PHIL 2010 (FORMER PST 1101)

FALL 2011

Introduction to Philosophical Analysis

Dr. Michael Hoffmann Focus
Philosophical analysis refers to questions that are somewhat more fundamental than those you would encounter in other disciplines or in your everyday life. Questions like: How do we think? How should we think? What are the conditions of rational reasoning, discourse, and deliberation? What is reality? What is truth? What is knowledge? What is science? What is an argument? What is justice? How to organize societies and design policies? How should we act? And above all: How to represent and discuss all these problems? This class is an invitation to start thinking seriously about some of these questions. We will read large parts of the book Introducing Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon, but the primary focus in this class will be on presentations and debates. The goal is to do philosophy, and to develop the skills we need to do it efficiently and effectively. If you like it, you might consider getting a Minor in philosophy here at Georgia Tech. As we say on our homepage at philosophy.gatech.edu: Studying philosophy improves your abilities to think and communicate, and to acquire a breadth of understanding about the world, science, society, and yourself that can inform your judgment and how you shape the world long after graduation.

New Ways of learning

The purpose of this course is twofold: first, to provide an overview of the main methods, problems, and approaches developed and discussed in philosophy's 2500 years old history and, second, to train certain skills that are crucial for a self-determined and responsible life: critical reading, thinking, public speaking, debate, and writing. You will gain valuable experiences in presenting information, arguments, and constructive criticism in an academic context, both in speech and in writing.

Readings

Book to buy at the Engineers Bookstore or Barnes & Nobles:

Solomon, R. C. (2008). Introducing Philosophy: A Text with Integrated Readings. 9th edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Please purchase only THIS 9 th edition; we need refer to the same pages.

Additional readings
(most of them can be downloaded from our course page at https://t-square.gatech.edu, folder Resources. The rest is available on reserve in the library):

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Economist. (2006). Liberalism and neurology. Free to choose? Modern neuroscience is eroding the idea of free will. The Economist, Dec 19th. Schick, T., & Vaughn, L. (2009). Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Grading

Attendance
Since you will learn mainly by our class discussions, attendance is mandatory. There will be 30 class meetings over the whole semester. Independently of the points you can get in the other areas, you will get an F if you attend less than 20 meetings, and nothing better than a C if less than 24. Please sign the attendance list that will be available during the first 5 to 10 minutes. From week 4 onward, we will have two presentations and debates in each class meeting. If you come late to class, you have to wait outside until the first presentation is finished, because otherwise you would disturb your classmates in their presentations. In this case, you will not be allowed to sign the attendance sheet.
Task
Participation

Description

Max. points

10% of your final grade will depend on the amount and quality of your contri10 butions to our class discussions over the whole semester. Your contributions are essential for this seminar-style class. In order to make quality contributions, you need to come to class well-prepared, that is, you have to do all the readings that are listed in the Schedule before you come to class.

PresentaEach student will be asked to give two prepared presentations on a short sec16 tions and tion of the book (one alone and the other in a group of three). Each prepared discussions presentation should last approximately 8-10 minutes (you will be cut off after 10 mins). After that, you will lead a class discussion about your presentation. The topics of the presentations are listed in the Schedule. You have to sign up in TSquare for each of the two presentations under Section Info. If you do not show up for a presentation for which you signed up, you MUST have a replacement ready to take the spot, or else you will fail that assignment. The task of the prepared presentations is to present the content of the assigned reading in the context of the problems discussed in the respective chapter. Please use the Tools that are listed in the corresponding section below, especially the Tips for presentations. You can use the questions Solomon formulates in the textbook to organize your presentation, and to identify the main points. Evaluation criteria: Structure; clarity in presentation and discussion; getting to the main points of the section; role in the chapter. NOTE: Not everybody will be able to sign up for a presentation because we have

