PHIL 1000: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Louisiana State University
Fall 2015
LSU Course Description: (3) Major works on such themes as appearance and reality, human nature, nature of knowledge, relation of mind and body, right and good, existence of God, and freedom and determinism.
Detailed Course Description: This course is an introduction to the academic discipline and activity of philosophy through popular culture. Philosophy is the well-reasoned, critical, and reflective inquiry into and attempt to address the fundamental, conceptual questions of the human condition. What is knowledge? What is real? Are there any objective moral truths or is morality a matter of personal preference or cultural norms? What is beauty? What is the relationship between mind and body? Do human beings have free will? What is justice? What justifies a political authority? These questions and others make up the basic subject matter of philosophy.
In this course, we will discuss how these philosophical issues are raised in popular culture and examine the arguments over them developed by influential thinkers, both past and present. Our aim in doing so is not merely to learn what influential philosophers have argued about these issues, but to develop our own abilities to address these issues and others like them through critical thinking and logical reasoning.
Required Text
Dean Kowalski, Classic Questions and Contemporary Film: An Introduction to Philosophy. 2nd Edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-118-58560-3
Required Materials
Three 882-E or compatible scantron forms
General Education: This course satisfies the General Education Humanities requirement, and has the following objectives:
- To understand the positions humans have developed on fundamental issues like truth, knowledge, goodness and values, beauty and spirituality and to arrive at an informed position oneself.
- To develop competency in critical thinking.
- To develop competency in written communication.
Course Requirements: The grade in this course is based on the following requirements.
- Class Attendance, 10%: For each entire class period students attend, they will earn a 100 daily attendance grade. Students that miss class or leave early without a university-excused absence will earn a zero for the daily attendance grade.
- Pop Quizzes/Assignments/Homework, 10%: There will be several pop quizzes over reading assignments and/or lectures, some in-class assignments, and some homework assignments in the course. At the end of the term the three lowest of these grades will be dropped and the remaining grades are averaged and count for 10% of the final grade.
- Philosophical Essay (1), 10%: Each student must write a short essay (three to five typed, double-spaced pages) defending a philosophical thesis on one of the approved topics. See Moodle for specific topics, instructions, and deadlines for the paper assignment.
- Examinations (3), 70%: There are three examinations in this course worth 20%, 20%, and 30% of the final grade, respectively. The exams are multiple-choice. The final exam is comprehensive. The essay topic for each exam will be selected from a list of possible topics posted on Moodle. You need a scantron form (882E or compatible) for each examination.
Grading & Evaluation: Student work is evaluated and grades are assigned based on the criteria below. The LSU grading system as outlined in the LSU General Catalog. The instructor will follow the cut off points for assigning letter grades strictly.
- A (Excellent, 90-100): The grade of A is reserved for work that demonstrates an independent, comprehensive, and detailed mastery of all the material covered in the course; work follows all directions and exceeds minimum requirements for assignments and exams; written work is free of major/excessive spelling or grammatical errors; reasoning is free of any major errors of fact, fallacy or logical contradiction. 90-92.99 = A-, 93-96.99 = A, and 97-100 = A+.
- B (Above Average, 80-89.99): B work demonstrates the student’s comprehensive understanding of all the main ideas as well as many of the relevant details of the various philosophical arguments, ideas, and issues covered in the course. Work demonstrates that the student is beginning to think critically and independently about the material in an independent, well-reasoned manner. Work follows all directions and meets or exceeds minimum requirements for assignments and exams. 80-82.99 = B-, 83-86.99 = B, and 87-89.99 = B+.
- C (Good, 70-79.99): C work follows all directions and meets or exceeds all minimum requirements for assignments; writing is relatively free of major or excessive grammatical/spelling errors. Work demonstrates the student’s basic understanding of the main ideas, topics, and views covered in the course material by accurately, clearly, and coherently explicating and expounding on them in a way that includes the proper use of philosophical vocabulary and technical concepts covered during the semester. 70-72.99 = C-, 73-76.99 = C, and 77-79.99 = C+.
