IntroductiontoPhilosophy: PlatotoContemporaryFrenchPhilosophy(withsomefilms) (PHL100111) T/TH1:00pm2:30pm Instructor:Dr.AnthonyPaulSmith(anthonypaul.smith@gmail.

com) Room:Room129,MunroeHall(2312NorthCliftonAvenue) Phone:7733253259(room) 7739319570(cell) Officehours:11:2012:20T/THorbyappointment

CourseDescription Thiscourseisahistoricalintroductiontophilosophy.Thismeansthatwewillbelooking atawiderangeofphilosophersstartingallthewaybackinancientGreeceandendingin presentday France. We will be reading short selections from each philosopher, analyzingtheirideasandarguments,andunderstandingwheretheyfitinthehistorical developmentofphilosophyitself.Thegoalofsuchawidesurveyistoexposeourselves to the way that philosophy both remains indebted to its past as well as the ways each thinkerpracticesphilosophyverydifferentlythanthatpast.Allofuswillfindmuchof thisreadingdifficult.Thatdoesnotmeananyofus,includingyou,aregoingtodopoorly inthisclass!Wewilldiscussthetextsduringthelecturesandonlywhatiscoveredinthe lectures will be on the exams. We will come to find that by the end of the class our understandingofthereadingshaveimproved. Philosophy is ultimately concerned with difficult questions. Good philosophy always pushes beyond the usual surface responses in the search for real wisdom concerning that question. These are the questions that sometimes haunt us when we have a momenttothink.Whatislove?Whydowelovethewaywedo?Whatdoesitmeanto be?IsmyexperienceoftheworldthesameasthepersonIlove?Whatisthepointofall of this? So, while philosophy is difficult, it isnt difficult in the same way that mathematicsisdifficult.Itsdifficultbecauseithastodowithhowyouliveyourlife. Becausephilosophycrossesbeyonditsownborderswewilllookattwofilmsinorderto assistusinunderstandingthephilosopherswearereadingaswellastothinkaboutthe filmswewatched. LearningOutcomes Uponcompletingthecoursethestudentshouldbeableto: showanunderstandingofthemajorthemes,figures,andquestionsofthe westernphilosophicaltradition expresshowthistraditionrelatestotheirownlivesandtheworldaroundthem applyphilosophicalthinkingtoalloftheirfutureacademicwork,regardlessof theirmajor articulatetheirownphilosophicalthinkinginbothwrittenandverbalform GradeSummary Therewillbetwoexams(comprisedofshortanswerquestionsandessayquestions) andafinalpaper(10pages,doublespaced).Eachexamwillcountfor33.3%(fora totalof66.6%)ofyourfinalgradeandthefinalpaperwillcountfor33.3%.

Itisimportantthatyoudonotmissaclassandespeciallyanexam.Anymakeupforthe inclassexamswillonlybegivenduetoextremesituations,andthisisdoneveryrarely. Youmusthavepriorpermissionfromtheinstructortotakeamakeup. ThepaperisdueviaDesire2Learn(clicktheDropboxtab)bytheendoftheday (11:59PM)onThursday,November17th.Thepaperistobesubmittedelectronically only.Detailsconcerningthepaper(itsformatandcontent)willbepassedoutafterthe firstexam.Latepaperswillnotbeacceptedexceptforextremesituations. Cheating/plagiarismwillbedealtwithastheseriousinfractionsthattheyare,possibly leadingtofailure;seetheStudentHandbookfordetails. Attendanceisimportantbutwillnotbetakenforagrade.Itisyourresponsibilityto attendeveryclass.Icanguaranteethatpoorattendancewillmakeitimpossibletodo wellinthisclass. CellPhoneandLaptopPolicy WhileIunderstandtheaddictiontocellphones,especiallysmartphones,thematerial wearestudyingisverydifficultandthereforerequiresyourundividedattention.Ifyou arecaughtusingyourphoneduringalectureyouwillbegivenonewarning(either verballyorbyemail).Ifyouarecaughtasecondtimeormoreyouwillfaceareduction offivepointsforeachoffensefromyourhighestscoringpieceofcoursework.Pleaseturn allcellphonesoffduringthelecture.IfIcandoit,socanyou. Laptopsareacceptableintheclass,butfornotetakingonly.Ifyouappearnottobe payingattentionbecauseyouredistractedbysomethingnonlecturerelatedonyour laptopthenIwillaskyoutoreadthelastlineofnotesyouhavejustwritten.Ifyoucant thenyouwillbegivenawarning(eitherverballyorbyemail).Ifyouarecaughtasecond timeormoreyouwillfaceareductionoffivepointsforeachoffensefromyourhighest scoringpieceofcoursework. Desire2Learn PleasemakesurethatyouchecktheemailattachedtoyourDesire2Learnprofile.Iwill besendingweeklyemailstothataddress.Allcoursedocuments,powerpoints,audioof lectures,andotherhelpfullinkswillbeavailableontheDesire2Learncoursepage.Iwill alsobesettingupforumswhereyoucandiscusstheweeksreadings.Thesearenot graded,butitwillbeahelpfulresourceforthosewhowanttoaskquestionsaboutthe reading.Iwillcheckinontheseforumsandparticipate. RemarksonLectures,Readings,Films,andClassroomDiscussions Wearedealingwithadultthemesandarangeofdifferentbeliefsystemsinthisclass. Youwillbeexposedtodifferentwaysofthinkingbothinthereadings,thelectures,and discussionsinclass.Attimesyoumayfindyourselfoffendedbyoneormoreoftheideas presentedandwhenyouarenotoffendedafellowclassmatemaywellbe.Thisisok! Whileofcourseverbalorphysicalabuseisstrictlynottolerated,wehavetogiveeach otherpermissiontobeoffensive(withintheboundsofrespectfuldiscourse)andtobe offended.Byremaininginthiscourseyouareagreeingtohaverespectfulconversations aboutawiderangeofdifferentbeliefs. Thisgoesespeciallyforthefilmsandclipswewillwatchinclass.AttimesIhavechosen materialthatmaybeoffensivetosome.SomefilmswillberatedRandsomeclipsfrom TVshowswillberatedTVMA.Byremainingenrolledinthisclassafterthefirstsession youareenteringintoanonverbalagreementthatyouunderstandandacceptyouwill beaskedtowatchthesefilmsandclips.

