PHL100Y1Y (L0201) Introduction to PhilosophyLecture: MW11am-12pm

Fall: NF003 — Winter: PB B150 (Mondays) and MC102 (Wednesdays)Tutorials: See below

DescriptionThis course will introduce you to philosophy. Its main purpose is to acquaint you with the kinds of questions philosophers ask and to impart an understanding of why those questions matter. A secondary purpose is to improve your skills as a critical reader, thinker, and writer. We will consider some of the perennial philosophical problems: problems to do with (among other things) the existence of God, free will, personal identity, knowledge, the relation between mind and body, science, morality, justice and political authority, and the meaning of life.

InstructorDr. James JohnOffice: University College, Room F209Office Hours: WTr3-4pm (and by appointment)Email: jim.john@utoronto.ca

Email policy: I will read messages only if they are from a UTORmail email account and their subject lines include the course identifier and a clear statement of purpose (e.g. PHL100Y: I have a conflict with the final exam). Where a question cannot be answered with a brief reply email, I will indicate that you should see me or your TA during office hours. I will take up generic questions that could be of interest to all students at the beginning of the next class.

Required TextThere is one required book: The Elements of Philosophy: Readings from Past and Present, edited by Tamar Szabó Gendler, Susanna Siegel, and Steven M. Cahn. With one exception (noted below), all required readings are from this book. Books are available at the University of Toronto Bookstore.

There may be additional non-required but suggested readings. These will be posted on the course’s website. Go to portal.utoronto.ca and login with your UTORid and password. PHL100Y will appear on the top right hand portion of the welcome page. Click on the link to access our site. Please check this page regularly for important announcements.

There will be a number of handouts. Sometimes they will be distributed in class and later posted on the course website; at other times they will be posted to our site ahead of class. In the latter case, I will send out an email announcement at least 24 hours in advance instructing you to print a copy of the handout and bring it to class. (On these occasions, it will be your responsibility to come to class with the appropriate handout.)

Assignments and GradingYour grade will be determined as follows:

Four papers (5-7 pp. each) 4 10% = 40%First-term test (2 hrs.) 15%Final examination (3 hrs.) 35%Mandatory attendance and participation in tutorial 10%

Your written assignments are due in lecture on the dates indicated below. Work will be counted late beginning with the end of lecture (from 12pm on) and will be penalized by dropping 1/3 of a letter grade for each day (not counting weekends) the work is late. Instructions on how to submit late work will be provided on all assignment sheets. The Faculty deadline for the submission of term work is the last day of classes (12/2 in Fall, 4/2 in Winter). Extensions beyond this deadline may be granted only if they do not interfere with the submission of grades. Otherwise, you must petition your College Registrar.

Plagiarism is a grave offence and is absolutely forbidden; all cases will be prosecuted. Next week (at our 9/15 meeting) I will distribute a statement on the nature and unacceptability of plagiarism. In the meantime, I urge you to visit www.artsci.utoronto.ca/osai/students. This is the Office of Student Academic Integrity’s website. They have useful information on how to avoid plagiarism. See also www.utoronto.ca/writing, the Writing Centre’s website.

The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a disability or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom, or any course materials, please feel free to approach me or to contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible at disability.services@utoronto.ca.

Term I (Fall) Schedule of Meetings and Readings

Note: there will be tutorials every week of the term with the exception of Weeks 1 and 13.

Week 1Monday 9/8: Introduction to course

Wednesday 9/10: Primer on arguments

***9/14: Waiting lists close.***

Week 2: For God’s ExistenceMonday 9/15: The Argument from Design: William Paley, “The Argument from Design”

Wednesday 9/17: The Ontological Argument: Saint Anselm, “The Ontological Argument” and Gaunilo, “In Behalf of the Fool”

***9/21: Last day to add a Y course.***

Week 3: Against God’s ExistenceMonday 9/22: Perfection and Evil: John Hick, “The Problem of Evil”

Wednesday 9/24: Hick continued***Paper 1 assignment sheet distributed in lecture!***

Week 4: Are Our Wills Free?Monday 9/29: Free Will and Determinism: A. J. Ayer, “Freedom and Necessity”

Wednesday 10/1: Free Will and Indeterminism: Roderick Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self”

Week 5: Free Will and FeelingMonday 10/6: Liberty and Emotion: Peter Strawson, “Freedom and Resentment”

Wednesday 10/8: Personhood and Memory: John Locke, “Of Identity and Diversity”

Week 6: Personal Identity IMonday 10/13: Thanksgiving (no class)

Wednesday 10/15: Locke continued***Paper 1 due in lecture!***

Week 7: Personal Identity IIMonday 10/20: Personhood and Paradox: Derek Parfit, “Personal Identity”

2

Wednesday 10/22: Parfit continued

Week 8: What is Knowledge?Monday 10/27: “True Belief and an Account”: Plato, “What is Knowledge?”

