Introduction to Philosophy: PHIL 101
Instructor: Jonathan D. Trigg Ph.D.
Office: HLG 510
Office hours: Tue. & Thur. 3:30 – 5:30; Mon., Wed. & Fri. 1:00 – 3:00
E-mail: jon.trigg@louisiana.edu
Class Time: T.R. sec. 101: 9:30 – 10:45; sec. 102: 11:00 – 12:15
Class Place: HLG 505
Assessment: Your final grade will be made up of the following components:
Mid-Term Examination 30%
Final
Paper
35%
Final
Examination 30%
Class
Participation
5%
In the mid-term examination you will answer three questions in 75
minutes, and in the final examination you will answer three questions
in two and a half hours. The term paper will be between 6 and 8 pages
long (12 point, double spaced). I will provide you with a list of
titles for this paper, and plenty of advice on how to complete it.
Grading System
• Remember that you are being graded for achievement, not effort.
• Grades range from A to F. A: 90-100; B: 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69; F: 59 and below
• An A is assigned to excellent work, B to
better than average, C to average and D to below average; F grades fail.
• No ‘extra credit’ will be given.
Attendance and Class Policies
Attendance is mandatory. Students who miss more than three classes over
the semester without good reason will automatically be dropped from the
course. Good reasons include illness (requiring medical attention) and
involvement in significant university activities. I will deduct 2.5
points (a quarter letter grade) a day from unexcused late assignments.
If you have a disability and require assistance with fulfilling class
assignments, don't hesitate to notify the instructor and the Office for
Services to Students with Disabilities at 482-5252. Finally, be sure
you are familiar with all university policies described in the UL
Lafayette Undergraduate Bulletin.
Anybody caught plagiarizing will fail the course, and will be reported
to the University. It is incredibly easy to identify plagiarised
passages in your written work. You must include full citations of any
sources that you use – including page numbers of books and
URL’s for websites.
If you miss class, for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to
get class notes from another student. Missed exams or other assignments
can be made up only if an appropriate excuse, e.g., illness requiring
medical attention, participation in certain official university events,
etc., is provided. If you miss an assignment due date, you must notify
me within one week of the due date in order to make up the assignment.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures
A map of this floor is posted near the elevator marking the evacuation
route and the Designated Rescue Area. This is an area where emergency
service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need
assistance in exiting the building. Students who may need assistance
should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.
Main Texts
• Reason and Responsibility Joel Feinberg and
Russ Shaffer-Landau eds. 12th edition (Belmont: Wadsworth) 2005 –
For introductions to every article together with study questions to
help focus your reading see the companion web site
www.philosophy.wadsworth.com
You should get the correct edition of this volume (from the university
book shop for example) since it contains a number of readings not
included in earlier editions. Pay special attention to the editors
introductions to each section – they are very helpful.
• What Does It All Mean, Thomas Nagel (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1987
Lots of very inexpensive second hand copies of this book are available on the internet.
A good general resource for topics rather than particular technical terms can be found at:
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/
And an excellent discussion of the difference between good and bad
philosophy papers, including a sample of each, can be found at:
http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/rholton/write/writehome.html
Course Structure and Reading
RR p…. refers to the first page of the relevant piece in Reason
and Responsibility; WDIAM followed by a number refers to chapters in
Nagel’s What Does it all Mean? You need to read these pieces
before the relevant class – I highly recommend that you look at
them again after class. Philosophical writings are dense and demanding
and you should not expect to understand them perfectly straight away.
Week 1: Moral Philosophy: Introduction and basic argument skills. Test
case: Moral Relativism. (RR p. 522) + (RR p.622) + (WDIAM 7)
Week 2: Egoism – psychological and ethical. (RR p.476) + (RR p.488) + (WDIAM 7)
Week 3: Religion and Morality (RR p.564) + (RR p. 502) + (WDIAM 7 + 10)
Week 4: The big three: Consequentialism (J.S. Mill), Intrinsicalism (I.
Kant) and Virtue Ethics (Aristotle). (RR p.594) + (RR p.579) + (RR
p.525)
Week 5: The big three: particular moral problems (abortion, animals,
famine…) (RR p. 639) + (RR p. 631) + (RR p.654) + (RR p.667) +
(RR p.677)
Week 6: Reason and religious belief: Arguments for the existence of God. (RR p.11) + (RR p.23) + (RR p.32) + (RR p.37)
Week 7: The problem of evil and the rationality of faith. (RR p. 79) + (RR p.97) + (RR p.101) + (RR p.118)
Week 8: Review, examination technique and mid term examination.
Week 9: Metaphysics 1: Minds, bodies and selves. (WDIAM 4) + (RR p.263) + (RR p.271) + (RR p.305)
Week 10: Minds and bodies continued: reading as for last week + (RR p. 267)
Week 11: Personal Identity – Is there such a thing as the self? (RR p.340) + (RR p.346) + (RR p.349) + (RR p.365)
Week 11: Metaphysics 2: Do we have free will? Determinism,
Compatibilism and moral responsibility (WDIAM 6) + (RR p.392) + (RR
p.397) + (RR p.408) + (RR p.449)
Week 13: Epistemology: What, if anything, can we know for certain? (WDIAM 2) + (RR p. 133) + (RR p.139)
Week 14: Epistemology continued: Our knowledge of the external world. (WDIAM 2) + (RR p. 177) + (RR p.185) + (RR p.196)
Week 15: Review and more on examination technique. Term paper is due in last class.
Final Examination: HLG 505
sec. 101 Tuesday, December 6, 7:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.
sec. 102 Saturday, December 10, 1:30 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.