Syllabus for Philosophy 251: Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2004, Dr. Stephen H. Daniel

Introduction to Philosophy develops problem-solving and critical-thinking skills by examining discussions about human nature, reality, freedom, God, knowledge, truth, ethics, political obligation, and the philosophy of art.

This course has twelve sections, each with about 25 students. All students meet together on Monday and Wednesday. On Friday they meet at various times in their sections to discuss material covered in the textbook and lectures and take a quiz on that material. Philosophy graduate teaching assistants direct these Friday sessions.

Text: Philosophy: A Text with Readings (9th ed.) by Manuel Velasquez.  (Click on title to order the book at a cost much lower than you would pay at a local bookstore. Make sure, though, that you are getting the 9th edition.)

• Pages listed below should be read before each class.
• To see the PowerPoint slide summaries for each class, click on the topic for that day. It might be useful to print out summaries before class so that you do not have to write down that material during class and can simply add your comments to those notes. [Note: to be able to view the slides, you have to have a PowerPoint reader installed on your computer. You can get a free read-only version of PowerPoint at the Microsoft download site, or you can purchase the full Microsoft Office software (which includes PowerPoint, Word, and Excel) from A&M's Student Computer Sales for $15.]
• For extra credit, write answers to the questions on pages listed for each class. These answers must be given to your teaching assistant in that day's class.
  

Class date	Topic	Reading Assignment	Extra Credit Questions	Extra Credit Questions Value
Aug. 30	Philosophy and its Divisions	1-17
Sept. 1	Socrates and the Value of Philosophy	18-41	31-32 #1-5, 39	2 points
Sept. 3	Discussion/quiz
Sept. 6	Human Nature	73-104	78-79, 104	3 points
Sept. 8	Mind-Body	104-118	118	1 point
Sept. 10	Discussion/quiz
Sept. 13	Self	119-44	130-31, 140	2 points
Sept. 15	Materialism	175-89	182, 189-90	2 points
Sept. 17	Discussion/quiz
Sept. 20	Idealism & Pragmatism	190-205	199 #1-4, & 205	2 points
Sept. 22	Positivism & Anti-realism	205-218	211, 218	2 points
Sept. 24	Discussion/quiz
Sept. 27	Phenomenology & Existentialism	219-31	231	2 points
Sept. 29	Freedom & Time	232-50	240, 246	2 points
Oct. 1	Discussion/quiz
Oct. 4	Test 1
Oct. 6	Arguments for God's existence	273-92	293-94	2 points
Oct. 8	Discussion/quiz
Oct. 11	Atheism & Religious Belief	294-328	301-302, 309-10, 325-26	3 points
Oct. 13	Knowledge: Rationalism	357-78	365-66, 378	2 points
Oct. 15	Discussion/quiz
Oct. 18	Knowledge: Empiricism	379-93	393	2 points
Oct. 20	Kant & Science	394-418	403, 415	2 points
Oct. 22	Discussion/quiz:
Oct. 25	Truth	437-64	442, 464-65	3 points
Oct. 27	Science & Interpretation	466-86	473, 482-83	2 points
Oct. 29	Discussion/quiz
Nov. 1	Test 2
Nov. 3	Ethics: relativism	507-18	514, 518-19	2 points
Nov. 5	Discussion/quiz
Nov. 8	Ethics: Consequentialism	519-31	530	1 point
Nov. 10	Non-consequentialism & Buddhism	531-53	548, 553-54	2 points
Nov. 12	Discussion/quiz
Nov. 15	Character Ethics & Moral Quandries	554-75	565, 575	2 points
Nov. 17	Moral responsibility & Social Philosophy	576-84, 605-607	581, 608	2 points
Nov.  19	Discussion/quiz
Nov. 22	Justification for the State & Justice	608-45	626-27, 645-46	2 points
Nov.  24	Limits on the State	646-74	669-70	2 points
(Nov. 26)	(No class: Thanksgiving holiday)
Nov. 29	Art (Aesthetics)	695-713	713-14	2 points
Dec. 1	The Meaning of Life	714-27	726	1 point
Dec. 3	Discussion/quiz
Dec. 6	Discussion/quiz
Dec 15 (Wednesday)	Final exam 10:30-12:30

Grades/Tests: Your course grade is based on three true/false, multiple-choice tests (including the final exam)--each of which is worth 25%--and the total points for Friday discussion quizzes (25%). Test questions for previous semesters can be found below. You can add extra points to your test scores by turning in short essay answers to questions in the text. Your short essay answers must be turned in to your teaching assistant in class on the day of the lecture. These answers have a total value of 50 points.

