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PHL 1001A Western
Philosophy 1 Honors
Section RC308 CRN 97259
Thursdays 230-520 PM, Fall 2004
E-mail: perringc@dowling.edu [All email to me should have
"PHL1001" in the subject line]
Office Phone: 244-3349
Office: 330B RC (next to the
computer lab)
Office Hours: T 430-530PM, W
130-230PM, R 1200-100PM
Textbook: A
Historical Introduction to Philosophy: Texts and Interactive Guides, by
James Fieser and Norman Lillegard. (
Grade assignment:
First paper: 12%
Second paper: 24%
Third paper: 36%
Attendance and participation:
10%
Presentation: 8%
Personal reflections (4): 10%
Aim of the course: This course will introduce you to some of the
central philosophical themes in western thought from ancient
Attendance: If you need to miss a class, you should notify me by
phone or email before the class. Your
attendance grade will suffer significantly if you miss classes without
excuse. If you miss classes, you should
request make-up work from me.
Participation: You should participate in class discussion, both
answering questions that are put to the class, raising questions when you do
not fully understand an idea or a part of the text, or what someone in the
class says.
Paper 1. At least 600 words.
Summarize the accusations against Socrates and his justification of his
actions.
Paper 2. At least 1200 words. Answer
ONE question.
1. Explain what it takes, according to
Aristotle, to be a happy person. Explain
what see as the least plausible part of his view.
2. Compare the ways that Plato thinks we can
discover the nature of ultimate reality with those proposed by Aristotle. Focus your comparison on particular examples
of knowledge and say how each philosopher would evaluate that knowledge.
Paper 3. At least 1800 words.
Answer ONE question.
1. Compare the Epicurean and Stoic views on how
to achieve happiness, and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Explain and critically evaluate any two
arguments for belief in the existence of God, as set out by Augustine, Aquinas
and Pascal.
Plagiarism detection and
prevention: All papers should be
submitted via Turnitin.com or sent to me by email as an attachment in MS Word
or RTF. I will give you information
about how to use Turnitin.com. Note that
I view any form of academic dishonesty very seriously, and if I find that you
have engaged in any significant form of plagiarism or cheating I will fail you
in this course and report my action to the Dean of Students.
The class ID for turnitin.com
is "1151840"
Password: "socrates"
Presentations: You must sign
up to do a presentation in by the end of the Week 6. You can do a 10-minute presentation on your
own, or a 20 minute presentation with another person. If you do a joint presentation, you will both
get the same grade. You can use Powerpoint to do your presentation, but it is not
required. However you do your
presentation, you must keep it lively and interesting, and you should not
simply read out from a pre-written text.
You should provide some information that is not available in the course
textbook. Your presentation will
be assessed using the form available by clicking here.
Personal Reflections: These should be at least 400 words, in grammatical English. They will not be graded, but I will give you
some feedback on them. You either get
credit for them or you don't. They are
not meant to be academically challenging, but are meant to give you the
opportunity to link the topics of the class to your own life and ideas you have
about how best to make decisions. It is
up to you how much of your own personal experience you include, but you are
encouraged to do so link your own life with philosophical discussions.
Classroom
Etiquette. All cell
phones ringers should be turned off and you should never talk on your cell
phone in class. You should not eat any
food in class, especially food that others will notice through sound or
smell. You should turn up on time to all
classes. Even if you are tired, you should
stay awake and keep your eyes open. Your
attention needs to be on the class, and you should not do other reading or work
during the class. You are free to
express your views and question the views of others, including your professor,
and you can be passionate about your opinions.
However, you must always treat others in the class with respect; you can
criticize the views and arguments of others, but you cannot criticize them as
persons. You should also make sure you
are not dominating classroom discussion to the exclusion of other class members.
Schedule (Tentative and
subject to revision)
Sept 2
Homer and the Old and New
Testaments
Sept 9
The Pre-Socratics: Thales, Anazimander, Anaximenes
Xenophanes, Pythagoras, Heroclitus
Parmenides, Zeno
Sept 23
Socrates
Meno and Apology
Personal Reflection due:
Assuming that the Pre-Socratics were not fools, how could they have come to
hold theories that contradict common sense so clearly? Are some of their theories about the nature
of the world more plausible to you than others?
Sept 30
Plato
Phaedo and the Republic
Paper 1 due.
Oct 7
Aristotle
Categories, Physics, On the
Soul
Personal Reflection due:
Plato does not defend personal freedom or equality of citizens in the
state. Why should we take his ideas
seriously? Is there anything valuable we
could learn from his approach?
Oct 14
Aristotle
Ethics
Oct 21
Hellenistic philosophical
traditions: Epicureanism, Stoicism, Cynicism and Skepticism
Paper 2
due.
Oct 28
Augustine
Personal Reflection due:
Discuss one aspect of the views of the Hellenistic philosophers that
particularly appeals to you.
Nov 4
Maimonodes and Aquinas
Nov 18
Humanism, The
Reformation
Draft of
Paper 3 due.
Dec 2
Student presentations
Montaigne's Apology
Bayle's Dictionary
Pascal's Wager:
Dec 9
Student presentations
Copernicus, Galileo,
Paper 3
due.
Dec 16
Student presentations
Bacon, Descartes,
Personal Reflection due:
Is it possible to take a scientific approach to the whole of one's life?
What was everyday life like
in
What was everyday life like
in
What was the history of the
warfare between ancient
What were the major
technological and engineering accomplishments of the Roman civilization?
Where did Christianity start
and who were its early converts?
Compare the creation story in
the Judeo/Christian Bible with the creation stories of other religious
traditions.
What theories do Biblical
scholars have about the authorship of the Old Testament?
Debate (requires 2 people):
Was Jesus a philosopher?
How did Christianity become
such a widespread religion in
What evidence led the
Copernican system of planetary movement to replace the Ptolemaic?
What did the Catholic Church
do to fight the Copernican theory of planetary movement?
What were the major advances
in science due to
What did Michel de Montaigne write about cannibals?