PHIL 150A1: Who Am I? People and Our Place in The Universe
This course is a general introduction to philosophy as an academic discipline, organised around the theme of personhood: the question of what we essentially are, and what is good for us. You will be exposed to some of the best writing on these topics that has been produced by Western culture, and have the opportunity to improve your ability to think and write critically by considering whether and how what these thinkers have had to say is correct.
Learning objectives
You will read and gain an understanding of some foundational texts in Western philosophy.
You will study and explore core philosophical questions regarding what we essentially are and what is good for us.
You will write and revise philosophical essays explaining and analysing the views presented in the course reading material.
Learning outcomes
You will be able to understand what an author means to say in difficult philosophical texts, and demonstrate this understanding by answering comprehension questions.
You will be able to defend in depth your understanding and conception of two philosophical topics, in the writing of two philosophical essays.
You will be able to identify and engage in distinctively philosophical theorising about a number of topics, and express this understanding in formulating the basic structure of your written answers.
Instructor
- Sean Whitton
<spwhitton@email.arizona.edu> - Virtual office: Zoom link available on D2L
- Office hours: By appointment between 1pm and 2:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays
During the course, I expect to respond to all e-mails within 36 hours. Please do not expect a response sooner than 24 hours after you send your e-mail, and don’t expect to receive a reply on Saturday or Sunday. Plan ahead.
To be sure of an appointment in office hours, be sure to write before 5pm on the day before when you wish to attend.
Please do not e-mail me if your question could be answered by reading the syllabus.
Required Texts
Thomas Nagel, What does it all mean? (Oxford University Press, 1987) – available as a UA library ebook, so you do not need to buy this one
RenĂ© Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings, translated by Desmond Clarke (Penguin Classics, 1999) – do not use an alternative edition/translation
Plato, Gorgias, translated by Robin Waterfield (Oxford University Press, 1994) – do not use an alternative edition/translation
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (any complete edition)
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (any complete edition)
The Descartes, Hobbes and Locke have recently been translated into a more contemporary English by Jonathan Bennett, and these translations may be downloaded for free from https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/. The editions specified above are still required texts for the course. My suggestion is that you read Bennett’s translations alongside the printed editions.
Course Format and Teaching Methods
Lectures
There will be two didactic lectures per week, posted on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Fridays, I will post a lecture in response to questions received about the content of that week’s Monday and Wednesday lectures, discuss assignments, and review more challenging material.
As the course progresses I may experiment with alternative ways to handle the Friday sessions: we might try group video calls or similar.
Required Submission of Questions
Each week, five students will be assigned to submit questions to be discussed in the Friday lecture, by e-mail by 11:59pm MST on Thursday, though each week other students are free to submit questions too. When it is your turn to submit a question, it should be at least 25 words long: explain precisely what you want help with, or want to discuss. I will try to answer questions in such a way as to benefit as many people in the class as possible.
The students who are assigned will be notified by e-mail at the beginning of their assigned week.
Reading
Each item of reading is associated to one of the didactic lectures, and should be completed in advance of watching that lecture. See the Course Schedule below [exactly which pages to read are TBD for some dates].
Quizzes
There will be a number of very short, unannounced reading quizzes posted during the course, each to be completed within 36 hours. They will be easy if you are up-to-date with that week’s reading, and difficult otherwise.
Papers
You will write two papers. Their topics and more specific instructions will be posted when they are assigned.
For the first paper you will be required to submit a draft. You will be penalised if your final version of the paper does not respond adequately to my feedback.
Exam
There is no midterm. There is one open book final exam, which will be a mixture of short written answers and multiple choice.
Grades
Scale
- 90%+: grade A
- 80%+: grade B
- 70%+: grade C
- 60%+: grade D
- Less than 60%: grade E
Breakdown
- Participation: 5%
- attending office hours
- submission of Friday questions
- Syllabus quiz: 5%
- Reading quizzes: 15%
- Final exam: 25%
- First paper draft: 5%
- 1500 words
- First paper final: 20%
- 1500 words
- Second paper: 25%
- 2000 words
This course is a writing intensive Tier One General Education course. You will write a minimum of 3500 words. This writing requirement comprises the following assignments: the first paper and the second paper. You will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit the following assignment: first paper.
Rules
Late work will not be accepted, except where mandated by university policy, or where we have agreed, several days in advance, to extend your deadline.
It is your responsibility to contact me early enough, not my responsibility to arrange an extension at the last minute. I really mean it. You’ll simply get a zero.
The two papers and the paper draft must be submitted in PDF format, on D2L. No Word documents, no Pages documents. If you submit in the wrong format, you will get a zero. If you have any doubt about your ability to convert to PDF, talk to me well in advance.
If you have D2L issues close to a deadline you may e-mail me the PDF as proof you did it in time, but it cannot be graded until it has been uploaded to D2L.
You may go 10% above or below the word limit for a paper. Beyond that, you will get a zero.
There will be no extra credit.
Please double-space, use one inch margins, and a size 12 font. Other than that I do not care about your formatting choices, so long as you satisfy the requirements of academic integrity.
General Information on Taking a Philosophy Course
Philosophy is not like other subjects. Please review my notes on taking a philosophy course.
