PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS

PHIL 101

FALL 2009

Mark Johnson Classroom: 180 PLC

Phone: 346-5548 10-10:50 MWF

Office Hours: MWF 8:00-9:45, and by appointment (PLC 355)

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“Any adult who still philosophizes ought to get a good beating. Philosophy is only something for young lads.” . . . . Plato, Gorgias

“. . . the unexamined life is not worth living.” . . . . Plato, Apology

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Course Description: Living a human life poses certain problems for each of us: Who am I? Is there some meaning to my life? How should I act? Using short philosophical readings, we will reflect on issues such as the role of reason in our lives, the nature of religious belief, whether human existence makes any sense, and how we construct meaning in our lives.

There will be three lectures and one discussion section each week. There are also two film screenings scheduled on the evenings before we discuss them the next day in class. Since you do not have readings for those days, you are expected to attend the film showings. Reading assignments will be announced in advance, and they are listed in the tentative schedule given below. Every student is expected to attend all lectures and their discussion section each week and to read the assigned texts by the assigned dates (i.e., to have read the text before it is discussed in the lecture). Grades will be based on four short papers (approximately 3-5 double-spaced, typewritten pages) and on attendance and performance in discussion sections. The percentage of the grade for each of these is as follows:

3-5 pp. essays (four @ 20% each).....................................80%

Discussion participation............……………….................20%

Two-fifths of your discussion section grade will be based on attendance (i.e., one point for each section) and the other three-fifths on the quality of your contribution to the discussion. Late papers will not be accepted. If the essay is not turned in on time, you will receive no points for that one-fifth of your grade. Only in cases of documented medical excuse or special documented circumstances (e.g., family emergency) will you be allowed to turn in a late essay.

Academic dishonesty (e.g., cheating, plagiarism) is strictly prohibited and may result in severe penalties. Definitions, procedures, and penalties for such cases are spelled out on the UO website for Academic Dishonesty.

Topics/Readings: Below is a list of topics for discussion along with a tentative schedule of required readings. There are only three required texts:

· Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. (Hackett).

· Albert Camus. The Stranger. (Random House).

· PHIL 101 Course Packet of selected readings that can be obtained at the UO Bookstore (The Duck Store). [Note that in a few of the readings in the Course Packet there are missing pages. This is not a mistake, but rather an attempt to shorten some of the longer readings.]

Section A. Philosophy and the Examined Life

Week I

(Sept. 28) Holiday. No Class

(Sept. 30) What is Philosophy? What is Liberal Education?

(Oct. 2) The Central Role of Philosophy in Liberal Education

Murphy, “The Philosophic Mind and the Contemporary World”

Week II

(Oct. 5) Plato. Euthyphro.

(Oct. 7) Plato. Apology.

(Oct. 9) Plato. Apology.

Week III

(Oct. 12) Plato. Crito.

[Paper on Section A due Oct. 14, in class]

Section B. Philosophy and Religious Belief

(Oct. 14) Tolstoy. “My Confession.”

(Oct. 16) Nietzsche. Antichrist.

Week IV

(Oct. 18, Sunday night) Film Viewing: Crimes and Misdemeanors, PLC 180, 7-9 p.m.

(Oct. 19) Discussion of Crimes and Misdemeanors.

(Oct. 21) Freud: Theism as Illusion.

James: The Will to Believe

(Oct. 23) No Class—Professor Johnson is at a conference.

Week V

(Oct. 26) Kierkegaard. “Teleological Suspension of the Ethical.”

(Oct. 28) Tillich. “What Faith Is.”

(Oct. 30) Dewey. A Common Faith.

[Paper on section B due Nov. 2, in class]

C. Absurdity and Our Search for Meaning

Week VI

(Nov. 2) Camus. The Stranger.

(Nov. 4) Camus. The Stranger.

(Nov. 6) Schopenhauer. “On the Suffering of the World.”

Week VII

(Nov. 9) Nagel. “The Absurd”

(Nov. 11) Flanagan. “Finding Meaning in the Natural World.”

(Nov. 13) Taylor. “Does Life Have Meaning?”

[Paper on Section C due Nov.16]

Section D. Who am I?—Our Search for Identity

Week VIII

(Nov. 16) Sartre. “Existentialism is a Humanism.”

(Nov. 18) O’Brien. “The Things They Carried.”

(Nov. 20) Neisser. “Five Kinds of Self-Knowledge.”

Week IX

(Nov. 23) Young. "Throwing Like a Girl."

(Nov. 25) Williams. "The Death of the Profane."

Hooks. "Killing Rage."

(Nov. 27) No Class (Thanksgiving Break)

Week X

(Nov. 30) Johnson. “The Narrative Context of Self and Action.”

(Dec. 1, Tuesday night) Film Viewing: My Life as a Dog, PLC 180, 7-9 p.m.

(Dec. 2) Discussion of My Life as a Dog.

(Dec. 4) Merton. “Love and Need.”

Week XI

(Dec. 7-11) Final Exam Week

[Section D paper due by Tues., Dec. 8, 5:00 p.m.]