PHL 003A Introduction to Philosophy
MW 1000-1120 AM
Dr Christian Perring
Office: 330A RC
Office Phone: 244-3349
E-mail: cperring@go.com; Home Page faculty/cperring
Course Description:
We will investigate how philosophy is relevant to everyday and personal
life. Topics covered could include friendship, love, sexuality, freedom,
religion and mysticism, logical and scientific approaches to life, health
care ethics, women's rights, and legal ethics. The most distinctive feature
of this course, which makes it different from other similar survey courses,
is that we will focus on how philosophical study and philosophers can help
people live their lives. We will especially discuss the new movement of
philosophical counseling, and we will investigate to what extent philosophers
are able to give good advice to other people.
Course Requirements:
There will be no tests or exams in this class. Instead, students will
be required to write a weekly journal discussing their ideas about the
topics discussed in class and the assigned readings. To be specific, students
need to write 10 journals, due on Mondays. Students will also have to do
a 30-40 minute presentation in which they lead class discussion. The major
work of the course will be a paper draft, and a 10-15 page final paper.
Attendance is required; no more than 4 absences will be allowed.
| Participation | 15% |
| 10 Weekly Journals (~500 words each) | 30% |
| Presentation | 15% |
| Paper | 40% |
The presentation: you need to prepare your topic so that you can inform the class about the basic issues, highlight the controversies, and raise questions so that the rest of the class becomes involved in thinking about and discussing the issues. If you are unhappy with your presentation grade, you can replace it by doing a second presentation.
The paper: you need to write a draft of a paper, get my comments on it, and then revise it. The final version needs to be about 2500-4000 words. It can be on any topic relevant to the course: I will give you a selection, or you can choose your own. It can overlap with your presentation topic.
Books and Resources
Required:
Other
Selves: Philosophers on Friendship edited by Michael Pakaluk, Hackett
1991. [OS]
Available
at Barnes & Noble.com
Philosophers
at Work: Issues and Practice of Philosophy, Second Edition, edited
by Elliot D. Cohen, Harcourt Brace, 2000. [PW]
Available
at Barnes & Noble.com
Other Related Books:
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton, Vintage, 2000
Plato, Not Prozac! : Applying Philosophy to Everyday Problems, by Lou Marinoff, Harperperennial, 1999
Philosophy Practice : An Alternative to Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Shlomit C. Schuster, Greenwood, 1999
Philosophical Counseling: Theory and Practice, by Peter B. Raabe, Greenwood, 2000
The
Therapy of Desire, by Martha Nussbaum, Princeton University Press,
1994
| Date | Topic/Reading | Presentation |
| M 29 Jan | Friendship | |
| W 31 | Montaigne,
Of Friendship OS 185-199, Click Here |
|
| M 5 Feb | Bacon, OS 200-207 | |
| W 7 | Emerson, OS 218-232 | Who was Emerson? |
| M 12 | Telfer, OS 248-267 | |
| W 14 | Freedom
PW 433-449 |
Freedom and Determinism |
| W 21 | Gale Cohen,PW 449-457 | |
| M 26 | Elliot Cohen, PW 457-466 | |
| W 28 | Religion and Mysticism
PW 519-533 |
|
| M 5 Mar | Buber and Nietzsche, PW 533-538 | Buber's I and Thou |
| W 7 | PW 555-574 | |
| M 12 | PW 578-593 | LSD and consciousness expanding |
| W 14 | Watts, PW 593-598 | |
| M 19 | Logic and Science
PW 241-265 |
|
| W 21 | Tropea, PW 265-287 | The career of software developer |
| M 26 | Copi, PW 291-306 | Paper draft due |
| W 28 | Lie, PW 306-314 | |
| M 2 Apr | Health Care Ethics
Elliot Cohen, PW 15-34 |
|
| W 4 | Perry, PW 49-58 | Hospital Ethics Committees: What do they do? |
| M 16 | PW 58-71 | |
| W 18 | Friendship Revisited
Plato, OS 1-27 |
Greek "homosexuality": were the ancients gay? |
| M 23 | Aristotle, OS 29-69 | |
| W 25 | Kant, 208-217 | |
| M 30 | Kierkegaard, OS 233-247 | Guest lecture: John Mullen |
| W 2 May | Presentations | |
| M 7 | Presentations | Final paper due |