- D (Satisfactory, 60-69.99): D work follows all instructions, meets all the minimum requirements for assignments/exams, and demonstrates a minimum understanding of the material by accurately and coherently reconstructing the main ideas and concepts. However, work leaves some important elements missing, incomplete, unexplained, or incorrect. Reasoning may contain errors of fact, fallacy, inconsistency, logical contradiction, etc. Writing may be unorganized, unclear or incoherent and contain major or excessive grammatical/spelling errors. Work contains significant shortcomings in regard to basic academic skills (e.g. appropriate research, writing, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, etc.) or fails to follow directions will be assigned a D. 60-62.99 = D-, 63-66.99 = D, and 67-69.99 = D+.
- F (Failing, 59 or below): The grade of “F” is assigned to work that does not meet all the minimum requirements for assignments, follow instructions and/or demonstrate a minimally satisfactory understanding of the relevant material covered in the course. Work that contains major/excessive grammatical or spelling errors, major errors of fact, fallacy or logical contradiction, or fails to demonstrate college-level writing or research skills will receive an F.
Writing Assignment Grades: Writing assignment grades are assigned on the following scale: A+ = 100, A = 95, A- = 90, B+ = 89, B = 85, B- = 80, C+ = 79, C = 75, C- = 70, D+ = 69, D = 60, D- = 60, and F = 59, 50 or 0 depending on the severity of the problems with the writing assignment or if the assignment is not submitted.
Academic Misconduct: All students are responsible for knowing and abiding by the code of conduct. Ignorance of the student code of conduct does not excuse violations of the code. Academic misconduct of any kind is a serious infraction of the LSU the LSU Code of Student Conduct. See the Dean of Students’ website for information about avoiding plagiarism. Any student suspected of violating the code will be referred to the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability.
Contesting Grades: It the student’s responsibility to earn their desired grade. There are only two legitimate reasons to request a higher grade, either a grading error according to the standards outlined above or a record-keeping error. Requests for grade changes based on another other considerations (e.g. losing eligibility for extracurricular activities, financial aid, simply earning a grade close to the cut off for the next highest grade, etc.) are inappropriate. They violate common sense notions of fairness/merit and the university academic integrity policies. The instructor will ignore all such requests. The final exam is the last opportunity you have to earn points in the course. I will not offer any student opportunities for extra work after the final exam. I will not offer any student an opportunity to do extra work that is not available to other students. I will not re-grade previously graded work to look for additional points. Do not waste the instructor’s time or your own with grade grubbing.
Classroom Comportment: Put all cell phones, computers, other personal electronic devices, and newspapers, etc. away during lectures and class discussions. Students engaged in distracting conduct will be required to leave class and will be referred to the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability for disciplinary action. This statement serves as the one and only warning regarding classroom comportment. See LSU Faculty Handbook and the Student Code of Conduct.
Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend all class meetings and attendance is a graded course requirement. See course requirements above. Students that find it necessary to miss class assume responsibility for all the material they miss and for making arrangements for any makeup/late work necessary in accordance with the makeup/late work policy below. See PS-22. Do not attend or submit work in other sections of this course without the permission of the instructor. Students that miss the first class meeting without a university excused absence and notifying the instructor in advance are subject to being dropped from the class in order to make room for students on the waitlist.
Make-Up/Late Work Policy: Students that miss graded assignments or exams due to a documented, university-excused absence have a time period equal to the number of days they missed to makeup the work. After that time period has lapsed, a zero will be recorded for the missing work. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements for making up missed work.
Writing and Research Assignments: See the Moodle course page for resources on researching, studying, and writing philosophy papers. Students should, unless otherwise directed by the instructor, make use of appropriate, scholarly sources and resources when completing take-home written assignments. As a general rule, do not use sources like Wikipedia or popular websites as sources for academic papers. Work that fails to make use of appropriate scholarship or otherwise fails to demonstrate basic, college level research and writing skills will receive low or failing grades. See the Philosophy indexes and databases to research your projects and the style guides for information on documenting sources of information.
Formatting Assignments: All homework assignments and papers should be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman, double-spaced, with 1-inch top/bottom margins and 1-inch right/left and top/bottom margins. Be sure to include your name, student ID#, course #, section #, and date as well as any information identifying the assignment. If you work is comprised of more than one, typed page be sure you staple, paper clip, etc. the pages together. DO NOT SUBMIT MULTIPLE, LOOSE PAGES. Work that does not include this information or does not follow the formatting instructions is considered late until it is submitted correctly. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that their work is submitting in accordance with the instructions above.
