Course Syllabus

PHIL 1301  INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY

Galveston College

Spring 2016  INTERNET

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 an internet 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 when composing responses to any 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 respond at the Canvas course site where appropriate. The Canvas site is a public discussion area that records your thoughts and interactions with your peers. You might see a list of discussion prompts at the Canvas Learning Management System. Some weeks may contain a discussion assignment, others do not.

Discussion posts are expected by noon on the due date, so that comments can be made before the end of the due date. 

Take notes as you view any video content, so that you may have to reference as you respond to the Discussion Forum and Assignment prompts.

In order to achieve an “A” for the discussion forum, one must submit a post that meets the criteria of the prompt, and you must comment meaningfully on two of your peers’ posts.

Any inappropriate posts/comments will be removed, and the student will receive a zero for the assignment.  No abusive or foul language will be tolerated.

Discussion forums – where assigned - are moderated loosely, so not every post will receive feedback from the instructor.

 

 

Assignments: Written assignments are short written compositions that involve responses to the 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 films 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.

 

Essay: Two essay assignments are required for the course, and will be identified as "Assignment". 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, Sparknotes or other such online sources. Do your own thinking. Proofread your essay for errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

 

Quizzes: Some chapters will contain an assessment which is designed to ensure that one has completed the assigned reading.  The assessment will cover the most important ideas presented in the chapter.

 

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

 

Evaluation Criteria:

25 percent: Discussion/Assignments

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 will 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 must be completed by noon on Wednesday, May 10^th.

 

Assignment Due Dates Please make sure that your assignments are turned in according to the following schedule.  You may work ahead, but you must have work turned in by the following deadlines:

 

Assignment #1 Intro   …………....……...….… due Jan 22^nd  

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  …. Available online between May 5^th (noon) – May10^th (noon)