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Phil102: Intro to Philosophy: Knowledge & Reality

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Phil102: Intro to Philosophy: Knowledge & Reality PHIL102: INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY: KNOWLEDGE & REALITY section 3, schedule #22716 MW 4:00-5:15 pm in EBA 343 Dr. Robert Francescotti Office Hours (Arts & Letters, 438): Monday 5:45–7 pm, Wednesday 12:30–1:30 pm, & Thursday 2–4 pm Office phone & e-mail: 619-594-6585, [email protected] COURSE DESCRIPTION This course satisfies the Philosophy & Religious Studies section of the Humanities requirement of the Foundations of Learning component of the General Education requirements. - description in SDSU’s General Catalog: Introduction to philosophical inquiry with emphasis on problems of knowledge and reality. Students are encouraged to think independently and formulate their own tentative conclusions. - a fuller description of my section: You will learn about the philosophical method by exploring some main areas of philosophical interest. The first issue we will discuss is whether God exists. We will consider a few arguments designed to show that God exists along with an argument that aims to show that God does not exist. This first section of the course is a good introduction to the structure of argumentation (an essential tool of the philosophical method). Then we will investigate the Free Will debate. Science has shown that much of our behavior is the result of factors beyond our control. The environment in which we were raised obviously greatly affects our behavior. Non-conscious mental activity and genetic factors are also thought to play a major role. Of course, the state of one’s brain is a major culprit as well. However, if our actions are the result of these factors, which seem largely out of our control, then in what sense can we be considered “free”? And if we do not act in a truly free manner, then can we be held responsible for our actions? Many people believe that in addition to the body, there is some immaterial aspect to our being. We might call this the soul—or perhaps spirit, psyche, or simply the mind. Is the mind really immaterial? Might it be that our thoughts, beliefs, and desires are nothing more than purely physical processes of our bodies? Might it be that we are in general nothing more than our physical bodies?? A closely related question is: In what does your identity as a person consist? What makes you the person you are, and what is it that makes an individual the same person over time? We will consider what various influential thinkers have said regarding these deep questions, and then we will try to decide for ourselves how the questions should be answered. Whether or not we reach any definite conclusions, we will still accomplish the main goal of the course, which is to develop the basic logical and conceptual skills needed to effectively think through philosophical issues on one’s own. So in addition to learning specific facts about particular philosophers and their theories/arguments, you will also learn how to do philosophy. Moreover, the analytical skills you will develop are those that prove beneficial to clear thinking and good reasoning about all facets of life. 2 GENERAL EDUCATION “ESSENTIAL CAPACITIES”& GOALS Philosophy 102 is a General Education (GE) course. The “seven essential capacities” (listed on p. 90 of the 2016-17 General Catalog) that San Diego State’s GE program aims to develop in students are the ability to: - construct, analyze, and communicate arguments - apply theoretical models to the real world - contextualize phenomena - negotiate differences - integrate global and local perspectives - illustrate relevance of concepts across boundaries - evaluate consequences of actions. Phil 102 is a member of the Humanities and Fine Arts group of GE courses, and the goals for this set of courses (p. 91 of the General Catalog) are to enable students to - analyze written, visual, or performed texts in the humanities and fine arts with sensitivity to their diverse cultural contexts and historical moments - develop a familiarity with various aesthetic and other value systems and the ways they are communicated across time and cultures. - argue from multiple perspectives about issues in the humanities that have personal and global relevance. - demonstrate the ability to approach complex problems and ask complex questions drawing upon knowledge of the humanities. SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES Students are expected to develop and demonstrate the ability to: - identify when a discussion counts as philosophical - identify arguments and their main components - clearly explain and distinguish between each of the theories discussed in the class - identify problems with and merits of each of the theories and arguments presented - speculate on how the theories might be modified to avoid the objections raised - critically evaluate arguments and theories in a variety of philosophical contexts - think and write in a clearer, more logically rigorous fashion - develop and defend your own views on the philosophical topics discussed . REQUIRED TEXTS & READINGS A course packet (Phil 102: Readings) available at CalCopy contains the following: - Cover and Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1994)—ch. 2, sec. 1: Logic: Deduction. - St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Five Ways,” from Summa Theologica, written from 1265–1274. Reprint in Perry & Bratman (eds.), Introduction to Philosophy: Classical & Contemporary Readings (Oxford University Press, 1986). - St. Anselm, from Proslogiun, written in 1077-1078. