Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy

Welcome to Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy

Prof. Larry Shapiro
Office Hours W 1:00-3:00, 5111 HC White Hall

The goal of this class is to teach you how to think critically about fundamental issues. The issues we will discuss concern the justification for our claims to knowledge, the distinction between believing something for a reason and believing something on faith, the nature of mind and the possibility of free will and moral responsibility, and, finally, topics in political and ethical theory, including justice and euthanasia.

Thinking critically about these issues will be hard for many of you. This is because, first, they are of the sort that tend to draw strong opinions. Most of you probably believe in god, think that it is ok to accept claims on the basis of faith, are confident that knowledge is possible, take minds to be non-material entities, believe that you have free will, and have strong views about what makes a society just or whether euthanasia is permissible. If you are like most people, you have not thought critically about these things. In fact, I bet that most of you believe in the god that your parents believe in and for no other reason than that your parents raised you to accept their beliefs (and, in turn, they followed their parents). This would certainly explain why children of Christians tend to be Christian, and those of Jews and Muslims tend to be Jews and Muslims. Likewise, the stongest predictors of your views on justice and euthansia are probably the views of your parents or peers. This brings us to a second reason why critical thought about fundamental issues is difficult: it requires that you suspend your belief in ideas that have probably seemed so natural to you for so long.

But, finally, critical thinking is hard just because it's hard -- regardless of the issue under analysis. Critical thought requires examining assumptions that you may not realize you have made, it requires imagining alternatives that may be far from obvious, and it requires an ability to assess the soundness of arguments.

Readings

All readings except for the first are in Reason and Responsibility, 13th ed., J. Feinberg & R. Shafer-Landau (Eds.). The book is available at University Book Store. Following is a list of the readings. We will go in order and I will announce in class which readings will be required in subsequent classes.

Epistemology

  1. John Pollock: A Brain in the Vat
  2. René Descartes: Meditations One and Two
  3. G.E. Moore: Proof of an External World
  4. David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section IV and Section V, Part I

Reason and Faith

  1. W.K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief
  2. Kelly James Clark: Without Evidence or Argument
  3. Simon Blackburn: Miracles and Testimony
  4. Karl Popper: Science: Conjectures and Refutations
  5. Philip Kitcher: Believing Where We Cannot Prove

Philosophy of Mind

  1. Peter Carruthers: The Mind is the Brain
  2. Brie Gertler: In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism
  3. Derek Parfit: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons

The Problem of Free Will and Moral Responsibility

  1. A.J. Ayer: Freedom and Necessity
  2. James Rachels: The Debate Over Free Will
  3. Harry Frankfurt: Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility
  4. Thomas Nagel: Moral Luck

Justice and Ethical Problems

  1. Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan
  2. John Rawls: Justice as Fairness
  3. Peter Singer: Famine, Affluence, and Morality
  4. John Harris: The Survival Lottery
  5. James Rachels: Active and Passive Euthanasia

Papers

You will have to write six reaction papers. A reaction paper should be no longer than a page and a half, and preferably just a page. In this paper you should:

  1. Interpret an argument from the text, being clear about its premises and conclusions
  2. Defend or criticize the argument with an argument of your own

These papers will be due every other week. If your last name begins with a letter between or including A-L then your first paper will be due on the first Monday. Otherwise, your first paper will be due on the second Monday. I will announce in class the topics of the papers. Papers are due IN CLASS unless you have made special arrangements with the TA BEFOREHAND. The six papers are worth 48% of your final grade. Every paper must be turned in for any paper to count towards your final grade.

Exams

There will be a Midterm and a Final Exam. Each exam is worth 26% of your final grade. The Midterm will be on Friday, October 24 and will cover all material up until that date. The Final will be on Saturday, December 20, at 7:45 a.m. and will cover material subsequent to the Midterm. The exams will consist of short essay questions.

Attendance And Participation

Your attendance in lecture and in discussion section is mandatory. This means that you have to attend. There will be a sign-in sheet that you must initial every class period. It is your responsibility to sign the sheet. This means that it is not our responsibility to see that you have signed it. If you must miss a class, please request permission from the TA prior to the class you intend to miss. Of course, emergencies and illnesses may prevent you from doing so, in which case please consult with the TA about your absence.

I will also have a seating chart, and so I will expect you to sit in the same seat at each class meeting. Be prepared to participate in class. I will use the chart to call on students. People who are chatting or sleeping or looking bored will be at higher risk!

Classroom Etiquette

You must be respectful of each other. This means that you should not interrupt students when they are speaking, you should not laugh (derisively) at what others say, you should not stick your tongue out at others, and so on. Please turn off your cell phones before lecture begins. At no time during the lecture are you allowed to:

  1. Read a newspaper (this includes doing a crossword or a sudoku)
  2. Listen to music
  3. Read material that is not related to class
  4. Do homework
  5. Email or surf
  6. Play computer games
  7. Anything else that common sense ought to indicate does not belong in class

In short, everyone must work hard to make this class successful, so please do your part.

If at anytime you have a complaint or concern about this course that you do not wish to discuss with me, you are free to contact Jim Anderson, assistant to the Chair.