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fewer presentation spots than students in class. If you are not able to sign up for one or for both presentations, you can submit one or two alternative essays which may not cover the same section as the essay described below or your other presentation. All alternative essays are due Nov. 22th.. Maximum: 8 points each pres. or essay. Questions Two impromptu questions. The task is to react to a presentation by asking a 6 more complex question that refers to at least two different topics or problems of the presentation. The challenge is here to learn how to react spontaneously in a concise way; that means to indicate in advance how many issues you plan to raise, and then to present your questions so that the problems you are referring to become clear, without confusing everybody. It is not sufficient to ask simply a question about the reading. You need to react to the presentation. These questions have to be asked spontaneously directly after the presentation. Each presentation will be followed by two questions before we open up the class discussion. You have to sign up in T-Square under Section Info for two questions, each related to a different presentation. Maximum 3 points each.

Homework, You will find in T-Square under Assignments 4 homework assignments that 16 first version are due 10 minutes before class starts at the day that is specified in the schedule by a number-combination indicating week and version number. Only T-Square submissions are accepted, but you should save copies on your own computer. You can save your work in T-Square (do that when you leave your computer for a while because otherwise you might lose what your wrote), but you have to click submit before the deadline. Multiple submissions are possible before the deadline. The system will not accept late submissions! The purpose of these homework assignments is to intensify your preparation for our class discussions. I will not evaluate your first version. But you have to write at least half a page of reasonable text. You will get for each of these first versions 4 points (if complete and reasonable). Homework, What I will evaluate, however, is the quality of your revision of your first ver24 second sion, especially the progress between first and second version (max. 6 points version each). You should do these revisions immediately after class, but you can submit these second versions within 9 days after the class discussion. Only T-Square submissions are accepted. Only excellent submissions will get the maximum of 6 points. Evaluation criteria are clarity; precision; structure; improvements in comparison with the first version regarding clarity, structure, and new arguments; explicit references to our class discussion and to the readings. Please note that an improvement is not necessarily longer than the original version, rather the opposite. Clarifying the structure of your argument and focusing on the essential points is mostly better than making things more complex. You are supposed to re-write your answers, not simply adding stuff. Essay You have to submit one essay in T-Square under Assignments. The essay is due September 20th. It should be approximately 3 pages (aim for 2.5 pages), in Times New Roman 12 point font, with 1 inch margins on all sides, and double10

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spaced. Write your name on top of the paper, save the document either in Word, pdf, or StarOffice, and submit it in T-Square as an attachment to your assignment. Please feel encouraged to meet me outside of class to discuss your essay, and to seek assistance in making your ideas clear. Remember, plagiarism in any form is not acceptable. See the section Academic Honor Code below. The essay is about the section of the textbook that you will present individually in the second block of presentations starting at September 27th. My feedback on this essay should help you to clarify your understanding of the text for your presentation. The goal of this essay is the same as that of the presentationto present the content of the assigned reading in the context of the problems discussed in the textbook. But keep in mind that in an essay we use a completely different format to communicate our ideas. My evaluation criteria a described in the document Tips for presentations. Test Final On October 27th, there will be a test about the entire epistemology section. You 8 can use the textbook and your notes. Covers both the section on ethics and on justice. You can use the textbook and your notes. 10

Grading system
At the end, all your points will be transformed in letter grades according to the usual scheme: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; 0-59 = F.

Tools (available in Resources in T-Square):

Tools for Philosophy. A document that lists encyclopedias (books and online) that can help if you have problems with philosophical terminology. Tips for presentations Internet Resources available at http://philosophy.gatech.edu. AGORA-net: Participate Deliberate! At http://agora.gatech.edu/.

Schedule
Week
1

Date
Aug 23 Aug 25

Ass. due!

Theme
Introduction, planning Free will and determinism

Readings

Schick & Vaughn, 188-193; Economist

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Week
2

Date

Ass. due!

Theme
Branches of philosophy; conceptual analysis Group projects: Argument Mapping with AGORA at http://agora.gatech.edu/.

