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PHL 1001C Western
Philosophy 1 Honors
Section
KSC 104 CRN 98890
MW
E-mail: perringc
(at) dowling (dot) edu [All email to me should have
"PHL1001" in the subject line: you need to use your Dowling email
account to write to me]
Office Phone: 244-3349
Office: 330B RC (next to the
computer lab)
Office Hours:
Textbooks:
· A
Passion for Wisdom: Readings in Western Philosophy on Love and Desire, edited by Ellen Feder, Karmen MacKendrick and Sybol Cook (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004)
· Homer, The Iliad, trans. by
· Sophocles, Antigone, trans. by Paul Woodruff (Hackett, 2001)
· Any version of the Bible (I suggest using a Study
Bible).
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 Greece up to the
dawn of the modern era. You will learn skills
of reading carefully, reading out loud, comparing different world views,
analyzing arguments, clarifying ideas, making careful distinctions, finding the
strengths and weaknesses of arguments, assessing the plausibility of claims,
constructing your own arguments, defending and strengthening your own
arguments, discussing controversial ideas with other people, presenting ideas
to a group, expressing your ideas and criticisms of others in writing, and
formulating your own arguments in writing.
Ultimately, this course should help you to think for yourself, express
yourself, and better understand the ideas of other people. Hopefully, it should also give you some
understanding of the philosophical foundations of western civilization.
Reading assignments: Each week, one chapter, or part of a chapter, of the
textbook is assigned for reading.
You must do the reading before that week. You should be familiar with the main ideas in
each assigned chapter, and you should make notes of those parts that are hard
to follow.
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 can do
a make-up by writing a 500 word summary of the assigned reading for the day you
missed.
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.
Paper 2. At least 1200 words.
Answer ONE question. You should
find at least one academic source of information that is not part of the
assigned reading.
Late papers risk penalties.
Paper 3. At least 1800 words. Answer ONE question. You should find at least two academic sources
of information that is not part of the assigned reading.
Draft due on 11/29. The draft can be 1200 words or more. Penalty for not doing draft: paper grade goes
down by one letter grade.
Final paper
due 12/18. Penalty for late papers. 5% per day late.
Topics for
final paper.
1. Compare Aristotle's view of friendship with
EITHER the Epicurean view OR the Stoic view. Evaluate which is the better argued
view.
2. Discuss why Augustine is confessing. Compare this with the role of confession in a
non-Christian religion, such as Judaism, Buddhism, Islam or Hinduism.
3. Aquinas discusses the difference between
God's love and most human love. He argues
that God's love has to be different from human love because God has a different
nature. Explain how Aquinas makes those
arguments, and then discuss whether his arguments are strong.
4. "Jesus in the New Testament commands
people to love their enemies. 1. What reasons, if any, does he give for saying
people should do this? Are they good
reasons? 2. Suggest a model of love that Jesus may be
using, or one that we could find, for it to be psychologically possible for us
to love our enemies? 3. Is this model of love a new one or is
it similar to the models of love used by Aristotle, the Epicureans, or the
Stoics (explore just one of these)."
[Here's the basic issue: is love a thought, a feeling, an action, or
something else? Is Jesus telling people
to feel loving towards people, to act in a loving way towards them, or to more
intellectually wish them well. ]
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. See the Dowling
College Library page for Avoiding Plagiariam.
The class ID for turnitin.com
is "???????" [to be announced later]
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. For your presentation topic, you can choose
one from the schedule below, or you can propose a topic to me. Note that your presentation should leave two
minutes at the end for a question and answer period.
Personal Reflections: These should be at least 500 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 or text 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.
· You have a responsibility to contribute to the
community of the class. You should participate and help your classmates to
understand ideas.
