Introduction
to Philosophy
Course
Syllabus,
Instructor:
P. Fortier, M.A.
Please Print This Syllabus
Welcome to
Philosophy 2010 ON-
Below you
will find the information that you need to assist you in the successful
completion of this course. I want you to
know that I am here to assist you in doing your very best in the class. If you have questions at any time, about
anything related to either the format or subject matter, I will be more than
happy to help you in any way possible.
You may contact me privately via e-mail, telephone or in-person. If you wish to meet in-person, you may reach
me using the information below to set up an appointment.
As you can
see on your Ucompass screen, there are SEVEN course content related areas, starting from the top on the left side of
your screen. I will upload the course
content documents into these areas. I
have listed these areas below along with an indication of their respective
course functions:
1)
Course Information –
COURSE SYLLABUS
2)
Announcements –
current class reminder or important class wide note
3) Course Materials –
- Weekly Packets: Lectures,
Agendas, Major Papers Info
- More Information: Additional Announcements, Pre-Start
Information
- Glossaries: Important
Philosophy Vocabulary
4) Assignments –
- Weekly Reading Questions:
these correspond to the textbook and/or supplemental readings
- My Homework Folder: student
drop box which allows you to submit weekly assignments and major class
papers
5) Course Assessments – Midterm Exam,
Final Exam and other Assessments
6) Discussion Board – Weekly
Discussion Group Forums, General Course Questions/Format Group Forum
7) External Links – Primary
References, Secondary References
The
specific goals of each area are as follows:
1) The Announcements
area contains the current announcement for that day. I will maintain a folder of all announcements
in the Course Materials section. Please
check for current announcements and please review all postings in the
Announcement Folder in the Course Materials area.
2) The Course
Information contains the syllabus for this course
3) In the Course
Materials area contains the following Sublink Folders:
· Weekly Packets – a folder that
contains Lectures, Agendas and Major Papers Information
· More Information - Additional
Announcements & Pre-Start Information
· Glossaries – a listing of important
philosophical terms for this course.
4) The Assignments
button refers to the area that contains your weekly reading guide
questions. You must read the textbook
and lecture in order to answer these questions.
Herein, you will find your Homework/Student Drop Box Folder.
5) Course
Assessments is the area that contains your midterm and final exams. These will be available only on the date
specified in the course due dates.
6) Discussion
Board contains each week’s group forum discussion board. You will use this area to answer each week’s
discussion questions, to post critiques and engage in our class discussion.
7) External
Links area contains a list of helpful hyperlinks to assist you in writing
your papers and completing course requirements.
In order
to do well in this class, you will be required contribute on a daily basis, in
written form, your comments to the Discussion Board (DB) in the Group
Forum. That is, you will not only be
REQUIRED to READ and to WRITE but also to demonstrate your proficiency in the
subject matter of the course. As you
read the Lectures, you will notice a few Discussion Questions (DQs) embedded
within each Lecture or listed separately on the weekly agendas. Each student will be required to answer these
DQs individually on one day and react to other students input on different days
in the form of critiques. You will submit all these elements to the DB in the
Group Forum area.
Also,
throughout the course, you will be answering Reading Questions that follow the
course material in the text. In the
Assignments area you will read the relevant questions and transmit your answers
back to me via Homework Folder (the Student Drop Box). Please send all
student work files as documents in Word or Rich Text Format (.rtf) only!
One
Required On-Site Visit:
This term
you are required to attend only one onsite campus meeting:
v Midterm Review/Class Meeting – this
two hour long class meeting will be convened on a Friday evening at South
Campus one week before the midterm exam.
The exact date will be announced during the first week of class but will
most likely take place around the fourth week of the term.
(The midterm exam itself
will be convened online via the Course Assessments button)
Your Attendance at the
Onsite Midterm Review/Class Meeting is Required and counts as Partial Credit (5 points) in this Course. I will announce the date, time and location
for the onsite meeting during the first week of our course term. Most students thank me for the opportunity to
meet onsite and find the review session very helpful in pulling all the
material together in preparation for the online midterm exam.
ON-
The
Ucompass Web Site provides its clients with a java chat option. During the term, I may provide students with
the opportunity to discuss course issues.
I may award bonus points to students who attend pre-arranged office
hours chats. The chat feature will not
be available until the middle to late in the term.
