INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Manchester College, January 2010 (PHIL 201, M-F 9:00-11:50 AM) Instructor: Steve Naragon
Reading and Assignment Schedule
Required Texts
• Naragon, “A Book is a Machine to Help One Think”: An Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2009)
• Plato, Five Dialogues, 2nd ed. (Hackett)
• René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett)
Most of the assigned readings are found in the latter half of the textbook (Naragon, “A Book is a Machine” ...), and are indicated by author and title. Readings marked as “Naragon, §§” refer to sections in the first half of the textbook. Additional readings, videos, audio files, and films listed under “Other Resources” are for interested students wanting to explore a topic further.
These reading materials are not like the Sunday cartoons or some easy-reading blogsite. You will need to read and re-read this material, making notes in the margins to help you follow the line of thought. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to understand the material!
Films
This course makes use of films for exploring philosophical ideas; just like the books, these films are assigned “texts” for the class. As such, they are to be viewed “on your own time,” outside of class, just like studying any other assigned text for class. The main difference with these films is that I will hold evening viewings where we can watch them together (see the listings in the schedule below; the first is a “Thursday Night Movie: Twelve Angry Men”). I encourage you to attend these group viewings, although this is not required, so long as you watch them before class the next morning. All of these films are on reserve at the library, but many can also be found at movie rentals, or downloaded (or watched in streaming video) on the internet [try www.hulu.com, or www.fancast.com/movies, or find segmented versions on YouTube].
Assignments
Due dates for the five Discussion Forum postings and comments, the two Essays, and the Film Evaluations (six out of a possible nine) are listed below. The two essays and the discussion forum postings require more time, and so are marked with an *.
You may submit these materials as early as you like; the deadline for Discussion Forum postings and comments, as well as the two Essays, is always at midnight on the day noted; the Film Evaluations are always due before class. All of these are to be submitted through a drop box in ANGEL. Late work can still be submitted, but it will be penalized. I encourage you to submit work early, when you can.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives (or learning competencies) are listed with the materials given for each class day (click on [show] links). These objectives are normally prefaced with some verb: identify, describe, distinguish, diagram, define, use, construct, explain, evaluate, compare, discuss. You may click on these terms for a brief description and example of what I have in mind.
Wed, Jan 6
(1) What is Philosophy? [show]
* Discussion Forum #1 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Logic and Epistemology
Thu, Jan 7
(2) Logic [show]
Comments on DF #1 are due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Thursday Night Movie: Twelve Angry Men (1957)
Fri, Jan 8
(3) Belief [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Sun, Jan 10
Sunday Night Movie: Thank You For Smoking (2006)
Mon, Jan 11
(4) Knowledge and Belief [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
* Discussion Forum #2 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Monday Night Movie: The Matrix (1999)
Tue, Jan 12
(5) Is Knowledge Possible? [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Comments on DF #2 are due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Wed, Jan 13
(6) Where Do My Ideas Come From? [show]
Wednesday Night Movie: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
The Metaphysics of Being Human
Thu, Jan 14
(7) What Am I? [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
* Discussion Forum #3 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Thursday Night Movie: Memento (2000)
Fri, Jan 15
(8) Am I the Same Person? [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Comments on DF #3 are due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Sun, Jan 17
Sunday Night Movie: Being John Malkovich (1999)
Mon, Jan 18
(9) Am I Free? [show]
* Essay #1 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Monday Night Movie: Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Ethics
Tue, Jan 19
(10) Why Be Moral? [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
* Discussion Forum #4 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Wed, Jan 20
(11) Ethical Subjectivism [show]
Comments on DF #4 are due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Thu, Jan 21
(12) Ethical Objectivism [show]
Thursday Night Movie: The Apostle (1998)
Philosophy of Religion
Fri, Jan 22
(13) Believing in God [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
* Discussion Forum #5 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Sun, Jan 24
Sunday Night Movie: The Seventh Seal (1957)
Mon, Jan 25
(14) Not Believing in God [show]
Film Evaluation is due before class (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Comments on DF #5 are due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Tue, Jan 26
(15) Can We Prove that God Exists? [show]
* Essay #2 is due (see ANGEL) [rubric]
Manchester College // Registrar // Department of Religion and Philosophy // Last updated: 4 Jan 2010