PHL101Y Introduction to Philosophy (Thematic)

2022-2023 Syllabus

Description
This course will introduce you to philosophy. Its main purpose is to acquaint you with the kinds of
questions philosophers ask and to impart an understanding of why those questions matter. A secondary
purpose is to improve your skills as a critical reader, thinker, and writer. We will consider some of the
perennial philosophical problems: problems to do with (among other things) the existence of God, free
will, personal identity, knowledge, the relation between mind and body, science, morality, justice and
political authority, and the meaning of life.

Delivery Method
There are weekly in-person lecture and tutorial sections. Regular attendance at both is crucial for success
in the course.

Lecture Meetings: Monday and Wednesday, 10-11am, MS 2158

https://map.utoronto.ca/?id=1809#!m/494491

Tutorial Meetings: Wednesday afternoons starting September 28. Please sign up for a specific tutorial on
ACORN.

Instructor
Prof. Cory Lewis
Email: cory.lewis@utoronto.ca

Email Policy
Please include the course code in the subject of your emails. Most of your instructors will teach multiple
courses, so if you send a message that doesn’t specify which course you are in, we will have to clarify
which course you are asking about.

I do my best to answer any emails within 48 hours, except during weekends and holidays.

Office Hours
I will be available for drop-in visits in my office (Jackman Humanities building, room 524) Monday from
12pm-1pm. You may also schedule an online meeting at other times by emailing me.
Course Website and Readings
To access the main course website, login (with your UTORid and password) to Quercus and select the
“LEC0101” page for PHL101Y:
https://q.utoronto.ca

The websites for the various tutorial sections are in the same place but under “TUT” headings. Please
check the main course website and your tutorial website regularly for important announcements.

There is one required book: The Norton Introduction to Philosophy, second edition (Rosen, Byrne,
Cohen, and Shiffrin, eds.). The book comes in a physical version available for purchase at the University
of Toronto Bookstore and in an eBook version available for purchase here:
https://uoftbookstore.vitalsource.com/products/the-norton-introduction-to-philosophy-second-gideon-
rosen-alexbyrne-v9780393631470?term=9780393631470

See the course calendar section below for a detailed schedule of readings as well as for information on
how to access additional required readings not available in The Norton Introduction.

Assignments, Grading, and Late Policy

Participation in tutorial discussion 15%
Online Quercus quizzes 15%
4 5-7pp. essays 40% (10% each)
Fall term test (cumulative) 15%
Final exam (cumulative) 15%

Participation in tutorial discussion

There are ten weeks of tutorial sections in the fall term and eleven weeks of tutorial sections in the winter
term (see the course calendar for details). Their purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to discuss
the course material. Participation in tutorials is required and attendance will be taken.

Online Quercus quizzes

There will be ten weekly Quercus quizzes per term. (The first fall term quiz will take place in Week 3.)
Students must complete at least seven of the quizzes per term to receive a quiz grade for the course. A
student’s quiz grade will be determined by averaging their grades on the (fourteen or more) quizzes they
completed.

4 5-7pp. essays

There will be two short critical essays per term. Detailed instructions on how to write them will be
furnished later. Essays are due via Quercus as indicated below on the course calendar. Late essays will be
penalized by 5% per day, including weekends.

Fall term test and Final Exam

There will be in-person assessments at the end of each semester during the exam period. These will
consist of short answer questions covering the material presented in lectures, tutorials, and readings.
Academic Honesty
The University of Toronto takes academic integrity very seriously, and there are significant consequences
if you are caught cheating or engaging in academic misconduct. All academic work in this course must
adhere to the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters:
https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/code-behaviouracademic-matters-july-1-2019

Students are also urged to consult the Student Code of Conduct:

https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/code-student-conduct-december-13-2019

Some specifics to keep in mind:

• In written work, all sources used must be correctly cited, and if material is copied directly, appropriately
cited and placed within quotation marks.
• If you work or study with friends, protect your work by not sharing or emailing your notes or
assignments.
You can help friends by discussing your ideas together and comparing your notes from lectures, but all
written work must be completed on your own.
• You can find help with your assigned work by seeing me in office hours, speaking with your teaching
assistant, or taking advantage of the many resources available on campus. I urge you to visit, in particular,
Student Academic Integrity’s website where you can find useful information on how to avoid plagiarism:
https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academic-advising-andsupport/student-academic-integrity

and the Writing Centre’s website where you can find further tips:
https://writing.utoronto.ca/writing-centres/arts-and-science/

Course Code of Conduct and Accessibility

The University of Toronto is committed to equity, human rights, and respect for diversity. All members of
the learning environment in this course should strive to create an atmosphere of mutual respect where all
members of our community can express themselves, engage with each other, and respect one another’s
differences. The University does not condone discrimination or harassment against any persons or
communities.

The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility, and students with special learning needs are
welcome in this course. Please feel free to approach me or Accessibility Services
if you have any accessibility concerns about the course or course materials:
https://studentlife.utoronto.ca/department/accessibility-services/

We want to assist you as best we can in achieving academic success.

Course Calendar: Schedule of Topics, Readings, and Assignments

Almost all of the course readings are from The Norton Introduction to Philosophy, second edition. In the
list below, readings marked “NOR” are from this book. All other readings will be posted on Quercus. The
readings in The Norton Introduction are accompanied by extremely useful reader’s guides, notes and
questions, and “test your understanding” pieces. These materials are not required but they are highly
recommended.