ON-
By appointment only. Messages can be left at
ON-
Department
of Humanities, Philosophy Area
From
Ucompass, my primary E-mail Information is: oldsoul1966@yahoo.com
From outside
Ucompass, my secondary e-mail information is: oldsoul1966@wowway.net
Please do
not carbon copy your assignments to both addresses.
The second
email should only be used in the event that Ucompass has a problem.
All course assignments and papers should be submitted via Homework
Folder (Student Drop Box) or posted to the appropriate forum on the Discussion
Board. If you wish to communicate via
email, use the Yahoo email already set up in the Ucompass application. If Ucompass is down, you may use the yahoo or
wowway.net email.
N.B. All
ON-
1)
Student Work
Submissions (Homework Folder)
2)
Discussion Board
postings in the Group Forum
3)
E-mail to my primary
or secondary address.
4)
U.S. Postal Delivery
Service to me c/o Macomb.
5)
In-person submission
of course assignments.
Course Objective:
This course
is an introductory survey of philosophy.
The course will in most cases follow the outline of the Stumpf and
Feiser textbook. However, in some
instances the course will refer to supplemental material. The purpose of the course is to introduce the
student to a wide variety of topics in philosophy, the student with some of the
traditional questions and critically analyzing a variety of responses to those
important issues.
Course Catalog Description:
Designed to show the relevance of philosophical problems to the
student himself. The
student is challenged to develop a consistent response to such problems as:
free will versus determinism, the limits of knowledge, the basis of good and
evil, personal conscience versus legal obligation, etc. Traditional and modern
philosophers are read for discussion and critical evaluation. (3 contact hrs)
Course Length:
An
attendance of 5 out of 7 days is required for a total of 8 weeks.
Contact Hours: 3 contact hours
Credit Value: 3 Credits
Detailed Grading Scale:
|
A = 92 - 100% = 4.0 |
|
A - = 90 - 91.9 % = 3.7 |
|
B + = 88 – 89.9 % = 3.3 |
|
B = 82 – 87.9 % = 3.0 |
|
B - = 80 - 81.9 % = 2.7 |
|
C+ = 78 - 79.9 % = 2.3 |
|
C = 72 - 77.9 % = 2.0 |
|
C - = 70 - 71.9 % = 1.7 |
|
D+ = 68 - 69.9 % = 1.3 |
|
D = 62 - 67.9 % = 1.0 |
|
D -
= 60 - 61.9 % = 0.7 |
|
E
= Below 60% = 0.0 |
For Technical Support:
Refer to
Ucompass for the Student Manuel or contact Helpdesk at:
I have also
created a forum entitled “Course Format Questions Forum.” Please use that forum for Format/Course
Requirements Questions only. I will
expect you to have read through the course documents before you ask your
question.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful
completion of this course, the student should be able to:
·
Define and discuss
contemporary issues and their relation to underlying principles and
philosophical systems.
·
Analyze relevant
philosophical problems and develop resolutions.
·
Present logical and
consistent arguments in support of philosophical positions.
·
Discuss issues related
to the boundaries of philosophical speculation.
·
Examine the differences
between scientific/technological world views and the more classical
understandings of human nature.
·
Acquaint the student
with some of the major themes in the history of philosophy.
Course Prerequisites: None
Employer Tuition Remissions:
Students
receiving course tuition reimbursement from employers must submit a written
request to the facilitator for any letters verifying attendance and/or earned
credits.
Required Text:
Philosophy:
History and Problems. Authored by Samuel Enoch Stumpf, 6th
Edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994. ISBN:
0-07-240635-6
· Supplemental Readings will be
posted in the Course Materials area.
Other readings may be obtained from Internet sources.
Materials: Internet Access and PC/Mac.
Class Policies:
A) Special
Attendance Guidelines:
The
student is expected to attend the course via uploading significant
contributions to the Discussion Board.
Students are also expected to read each week’s lecture, relevant text
pages and complete all other necessary assignments as noted in the weekly
agendas.
The
college has established an attendance standard for all online courses. A student participant must ‘attend’ class 5
of 7 days per week. This is measured by
the facilitator recording the date of each entry you make to the system -
whether it is a response to one of the assignments, a comment on the work of
another, or a question to the group or to your instructor.
An absence
does not excuse the student from the responsibility of participation, assigned
work, and/or exam. Students may be
dropped for poor attendance after two consecutive weeks of absences is
accumulated. It is virtually impossible
to earn a decent grade in this course without the minimal of the 5-day
attendance each week.