Tentative Schedule
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading Assigned |
Presentation Topic |
Work Due |
|
Wed 9/6 |
Introduction |
|
|
|
|
Mon 9/11 |
Greek Epic Poetry |
The Iliad Read the following parts: Book 1 Book 2, lines 1-54,
226-300, 472-521, 873-932 Book 3 Book 6, lines 103-end Book 9, lines 186-end Book 12, lines 259-end Book 16, lines 1-430,
455-586, 667-end Book 18, lines 1-259,
504-end Book 19, lines 1-87,
294-end Book 22 Book 23, lines 1-282 Book 24, lines 497-end Links to useful sites:
Study Guides: |
|
|
|
W 9/13 |
|
The Iliad |
|
|
|
M 9/18 |
Greek Tragedy |
Sophocles: Antigone Links:
|
The story of Oedipus |
|
|
W 9/20 |
|
Antigone |
What was Ancient Greek Theatre
like and what role did it play in Athenian life? |
First reflection: Are the
dramas of Homer or Sophocles similar to or different from those that grip the
general public now? |
|
M 9/25 |
The Archaic Lyric |
Sappho |
The rise and fall of Greek civilization |
|
|
W 9/27 |
The Birth of Philosophy |
Empedocles |
Who was Thales, and why is
he described as the first scientist? |
|
|
W 10/4 |
Socrates |
Plato: The Apology Links to the Jowett translation:
James
Redfield translation (in Adobe Acrobat) |
What was |
First
paper due, by midnight. At least 600
words. Topic: Using either the Iliad or Antigone, discuss what
motivates one of the major figures in the drama. For example, why does Achilles fight
Hector, or why does Antigone bury her brother? Pay particular attention to the character’s
values, and what kinds of love are involved. |
|
M 10/9 |
|
The Apology |
The war between |
|
|
W 10/11 |
Plato |
The Symposium |
Explain the Allegory of the
Cave as it appears in Plato's Republic |
|
|
M 10/16 |
|
The Symposium |
What was pederasty in
Ancient Greece? |
|
|
W 10/18 |
Aristotle |
from Nichomachean
Ethics |
The lives of Plato and
Aristotle |
Second reflection. Whose view of love and friendship in the
Symposium do you like the most?
Explain. |
|
M 10/23 |
|
from Nichomachean
Ethics |
|
|
|
W 10/25 |
Epicurus |
from Letter to Menoceus |
The life of Epicurus |
|
|
M 10/30 |
Marcus Aurelius |
from Meditations |
A sketch of the rise of the
|
|
|
W 11/1 |
Old Testament |
Genesis |
Scholarly theories on who
wrote the Bible |
Second paper due. See topics listed above. |
|
M 11/6 |
|
Exodus |
The |
|
|
W 11/8 |
New Testament |
Book of Matthew |
The Book of Judas -- What
is it, and what does it say? |
|
|
M 11/13 |
Plotinus |
from Enneads |
|
Third reflection. Topic: Is there a rational way to interpret
the messages and pronouncements of the Bible, or does interpretation have to
be arbitrary, selective, and entirely subjective? It would be best to focus on particular
interpretive controversies, such as whether there are one or two creation
stories in the book of Genesis, whether the Bible recommends violence or
pacifism in dealing with enemies, whether masturbation, contraception,
abortion and homosexual behavior are sins, or whether, as Jehovah's Witnesses
believe, having a blood transfusion will prevent you from ever entering
heaven. |
|
W 11/15 |
|
from Confessions |
The life of Saint Augustine |
|
|
M 11/20 |
|
from Confessions |
The rise of the early
Christian Church |
|
|
M 11/27 |
Saint Thomas Aquinas |
from the Summa Theologica |
The life of Saint Thomas
Aquinas |
|
|
W 11/29 |
|
from the Summa Theologica |
|
Draft of final paper due |
|
M 12/4 |
Hadewijch |
from her letters, poetry
and visions |
|
|
|
W 12/6 |
Heloise and Abelard |
from the Letters of Heloise
and Abelard |
The lives of Heloise and
Abelard |
|
|
M 12/11 |
Saint Teresa of |
from the Life of Saint Teresa
of Avila by Herself and The Way of Perfection |
The life of Saint Teresa of
Avila |
Fourth reflection. Topic: Is it good to be rational? Should rationality be the only guide to
life or should there be a place for faith or non-rational experiences? |
|
W 12/13 |
|
from Dark Night of the Soul |
|
|
|
M 12/18 |
Montaigne |
Of Friendship |
The life of Montaigne |
Final paper due |
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Links to Internet Resources
Ancient Greek philosophy
In discussing the Epicureans,
we talked about the fear of death and the pain of losing loved ones. There is an interview with Julia Sweeny on
NPR's Fresh Air in which she talks about her religious experience, her loss of
faith, and her feelings about coping with loss.
Here's an interesting story
on Biblical Interpretation from This American Life. The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a
renowned evangelical pastor in
Interpreting the Bible on
Homosexuality
Here's a discussion in USA
Today of the what the Bible says about homosexuality by a Baptist minister,
Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, with extensive discussion by readers following
the article.
Doing a presentation
Writing a Philosophy Paper