Fall
Week Date Topic Readings Tutorial Quiz Assignment
1 Start Week, No class
2 Sep 12 What is Russell, “The Value of
Philosophy? Philosophy”

Sep 14 How do you do NOR: “A Brief Guide to

philosophy? Logic and Argumentation”
3 Sep 19 Does God exist? NOR: Introduction to Unit 1
“Does God Exist?”
Sep 21 God and NOR: Anselm, “The Quiz 1
Necessary Ontological Argument”
Being
4 Sep 26 God and NOR: Paley, “The Essay 1
Teleology Argument from Design” Posted
Sep 28 God and Evil NOR: Antony, No Good Tutorial 1 Quiz 2
Reason—Exploring the
Problem of Evil
5 Oct 3 Free Will NOR: G. Strawson, “Free
Will”
Oct 5 Agents and NOR: Chisholm, “Human Tutorial 2 Quiz 3
Events Freedom and the Self”
6 Oct 10 Thanksgiving, No Class
Oct 12 Compatibilism NOR: Ayer, “Freedom and Tutorial 3 Quiz 4
Necessity”
7 Oct 17 Personal NOR: Locke, “Of Identity
Identity I and Diversity”
Oct 19 Personal Locke continued Tutorial 4 Quiz 5 Essay 1 due
Identity II
8 Oct 24 Survival and Parfit, “Personal Identity”
Identity I
Oct 26 Survival and Parfit continued Tutorial 5 Quiz 6
Identity II
9 Oct 31 The Self I Hume, selections from A
Treatise of Human Nature
Nov 2 The Self II Milindapanha, selections, Tutorial 6 Quiz 7 Essay 2
and posted
Xuanzang, selections
10 Nov 7 Reading Week, no class
Nov 9
11 Nov 14 What is NOR: Plato, “Meno” and
Knowledge? J. Nagel, selections from
Knowledge: A Very Short
Introduction
Nov 16 The Gettier NOR: Gettier, “Is Justified Tutorial 7 Quiz 8
Problem True Belief Knowledge?”
12 Nov 21 Skepticism NOR: Descartes,
“Meditation I: What Can be
Called into Doubt” and
Reader’s Guide
o Zhuangzi, “The Identity
of Contraries”
Nov 23 Anti-Skepticism NOR: Moore, “Proof of an Tutorial 8 Quiz 9 Essay 2 due
External World”
13 Nov 28 NOR: Vogel, “Skepticism
and Inference to the Best
Explanation”
Nov 30 NOR: Introduction to Unit 2 Tutorial 9 Quiz
“Is It Reasonable to Believe 10
without Evidence?”
NOR: Pascal, “The Wager”
14 Dec 5 The Good Life Crisp, “Theories of Well-
Being”
Dec 7 Death T. Nagel, “Death” and Tutorial 10 Quiz
Larkin, “Aubade” 11

Winter

Week Date Topic Readings Tutorial Quiz Assignment

1 Jan 9 Soul, Matter NOR: Descartes,
and Mind “Meditation II: The Nature
of the Human Mind, and
How It is Better Known than
the Body” and “Meditation
VI: The Real Distinction
between Mind and Body”
Jan 11 Concepts and NOR: Arnauld, “Fourth Set
Causation of Objections” and
NOR: Elisabeth of Bohemia,
“Correspondence with
Descartes”
2 Jan 16 Materialism NOR: Ryle, “Descartes’
Myth”

Jan 18 Identity Theory NOR: Smart, “Sensations Tutorial 11 Quiz

and Brain Processes” 12
3 Jan 23 Subjective NOR: T. Nagel, “What Is It
Character Like to Be a Bat?”
Jan 25 Phenomenal NOR: Jackson, Tutorial 12 Quiz Essay 3
Character “Epiphenomenal Qualia” 13 posted

4 Jan 30 Pleasure and NOR: Mill, “Utilitarianism”

Consequence I
Feb 1 Pleasure and Le Guin, “The Ones Who Tutorial 13 Quiz
Consequence II Walk Away from Omelas” 14

5 Feb 6 Duties and NOR: Kant, “Groundwork

Rights I of the Metaphysics of
Morals”
Feb 8 Duties and Kant continued Tutorial 14 Quiz Essay 3 due
Rights II 15
6 Feb 13 Objective NOR: Mackie, “The
Morality I Subjectivity of Values”
Objective NOR: Nietzsche, “On the Tutorial 15 Quiz
Morality II Genealogy of Morals, 16
Beyond Good and Evil,
and the Gay Science”
7 Feb 20 Reading week, no class
Feb 23
8 Feb 27 What we owe to NOR: Singer, “Famine,
Humans Affluence, and Morality”
Mar 1 What we owe to NOR: Harman, “The Moral Tutorial 16 Quiz Essay 4
Animals Significance of Animal Pain 17 posted
and Animal Death”
9 Mar 6 Political NOR: Hobbes, “Leviathan”
Authority I
Mar 8 Political Hobbes continued Tutorial 17 Quiz
Authority II 18
10 Mar 13 Political Liberty NOR: Mill, “On Liberty”
I
Mar 15 Political Liberty Mill continued Tutorial 18 Quiz
II 19
11 Mar 20 Egalitarian NOR: Rawls, “Two
Liberalism Principles of Justice”
Mar 22 Libertarian NOR: Nozick, “Distributive Tutorial 19 Quiz Essay 4 due
Liberalism Justice” 20
12 Mar 27 The Meaning of NOR: Wolf, “Meaning in
Life Life and Why It Matters”
Mar 29 The Meaning of NOR: Scheffler, “Death and Tutorial 20 Quiz
life and the the Afterlife” 21
future
13 Apr 3 The Ethics of NOR: Clifford, “The Ethics
Belief of Belief”
Apr 5 Belief and NOR: James, “The Will to Tutorial 21
Inclination Believe”