SYLLABUS FOR PHILOSOPHY 345:
METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY--2007
ASSIGNMENT SHEET FOR PHILOSOPHY
345, Fall 2004
INSTRUCTOR: James A. Keller
OFFICE: Daniel 217
PHONE: Ext. 4594
TEXTS:
Richard Taylor, Metaphysics. 4th ed. Prentice-Hall.
John Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality.
Louis Pojman, What Can We Know? Wadsworth
Various handouts
BASIS OF GRADING:
Two tests: 12.5% each
Weekly quizzes: 10% in aggregate
Final exam: 15%
Two papers: 25% each
Possible extra points as described under ALTERNATE FINAL
Good class participation may also raise your grade
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The aim of this course
is to acquaint you with some issues in metaphysics and epistemology and to
stimulate you to formulate your own positions on some of them. We will begin
with metaphysics, using Taylor's book and some handouts; then we will turn to
epistemology, using Pojman’s book. Class sessions will be devoted to discussion
of issues in the reading material assigned. During class sessions I will also
sometimes give my analysis of some of the issues, criticize the arguments in the
books, present other theories, and lecture on various important historical
figures in these fields. You are responsible for what is said in class as well
as the contents of the reading. And remember, the overall goal is to get you
thinking about your own position on the issues and to help you to refine that
position. Thus you will be required to develop and display your own skills at
identifying, analyzing, and evaluating arguments and at synthesizing and
defending a position of your own.
TESTS: The test after each of the two parts will be in-class. It will focus on the important terms and concepts which have occurred in the readings and in class. You will be expected to be able to define and/or explain these terms. You may also be asked to identify the positions which various philosophers have taken on the issues under discussion. The aim of the tests will be to measure your mastery of certain factual knowledge that you must have in order to read and discuss issues in metaphysics and epistemology. The final exam will probably also be similar in format, though I reserve the right to use a different format; if I do, I will give you ample notification.
WEEKLY QUIZZES: Each Monday you will be asked to define 5-7 terms in metaphysics or epistemology from a list of definitions provided in advance. These terms will be used in the tests at the end of each unit.
PAPERS: Since the overall aim of the course is to help you refine your own position on various issues, you will be required to write some papers in which you do that on certain issues. I will give you the paper topics at the beginning of the unit, so you can be thinking about your own position as you do the reading and as you engage in class discussion. I encourage you to use class sessions to test your arguments for your own position and against others. If you are not sure what your position is (and many of you will not be, at least at first), then test all the positions. Try to find their strong and weak points. Gradually, one should begin to appear to you to be the best candidate.
ALTERNATE FINAL: Instead of a final exam of the sort described above, you may write a paper of at least 10 pages on a topic of your choice within the fields of metaphysics and epistemology. As you will discover, there is a vast range of potential topics. Do not let this vastness dismay you or paralyze you. I do not intend that you write a paper which is a comprehensive study of any topic. Instead, I want to see what you can do in conducting an analysis of some very limited amount of literature in metaphysics or epistemology. A number of formats would be acceptable for the paper, but probably the most easily managed would be either a critical review of a book or a critical discussion of two or three articles on one topic. To get started, you should choose some topic that interests you; you should be on the lookout for possible topics throughout the course. Once you have a topic or two in mind, you should see me for bibliographical help. This form of a final exam will require more work on your part than the in-class test, so students who take this form of the final will receive a bonus of added to their final average in the course. The bonus will be 6 points for an A, 4 points for a B, and 2 points for a C (with interpolated points for intermediate grades). This bonus is in addition to the contribution that the paper itself will make to your final grade.
CLASS PARTICIPATION: Philosophy is a process of proposing and refining ideas through intellectual give-and-take. For students class discussion is a primary locus for this give-and-take. So I value greatly your participation in class discussion, and I will reward good participation with an appropriate upward adjustment of your final average in the course. On the other hand, I will be unlikely to make any modifications of the averages of students who say nothing in class.
CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM: Cases of suspected cheating or plagiarism will be turned over to the Judicial System. All written work submitted in this course should be pledged to be your own, in accordance with the provisions of the Wofford Honor Code, which can be found at http://www.wofford.edu/studentlife/honor_code.pdf