• Each Friday the discussion will focus on the topics covered in the text and lectures. At the end of the class you will be given a short quiz containing seven or eight true-false/multiple-choice questions. You can discuss your answer with other students and consult your notes, but you will have only ten minutes to complete the quiz. The total for those quizzes will count for 25% of the final course grade.
• If you miss a Friday quiz because of a university-excused absence, you should notify your teaching-assistant. You will be put on a list of students who will be given an opportunity later in the semester to take a make-up quiz after one of the Monday/Wednesday lectures. The date of such make-ups will be announced in the lecture prior to the make-up date.
  
• Extra credit questions can add as many as 50 points to the total points accumulated during the semester. These questions relate to the material covered in the text and often call for nothing more than two or three sentence answers to each question. These extra points often make the difference in your final grade. For example, suppose you get an 84 on the three tests (252 pts) and accumulate 84 points in the Friday quizzes: that would give you a total of 336 points, a course average of 84 (B). But if you had turned in answers to the extra point questions and had received just 18 of the available 50 points, that would give you a total of 354 points, an 88.5 average. In this class, any student who gets within 1.5 points of a letter grade will be bumped over to the next letter grade, so by doing the extra essays, you would get an A. In short, the essays can make a real difference. Class attendance can significantly affect your performance on tests and quizzes, but there is no grade for attendance as such.
• Missing a test is more serious than missing a quiz. Any student who has to miss a test should contact Prof. Daniel to schedule to take the test before the next class meeting.

Test Formats: The two tests and final exam are objective-format (true-false, multiple choice) scan-tron tests. To take them you need the narrow green 882 forms that can be purchased at various bookstores and copy centers. You do not need scan-tron forms or blue books for the weekly quizzes.

How to do well: Read the text, outline it using both the "Summary and Conclusions" at the end of each chapter and the PowerPoint presentations, attend class, and study the practice questions on the website. For each chapter you should combine all your notes in an outline that is structured based on answering these four questions about the philosophers or philosophical positions we study:

• What is the basic position or claim being made?
• What are the arguments provided to support that position or claim?
• What objections can be raised against the position or claim?
• What replies can be given to defend the position or claim against these objections?

You should consult with the professor or teaching assistant as often as possible to make sure you are understanding the material. Do not wait until the day before a test to begin to do your outline. This is not the kind of course for which you can cram and expect to do well on tests. Take advantage of our office hours!

The publisher of the textbook also has practice questions, outlines, and other "Student Resources" at its Velasquez textbook Companion Site. Just click here.

• Click here to see the course promotion presentation (music from CBS Survivor).
• To check your final exam grade and overall course grade, log intoWebCT Vista.

Past test questions on Philosophy in General and Socrates

Past test questions on Reality, Mind-Body
Past test questions on Freedom-Determinism
Past test questions on Philosophy of Religion
Past test questions on Epistemology: Rationalism, Plato, and Descartes

Past test questions on Epistemology: Empiricism, Kant, Positivism

Past test questions on Ethics

Past test questions on Political and Social Philosophy

Past test questions on Aesthetics (Philosophy of Art)

Go to Dr. Daniel's Home Page

Send Dr. Daniel a message: sdaniel@people.tamu.edu

Dr. Daniel: Office Hours (Bolton 302-B): Monday & Wednesday 1:00-4:00
        Phone: 845-5619 (office), 846-4649 (home)
        E-mail: sdaniel@people.tamu.edu
        Web: people.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/251sy04c.html

Graduate Teaching Instructors:

• Steve Campbell--sections 507, 510, 511. Office: Bolton 303. Office hours: Thurs10:30-12:00, Fri 12:00-1:30. Office phone: 845-7780. Email: stemcamp@hotmail.com
• Kim Díaz--sections 506, 508, 509. Office: Bolton 305D. Office hours: Mon 12:30-2:30, Fri 11:30-12:30. Office phone: 862-6975. Email: kimstarz3@yahoo.com
• Jeremy Evans--sections 502, 503, 504. Office: Bolton 305E. Office hours: Mon & Wed 1:30-3:00. Office phone: 862-6976. Email: j-evans@people.tamu.edu
• Adam Shriver--sections 501, 505, 512. Office: Bolton 306. Office hours: Mon 1:00-2:00, Tues & Thurs 2:15-3:15. Office phone: 862-6972. Email: a-shriver@people.tamu.edu

Students with disabilities are guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Disability Services, Koldus Bldg. 126, or call 845-1637.

Students are bound by the Aggie honor code not to cheat. Submitting another student's work as one's own, copying from another student's test, and modifying a previously graded test to improve the grade are acts of scholastic dishonesty. For the definition and sanctions regarding cheating and plagiarism, see http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/definitions.php.