RequiredTexts RobertPaulWolff(editor),TenGreatWorksofPhilosophy(availablefromthe LPCBookstore)

ereserveCourseReader http://eres.lib.depaul.edu/eres/courseindex.aspx?page=search(Searchfor Smith,passwordPHL100) OutlineofCourseandReadingSchedule Readingslistedaretobereadforthatclassperiod.IfthereadingislistedunderSeptember 14th,itistobereadpriortotheSeptember14thsessionofclass.Tohelpguideyour reading,Iwillprovidetwostudyquestionperreadingassignment(viaemail)whichyou shouldcometoclassaspreparedaspossibletoanswer;writingoutanswersbeforehandis notrequiredbutisencouraged.Thescheduleandproceduresforthiscoursearesubjectto changeintheeventofextenuatingcircumstances;changeswillbeannouncedinclass. (10GW)=TenGreatWorksofPhilosophy (ER)=ereserveCourseReader TheGreekOriginsofPhilosophyandtheChristianAppropriation September8th Introduction,Plato September13th Film:HedwigandtheAngryInch Plato(10GW),pp.162 September15th PlatoandAristotle Aristotle(10GW),pp.63103 th September20 MedievalPhilosophy St.AnselmandSt.ThomasAquinas(10GW),pp.104117(I suggestyoualsotakesometimetobeginreadingforthenext classperiodhere) ModernPhilosophy September22nd RenDescartes Descartes(10GW),pp.118195 September27th DavidHume Hume(10GW),pp.198252,341345 September29th ImmanuelKant Kant(10GW),pp.349372,418456(Focusonthesesections,but trytoreadtheentiretextpp.346475) October4th BenedictdeSpinoza Spinoza(ER),TheEthics,pp.564603 October6th Exam1 PhilosophyafterKant October11th GWFHegelandKarlMarx Marx(ER),TheMarxEngelsReader,pp.7081,143145 October13th SrenKierkegaard

 Kierkegaard(ER),FearandTrembling,pp.58,2753 October18th FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche(ER),OntheGenealogyofMorality,pp.1137 October20th Film:EternalSunshineoftheSpotlessMind TwentiethCenturyPhilosophyinGermanyandFrance October25th (FinishFilm)HenriBergson Bergson(ER),CreativeEvolution,pp.120152,155161,168173 (Focusonthesesections,especiallythefirsttwo,buttrytoread thewholechapter) October27th Phenomenology(EdmundHusserlandMartinHeidegger) Heidegger,BeingandTime,pp.2135 November1st GillesDeleuzeandFlixGuattari DeleuzeandGuattari(ER),WhatisPhilosophy,pp.112,4449 November3rd LuceIrigaray Irigaray(ER),AnotherLook,AnotherWoman,pp.719 ContemporaryFrenchPhilosophy November8th AlainBadiou Badiou(ER),ManifestoforPhilosophy,pp.113138. November10th FranoisLaruelle Laruelle(ER),WhatCanNonPhilosophyDo?,pp.169189 November15th Exam2