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, 13th edition (Wadsworth, 2008). - Cover and Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1994)—ch. 2, sec. 1: Logic: Induction. - William Paley, excerpts from Natural Theology, published in 1802. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, 13th edition (Wadsworth, 2008). - Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamozov, published in 1880. The course packet contains excerpts under the title, “Rebellion,” reprinted in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau. - Blaise Pascal, from Pensees, published in 1669. In Blaise Pascal, Penees and Other Writings, Honor Levi, trans. (Oxford University Press, 1995). - excerpts from Paul Holbach’s System of Nature, 1770. The course packet contains the reprint under the title, “The Illusion of Free Will,” in Feinberg (ed.), Reason and Responsibility, 8th edition (Wadsworth, 1993). 3 - Clarence Darrow, “The Crime of Compulsion: Leopold and Loeb,” in Weinberg (ed.), Attorney for the Damned, (University of Chicago Press, 1957). - Walter Stace, “The Problem of Free Will,” from his Religion and the Modern Mind (J. B. Lippincott Company, 1952). Reprint in Pojman (ed.), Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, 6th edition (Oxford University Press, 2006). - excerpts from Richard Taylor’s Metaphysics (Prentice-Hall, 1992). - Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641. Reprint in Pojman (ed.), Classics of Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1998). - Rene Descartes, Treatise on Man, 1664 -- in Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch (trans.), Philosophical Writings of Rene Descartes, vol I (Cambridge University Press, 1985). - Cover & Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality, 2nd ed. (McGraw Hill, 1994) -- ch. 2, sec. 3: “Dualism and the Relationship Problem” - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, “Third Explanation of the New System” (1696), from G. W. Leibniz, Philosophical Texts, translated and edited by R. S. Woolhouse and Richard Francks (Oxford, 1998). - John Locke “Of Ideas of Identity and Diversity” from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690. Reprint in Perry & Bratman (eds.), Introduction to Philosophy: Classical & Contemporary Readings (Oxford, 1986). - Thomas Reid, “Of Mr. Locke’s Account of Our Personal Identity,” in Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1785. Reprint in Feinberg and Shafer-Landau (eds.), Reason and Responsibility, 13th edition (Wadsworth, 2008). SCHEDULE: dates & topics (and the readings for those dates in parentheses) 8/29 Introduction to the course 8/31 Arguments 9/7 - more on arguments (“Logic: Deduction” from Cover and Garns, Theories of Knowledge and Reality) - introducing the Causal Argument 9/12 the Causal Argument (St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Five Ways,” from Summa Theologica) 9/14, 9/19 Anselm’s Ontological Argument (St. Anselm, from Proslogium and Guanilo’s reply) 9/21 Inductive vs. Deductive Arguments & Arguments by Analogy (“Induction” from Cover and Garns) 9/26 The Teleological Argument (William Paley, excerpts from Natural Theology) EXAM I September 28th 10/3 The Problem of Evil (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Rebellion” from The Brothers Karamozov) 10/5 More on the Problem of Evil 10/10 Pascal’s Wager (Blaise Pascal, from Pensees) 10/12 Introducing to the Free Will/Determinism debate 10/17 Hard Determinism (Paul Holbach, “The Illusion of Free Will” from System of Nature) 10/19 Hard Determinism (Clarence Darrow, “Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of Compulsion”) 10/24 Compatibilism (Walter Stace, “The Problem of Free Will” from Religion and the Modern Mind) 10/26 Indeterminism 10/31 Theory of Agency (excerpts from Richard Taylor’s Metaphysics) EXAM II November 2nd 11/7 Intro to the Mind-Body Problem 11/9 Skepticism and the External World (Rene Descartes, Meditations I, II) and an argument for Dualism 11/14 More arguments for Dualism (Descartes, from Meditation VI, and Leibniz’ “Third Explanation”) 11/16 Interactionism (Rene Descartes, Treatise on Man and Cover & Garns, “Dualism and the Relationship Problem”) 11/21 - Parallelism (Gottfried Leibniz’ letter, “Third Explanation of the New System”) - Materialism & the Identity Theory 11/28 - Identity Theory vs. Logical Behaviorism; and the Artificial Intelligence debate - Materialist responses to arguments for Dualism 11/30 Intro to Personal Identity 12/5 Bodily Substance and Bodily Continuity 12/7 Locke’s Mental Continuity Account (John Locke, “Of Ideas of Identity and Diversity”) 12/12 Objections to Locke’s Account (Thomas Reid, “Of Mr. Locke’s Account of Our Personal Identity”) 12/14 Immaterial Substances / Souls 4 EXAM III December 19th (during final exam week) GRADES & REQUIREMENTS Your final grade is based on the percentage of 300 possible points you earn on three in-class exams. Exam I is September 28th — 80 possible pts. Exam II is on November 2nd — 100 possible pts.
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