PHIL 1: Intro to Philosophy

1
PHIL 1 Intro to Philosophy

• UCSB, Spring 2009

2
Contact Info

• Hello? Who the hell is this?

3
Instructor Info

• Instructor Joshua May
• Office South Hall, room 5720
• Email jdmay_at_umail.ucsb.edu
• Website www.uweb.ucsb.edu/jdmay/
• Office Hours Wed. 2-4pm

4
Class Web Page

• www.uweb.ucsb.edu/jdmay/tch/crs/093s-phil1.htm
• Write this down now!
• Print syllabus from here!

5
Your TAs

• Matt Griffin

• Steve Huizenga

6
Discussion Sections

• MattMon. 100-150 ARTS 1247Wed.
  1200-1250 BSIF 1217
• SteveFri. 1000-1050 TD 2600Fri.
  1200-1250 Phelps 144
• Note sections will meet this week.

7
Section Locations
8
Basic Course Info

• What am I getting myself into!?

9
Course Description

• introduced to the discipline of philosophy (of
  the western, analytic, academic sort)
• the characteristic methods and works in the
  discipline
• understanding (and, to some extent, evaluating)
  work in some of the major fields of philosophy
  (a) metaphysics, (b) epistemology, and (c) ethics

10
Main Topics Well Cover

• God Is there a God?
• Mind What is the relationship between mind and
  body? Is a mind a physical thing?
• Free Will Can we have free will or be
  responsible for anything if everything is
  determined?
• Ethics What should I do? Why should I be
  moral? Am I being immoral right now?
• Knowledge Belief What should I believe? Do I
  really know anything?

11
Material From

• historically important philosophers e.g. Hume,
  Paley, etc.
• contemporary philosopherse.g. Chalmers, Singer,
  Frankfurt, Unger, Sinnott-Armstrong, etc.

12
Should You Take This Class?

• No.
• j/k ?
• Maybe.

13
Likely YES if you

• like considering arguments about abstract,
  theoretical issues
• like learning about fundamental issues and
  theories bearing on the nature of the world and
  our place in it
• like learning how to think logically about
  abstract or difficult issues
• like intellectually challenging material

14
Likely NO if you

• think strongly that there are no objective
  truths and all beliefs are equal
• dont value learning about the world for its own
  sake
• have trouble getting up early (or are otherwise
  unable to regularly make it to lecture or section
  on time)
• plan on cheating (or know that youre prone to
  cheat)

15
Required Texts

• Knowledge, Nature, and Norms An Introduction to
  Philosophy, 1st ed. (Wadsworth, 2009) by Mark
  Timmons David Shoemaker
• Additional readings will be provided on
  E-reserves (ERes) http//eres.library.ucsb.edu/e
  res/

16
Class Updates

• Twitter page for this class http//twitter.com/m
  ay_class
• either view the web page or use a Twitter account
  to follow it

17
Course Format

• material primarily from readings
• wont cover everything in the reading
• material will be brought up in lecture thats not
  in the readings
• so its crucial that you come to class

18
Lecture Slides

• Slides will be on course website
• Hopefully night before
• So dont write all this down in lecture!

19
Course Requirements

• This is what you have to do.

20
Assignments / Requirements

• Attendance (in section) 5 of grade(Section
  Day) weekly
• Short Paper 1 (3 pages) 20 of grade(Due
  Fri. 4/17) 3rd week
• Mid-Term (in class) 20 of grade (Date Fri.
  5/1) 5th week
• Short Paper 2 (3 pages) 25 of grade (Due
  Fri. 5/22) 8th week
• Final Exam (in class) 30 of grade (Date Wed.
  6/11, 8-11am) 11th week

21
Attendance

• Attendance (lecture section) is crucial
• Not tracked in lecture
• Tracked in section
• About 10 section meetings total
• 7 out of 10 (or 6 out of 9) full credit
• 5 out of 10 (of 4 out of 9) half credit
• Less than that no credit

22
Late Assignments

• No rescheduled exams
• Late paper penalty is 1/3 of a letter grade per
  day (not meeting)
• Of course, serious emergencies might allow for
  exceptions

23
Grades

• Be here to learn
• Dont fret too much about grades

24
Cheating

• Dont do it
• I take this extremely seriously!
• Cheating will result in failing the course
• Its not worth it!
• Its your responsibility
• Cant plead ignorance (like the law)

25
Extra Credit Make-ups

• There aint gonna be any.

26
Student Support

• Help me!

27
General Help Info

• TAs are main helper
• Help not just for those who fear failing
• If you face major difficulties, talk to us right
  away

28
Ways to Get Help

• Office hours
• Email
• Web page

29
Paper Drafts

• TAs are not required to read paper drafts
• You can bring them in to discuss

30
Readings

• Reading stuff? Im out of here.

31
Reading Info

• Do all assigned reading
• Theyre deliberately short accessible
• Do it before class, shortly after (or both)
• No set schedule
• Subject to change
• Memorial Day is Mon. May 25th, so no lecture or
  sections that day

32
Units

• Introduction / Preliminaries
• Metaphysics
• Ethics
• Epistemology
• Misc. / Concluding Remarks

33
Topics in Preliminaries

• What is philosophy?
• Arguments Evaluating Them

34
Topics in Metaphysics

• God
• Mind
• Free will

35
Topics in Ethics

• Applied Ethics
• Normative Ethics
• Meta-ethics (a bit, sort of)

36
Topics in Epistemology

• The Nature of Knowledge
• Skepticism
• The Norms of Belief

37
Topics in Misc. / Concl.

• Experimental Philosophy
• Philosophy vs. Science

38
Final Stuff

• Finally.

39
Adding / Crashing

• Adding done by TAs
• attend the section you want to be in and talk to
  the TA about adding
• up to the TA whether to take you on as an
  additional student

40
Switching Sections

• talk to the TAs about whether that's okay with
  them (its up to them)
• if you do switch, then that TA needs to grade
  your work throughout the quarter
• then theyll give the other TA your grade at the
  end of the quarter to post to the registrar

41
Homework

• Do 2 readings
• Print syllabus and read it
• Bookmark or follow Twitter page

42
To Read for Next Time

• Sinnott-Armstrong (2009) What is Philosophy?
  (Eres or online) 2.5 pages
• Portions of KNN (2009) Ch. 1, IntroductionWhat
  is Philosophy? (pp. 1-3) 3 pages