Course Syllabus

PHIL 1301  INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY

Galveston College

Spring 2016  HYBRID

Instructor: Deborah Lariviere

Email: dlarivie@gc.edu

Phone: 409-944-1551

Alternate phone and email: 512.484.6159   debriver@gmail.com

Approved Textbook: The Great Conversation, Norman Melchert.  Oxford University Press.  ISBN: 9780199999651. (7^th edition) 

 (3-0) Credit: 3

This is an introductory philosophy course emphasizing various approaches to the study and organization of the world and its phenomena.  We will survey many philosophical systems, and how thinkers have historically attempted to solve some of the most important problems regarding society, life, liberty, and humanity.

 

Procedure: This course is offered as a hybrid course. We will combine an examination of major historical figures and their methods with an equal portion of analyzing and writing on the topics. The assignment questions are written to make connections between the requisite textbook readings, Canvas lecture notes (in “Pages”), and ideas that might arise concerning a particular topic. However, you may draw upon personal experience where applicable when composing responses to assignment prompts. The course material will be accessible at Canvas, Galveston College’s Learning Management System. Logon at www.gc.edu and click on the e-learning link at the top of the Galveston College home page. As soon as you are registered for the course and the course actually begins, you should be able to access course materials. After logging in, click on the course link and go to its home page. You will find links to assignments, “Pages” lectures to accompany the readings for the course, and quizzes.  It is required that you have a textbook.

 

Discussion interaction will be part of the course. You will be expected to participate in classroom discussion when called upon.  Your willingness to participate in the classroom will be taken into account when assigning your final course grade.

Take notes as you view any video content, so that you may reference what you’ve seen as you respond to the assignment prompts.

 

Assignments: Assignments are short compositions that offer responses to questions posed about the assigned textbook readings. These are private responses between you and your instructor. You may be prompted to respond to the readings in various ways and to make connections between the text and the videos used for the course. Please strictly limit yourself to the length requirements for any written assignment. This will challenge you to sharpen your writing efficiency, and will allow the instructor to better manage her time in grading your submissions.  Please cite page numbers if you quote directly from the textbook in your submission.

 

Essay: Two essay assignments are required for the course. If you quote from sources, document your source, whether it is the primary source (the textbook) or a secondary source. Do not borrow material from study guides, Wikipedia or other such online sources. Do your own thinking. Proofread your essay for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

 

Quizzes: Some weeks will contain a quiz instead of a written assignment.  Quizzes are designed to ensure that you have completed the assigned reading.  The quiz will cover the most important ideas presented in the chapter.  For this reason, it might be to your benefit to make marginal notes while you are doing the reading, or to highlight the important passages.

 

Final Exam: The final exam will be cumulative and will include questions on all the material covered during the course.  There will be a list of Review Questions to help you prepare for the final exam.

 

Evaluation Criteria:

25 percent: Discussion/Drop Box

20 percent: Quizzes

20 percent: Essays

35 percent: Final exam

 

Late Work Policy: It is expected that work will be completed in a timely manner, and submitted by the due dates.  Late work will be accepted, but penalized, save for documentable extenuating circumstances. Each assignment will be due on Sunday by 9pm.  Some assignments might be graded solely on the basis of having been submitted on time, meaning that IF the assignment was turned in on time, THEN the submission receives a “100” score.  These assignments might not be given feedback by the instructor, and late submissions will be graded “as-is”, will receive a penalty deduction in points, and there will be no rewrite offered.  The student will not know ahead of time which assignments will be graded on ‘timely submission’ alone, so it’s strongly suggested that one turn in all assignments on time.

Another benefit of turning work in on-time is that re-writes are offered in order to achieve a higher score.  If the work is late, then it will be graded as-is.

Plagiarism policy: Any evidence of plagiarism is ground for an “F” on the assignment and/or in the course. See the Galveston College Student Handbook for additional information. 

Course Schedule: The course begins January 19^th and ends May 10^th. The final exam will be given on Thursday, May 5^th.

 

Assignment Due Dates Please make sure that each of your assignments is turned in according to the following schedule: 

 

Assignment #1 Intro   …………....……...….… due Jan 23r^d  

Assignment #2 Before Philosophy                     due Jan 30^th  

Assignment #3 Pre-Socratics  …...…...………..due Feb 6^th

Assignment #4 Socrates                                      due Feb 13^th

Assignment #5 Plato ………….……..….…...…due Feb 20^th

Assignment #6 Aristotle                                     due Feb 27^th  

Assignment #7 Epicureans…...............……....  due Mar 5^th

Assignment #8 Anselm                                       due Mar 12^th

Assignment #9 Descartes ………………...…… due Mar 26^th  

Assignment #10 Empiricists                               due Apr 9^th

Assignment #11 Hume…........................…….…due Apr 16^th

^{Assignment #11 Kant…........................…………..due Apr 23rd}

Assignment #12 …. REVIEW for Final Exam & any final rewrites (Apr 24^th through May 4^th)

FINAL EXAM  …. May 5^th