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1、PHIL 160 PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURELoyola Marymount University, Fall 2009University Hall 1218Instructor: Dr. Jason BaehrEmail: jbaehrlmuWeb page: http:/myweb.lmu.edu/jbaehr/Phone number: 310.338.4486Office: University Hall 3749Office hours: M/W 12-2, F 10-11, and by appointmentI. COURSE OVERVIEW AND
2、 GOALSA. Textbooks: Philosophical Problems: An Annotated Anthology, second edition, eds. Laurence BonJour and Ann Baker. B. Welcome to PHIL 160 Philosophy of Human Nature. This is an introductory course in philosophy. The course is comprised of five main units each of which revolves around one of th
3、e following questions:WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?HOW IS KNOWLEDGE POSSIBLE?WHAT MAKES YOU YOU?ARE YOU FREE?ARE YOU YOUR BRAIN?As the above questions suggest, philosophy deals with some of the “deeper” and more puzzling aspects of human nature and existence.C. I hope youll get the following out of this cours
4、e: 1. Knowledge. I hope youll acquire a very firm grasp of various philosophical questions concerning knowledge and reality, how these questions have been answered by philosophers throughout history, the reasons that have been given in support of these answers, and some of the strengths and weakness
5、 of these reasons. I also hope youll come to grasp how these questions and answers hang together in a historical context: e.g. how the views and arguments of each author are related to and influenced by the views and arguments of other authors. 2. Skills. In addition to being a subject matter to be
6、studied and known, philosophy is also an activityit is something that people do. Accordingly there are various intellectual skills associated with philosophy that I hope you will develop and hone. Central among these is the ability to identify and evaluate arguments in support of answers to philosop
7、hical questions. Much of what we do in the course will be aimed at helping train your mind to identify and understand what exactly an author is claiming, what reasons s/he is offering in support of this claim, and what the quality of these reasons is. I also hope youll sharpen the following skills:
8、the ability to read in a careful, critical, and fair manner, to reflect patiently and deeply, and to write with great clarity and precision.3. Personal transformation. I hope the course will also make you a more curious and intellectually engaged person. I hope you will leave the course caring more
9、deeply about philosophical truth. Because who you are and the quality of your personal character are largely determined by what you care about, I hope you will leave the course a different and better person. II. COURSE REQUIREMENTSA. Your grade in this course will be determined on the basis of the f
10、ollowing: weekly reading quizzes (130 points or appx. 25%); three exams (70 points, 100 points, and 100 points or appx. 55% total); one paper (80 points or appx. 15%); and class participation (20 points or appx. 5%). B. Quizzes. You will have a reading quiz on a (more or less) weekly basis. The quiz
11、zes will usually consist of six multiple choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank questions. You will be asked to answer five of the six questions. Your two lowest quiz scores will be dropped at the end of the semester. Note: I do not give make-up quizzesperiod. Please do not ask me to make any exce
12、ptions. I allow you to drop two quizzes in light of the fact that on some occasion you may need (for good reason only) to miss a quiz. Finally, if you show up to class late and the quiz has already been given, do not ask to make it up.C. Exams. You will have two midterm exams and a final exam. The e
13、xams will consist mostly of a combination of short-answer and essay questions. Approximately one week before each exam, you will be given a study guide that includes a long list of questions, some combination of which will then appear (in one form or another) on the exam itself. Therefore, if you ma
14、ster the material covered on the study guides, you should do very well on the exams. Unless arrangements have made well in advance, make up exams will not be given.D. Paper. You will be asked to write one position paper (appx. 5 pages.) on one of the three or so central topics we cover prior to the
15、due date of the paper (12/7). The paper will ask you to stake out a position relative to the issue in question, to argue for it, and to entertain and respond to objections to your argument. Note: any form of plagiarism on this assignment (e.g., from the papers of other students, from books, online r
16、esources, etc.) is absolutely prohibited. I will be on the lookout for all kinds of plagiarism and will take any possible or suspected cases to the administration of the university. There is no excuse for plagiarism, especially on an assignment like this. Late papers will be docked 10% for each day they are late. E. Class participation. Your involvement and participation is also important to yo