Course Schedule
Unit 1: Knowledge and scepticism
- Monday 24th August
- Meditation I
- Wednesday 26th August
- Meditation II
- Syllabus quiz due 11:59pm MST
- Friday 28th August
- Review and discussion
- Monday 31st August
- Meditation III
- Wednesday 2nd September
- Meditation III continued
- Friday 4th September
- Review and discussion
- Monday 7th September
- Labor Day – no classes
- Wednesday 9th September
- Meditation IV
- Friday 11th September
- Review and discussion
- Monday 14th September
- Nagel chs. 1–3
- Wednesday 16th September
- Nozick, Philosophical Explanations (excerpt posted to D2L)
- Friday 18th September
- Review and discussion
- Monday 21st September
- Meditation V
- Wednesday 23rd September
- Meditation VI
- Friday 25th September
- Review and discussion
- First paper draft due 11:59pm MST
Unit 2: Personhood
- Monday 28th September
- Nagel ch. 4
- Wednesday 30th September
- Nagel ch. 6
- Friday 2nd October
- Review and discussion
- Monday 5th October
- Hume on the self (excerpt posted to D2L)
- Wednesday 7th October
- Dennett on the self (excerpt posted to D2L)
- Friday 9th October
- Review and discussion
- Monday 12th October
- Nagel ch. 7
- Wednesday 14th October
- Anscombe, Modern Moral Philosophy (excerpt posted to D2L)
- Friday 16th October
- Review and discussion
- First paper final due 11:59pm MST
- The magic word is “lemon”.
Unit 3: Virtue
- Monday 19th October
- Introduction to Ancient ethics
- Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness (excerpt posted to D2L)
- Wednesday 21st October
- Socrates’ exchange with Gorgias: 447a – 461b
- Friday 23rd October
- Review and discussion
- Monday 26th October
- Socrates’ exchange with Polus: 461b – 468e
- Wednesday 28th October
- Socrates’ exchange with Polus: 468e – 481b
- Friday 30th October
- Review and discussion
- Monday 2nd November
- Callicles’ speech: 481b – 492c
- Wednesday 4th November
- Socrates’ response to Callicles: 492d – 505c
- Friday 6th November
- Review and discussion
- Monday 9th November
- The end of the dialogue: 505c – 527e
- Wednesday 11th November
- Veterans’ Day – no classes
- Friday 13th November
- Review and discussion
Unit 4: Politics
- Monday 16th November
- Hobbes on psychological egoism: /Leviathan/ ch. 13
- Wednesday 18th November
- Hobbes’ state of nature: /Leviathan/ ch. 17
- Friday 20th November
- Review and discussion
- Monday 23rd November
- The Hobbesian commonwealth: /Leviathan/ chs. 14 and 18
- Wednesday 25th November
- More on the Hobbesian commonwealth: /Leviathan/ ch. 15
- Second paper due 11:59pm MST
- Friday 27th November
- Thanksgiving Recess – no classes
- Monday 30th November
- Locke’s state of nature: /Second Treatise of Government/, chs. 1–5
- Wednesday 2nd December
- Leaving the Lockeian state of nature: /Second Treatise of Government/, sections 87–100 and 113–122
- Friday 4th December
- Review and discussion
- Monday 7th December
- Nagel ch. 8
- Wednesday 9th December
- Nagel chs. 9–10
- Wednesday 16th December
- Final exam due 11:59pm MST
UA-mandated notices
https://academicaffairs.arizona.edu/syllabus-policies
Absence and Class Participation
The UA’s policy concerning Class Attendance, Participation, and Administrative Drops is available at: http://catalog.arizona.edu/policy/class-attendance-participation-and-administrative-drop
The UA policy regarding absences for any sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice will be accommodated where reasonable, http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/religious-accommodation-policy
Absences for groups of more than three students that are pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean Designee) will be honored. See: http://policy.arizona.edu/employmenthuman-resources/attendance
Threatening Behavior Policy
The UA Threatening Behavior by Students Policy prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to oneself. See http://policy.arizona.edu/education-and-student-affairs/threatening-behavior-students
Accessibility and Accommodations
At the University of Arizona, we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please contact the Disability Resource Center (520-621-3268, https://drc.arizona.edu/) to establish reasonable accommodations.
See http://drc.arizona.edu/instructors/syllabus-statement.
Code of Academic Integrity
Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See: http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/policies/code-academic-integrity and http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/academic-integrity/students/academic-integrity
UA Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy
The University of Arizona is committed to creating and maintaining an environment free of discrimination. In support of this commitment, the University prohibits discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, based on a protected classification, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information. For more information, including how to report a concern, please see http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/nondiscrimination-and-anti-harassment-policy
Classroom Behavior Policy
To foster a positive learning environment, students and instructors have a shared responsibility. We want a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where all of us feel comfortable with each other and where we can challenge ourselves to succeed. To that end, our focus is on the tasks at hand and not on extraneous activities (e.g., texting, chatting, reading a newspaper, making phone calls, web surfing, etc.).
Subject to Change Statement
Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor; see http://policy.arizona.edu/faculty-affairs-and-academics/course-syllabus-policy-undergraduate-template