I reserve the right to make any changes to the course (content, grading, etc.). Further, I reserve the right to establish procedures for grading of students in exceptional cases. All and any modifications to this syllabus will be in accordance with the rules and regulations of Bellevue College. This syllabus does not constitute a contract between any combination of the student, the professor, or Bellevue College.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics and Reading Assignments

 

 

1	Introduction to the Course	Syllabus   The Code of Intellectual Conduct
2	Philosophical Propaganda	Plato - The Republic Book VII   Russell - ‘The Value of Philosophy’
3	Metaphysics Personal Identity	John Perry - "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality"   Derek Parfit - “Personal Identity”
4	Special Class on Writing   Epistemology Foundations for Knowledge	Special Class on Writing     Plato - Theatatus (selections)
5	Skepticism	Descartes – Meditations on First Philosophy (selections)   Hume - Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (selections)
6	More Metaphysics The World	Goodman - Ways of Worldmaking   Bernard Williams - ‘The End of Explanation’
7	The World…and Science	Mumford - ‘Metaphysics’
8	Philosophy of Language	Wittgenstein - Philosophical Investigations (selections)
9	Ethics             Amoralism & Moral Relativism	Williams - Morality (selections)
10	Existentialism	Nietzsche - The Gay Science (selections)
11	Moral Realism	Falk – ‘Moral Perplexity’