Course Syllabus

PHIL 1301-3100  INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY

Galveston College

SPRING 2018  INTERNET

Instructor: Deborah Lariviere

Email: dlarivie@gc.edu

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 (located in “Pages”), and ideas that might arise concerning a particular topic. At times, one 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 “Canvas” 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.

 

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 any video/audio content 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 submissions.

 

Essay: Two essay assignments are required for the course, and will be identified as "Essay 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 readings.  The assessment will cover the most important ideas presented in the chapter. You will utilize Canvas lectures and reading/study questions, where provided, in order to perform well on the quizzes.

 

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

 

Evaluation Criteria:

25 percent: Discussion (if applicable)/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. Most assignments will be due on a Sunday by 11:59pm (excluding Easter Sunday—where you are given 2 extra days).  Some assignments might be graded on the basis of timely submission alone, meaning that IF the assignment was turned in on time, THEN the submission receives a “100” score.  These assignments will not be given individual feedback by the instructor (late submissions will be graded “as-is”, will receive a penalty deduction in points, and will not be offered a re-write).  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, at the instructor’s discretion. See the Galveston College Student Handbook for additional information. 

Course Schedule: The course begins January 16^th and ends May 5^th. The final exam must be completed by 11:59pm on May 5^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:

 

Unit #1 Intro / False Dichotomy & Fallacy ...... due Jan 21^st

Unit #2 QUIZ Before Philosophy                     due Jan 28^th

Unit #3 Assignment Pre-Socratics  …...…...... due Feb 4^th

Unit #4 QUIZ Socrates                                     due Feb 11^th

Unit #5 QUIZ Plato ………….……..….…........ due Feb 18^th

Unit #6 Assignment Aristotle                           due Feb 25^th

Unit #7 QUIZ Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics...due Mar 4^th

Unit #8 ESSAY Anselm                                  due Mar 11^th

Unit #9 QUIZ Descartes ………………...…   due Mar 25^th

Unit #10 Assignment Empiricists                  due Apr 3^rd

Unit #11 QUIZ Hume…........................…….. due Apr 8^th

Unit #12 ESSAY Trial & Death of Socrates  due Apr 15^th

Unit #13 QUIZ Kant…........................…….... due Apr 22^nd 

Unit #14 QUIZ “Telos” ………………………..due Apr 29^th

Unit #15…. REVIEW for FINAL EXAM & any rewrites (April 30^th - May 3^rd)

FINAL EXAM  …. Available online between (12 AM) May 3^trd – May 5^th (11:59 PM)