PHI 107: M100 THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY 2012 CLASS MEETING: Auditorium sections.

FALL

Lecture: TTh 11:00 AM - 11:55 AM, Shemin (+ one of 8 discussion INSTRUCTORS: Lecturer: Prof. Robert Van Gulick <rnvangul@syr.edu> Office hours: Wed 2:30PM - 3:30 PM & by appt., 522HL Discussion Leaders: (office hours + additional office hours by appointment.) Teresa Bruno Nino <tbrunoni@syr.edu> Mon 1:00-2:30 PM, Bird Library caf. Dante Dauksz <ddauksz@syr.edu > Mon 2:00-3:00 PM, Bird Library caf. Jon Delmendo <jjdelmen@syr.edu> Byron Simons <bsimmons@syr.edu> Thurs 9:50 -10:50 AM, 103 Bowne Hall. COURSE TOPIC: An introduction to some of the main issues, theories and arguments in the areas of philosophy concerned with knowledge (epistemology) and with fundamental and basic features of reality (metaphysics). The course will have 4 equal units concerned with four core issues: the existence of God, the nature and limits of Knowledge, the relation of Mind & Matter (Body), the problem of Free Will. As well as providing an understanding of the philosophical theories and debates on those four topics, the course is intended to introduce students to the methods and skills of philosophical thinking and reasoning, both in evaluating the arguments of others and in constructing and defending arguments of your own. TEXT Required: J. Feinberg and R. Schafer-Landau, Reason & Responsibility (Wadsworth, 14th edition, 2011); available at Syracuse University Bookstore (or from online sellers). A few other readings will be provided online on the PHI107 Blackboard site. CLICKER Required : Turning Point Student Response Card available at SU Bookstore. Will be used for in-class quizzes. Will be needed by Thurs 9/6. **You will need to register your clicker at the Blackboard site for this course unless you have registered it for another course this semester or in the past. Select "Tools" on the left side of the Blackboard page, click it, and then on the next page click on "Turing Point Registration Tool". Enter the ID# from the back of your clicker (twice). Click Submit at bottom of

page. (Don't forget to Submit.) COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Regular attendance at lectures and participation in discussion sessions. Reading assignment before class, thinking about it & being prepared to discuss it. Midterm exam - essay format, Tues, Oct. 16, regular class time (room tba) Final exam essay format, Tues, Dec 11, 12:45PM - 2:45 PM (room tba). 2 essay papers (each 3-4 pages in length). Topics & instructions to be distributed. One or more short (1 page) written assignments. Unannounced quizzes - both in lecture and in sections. GRADING: Individual letters grades (A-F with possible + or -) will be given on each exam and essay. Course grade will be determined by the following percentages: Midterm Exam = 20% Final Exam = 20% First Essay = 20% Second Essay = 20% Quizzes in Lecture = 10% Participation and Quizzes in Discussion section = 10% ELECTRONICS: Cell phone use, texting and any other use of portable electronic devices is prohibited during class meetings with one exception - Laptops: If you wish to use your laptop solely for the purpose of note-taking, please complete a Request and Agreement form available at lecture & on Blackboard. All other applications browsers, email, games, etc - must be turned off. Violators will be prohibited from any further use of laptop in class. Thanks. PHI 107 Reading Assignments & Course Calendar of exams and due dates (All page numbers from Reason & Responsibility) ** Reading assignments subject to change with at least one-week/two-meeting notice. ** 0. Introduction. Tues 8/28 Introduction, overview of the course and requirements. Thurs 8/30 - Logic, Arguments & Validity + The Value of Philosophy "Logical Toolkit" - download from Blackboard site for PHI 107 Plato, "The Euthyphro" pp. 1-11 (especially pages 4 & 5)

Bertrand Russell, "The value of philosophy", pp. 11-14. 1. Existence of God: Tues 9/4 16-20. St. Anselm, "The Ontological Argument" pp. 20-21. Guanilo, "On behalf of the fool" pp 21-24. William Rowe, "The Ontological Argument" pp. 25-35. Thurs 9/6 The Cosmological Argument. St. Thomas Aquinas "The Five Ways" p. 35-36 Samuel Clarke "Modern formulation of the cosmological argument" 36-37 William Rowe, "The cosmological argument", pp. 37-46. The Ontological Argument: Introduction to Part I- Reason and Religious Belief, pp.

* One-page ungraded essay assignment

distributed** Tues 9/11 The Argument from Design William Paley, "The argument from design" pp. 46-51. David Hume "Dialogues on natural religion only Part V, pp.63-65 Thurs 9/13The Problem of Evil Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Rebellion", pp. 86-92. J.L. Mackie, "Evil and omnipotence", pp. 92-99. Robert M. Adams, "Must God create the best?" pp. 100-105.

due**

** One-page ungraded essay assignment

Tues 9/18 Richard Swinburne "Why God allows evil", pp. 105-113. B. C. Johnson, "God and the problem of evil" pp. 113-117. ====================================