Submitting Work via Email: Submit hard copies of all your work unless it is absolutely necessary to submit it electronically by email or Moodle. If you must submit work electronically, then make sure to follow these instructions otherwise it will not be accepted. Submit your work as a Microsoft Word or PDF File. Format the first part of the file name as follows: YourNamePHIL#Section#AssignmentName. Work that does not follow these instructions is considered late until it is submitted correctly. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure their work follows these instructions and is submitted accordingly.
Note on Screenings: Over the semester, we will screen various television shows, selected scenes from movies, and other elements of pop culture. Some of this material contains adult language, adult situations, nudity, and/or violence. If you are disturbed by any of this material, then please excuse yourself from class during the screening and return when it is completed. However, all students are responsible for all the material covered in the course including the required pop culture material.
Reading Assignments: Read the assignment(s) for class on the day listed.
Schedule of Assignments (subject to revision)
8/24: Introduction to course, administrative issues
8/26: William Young III, “Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or The Corruption of the Youth?” from South Park and Philosophy
Related Media: Examined Life, Waking Life, The Colbert Report – The Word: “Heated Debate”
8/28: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 1.1, Plato’s Gorgias, pgs. 1-6
Related Media: Thank You For Smoking
8/31: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 1.2, pgs. 6-12, Appendix A.1
9/2: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 1.2, pgs. 12-14, Robert Arp, “The Chewbacca Defense” from South Park and Philosophy
Related Media: South Park, “The Chewbacca Defense” and Thank You For Smoking
9/4: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 1.2, pgs. 14-23 – Subjectivism and Objectivism in Philosophy; Johnson, “Colbert, Wikiality, and Gut Thinking: The Colbert-Style of Doing Philosophy” from The Daily Show and Philosophy
Related Media: The Colbert Report, The Word: “Truthiness”
9/7: Labor Day Holiday – no classes
9/9: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 2.1, Descartes’s Meditations, I and II, pgs. 37-43
Related Media: The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, Inception
9/11: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 2.2, pgs. 43-52
9/14: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 2.1, pgs. 52-59
9/16: Exam review
9/18: Exam #1
9/21: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 3.1, pgs. 71-74
Related Media: Bruce Almighty, Creation, God Is Not Dead
9/23: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 3.2, pgs. 74-82
9/25: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 3.2, pgs. 82-86
9/28: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 3.2, pgs. 86-90
Related Media: Schindler’s List
9/30: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 4.1, pgs. 104-109
Related Media: Gattaca, Run Lola Run, Minority Report
10/2: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 4.2, pgs. 109-113
10/5: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 4.2, pgs. 113-117
10/7: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 4.2, pgs. 117-121
10/9: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 5.1, pgs. 134-138
Related Media: Being John Malkovich, Bicentennial Man,
10/12: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 5.2, pgs. 138-144
10/14: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 5.2, pgs. 144-148
10/16: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 5.2, pgs. 148-155, exam review
10/19: Exam #2
10/21: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 6.1, pgs. 169-172
Related Media: Hotel Rwanda, Frailty, Cider House Rules, The Shape of Things
10/23: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 6.2, pgs. 173-179
10/26: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 6.2, pgs. 179-184
10/28: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 6.2, pgs. 184-190
10/30: Fall Break – no classes
11/2: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 7.1, pgs. 203-208
Related Media: Horton Hears a Who, Groundhog Day, Saving Private Ryan
11/4: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 7.2, pgs. 208-212
11/6: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 7.2, pgs. 212-216
11/9: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 7.2, pgs. 216-221
11/11: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 8.1, pgs. 235-240
Related Media: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, V for Vendetta, Serenity
11/13: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 8.2, pgs. 240-247
11/16: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 8.2, pgs.247- 251
11/18: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 8.2, pgs. 251-256
11/20: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 9.1, pgs. 269-273
Crimes and Misdemeanors, Memento, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
11/23: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 9.2, pgs. 273-279
11/25-11/27: Thanksgiving Break – No Classes
11/30: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 9.2, pgs.279-284
12/2: Kowalski, Classic Questions, 9.2, pgs. 284-288
12/4: Final exam review session
Chris Blakley 