INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY (PHIL 201)

Writing

[discussion forums] [discussion forum topics] [extra credit journals] [writing tips] [academic dishonesty]

Discussion Forums [top]

Full credit in the course will require writing six posts and commenting on twelve posts written by others (so, for each forum, you will write one post and comment on two posts by other students).

The topics and due dates (for the posts and comments) are listed below, and on D2L (under the "Communications" tab: select "Discussions"), where the writing will be submitted; reminders are also listed in green on the reading and assignment Schedule. NB: You are encouraged to make these posts as early as you can. Feel free to comment on posts as soon as they are available. Also, Forum #5 involves watching a film, so be sure to give yourself enough time to do this.

Each post should be at least 500 words and is worth up to 6 points; the comments should be at least 100 words each, and each is worth up to 2 points (see the rubric).

A good post will show evidence of having worked through the relevant readings, perhaps also responding to class discussion, and is written free of grammatical errors and typos.

About the comments:

(1) If a post already has two comments, then choose another post on which to comment.

(2) These comments should be more than simply praise or a note of agreement. I want you to interact with the claims made in the post, or with the argumentation: Do you agree or disagree, and why? Is the author overlooking something? You might offer further evidence for the author’s views, or else counter-evidence. Try to raise at least one useful question for furthering the discussion.

(3) Feel welcome to comment as often as you wish on the posts; for any given forum, I’ll grade your two most substantial comments (that appear to be 100 words or more), but shorter comments are also welcome, and can add immeasurably to the conversation.

Discussion Forum Topics and Due Dates [top]

Forum #1: “Getting to Know You.” [rubric]

This first forum is dedicated to getting to know each other. Please post a three paragraph essay about yourself:

(1) The name you prefer to be called, where you grew up, your academic and non-academic interests, what you hope to learn or accomplish in this course, and anything else that you think might be helpful or interesting for others to know.

(2) Something you’ve hear or read, or perhaps wondered about, that you would consider “philosophical,” and that you would like to explore more fully in this class.

(3) Conclude your essay with the epitaph that you would like to have engraved on your tombstone (i.e., the words with which you would most like to be remembered — if you aren't planning on having a tombstone, imagine some memorial plaque).

As with all the discussion forums, everyone needs to make two comments (on the posts of others) as well. For the purposes of this forum, your comments should take the form of follow-up questions (for instance, what else you would like to know about the person). Original posters should feel free to respond to these questions, and so on, until we all get our proper fill of each other.

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to check out the grading rubric. [rubric] Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Jan 28 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Feb 2 (midnight)

Forum #2: “Causes and Reasons.” [rubric]

A belief is any statement to which you give your assent. It can be mundane and non-controversial (e.g., “I have a nose on my face” or “All mammals are vertebrates”) or more controversial (“The Cubs are a superior baseball team to the Yankees”), and of course also includes statements that are ethical (“We ought to help others in need”) and religious (“There exists a god who is interested in human well-being”).

This second forum concerns the causes and reasons for you to believe something. The cause of a belief is whatever brings you to hold that belief; this might have been some “non-rational” cause (e.g., your mother constantly repeating it to you during your childhood), and as such is unrelated to the truth of the belief. A “rational cause” is what we call a reason; these help justify the belief; they count as evidence for the truth of the belief and thus provide you, and presumably anyone else, with a reason for holding the belief.

The question is this: Should all of our beliefs be supported by reasons (that is, be justified)? Why or why not? (Please note that the question here is not whether all our beliefs can be justified — although that is also an interesting question — but whether it should be a goal that we strive towards, that we justify all of our beliefs.)

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to read through the grading rubric. Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this. Similarly, be sure to write your post after you have read the essays by Peirce and Clifford, and make use of them as appropriate.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Feb 11 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Feb 16 (midnight)

Forum #3: “Ignorance is bliss.” [rubric]

Is Socrates right when he claims that “the unexamined life is not worth living”? What do you think he meant by this? One also occasionally hears people say what sounds like the opposite view, that “ignorance is bliss.” What do you think? Is ignorance a good thing or not?

