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Introduction to Philosophy

HUP 101.7637 Prof. Michael Broz

MW 9:15-12:45
Fall II 2019

Class Theme Reading Due Writing Due

What is Philosophy? Thinking Philosophically about Life

Key Questions:
What are various approaches to defining Philosophy?
What is the process of “thinking philosophically?”
What is the purpose of Philosophy? Why is it valuable?
How can learning to think philosophically enrich my life?
What are the branches of Philosophy and what questions do they explore?

01/02 Philosophy = Love of wisdom

01/07 1.1 Why study Philosophy? TPW 1-19

1.2 Defining Philosophy
1.3 Thinking Philosophically
1.4 Understanding arguments TPW 19-26
1.5 Branches of Philosophy TPW 27-33
1.6 Bertrand Russell TPW 33-35 My Philosophy of Life
“The Value of Philosophy” Writing Assignment (pg. 10)
1.7 The Search for a Meaningful Life TPW 36-41

Socrates and the Examined Life

Key Questions
Why is Socrates described as the “father” of Western Philosophy?
What is the Socratic Method?
Why did Socrates believe that “The unexamined life is not worth living?
Why was Socrates brought to trial and how did he defend himself?
What was the lasting significance of Socrates’ trial and death?

01/09 2.1 Hesiod, Homer and the Birth of Philosophy

Socrates: A model for Humanity TPW 42-54
2.2 The Socratic Method TPW 54-59
2.3 Socrates’ central concern: the soul TPW 60-63
2.4 The trial and death of Socrates TPW 64-81
2.5 Socrates Legacy TPW 81-88 Socratic Dialogue pg. 83 (draft)
Socratic Dialogues
3.1 Know thyself? TPW 89-92
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Who are you? Consciousness, Identity, and the Soul

Key Questions:
What are different philosophical perspectives on the “self” and how do they relate to one another?
How do we discover and understand the self?
What is the relationship of the self to consciousness? To the soul?
In what ways does the self both change and remain the same over time?
What is the relationship of states of conscious to the physical structure of the brain?

01/14 3.2 The soul is immortal: Plato TPW 92-97

3.3 St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas TPW 98-102
3.4 Descartes’ modern perspective on the “self” TPW 102-109
3.5 The “self” is consciousness: Locke TPW 109-113
3.6 There is no “self”: Hume TPW 114-116

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01/16 13.6 We construct the “self”: Kant TPW 117-122

3.8 The “self” is multilayered: Freud TPW 122-127

3.9 The “self” is how you behave: Ryle TPW 128-132
3.10 The “self” is the brain: Physicalism TPW 133-143
3.11 The “self” is embodied subjectivity TPW 143-147
Husserl & Merleau-Ponty Socratic Dialogue (Final)
3.12 Buddhist concepts of the self TPW 147-156

01/21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (College Closed)

Are You Free? Freedom and Determinism

Key Questions
Why do some philosophers believe that all actions are determined and that freedom is an illusion?
Why do some philosophers believe that at least some human actions are not determined and that freedom is possible?
What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?
What factors constrain freedom? Is it possible to increase freedom by diminishing or eliminating constraints?

01/23 4.1 Are you the master of your fate? TPW 157-162
4.2. Determinism: Baron D’Holbach TPW 162-171
4.3 Compatibilism: TPW 171-182
W.T. Stace, R.E. Hobart, David Hume Do You Know Yourself?
4.4 Libertarianism: William James TPW 182-191 Writing Activity (pg. 92)

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01/28 We create ourselves: Jean-Paul Sartre TPW 192-201

4.5 A feminist analysis of freedom TPW 201-205
4.6 Creating a synthesis TPW 211-218

Con’t Below
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How Can We Know the Nature of Reality?

Key Questions
What questions do Metaphysics and Epistemology explore?
What is the nature of reality?
What is the relation of reality to the realm of reason? To the natural world?
How do we construct knowledge and achieve truth?
How do we develop informed beliefs in everyday life?

01/28 5.1 What is the nature of reality? TPW 219-230

Pre-Socratic Philosophers
5.2 Reality is the realm of the Forms: TPW 230-242
The path to knowledge of reality:
The Allegory of the Cave: Plato
5.3 Reality is the natural world: Aristotle TPW 242-249
6.1 Questioning independent reality TPW 270-276

01/30 Paper Workshop Day, no reading assigned

02/04 Bertrand Russell

6.3 Reality depends on Perception TPW 289-294
George Berkeley
6.4 Understanding reality demands skepticism TPW 294-303
David Hume
6.5 We constitute our world: Immanuel Kant TPW 303-319 Defining the Self
TPW 331-349 (pg. 151)

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How can We Understand Ethics and Moral Issues?
Key Questions
What is my “moral compass”? How can I make it more enlightened?
Are there “universal values” that apply to everyone?
Or are values “relative” to the individual or culture?
What are some of the most influential ethical theories?
According to Existentialist thinkers, how can we become “authentic” individuals

02/06 Introduction to Ethics and Moral Issues TPW 401-409

8.1 Your moral compass
8.2 Ethical Relativism TPW 409-414
Ethical Subjectivism
Cultural Relativism: Ruth Benedict TPW 414-419
Ethical Universalism TPW 419-424
Ethical Egoism: Plato & Ayn Rand TPW 425-430

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02/11 8.5 Religion and Ethical Values TPW 436-443

Divine Command Theory
Natural Law Ethics
9.3 Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham & TPW 473-484
John Stuart Mill
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9.2 Deontology: Immanuel Kant TPW 461-473 Understanding Freedom

9.4 Authenticity: Existentialist Ethics TPW 488-499 Writing Assignment (216)

02/13 Soren Kierkegaard TPW 489-494

Friedrich Nietzsche TPW 495-499
Authenticity and Responsibility: Sartre TPW 499-504
Courage is the highest value: Camus TPW 506-509

02/15 Reading Day

02/18 Final Exam

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