Readings
Schick & Vaughn, pp. 2-27 Bring laptop!! Schick & Vaughn, 28-43 Asia II Plato II Descartes Solomon 55-59; 59-64 Solomon 65-71; 71-78 Solomon 78-85; 85-92

Aug 30 2.1. Sept 1

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Sept 6 Sept 8 Sept 13

3.1 2.2

Logic: The art of arguing Metaphysics: Asia I; Metaphysics: Plato I; Epistemology: Russell + Plato; Epistemology: Descartes II; Epistemology:
Locke II;

Metaphysics: Introduction and Greek I; Greek II Solomon 41-47; 47-55

Sept 15 3.2. Sept 22 Sept 27 Sept 29 Oct 4 Oct 6 Oct 11 Oct 13 Oct 18 Oct 20 Oct 25 Oct 27 Nov 1 Nov 3 Nov 8 Nov 10 Nov 15 Nov 17 7.2. 8.2. Test 8.1. 7.1.

Sept 20 Essay Metaphysics: Aristotle;

Descartes I Solomon 184-190; 190-195 Berkeley Solomon 206-213; 213-221 Solomon 221-235 Solomon 221-235 Solomon 235-243 Solomon 235-243 Solomon 221-243 Solomon 266-271; 271-278

Locke I + Leibniz Solomon 195-201; 201-205

Epistemology: Hume (no presentation)

Group projects on Hume, bring laptop

Epistemology: Kant (no presentation)

Group projects on Kant, bring laptop GT Fall break Group presentations on Hume and Kant

Epistemology: Ethics: Ethics:

Relativism;

Feminism

on epistemology Intro. to morality; Is morality relative? Solomon 457-461; 461-465 Egoism and altruism; Selfishness as virtue II Solomon 465-472; 473-478 Solomon 478-483; 483-492

Ethics: Morality as virtue I; Ethics: Practical reason II;

Ethics: Morality + sentiment; Practical reason I Solomon 492-499; 499-505

Practical reason III Solomon 505-509; 509-514 Mill's Util. Aristotle Solomon 514-518; 518-527 Solomon 551-557; 557-560

Ethics: Bentham's Utilitarianism;

Nov 22 Alt. Justice: Introduction and Plato; Essay Nov 24 GT School Holiday

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Week
15 16

Date
Nov 29 Dec 1 Dec 6 Dec 8

Ass. due!

Theme Justice: Hume and Mill;

Readings
Social contract I Solomon 560-566; 566-572

Justice: Social contract II; Soc. Contr. III (Rawls) Solomon 572-579; 579-583 Just.: Soc. Contr. IV+Feminism; Rights+freedom Solomon 583-587; 588-595 Justice: Disobedience+anarchism; Right to eat Solomon 595-601; 601-605
Final on ethics and justice

E-mails
Make sure that you receive e-mails sent to your GT e-mail address because this is the only one that I can use to contact you. This is also important for your group work. You can contact each other by using the E-mail function in T-Square. Click on Sections to see everybody who signed up for a certain presentation. Check your e-mail regularly.

Academic Honor Code

Based on GTs Honor Advisory Council recommendation I would like to clarify the following points: You are allowed (and encouraged) to work together with other students on assignments and the essays, as long as you write up and turn in your own solutions. Submitting any work other than your own is a violation of the Academic Honor Code. Quoting other authors, of course, is common scientific practice. However, you have to make absolutely clear what are your own formulations, and what those of others. You can quote the texts of our seminar in short form (e.g. Solomon, p. 52). Other sources have to be listed under References. Plagiarism will be dealt with according to the GT Academic Honor Code. Note that plagiarizing is defined by Websters as to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source. For any questions involving these or any other Academic Honor Code issues, please consult me or www.honor.gatech.edu.

Contact
Feel free to contact me if there are any problems you would like to discuss. My office hours are Thursday from 3 to 4 pm or by appointment. The office is located in the basement of the DM Smith Building, room 004. My phone number is 404-385-6083. The easiest way to contact me is by e-mail: m.hoffmann@gatech.edu. Enjoy the class, and let me know if there any problems!

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