Syllabus PHI 2010

Phi 2010 Syllabus


Alfredo Triff Ph.D.
Room 3604-40 (Building #3)
Tel. 305.237.7554
E-mail: atriff@mdc.edu
Office Hours: Posted
Text: Doing Philosophy: An Introduction through Thought Experiments by Theodore Schick and LewisVaughn

Goals

* To become familiar with contemporary trends in philosophy.

* To explore key subjects within philosophy, such as epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, ontology and aesthetics.

* To stimulate a philosophical spirit, which consists of open debate, conversation, as well as the ethics of dialogue.

* To further our critical thinking skills in order to deal with the challenges posed by the professional and academic world.

Evaluation

1. Grades A, B and C stand for outstanding, good and average respectively. D is below average. F means not enough work to justify credit for the course.

2. We have three tests: a quiz, a midterm and a final exam. They count for 85% of the final grade. Class participation and effort are important.

3. Attendance is expected. Two non-excused absences are permitted. Each absence thereafter will lower the participation grade by half a letter. Missing exams must be justified by a doctor’s note or the equivalent. Please, feel free to contact me if you have a serious problem with or in the class.

Policies

1. (In case of assigned papers) Plagiarism is an offense. I'll interview the students to make sure of the originality of the reports.

2. Cheating is a serious academic transgression, and will be penalized according to college policy.

3. I expect a minimum of class demeanor. Courtesy and respect are important.

4. In case I assign a report, such papers must be WP and typed and stapled. Use Chicago style and support your research with footnotes with a minimum of five pages for each paper. No late reports will be accepted.

Some suggestions

1. I will conduct my classes from the textbook and perhaps some additional texts. Philosophy is a deep subject. It takes awareness, detachment, cool. For some people the problems are settled with a quick “yes” “no.” That view is lacking. Philosophy can help us dissect and see through things better. Critical thinking can really help us with life issues.

2. To make the learning process fruitful, I recommend that HW is done and readings I assign are followed carefully and diligently. Philosophy is about sharing views and arguing carefully. We want to discuss the issues until the themes are clarified. There are winners, but we don’t focus on that. We rather seek truth and validity. Remember: discussing people's points of view takes care and patience. It's important to stay close to the text while firm to the discourse of reason. Only after you have mastered the ideas, you can fly on your own.

Schedule of Classes

Chapter 1 Philosophical Problems
1.1: Explaining The Possibility Of The Impossible: Philosophical Problems. Stakes In Philosophical Enquiry: An Account Of Problems, Such As Mind-Body, Free Will, Personal Identity, Moral Relativism, And The Concept Of Evil.
1.2: Evidence And Inference.
1.3: Thought Experiments

Chapter 7 Epistemology
7.1 Skepticism As A Key To Certainty: Descartes
7.2 Perception Of The External World.
7.3 How Much Do We Know? What Knowledge Is: Defeasibility Theory; Causal Theory; Reliability Theory; Explanationist Theory

Chapter 2 The Mind/Body Problem
2.1 The Ghost In The Machine: Mind As Soul: Descartes’ Doubt; Je Pense Donc Je Suis; Conceivability Argument; Divisibility Argument; Causal Impotence Of The Mental; Causal Closure Of The Physical; Other Minds
2.2 You Are What You Eat: Mind As Body: Empiricism; Positivism; Logical Behaviorism; Identity Theory
2.3 I, Robot: Mind As Sofware: AI; Functionalism And Feeling; The Turing Test; Intentionality
2.4 There Are No Ghosts: Mind And Myth: Psychology; Subjective Knowledge
2.5 Mind As Quality: Primitive Intentionality; Mental Dependence; Downward Causation

Chapter 3 Free Will Or Determinism?
3.1 Freedom As Chance: Hard Determinism; Indeterminism
3.2 Freedom As Necessity: Traditional Compatibilism; Hierarchical Compatibilism;
3.3 Freedom As Self-Determination: Agent Causation

Midterm Exam

Chapter 4 Personal Identity And Selfhood
4.1 Self And Substance: Animalism; The Soul Theory
4.2 Golden Memories: Self As Psyche: Memory Theory; Inconsistency Objection; Circularity Objection; Reduplication Problem
4.3 Self As Process: The Brain Theory; Split Brains; Identity And Survival; Identity And Responsibility; Explaining Selfhood

Chapter 5 Ethics and Political Philosophy
5.1 Might Makes Right: Subjective Absolutism And Relativism; Cultural Relativism; Divine Command Theory; Are There Universal Moral Principles?
5.2 Good Makes Right: Ethical Egoism; Act Utilitarianism: Problems With Rights, Duties And Justice; Rule Utilitarianism
5.3 Duty Makes Right: Kant’s Categorical Imperative: First And Second Formulations; Ross’ Prima Facie Duties;
5.4 Virtue Makes Right: The Virtuous Utilitarian, Kantian; Purpose Of Morality; Aristotle On Virtue, Mcintyre On Virtue; Virtue Ethics

Final (Not cumulative)

I reserve the right to make changes in the order or chapters, provided I let you know in advance.

Addendum: Triff’s Notes on Political Philosophy