·
IMPORTANT: Attendance will be documented only on the
basis of the posted entries on the Discussion Board.
I will have no record of your attendance unless you post on a daily
basis.
On Roll
Call:
Since, I do
not receive a computer printout that informs me when a student logs onto the
system. I have no way of knowing
whether a student has signed onto the system if that student does not submit an
entry in the Discussion Board (Group Forum) area. In order to meet the criteria of 5 of 7 days
contact, I am required to use the dates recorded by the system at the heading
of each of your discussion postings.
This will be the method of taking Roll.
Attendance will be used as a guideline in conjunction with the overall
participation to determine that portion of the grade. Please consider this as
you schedule your course work.
B)
Plagiarism/Cheating:
q
Plagiarism is to take
and use another’s words or ideas as one’s own
Plagiarism
of any material is a serious offense, not to mention illegal and may result in
failure of the course. Outside sources
may be used if properly referenced as such. Cheating will not be tolerated.
Fortier Class Policy -
If plagiarism is detected in a student's
work, that student will not receive credit for that assignment. If plagiarism
occurs a second time, the student will be assigned an‘E/F’ or ‘0’ for the
course.
If any instance of plagiarism is
suspected, that paper (without any of its name identifying characteristics)
will be submitted to a third party for plagiarism analysis. Please refer to the
Academic
dishonesty could involve any of the following:
1. Having
a tutor or friend complete a portion of your assignments.
2. Having
a reviewer make extensive revisions to assignments.
3. Copying
work submitted by another student to a public class meeting.
4. Using
information from online information services without proper citation
5. Having
someone assist you in answering examination questions or cases, or having
someone see/review/critique your answers prior to submitting those answers to
the classes.
N.B.
This list is not all-inclusive. Please check with me ahead of time if you have
any questions regarding academic integrity. I will post specific guidelines on
referencing methods and paper requirements in the Major Papers information
under Weekly Packets in the Course Materials area.
Papers will be returned without a grade if sources are not
referenced properly.
C)
Assignments are due on the day of the seminar specified (by the END OF THE
Class Discussion:
Class
discussion seminars will be accomplished through the use of the Discussion
Board. Students can 'attend' these
discussions at times convenient to them rather than having to be at a specific
place at a specific time. The only time when a specific time might be required
is during a chat. At this point, these
chats will remain optional. Students who
attend these chats will be awarded bonus points at the end of the term. Oftentimes, especially when I am not present
for some of the group chats, I will archive the chats, review them throughout
the term and transmit my feedback in form of postings to various areas, drop
box and/or privately to particular students.
Class Discussion/Participation:
Class
discussion/participation is required to keep the class interesting and to
maximize your learning. Students are required to actively participate in
discussions. Students are also
encouraged to bring personal experiences to the class forum. However, in the true spirit of philosophical
reflection, discussion will be directed toward the objective and
philosophically relevant. Students are
encouraged to bring into the course any material from current events that are
relevant to the subject matter. Attendance will be recorded solely on the basis of your
postings to the DB in the Group Forum area.
Techniques to Facilitate Class
Discussion:
You are
encouraged to dialogue with other students regarding the subject matter. In fact, we will discuss the particulars of a
standard in philosophy, the Socratic Dialectic.
Some appropriate contribution to this dialogue might include life, work,
politics and/or social experiences. You are expected to show your understanding
of the readings and their relevance to the subject matter.
It is very
wise for you to keep regular contact with the Discussion Board, Course
Materials and Announcements areas. A key
part of your grade depends in large part on your involvement in the
discussion. Please keep your comments
focused, to the point, be polite, and reference the name of the person whose
comments you are referring to if you are commenting on the inputs of others.
Instructor Feedback:
How are
you doing? That's a good question. Here are my tasks as the instructor:
1) Weekly,
I will send some directional comments to the forum indicating important points,
etc. In this comment paragraph, I will mention any major concerns or strong
points the class needs to consider. After
the midterm exam, I will send an academic progress report to each
student. Your grade will be assessed on
a pointage basis. Throughout the course,
after I grade items, you will be able to view your points for major
assignments. I will calculate attendance
points only at the midterm – not on a week by week basis. In other words, your attendance/participation
points will be indicated shortly after the midterm exam and after the final
exam.