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to read through the grading rubric. Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this. Among other things, your post should make use of appropriate class readings and discussions.

Due dates

... for the original post: Tuesday, Feb 23 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Thursday, Feb 25 (midnight)

Forum #4: “The nature of morality.” [rubric]

Do you believe that there is an objective moral reality against which we can judge our moral beliefs? For instance, a person might believe that 3 + 5 = 7 or that the chemical composition of water is CH₄, but these beliefs do not make the statements true. Similarly, “3 + 5 = 8” and “the chemical composition of water is H₂O” are true, whether anyone believes them or not. Are moral beliefs like this, or not? If they are, then how do we determine their truth-value? On the other hand, if moral beliefs cannot be judged as true or false (or perhaps: “the truth of the belief depends upon the individual or the culture”), then does it make sense to morally criticize the practices of another person or another culture? What do you think?

Due dates

... for the original post: Tuesday, Mar 15 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Thursday, Mar 17 (midnight)

Forum #5: “Artificial intelligence.” [rubric]

Watch one of the following films: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 (1968), Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), Chris Columbus’ Bicentennial Man (1999), Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence (2001), or Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2015) then discuss whether you think the robot (Hal, the Replicants, Andrew, David, or Ava) can think and feel. [Other films that might be worth exploring: I, Robot (2004; dir. Alex Proyas), Her (2013; dir. Spike Jonze), Transcendence (2014; dir. Wally Pfister), Automata (2014; dir. Gabe Ibanez).] Be sure to draw on the readings and discussions in class. What are the best reasons you can offer in support of your position?

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Apr 14 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Apr 19 (midnight)

Forum #6: “The meaning of our lives.” [rubric]

This last discussion forum concerns that stereotypically philosophical question: What is the meaning of life? The question I would like you to consider here is whether a belief in the existence of God (and here you might want quickly to note what you mean by ‘God’) is necessary for human life to “have meaning.” I ask this because I often hear people claim that “life would have no meaning if God did not exist.”

First, what do you think is required for "a life to have meaning," and what do you think a person might mean by this claim that a meaningful life requires the existence of God? Second, what reasons might support this view, and what reasons speak against it? Finally, what do you think, and why? (I presume that you will believe that which has the most reasons supporting it.)

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Apr 28 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, May 3 (midnight)

Extra credit opportunity

You may receive up to two additional points commenting on more than two posts and/or responding to comments on your own post. A point will be given for substantial comments or responses. (In general, I wish to encourage conversations among you and I am happy to reward your good efforts in this direction.)

Extra Credit Journals[top]

You may write brief essays for extra credit, if you wish. These are opportunities for exploring additional texts, films, videos, podcasts, etc., as listed under “Other Resources” on the Reading and Assignment schedule. A journal can be submitted on any item marked with an [EC]. These should be at least 600 words (about two pages), and will be graded on their length, content, and basic mechanics (see the rubric, and see the sample journal). The content should include two parts: a brief summary of the text, film, or talk, and a rather longer discussion of what was philosophically of interest. A good discussion should also integrate ideas and arguments from the class discussions and readings.

These journals need to be turned in no later than seven days after the date on which they were listed (for instance, Olivia Judson’s essay “The Selfless Gene” is listed for Thursday, October 1, so a journal would need to be submitted no later than midnight on Thursday, October 8).

Please submit them to the “EC” drop box on DTL, with the title of the article or film in the subject line. You may write up to one journal per class day, and at the end of the semester, the very last journals are due on the last day of classes (Thursday, May 5). Plan accordingly.

Each journal is worth up to 10 points, and up to 50 points may be accumulated. A full 50 points will add 4% to your course grade.

Writing Tips [top]

Please carefully proofread these writing submissions. You need to use complete sentences, proper punctuation, and correct spelling. Both in college and after you graduate you will be judged, in part, by how well you write. Typos, mispellings, poor grammar — in a phrase: sloppy writing — is like so much stink coming from the bottom of your shoes. It won’t matter how nicely your hair is combed or your shirt is pressed if you can’t write a decent paragraph.

