Introduction to Philosophy Tentative Course Schedule Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00am-12:20pm, Joyner 203 |
| Date | Topic for Class Discussion |
Assigned Readings |
Topics covered in the Readings |
| Thursday August 21 |
Introduction to the Class What is Philosophy? |
None for today, but make sure you read Gaarder, 1-40 before next Tuesday. See below. |
Hmm...
Since today is the first day of class, and Dr. Palmer is not sadistic enough
to have mailed you an assignment to be completed before you arrived today, I guess
there's no topic from today's readings, but see the rectangle below for the topics that will be covered in the readings for Tuesday. |
| Tuesday 8/26 |
Sofia and the nature of Philosophy The "Pre-socratic" Philosophers |
Gaarder, 1-40 (Chapters 1-4) |
What is philosophy? (chapters 1-3) The earliest western philosophers (chapter 4) |
| Thursday 8/28 |
More on the nature of philosophy and the pre-socratic philosophers |
Palmer, 1-38 (Chapter 1) |
What is philosophy, and why should we study it? |
| Tuesday 9/2 |
Class discussion on why western philosophy began |
Gaarder, 41-77 (Chapters 5-8) |
Early Greek philosophy up to Socrates |
| Thursday 9/4 |
Rationalist Epistemology |
Palmer, 40-73 (Chapter 2) |
Rationalist Epistemology (Plato and a little of Descartes) |
| Tuesday 9/9 |
Plato, Aristotle, and the problem of how we know |
Gaarder, 78-120 (Chapters 9-11) |
Plato and Aristotle |
| Thursday 9/11 |
Empiricist Epistemology |
Palmer, 76-110 (Chapter 3) |
Empiricist Epistemology (Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Logical Positivism, Kant) |
| Tuesday 9/16 |
Ontology: the Theory of Being (Dualism, Materialistic Monism, Pluralism) |
Palmer, 113-154 (Chapter 4) |
Ontology (Dualism, Materialistic Monism, Pluralism) |
| Thursday 9/18 |
Exam One |
||
| Tuesday 9/23 |
Hellenistic and Early Jewish views of the nature of reality | Gaarder, 121-164 (Chapters 12-14) |
Hellenism and the Beginnings of Christianity (The clash of Hellenistic and Semitic Cultures) |
| Thursday September 25 |
The Middle Ages and Metaphysics | Palmer, 157-176 (The first part of chapter 5) |
Philosophy of Religion (part one: Theism and attempts to prove God exists) |
| Tuesday September 30 |
More on the Middle Ages and Metaphysics |
Gaarder, 164-215 (Chapters 15 and 16) Notice that this is a long assignment. Get and early start. |
The Middle Ages (chapter 15) and the Renaissance (chapter 16) |
| Thursday October 2 |
Atheism (Feuerbach, Marx, Freud) and Religious Responses to it (William James, Teresa of Avila, Kierkegaard) |
Palmer, 176-210 (The last half of chapter 5) |
Philosophy of Religion (part two: Atheism and Religious Responses to it) |
| Tuesday October 7 |
More on Descartes and a little on Spinoza |
Gaarder, 216-256 (Chapters 17, 18 and 19) |
The Baroque Period (chapter 17), Descartes (chapter 18), and Spinoza (chapter 19) |
| Thursday October 9 |
Lock, Berkeley, and Hume |
Gaarder, 256-302 (Chapters 20-23) |
Locke, Hume, and Berkeley |
| Tuesday October 14 |
Fall Break (No Class) |
||
| Thursday October 16 |
The Enlightenment
Immanuel Kant |
Gaarder, 303-341 (Chapters 24 and 25) |
The Enlightenment and Immanuel Kant |
| Tuesday October 21 |
Exam Two |
||
| Thursday October 23 |
The logical problem of Freedom |
Palmer, 213-250 (Chapter 6) |
Determinism and Indeterminism |
| Tuesday October 28 |
Thinking beyond Reason |
Gaarder, 342-384 (Chapters 26-28) |
Romanticism, Hegel, and Kierkegaard |
| Thursday October 30 |
Ethics |
Palmer, 252-290 (Chapter 7) |
Ethics (part one: Egoism, Hedonism, Utilitarianism, Duty-Oriented Morality) |
| Tuesday November 4 |
Social Ethics (Marx, Rawls) Darwin's views on biological change |
Gaarder, 385-428 (Chapters 29 and 30) |
Karl Marx and Charles Darwin |
| Thursday November 6 |
More on Ethics |
Palmer, 292-324 (Chapter 8) |
Ethics (part two: Critiques of Traditional Ethical Theories; Some Recent New Directions in Ethical Theory) |
| Tuesday November 11 |
Existentialism |
Gaarder, 429-470 (Chapters 31 and 32) |
Freud (chapter 31); Sartre and contemporary Existentialism (chapter 32) |
| Thursday November 13 |
Political Philosophy (Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill) |
Palmer, 327-360 (The first part of chapter 9) |
Political Philosophy |
| Tuesday November 18 |
Story as a Mechanism of Thought Construction |
Gaarder, 471-503 (Chapters 33 and 34) |
Fact, fiction, and the creation of narrative worlds |
| Thursday November 20 |
More Philosophy, sometimes called Social Philosophy (Marx, Nozick, Rawls) |
Palmer, 360-380 (The rest of chapter 9) |
Social Philosophy |
| Tuesday November 25 |
Dr. Palmer will be at the national meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. | Use this day to catch up on any readings you have not yet completed. |
|
| Thursday November 27 |
Thanksgiving Break (No Class) |
||
| Tuesday December 2 |
Art |
Palmer, 383-429 (Chapter 10) |
Philosophy of Art |
| Thursday December 4 |
Contemporary Astronomy and the Extension of the Pre-Socratic Quest |
Gaarder, 504-513 (Chapter 35) |
Where are we going? |
| Monday December 8 |
Final Exam 9:00 till Noon |
||