** First graded essay

assignment distributed. **
Thurs 9/20 Reason & Faith William James "The will to believe" pp. 122-130. Kelly Clark "Without evidence or argument" pp. 130-135. Blaise Pascal, "The wager" pp. 135-138. 2. Nature and Limits of Knowledge: Tues 9/25 Introduction Part II - Human Knowledge, its Grounds & Limits 145-53. Ren Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Synopsis & Meditation I 182-86. John Pollock, "A brain in a vat" 153-55. Michael Huemer, "The three skeptical arguments" 155-60. Thurs 9/27Roderick Chisholm, "The problem of the criterion" 160166. Ren Descartes, Meditations II & III. 187-191. Tues 10/2 Ren Descartes Med IV 198-202, & Med VI, 205-211 Bertrand Russell, "Appearance and reality and the existence of matter", 175-82. John Locke, "The causal theory of perception" 215-222

- Tues 10/2 **

** First Graded Essay due

Thurs 10/4 David Hume from An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sections IV & V. pp. 240-252. Wesley Salmon. An Encounter with David Hume. 263-81. Tues 10/9 Karl Popper, "Science: Conjectures& Refutations" 282-86. Philip Kitcher "Believing where we cannot prove." 286-95. Thurs 10/11 . W.V. O. Quine & J. Ulian Selections from The Web of Belief: Observation, Testimony, & Hypothesis Posted On Blackboard

Tues 10/16

**MIDTERM EXAM - Room TBA**

3. Relation of Mind & Matter (Body) Thurs 10/18 Introduction to Part 3 "Mind and its Place in Nature" 298-302 Paul Churchland, Selection from Matter & Consciousness :The Mind Body Problem To be posted on Blackboard Jerry Fodor, The Mind Body Problem To be posted on Blackboard Tues 10/23 Frank Jackson "The qualia problem" 315-318

Thurs 10/25 Peter Carruthers "The mind is the brain", 319-327 Tues 10/30 Paul Churchland, "Functionalism and eliminative materialism" 327-335 Thurs 11/1 John Searle, "Minds, brains and programs" 344-350. William Lycan, "Robots and minds" 350-355.

Distributed. **

** Second Essay Assignment

Tues 11/6 John Locke, "The prince and the cobbler" 373-376 Thomas Reid, "Of Mr. Locke's account of personal identity" 376-81. Thurs 11/8Derek Parfit, "Divided minds and the nature of persons" 381-86 Daniel Dennett "Where am I?" 386-395. 4. Free Will Tues 11/13 Introduction: Part 4 "Determinism, Free Will & Responsibility" 416-21. Peter van Inwagen "Freedom of the will" 421-30. Thurs 11/15 Roderick Chisholm, "Human freedom and the self" 430437. Robert Kane, "Free will: Ancient dispute, new themes" 438-450.

** Second Essay due. **

[Tues 11/20 & Thurs 11/22 - THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY - No class. ] Tues 11/27 Baron Paul Holback "The illusion of free will" 451-56

Derek Parfit "Why we have no free will and can live without it" 456-69. Thurs 11/29 David Hume "Of liberty and necessity" 470-75. A.J. Ayer "Freedom and necessity" 475-80. Harry Frankfurt "Alternate possibilities and moral responsibility" 481-87 Tues 12/4 Thomas Nagel "Moral luck" 487-94. Susan Wolf "Sanity and the metaphysics of responsibility" 494-504

5. Epilogue - "The Big Question" Thurs 12/6 - Richard Taylor, "The meaning of life" 669-681. Thomas Nagel, "The absurd" 681-87. =====================================

*Part II advance question for

Final Exam distributed*

Tues. 12/11, Room tba

**FINAL EXAM*** 12:45 - 2:45 PM,

============================================== == SU POLICY STATEMENT ON ACCOMMODATION FOR DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS: Students who are in need of disability-

related academic accommodations must register with the Office of Disability Services (ODS), 804 University Avenue, Room 309, (315) 443-4498. Students with authorized disability-related accommodations should provide a current Accommodation Authorization Letter from ODS to the instructor and review these accommodations with the instructor. Accommodations, such as exam administration,

are not provided retroactively; therefore, planning for accommodation as early as possible is necessary. For more information, see the Office of Disability Services, http://disabilityservices.syr.edu. Religious Holidays. To request accommodation for a religious holiday, please complete the SU online request by Friday 9/7/12
SU POLICY STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy holds students accountable for the integrity of the work they submit. Students should be familiar with the Policy and know that it is their responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources in written work. The policy also governs the integrity of work submitted in exams and assignments as well as the veracity of signatures on attendance sheets and other verification of participation in class activities. Serious sanctions can result from academic dishonesty of any sort. For more information and the complete policy, see the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures on the Universitys website at http://academicintegrity.syr.edu. Academic Integrity in PHI 107 Academic integrity is taken very seriously in PHI 107, and any suspected violations will be thoroughly investigated and sanctions imposed if a violation is determined to have occurred. Intentional violations will typically result in a grade of "Disciplinary F" for the course. Students will be given full opportunity to respond to any charges and retain the right to appeal any decision or sanction to the A&S College Committee on Student Standards. In all cases in which a violation is determined to have occurred a report will be sent to the Office of Academic Integrity for its information in accord with

University policy (even when the matter has been dealt with internal to the course.) All students are expected to fulfill their course work in an ethical manner, particularly with respect to any work - whether a paper, quiz, or exam - submitted as part of the basis for grading in the course. Any work submitted by the student is done so with the understanding that it is his or her own work product.