PHIL 100W: Knowledge & Reality
Spring Semester 2014 | Day | Burnaby
INSTRUCTOR: Jill McIntosh, WMC5606 (jillmc@sfu.ca)
REQUIRED TEXTS
1. Once term is underway, many of the required readings will be available on-line (password-protected, so only for registered students) via the class website. This is much cheaper for you than a hardcopy anthology, though (i) you don’t get a cool hefty book for your shelf, (ii) you don’t get to flip through fascinating but unassigned articles, and (iii) you must exercise due diligence in accessing the readings and (preferably) printing them up. If you would like to buy a good hardcopy anthology, I can advise, but I cannot guarantee that all readings would be from it.
2. Writing Philosophy: A Guide for Canadian Students, 2nd edition. Lewis Vaughn and Jillian Scott McIntosh, Oxford University Press, 2012. (The 1st edition is also okay AND there will be a copy of the 2nd edition on 2- hour reserve at the Library).
3. i>clicker* Either of i>clicker 1 or i>clicker 2. Sorry, but i>clicker Web app is not acceptable. There are time lag and other problems.
*As you may know, i>clickers can be used in different classes. If you already have one, don’t buy another. If you don’t already have one, buy one knowing that you can use it in other courses. That said, you do not need to own the one you use, but, in order to receive credit for its use, you need one (the same one) to bring to every lecture (not shared with somebody else in the class). Once term is underway, we will discuss how to link your remote id to your student computing id to receive credit for its use in this class. Bring your clicker to class and use it, even if you have not registered it.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
It must seem to you at this moment that you are reading a course outline. But are you really? Are you sure? Perhaps you are having a (slightly odd) dream. What about other beliefs you have—are they true? For example, you probably believe you have a brain in your skull and that other people do, too. Is that belief identical to a state of that brain? Or are beliefs non-physical? Could something that lacks a brain have beliefs? What if you are a brain in a vat wired up so as to have experiences as though you were a normal human? You would have (be?) a brain, but you wouldn’t have a skull. What if what you think of as other people are all figments of your imagination and you are the only thing that exists?
This course is an introduction to philosophy, focussing primarily on issues in epistemology and metaphysics (that is, those concerning knowledge and reality respectively). Questions likely to be discussed include some of the following: What is knowledge? Do we have knowledge of the external world, and, if so, how do we get it? What is the mind? What is the relationship between the mind and the body?
The course is designed with two broad goals in mind. One, it will give you a chance to consider some interesting philosophical issues. These issues are central to an exploration of the human condition, and everyone should have an opportunity to reflect on them. Two, it will provide you with an opportunity to improve your critical reading, writing, and thinking skills, thereby helping you with almost any intellectual endeavour in which you subsequently choose to engage.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
- Participation-20%
- In-class midterm-10%
- Two Papers-15% and 25%
- Final Exam-30%
Note: Students will be required to submit written work to turnitin.com for plagiarism-checking and also, possibly, for anonymous peer review or as the basis for class discussion.
Prerequisites: Philosophy 100W has no prerequisites. Philosophy 100W may be applied toward the Certificate in Liberal Arts, the W-requirement, and the Breadth-Humanities-requirement.