2) Often,
I will enter comments into the discussion as I review student contributions.
These may include questions, clarifications and/or re-emphasis on important
material.
3) At
least two to three times per week, I will provide feedback to the
class/individual in a more personalized manner on related topics and lecture
material.
4) If
anyone is having a specific problem, I will send a private message. Usually this is done to reflect marginal
attendance, missing assignments or lack of dialogue with others. Detailed explanation of grading weights will
be outlined below.
Transmission Format:
Please submit
your all files either in Word or Rich Text Format (.rtf). If you do not have Word 97 or 2000, you can
save your work in the Rich Text Format.
Any word processing program can save your work as a Rich Text Format
document. I DO NOT HAVE ANY PROGRAMS THAT READ .
It is wise
to save a backup copy of your submissions including all your postings. If I do not receive your work, you will then
have backups to verify your timely fulfillment of course requirements.
During the
first week, I will post a questionnaire/agreement to you. Each student must complete the
questionnaire/agreement and send it back to me.
The purpose of the questionnaire/agreement is not only to make certain
you understand the requirements but also to obtain information about your
academic experiences and help resolve any technical issues.
Assignments:
It is
crucial to label all assignments. When
you submit assignments either via the Homework Folder (student drop box), the
forums or e-mail, you must spell out the assignment title and specific topic in
the subject bar. In the Discussion
Board, make certain you are responding to the appropriate forum by noting its
particular topic. It is very difficult
to sort through all the messages at the end of the week to find your
assignments for grading if they are not labeled correctly or uploaded to the
proper forum. As stated in large type
above, you must repeat the subject bar data in the body of the e-mail.
The
Assignment Grade is compiled with the Participation Grade. Specifically, it includes the following
components:
1)
Discussion
Questions/Quotes – I will post them in lectures or the agenda and you will
upload them to the DB (Group Forum)
2)
Reading Questions – I
will post in the Assignments Folder and you will send answers back via the
Homework Folder (Student Drop Box).
3)
Special Impromptu
Essays – I will list them on the weekly Agenda or on a forum and you will
respond to the forum or via the Homework Folder.
4)
Critiques of Other
Student Responses – You will read them in the DB and upload your responses to
the DB.
Course
Grading Weights:
Onsite
Meeting 5 points
Paper 1 10 points
Paper 2 20 points
Assignments
(+11)
Forums (+24) 35 points (participation total)
Final Essays 10 points
Summarized Course Requirement
Options:
Midterm
Exam (online)
1)
Philosophers Dialogue (3-4 pp.) OR Ethics Interview Paper (3-4 pp.)
2)
Argument Paper (4-5 pp.)
Assignments/Participation
Final
Essays
The
numbers above correspond to papers 1 and 2.
The first paper is either a Philosopher’s Dialogue or an Ethics
Interview Paper. The second paper is an
argument type of paper. You may find a
list of philosophy topic questions for this argument paper in the Major Papers
folder under the Weekly Packets.
Bonus: Movie Review on Philosophical
Theme (specific details TBA)
I will
post paper guidelines and suggestions in the Major Papers folder under Course
Materials area. **Due Dates for All
Student Papers/Exams: TBA
Topics of the Course (Subject to
Change)
1)
Philosophy
Aims/Divisions
Historical
Framework
Terms
2) Metaphysics/Science
of Being
Metaphysical
Claims
Dualism/Monism
Free Will
versus Determinism
3) Use of
Logic
Major
Fallacies
Argument
Construction/Critique
4) The
Existence and Nature of the Soul; Immortality of the Soul;
Plato
& Aristotle on Soul;
5) Theism;
Relation between Theology & Philosophy;
Division
of Philosophy Sciences
6)
Epistemology: David Hume and Immanuel
Kant
7) Ethics:
Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas
Objectivism
versus Subjectivism
8)
Aesthetics; Themes in Eastern Philosophy
9) The
Question of Human Destiny; Meaning of Life and the Human
Condition.
A
COURSE SCHEDULE WILL BE POSTED SOMETIME DURING THE FIRST WEEK.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
Philip Fortier, M.A.
Adjunct,
Philosophy/Humanities
“Philosophy,
a luxury to the man in prosperity and a refuge to the man in adversity" -- Aristotle
“Two things fill the mind with increasing awe: the starry heavens above and the
moral law within” – Immanuel Kant