Philosophy 101

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Philosophy 101

• Introduction to Philosophy
• Values and Society
• Instructor ROB WILSON

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Course Preview

• Basic introduction to philosophy
• Focus on values and society
• Taught as supersection course
• 10 years
• new instructor this year
• Professor Rob Wilson

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But whats philosophy?

• Philosophy derives from Greek and means love of
  wisdom
• Philosophy takes on big questions that often come
  from reflection on everyday life, things we take
  for granted
• critical thinking

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First things first

• BUY the course packet for the course
• Contains nearly everything you need
• BUY the 2 required books for the course
• J.S. Mill Utilitarianism
• I. Kant, Grounding
• READ through the entire syllabus ASAP

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Course basics

• Lectures Mondays and Wednesday
• Discussion sections (tutorials) Fridays
• BUT come here to lecture THIS FRIDAY
• Focus on developing critical reading writing
  skills needed for philosophical thinking
• Grading scheme designed to reward students who
  work consistently throughout the semester

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Sections (tutorials)

• Here you get to discuss interesting and fun
  topics that put your knowledge to work!
• Taught by a teaching assistant on FRIDAYS
• But NOT this Friday
• Assigned to sections alphabetically
• Your section can be checked on the course website

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The syllabus

• Can be found near the beginning of the COURSE
  PACKET
• BUY at the SUB Bookstore ASAP
• Contains A LOT of information about 101
• 10 single-spaced pages
• READ in full immediately
• What follows is a summary overview

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Syllabus Overview

• General intro to the course
• Background and course objectives
• Thematic Overview
• Course Materials
• Workload and Course Requirements
• Unit Outlines, Readings, Questions
• About the Instructor

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A. General Introduction

• 101 is one of two general introductions to
  Philosophy at U of A
• 102 Knowledge and Reality
• One or the other a good basis for further courses
  in Philosophy (and many other disciplines )

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General Intro (ctd.)

• 101 introduces you to philosophical thinking
  focused on values and society
• Moral philosophy is the study of ethics
• values in how we lead our lives
• what makes actions right or wrong?
• Political philosophy focuses on ideal,
  institutions and practices that structure our
  social lives

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Fundamental questions (in ethics)

• Are moral values relative to, rather than
  universal across, different cultures?
• Does morality crucially involve human pleasure
  and pain?
• Is the most important feature of our moral lives
  that we act from duty?

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Are moral values relative to cultures?

• Observation some cultures seem really different
  from our own in what they think is right and
  wrong
• Conclusion whats right and wrong is not
  universal, but relative to ones culture

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Fundamental questions (in ethics)

• Are moral values relative to, rather than
  universal across, different cultures?
• Does morality crucially involve human pleasure
  and pain?
• Is the most important feature of our moral lives
  that we act from duty?

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in political philosophy

• Do individuals have rights that no government can
  legitimately interfere with?
• Is capitalism necessarily exploitative of wage
  labourers?
• Is the development of moral thinking the same for
  men and for women?

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B. Five Course objectives

• acquire substantial knowledge about issues at the
  heart of moral political philosophy, more
  generally about philosophical reflection on
  values society
• develop critical thinking skills that allow you
  to probe beneath the surface of what you read and
  hear both in class and beyond it

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B. Five Course objectives

• improve the quality of your own thinking and
  writing about morality politics
• become a more sophisticated philosophical thinker
  about values society
• see how to apply the knowledge you acquire in the
  course to everyday moral and political issues and
  issues that matter to you.

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C. Thematic Overview

• Libertarianism and political philosophy
• Marx on society
• Moral thinking, justice, and care

• Moral relativism
• Utilitarianism
• Kantian ethics

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Fundamental questions (in ethics)

• Are moral values relative to, rather than
  universal across, different cultures?
• Moral Relativism
• Does morality crucially involve human pleasure
  and pain?
• Utilitarianism
• Is the most important feature of our moral lives
  that we act from duty?
• Kantian Ethics

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in political philosophy

• Do individuals have rights that no government can
  legitimately interfere with?
• Libertarianism and political philosophy
• Is capitalism necessarily exploitative of wage
  labourers?
• Marx on society
• Is the development of moral thinking the same for
  men and for women?
• Moral thinking, justice, and care

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D. Course Materials

• two required books
• Mills Utilitarianism
• Kants Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals
• an integrated course packet that contains all
  other required notes and readings for the course
• BUY THESE ASAP!!!!!!

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Course website

• The website for the course can be found at MOODLE
• http//www.arts.ualberta.ca/efsboard/
• You will need to log on to Moodle ASAP to
  confirm your TA section

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Moodle What is it good for?

• Answer LOTS and LOTS of things
• Course packet material (syllabus, course notes,
  tutorial topics, schedule)
• Assignments will be posted there
• Online discussions within your section

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E. Workload, Requirements

• 5 components to course assessment
• class participation (20)
• final examination (covering the whole course)
  (30)
• first paper (on utilitarianism, 500 words)
• second paper (on Kantian ethics, 750 words)
• third paper (on libertarianism or Marx, 1000
  words)
• 50 determined by participation final exam,
  50 by the three papers

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Paper grades

• Each of the three papers weighted equally, BUT
• you get to drop your WORST paper grade, provided
  that you write three passing grade papers
• If this is true, then your best two papers will
  count for 25 of your final grade (50 2)
• If this is not true, then your three papers will
  count for 16.67 each (50 3)

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Putting it differently

• Work hard enough to pass each paper, and you get
  a bonus in how your papers are assessed!
• Goof off and fail a paper, and your course grade
  will take a dive!
• See the Sally and Bert example in syllabus

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Other stuff on papers

• Late papers are strongly discouraged
• Papers must be your own work and
  plagiarism--using the ideas, words, images, etc.
  of another as your own--is a serious academic
  offense, and subject to severe penalties

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F. Unit Outlines, Readings, Questions

• Course divided into 6 units of 2 weeks each
• correspond to the 6 themes
• 3 on ethics
• 3 units on political philosophy
• Allow enough time to get into, but (hopefully)
  not too much to get bored!

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Unit Outlines on Syllabus

• Each 2-week unit on syllabus contains the
  following
• List of readings
• Brief description
• 3 guiding questions
• Read over these in the syllabus as we go

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Course packet design

• At the front, a schedule of classes, list of
  readings, deadlines, syllabus
• Rest of pack is organized into the 6 x 2 week
  units, as follows
• Course notes
• Tutorial topics for sections
• Course packet readings

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Questions, questions, questions?

• Many questions you have will be answered in the
  syllabus in the course packet
• which you will buy ASAP from the bookstore
• But this is a course about questions, and so ask,
  ask, ask, when you feel the urge
• Our first topic is

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Are moral values relative to cultures?

• Observation some cultures seem really different
  from our own in what they think is right and
  wrong
• Conclusion whats right and wrong is not
  universal, but relative to ones culture

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Are moral values relative to cultures?

• Readings
• Course notes, Unit 1, Moral Relativism, sections
  1-4 (pp.19-23)
• Reading 1 by Gowans, Moral
  Relativism, just section 1
• Question what does it mean to say that morality
  is objective?
• Look at the other guiding questions in syllabus
  and in unit overview

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So, Welcome to Philosophy 101!

• Introduction to Philosophy
• Values and Society
• Instructor ROB WILSON