I hope it never comes to this, but my comments on your writing might make use of some of the following abbreviations:

awk: awkward. This is a sentence problem; the sentence should be re-written for greater clarity.

frag: sentence fragment. Another sentence problem; your sentence is lacking something vital. Like a subject. Or a verb. Don’t fall into the trap of writting essays that sound like advertising copy. We all can do better than that!

wc: word choice. You might find a better word to suit your sentence. Consult your dictionary for a more accurate meaning.

sp: spelling. Consult your dictionary!

?: Huh? You’ve lost your reader.

TS?: Topic sentence? This is a paragraph problem. There needs to be a topic sentence (normally, the lead sentence of the paragraph) that indicates what the paragraph is all about (what you are hoping to do in the paragaph; or it’s the claim for which the paragraph will now offer support, or an observation for which the paragraph will now offer some elaboration, etc.).

CO?: Cohere? Another paragraph problem; the sentences in this paragraph don’t fit together very well. Try re-arranging them. Ask yourself: (a) What goal am I trying to acheive with this paragraph? and (b) Is each sentence working towards this goal?

Q?: Quotation? Quotations should be used only when a paraphrase will not do the job as effectively. Common problems include failing to properly introduce a quotation, failing to properly cite a quotation, quoting more than is helpful, and using a quotation when a paraphrase would be better.

Academic Dishonesty [top]

[This text is copied from the university Catalog]

Membership in the Manchester University community requires a devotion to the highest principles of academic and personal integrity, a commitment to maintain honor, and a continuous regard for the rights of others. There can be no rights without individual responsibility.

Manchester University faculty are committed to teaching and learning as a career and a profession. Each instructor is presumed to develop and use methods and techniques which enhance learning and which best fit his or her personality and subject matter area. At the same time, the instructor is expected to abide by the general principles of responsible teaching which are commonly accepted by the academic profession. These principles suggest that faculty keep complete records of student performance and that they develop and apply express, uniform criteria for evaluating student performance.

Students are free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. While they may reserve judgment about matters of opinion, they are responsible for learning the content of any course in which they are enrolled. At the same time, students are expected to abide by the general principles of academic honesty which are commonly accepted in educational settings.

When a student chooses not to follow the general principles of academic honesty, the following policies and procedures bear their sad fruit.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of information (either written or oral) as one’s own when some or all of the information was derived from some other source.

Specific types of plagiarism encountered in written and oral assignments include the following:

● Sources have been properly identified, but excerpts have been quoted without proper use of quotation marks; or the material has been slightly modified or rephrased rather than restated in the student’s own words.

● Key ideas or items of information derived from specific sources that present material that is not common knowledge have been presented without proper identification of the source or sources.

● Unidentified excerpts from other sources have been woven into the student’s own presentation.

● A paper or speech may be a mosaic of excerpts from several sources and presented as the student’s own.

● An entire paper or speech has been obtained from some other source and presented as the student’s own.

● Texts in another language are translated into English and presented as the student’s own.

Cheating

Cheating consists of any unpermitted use of notes, texts or other sources so as to give an unfair advantage to a student in completing a class assignment or an examination. Intentionally aiding another student engaged in academic dishonesty is also considered cheating.

Submission of the same work (essay, speech, art piece, etc.) to fulfill assignments in separate classes requires the permission of both faculty members (if both courses are being taken in the same semester), or the permission of the second faculty member (if they are taken during different semesters).

Penalties

• Unintentional Plagiarism. In cases of plagiarism in which no deception is intended (such as ignorance of proper citation of sources), the student should expect a reduction in the paper’s grade; in some cases, the student may be given an option to rewrite the paper. No disciplinary letter will be filed.

• Deliberate Plagiarism and Cheating. In cases of deliberate plagiarism, and in all cases of cheating and attempted cheating, the work assigned will be failed. At the instructor’s discretion, the student may also fail the course (regardless of the grade-weight of the work assigned).

In either a case of deliberate plagiarism or cheating, a disciplinary letter recording the deception will be sent to the student, with copies sent to the associate dean of academic resources and the student’s academic advisor. For more information, as well as for information regarding your rights of appeal, see the MU Source.

Manchester University // Registrar // Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies // Last updated: 23 Jan 2016