Course Description and Objective

   PHI 2010 is an historical, problem-oriented introduction to philosophy encompassing major areas of philosophical inquiry.  Topics include the nature of reality, arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, egoism, major theories of ethics, political philosophy, and the nature of knowledge.  The objective of the course is at least twofold.  First, you will have a solid introduction to philosophical problems and arguments.  Second, the development and enhancement of critical and analytical skills is a major focal point.  Remember that philosophy is not simply about listing and remembering facts.  It is about analyzing positions, understanding them in their historical and cultural contexts, and being able to deal with, discuss, and compare diverse ideas,theories, and principles.

Requirements and Grades

   Three examinations and occasional quizzes determine your grade for the course.  Quizzes count as 19% of you final grade.  Each examination is 27% of the final grade.  Quizzes can and will be given at any time with or without prior notice.  It is up to you to be sure to be in class to take them.  Make-up quizzes and examinations are given only with appropriate, legitimate, and verifiable reasons.  The lowest quiz grade will be "dropped" and then re-added as full credit.  No examination grade is dropped.  They all count. THERE IS NO EXTRA CREDIT OFFERED OR AVAILABLE IN THIS COURSE.  If you miss a quiz or examination and do so for a good, legitimate and verifiable reason, the quiz or test must be made up within 3 class meeting days of its initial administration (excluding quizzes or examinations given at the end of the semester.  These cannot be made up due to time constraints.  There is no provision for making up the final examination, so don't miss it).

   Grading scale:  A: 90-100; B: 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69.  Incomplete grades are assigned only in cases of extreme or severe hardship and are subject to conditions as appropriate.

   Plagiarism of any kind is a violation of the "Golden Rule" as published in the UCF Undergraduate Catalog.  Academic honesty and integrity are expected of everyone all the time.  See the link to academic integrity.

    Attendance is strongly encouraged and expected, but it is not considered in determining your grade for the course.  You do not get "credit" for showing up for class - being in class, one would think, is a given.  Much of the material covered in class may not appear in the text or on the lecture notes in the web site.  If you miss a class, you  are responsible for obtaining notes and information you may have missed.  Office hours are not held to repeat lectures already given in class.  They are held to clarify points and provide assistance, and generally to attend to academic matters relevant to this course.

Text

   The text for the course is a Prentice-Hall Publishing Company anthology designed specifically for this course in the summer B term 2001 at UCF.  Its title is Symposia:  Readings in Philosophy.  Additional readings for the course are available on-line and will be listed with links provided in the syllabus schedule, below.

Schedule and Information about On-line Notes and Reviews

   This syllabus is available on-line only.  You may (and should) print it for future reference and for cases in which you do not have access to a computer.  The on-line syllabus undergoes regular changes, additions and deletions, so it is important that you check this document regularly to be sure you are keeping up with the schedule.  It is often the case that notes and review questions are provided on-line as links in the syllabus, but lecture notes are not always complete as they appear online and will be augmented in class.  A message board for on-line review and discussion is also given as a link.  You should use the message board for posting questions to other people registered in this course and for studying for quizzes and tests.  You will probably find it very useful.

   When posting questions or messages on the message board, use either your "real" name or a screen-name by which you may be identified by others.  Anonymous postings are not always helpful.  The message board administrator does not screen messages as they are posted, so be decent and civilized and don't post anything inappropriate.  The message board administrator does not necessarily engage in discussions or read all posted messages, but the board is regularly checked and maintained.

   Schedule:

   Notes: The schedule below is meant only as a guide.  Changes and alterations in the schedule, scheduled examinations, quizzes, readings, and other information may be made from time to time to ensure completion of all major sections listed below.

   If a work required for the course does not appear in the text, a link to the electronic document will be provided in the schedule.

   Review questions are designed for review of major theories, issues, problems, etc., and do not necessarily reflect the content, format or number of actual test questions.

Dates/Weeks	Topics	Page Numbers/Other	Lecture Notes	Review Questions
June 19	Introductory Background
June 20	Plato - Euthyphro & Apology	1-25	Euthyphro, Apology	Plato Review
June 21	Ontological and Cosmological Arguments for God's Existence	26-33, 34-44	Ontological Argument More Notes on G's Existence Other Notes on G's Existence
June 25	The Teleological Argument and Value of Proofs for God's Existence	45-50, 51-57	See previous links	God's Existence Review
June 26	Plato's Phaedo and Descartes's Meditations I and II	58-67, 68-88	Plato's Phaedo, Descartes	Plato Review
June 27	Descartes' Meditations III-VI	68-88 continued	See previous link	Descartes Review
June 28--moved to July 2	TEST 1
July 2	Leibniz - Monadology	88-109	Leibniz	Leibniz Review
July 3	Monadology Continued	88-109 continued	See previous link
July 4 - Holiday
July 5	Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding	110-140		Locke Review
July 9	Berkeley, Three Dialogues and Principles of Human Knowledge	141-172, 173-181	Locke & Berkeley, More on Berkeley	Review for Berkeley, and Free Will and Determinism (in part)
July 10	Hume, Inquiry	182-201	Hume	Hume Review
July 11 - Test 2 moved to July 16	Test 2
July 12	Free Will and Determinism - Petrik, Hume on Compatibilism, Edwards on Hard Determinism	202-209, 210-222, 223-232
July 16 - Test 2.  Move Plato and Aristotle to 7/17.	Plato, Republic and Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics; Russell, "The Conquest of Happiness"	233-240, 241-258, 415-end	1.  Ethics Notes 2.  Plato 3.  Aristotle 4.  Aristotle, Ethics	Review - Ethics
July 17	Hobbes, Leviathan and Locke, Second Treatise of Government	259-278, 279-298	Hobbes and Locke	Review - Social/Political
July 18	Blocker, "Egoism" and "Is Egoism an Ethical Theory?" and Butler, "Refutation of Egoism"	343-346, 366-378, 347-359	1.  Egoism, general	Review, Egoism
July 19	Kant, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals	299-318	Kant	Kant review questions appear in the previous "Review -Ethics" link.
July 23	Mill, Utilitarianism Use the link - this work does not appear in the text - you need Chapters 1, 2, and 3; and On Liberty; Berlin, "Two Concepts of Liberty"	319-342, 379-391	Mill  /and "On Liberty"/"On Liberty Notes 2"/Berlin - in class only - no on-line notes	Review Questions for "On Liberty" appear in "Social/Political" review questions link.  Review on Berlin
July 24	Continued and Wolgast, "Equality and the Rights of Women"	379-391, 392-414	OMIT WOLGAST FROM SCHEDULE
July 25	Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil	360-365	Nietzsche
July 26	Continued; overview, review
July 30	Final -Test 3