Lahore University of Management Sciences

PHIL 102 The Philosophy Gym

Fall 2011-12 Instructor: Amber Riaz/Adnan Khan Office: New SS Wing E-mail: amber@lums.edu.pk Office Hours: TBA Course Description Based on Stephen Laws book The Philosophy Gym this course introduces students to western philosophy by allowing them to delve into various puzzles and questions, and philosophical ways of thinking about them. Each session will engage students in philosophical debate about a new question. Through these intellectual workouts, students can develop basic philosophical skills, acquire key philosophical concepts and see philosophical views in action without first needing to trudge through dense theories. Course Objectives -To gently introduce students to philosophical thinking. -To familiarise students with a range of philosophical concepts and issues. -To enable students to understand and criticise important texts and arguments. -To enable students to talk about, and write, philosophy to the degree of sophistication commensurate with the level of the course. Meeting Course Objectives: Tools and Teaching Method Instruments: (In-Class exercises; quizzes; reading assignments) 30% Essay 25% Final Exam 35 % Exposure to a number of dialogues, thought-experiments and philosophical stories that constitute Law's book will provide a good introduction to philosophical thinking, concepts and issues. It will make the recommended texts for each topic seem less dry and abstract and also provide various philosophical techniques one may use to explain and criticise a view. Feedback on in-class exercises and reading assignments will be aimed to help students improve their philosophical writing ability. Finally, the final exam will assess how far all of the objectives have been met.

Texts Law, S. 2003. The Philosophy Gym. London: Headline Book Publishing. Warburton, N. 2005. Philosophy: Basic Readings. London: Routledge. Warburton, N. 2004. Philosophy: The Basics. London: Routledge. (Other topic-specific papers and books.) 1

Topics 1. Where Did the Universe Come From? Warburton, Chapter 1 Mackie, J. 1995. The Miracle of Theism. Ch. 5. 2. Whats Wrong With Gay Sex? Dworkin, R. 1998. Taking Rights Seriously. London: Duckworth. Ch. 11. Quinton, A. 1998. Homosexuality, in From Wodehouse to Wittgenstein. Machester: Carcanet Press. 3. Brain-Snatched Descartes, R. First Meditation. Warburton (2005) Ch. 26 and 27. Warburton (2004), Ch 4. 4. Is Time travel possible? Dummett, M. 1993. Causal Loops, in The Seas of Language. Oxford: Clarendon. Lewis, D. 1986. The Paradoxes of Time Travel, in his Philosophical Papers, Vol. II. Oxford: OUP. 5. Into the Lair of the Relativist. Theodore, S. and Vaughn, L. 1999. How to Think about Weird Things. California: Mayfield. Ch. 4. Kirk, R. 1999. Relativism and Reality. London: Routledge. 6. Could a Machine Think? Warburton (2005) Ch. 27. 7. Does God Exist? Warburton( 2005) Chs. 7 & 8. Warburton (2004) Ch.1. 8. That Strange Case of the Rationalist Dentist. Avramides, A. 2001. Other Minds. London: Routledge. Maslin, K. T. 2001. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: Polity. Ch. 8. 9. But Is It Art? Warburton, Ch. 40. Warburton, N. 2002. The Art Question. London: Routledge. 10. Can we Have Morality without God and Religion? Rachels, J. 1999. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. Singapore: McGrawhill. Ch. 4. 11. Is Creationism Scientific? Warburton, Ch. 42. Theodore, S. and Vaughn, L. 1999. How to Think about Weird Things. California: Mayfield. P. 171-9. 12. Designer Babies Glover, J. 1989. Fertility and the Family. Oxford: OUP. 2

Harris, J. 1992. Clones, Genes and Immortality. Oxford: OUP. 13. The Consciousness Conundrum. Jackson, F. Epiphenomenal Qualia. Papineau, D. and Selina, H. 2000. Introducing Consciousness. Cambridge: Icon. Warburton (2005) Ch. 50. 14. Why Expect the Sun to Rise Tomorrow? Warburton (2004), Ch. 5. 15. Do We Ever Deserve to Be Punished? Horner, Chris and Westcott, E. 2000. Thinking Through Philosophy. Ch 4 . 16. The Meaning Mystery. Blackburn, S. 1982. Spreading the Word. Ch.2. 17. Killing Mary to Save Jodie Warburton, (2005), Ch 13 and 14. 18. The Strange Realm of Numbers. Ayer (1971), Ch 4. Quine, Two Dogmas of Empiricism. 19. What is Knowlegde? Horner and Westacott, Ch. 2 20. Is Morality Like a Pair of Spectacles? Ayer (1971), Ch. 6. Mackie (1977) 21. Should You Be Eating That? DeGrazia, D. 2002. Animal Rights. 22. Brain Transplants, 'Teleportation' and the Puzzle of Personal Identity Maslin (2001), Ch 9. 23. Miracles and the Supernatural Blackburn. 1999. Think. Ch. 5. 24. How to Spot Eight Everyday Reasoning Errors 25. Seven Paradoxes.