Course Syllabus

Fall 2018 - PHIL-1301-3100 - Introduction to Philosophy

Instructor:

Deborah Lariviere

Phone: 512-484-6159

Office:  N/A

Email: dlarivie@gc.edu

 Office Hours: by appointment

Location and Meeting

- INTERNET -

Description: 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 and intractable problems regarding society, life, liberty, and humanity.

Required Books, Materials and Supplies

Learning Outcomes

• The learner will become familiar with accounts of the world and its origins offered by the ancient Greeks (including Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics), the Empiricists, and the Rationalists.
• The learner will draw connections between writers of ancient epic poetry and later Western thought.
• The learner will master Anselm’s Ontological Argument.
• The learner will internalize the proper use and role of dialectic in philosophical investigation.
• The learner will exit the course with a strong command of Aristotelian thought, and a healthy exposure to Kantian moral thinking.
• The learner will gain insight into the incremental advances in man’s understanding throughout history.

Course Requirements

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 and intractable 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.

Evaluation Criteria

25 percent: Assignments

25 percent: Quizzes / Discussions (if applicable)

20 percent: Essays

30 percent: Final exam

Special Services

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute which provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities.  Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with documented disabilities be guaranteed reasonable accommodation for those disabilities.  If you believe that you have a disability requiring such accommodation, please contact the Galveston College Counseling Center or call (409) 944-1223.

Course Outline & Assignment Due Dates*** ^{subject to change}

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:

First Few Days of Class: SYLLABUS QUIZ & INTRODUCTIONS Discussion Forum
(SYLLABUS QUIZ must be completed by August 29^th at 11:59 PM & the Introductions Discussion posts must be completed by August 31^st at 11:59 PM)

Unit #1 False Dichotomy & Fallacy ........ due September 2^nd at 11:59 PM

Unit #2 QUIZ Before Philosophy               due September 9^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #3 Assignment Pre-Socratics  …..... due September 16^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #4 QUIZ Socrates                              due September 23^rd at 11:59 PM

Unit #5 QUIZ Plato ………….……..….…... due October 7^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #6 Assignment Aristotle                      due October 14^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #7 QUIZ Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics due October 21^st at 11:59 PM

Unit #8 ESSAY Anselm                                 due October 28^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #9 QUIZ Descartes ………………...…  due November 4^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #10 Assignment Empiricists               due November 11^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #11 QUIZ Hume…........................…………………OPTIONAL

Unit #12 ESSAY Trial & Death of Socrates   due November 18^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #13 QUIZ Kant…....................... .. due December 2^nd at 11:59 PM

Unit #14 QUIZ “Telos” …………………due December 5^th at 11:59 PM

Unit #15 REVIEW Discussion Forum      due December 10^th at 11:59 PM

***Assignment due dates are subject to change.

FINAL EXAM: Available online from December 11^th at 12 AM - December 12^th at 11:59 PM

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all lectures and laboratory periods, and an accurate record of each student's class attendance is kept by each instructor for the duration of the course. Any student, who misses 10% of the total clock hours of instruction not excused by the instructor may be withdrawn from class by the instructor with a grade of "AWN."  Students are expected to report to class on time.  At the discretion of the instructor, tardiness may be treated the same as an absence and the AWN policy may be applied.  If an AWN is processed before a student completes the drop procedures, the "AWN" will become the grade of record. The student, instructor, and financial aid office will receive copies of the AWN form.  Programs with special attendance requirements mandated by local, state, or national accrediting or professional agencies will observe the agency attendance requirements which affect student certification, registry, or licensure, as well as those of the College. All special attendance requirements must be approved in writing by the Vice President of Instruction.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is the student's responsibility to drop the course, or to withdraw, if conditions warrant such.  Although under certain conditions an instructor may administratively withdraw a student for non-participation, ultimately, it is the student's responsibility to ensure that proper procedures are followed, such that an "F" does not appear on the transcript.

Academic Integrity

Each student is charged with the responsibility of maintaining scholastic integrity.  When written assignments require excerpts from material published by others, the student must give full credit to the author to avoid the possibility of plagiarism.  For more information refer to "Students Rights and Responsibilities section (F) Student Code of Conduct."  Any student violation of scholastic integrity for plagiarism or cheating falls properly within the realm of student/faculty relations and is subject to a faculty recommendation to the college administration for loss of credit for a particular assignment, examination, or unit of work; failure in a course; or, dismissal from the college. 

Cell Phone / SmartPhone Use

DO NOT attempt to complete work or take quizzes from your tablet or smart phone!  You must access the course through a computer.

Computer Usage

Galveston College provides computer resources for the purpose of accomplishing tasks related to the mission of the college.  Authorized users are allowed to use the college's computer resources for school related and incidental purposes, subject to the College’s Computer Use policy and other applicable college policies, and state and federal law.  For additional information concerning the College’s computer usage policy and/or procedures, please consult the Galveston College Catalog and/or Student Handbook.

Disclaimers

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. 

Late Work

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.  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.

When work is turned in late, you lose 10 points.  You will lose 10 additional points per week, with a maximum deduction of 40 points.

If a student waits to turn in all work during the final week, then the highest grade he/she can expect would be a 60, and only that IF the work was "100" level work. So, don't turn in your work late!

When work is turned in late, you lose 10 points. You will lose 10 additional points per week, with a maximum deduction of 40 points.

If a student waits to turn in all work during the final week, then the highest grade he/she can expect would be a 60, and only that IF the work was "100" level work. So, don't turn in your work late!

Special Instructions

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.

Things to double-check before submitting assignments: word count, grammar, spell check, make sure all the questions in the prompt have been addressed, cite sources used if other than the course textbook, make sure to keep a backup copy of the submission.

Essay: Two short 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 / Discussions: 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.

In order to be eligible for an "A" on a discussion forum, at least one post of high quality and two meaningful comments on others' posts must be made.  

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.

Accessing and Using the Canvas Learning Management System

Students will be required to use the Galveston College eLearning system, Canvas. There are three types of courses which may be accessed through the Internet at http://www.gc.edu.  The first is a fully online course, indicated in the schedule as ARR (arranged). The second is a hybrid or blended course, in which some of the instructional coursework is done face-to-face while a substantial portion is done through Canvas. The third is a web-enhanced course which meets face-to-face in a traditional classroom format.