Wednesday 10/29: The Gettier Problem: Edmund Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”***Paper 2 assignment sheet distributed in lecture!***

Week 9: Knowledge and Skepticism IMonday 11/3: The Demon of Doubt: René Descartes, “Meditations 1 and 2”

Wednesday 11/5: Descartes continued

Week 10: Knowledge and Skepticism IIMonday 11/10: Turning the Tables: G. E. Moore, “Proof of an External World” and “Certainty”

Wednesday 11/12: Abduction and the Demon: Jonathan Vogel, “Cartesian Skepticism and Inference to the Best Explanation”

Week 11: Appearance and RealityMonday 11/17: Fall break (no class)

Wednesday 11/19: Brains-in-Vats: David J. Chalmers, “The Matrix as Metaphysics”***Paper 2 due in lecture!***

Week 12: LifeMonday 11/24: The Good Life: Derek Parfit, “What Makes Someone’s Life Go Best”

Wednesday 11/26: Parfit continued

Week 13: DeathMonday 12/1: Should We Fear Death?: Thomas Nagel, “Death”

Wednesday 12/3: Make-up day (class only if necessary)

***12/2: Last day of Fall classes (with exception of make-up day).***

Date for first-term test TBA. Note: the first-term test will be scheduled during the University’s official Fall exam period. Do NOT plan your vacation until you know this date!

Term II (Winter) Schedule of Meetings and Readings

Note: there will be tutorials every week of the term with the exception of Weeks 7 and 13.

Week 1: The Mind-Body Problem IMonday 1/5: Mind, Matter, and Essence: René Descartes, “Meditation 6”

Wednesday 1/7: Mind as Soul: Kisor Kumar Chakrabarti, “Understanding Nyaya-Vaisesika Dualism”

Week 2: The Mind-Body Problem IIMonday 1/12: Mind as Behaviour: Gilbert Ryle, “Descartes’s Myth”

3

Wednesday 1/14: Mind as Brain: J. J. C. Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes”

Week 3: Mind and ScienceMonday 1/19: The Problem of Consciousness: Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”

Wednesday 1/21: Nagel continued***Paper 3 assignment sheet distributed in lecture!***

Week 4: The Value of MoralityMonday 1/26: Why Be Moral?: Plato, “Glaucon’s Challenge”

Wednesday 1/28: Nobody’s Perfect!: Wolf, “Moral Saints”

Week 5: Moral Theory IMonday 2/2: Pleasure and Consequences: John Stuart Mill, selections from Utilitarianism

Wednesday 2/4: Mill continued

Week 6: Moral Theory IIMonday 2/9: Duties and Rights: Immanuel Kant, selections from Grounding for the Metaphysics of

Morals

Wednesday 2/11: Kant continued***Paper 3 due in lecture!***

Week 7Reading Week No class

***2/16: Last day to drop a Y course without penalty!***

Week 8: The Nature of MoralityMonday 2/23: Relativism vs. Universalism: James Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”

Wednesday 2/25: A Very Hard Case: Judith Jarvis Thomson, “The Trolley Problem”***Paper 4 assignment sheet distributed in lecture!***

Week 9: Politics IMonday 3/2: Authority and the State: Thomas Hobbes, “Contract and Commonwealth”

Wednesday 3/4: Hobbes continued

Week 10: Politics IIMonday 3/9: Justice and Equality: John Rawls, “Justice as Fairness”

Wednesday 3/11: Rawls continued

Week 11: Politics IIIMonday 3/16: Justice and Liberty: Robert Nozick, “Distributive Justice”

Wednesday 3/18: Nozick continued***Paper 4 due in lecture!***

Week 12: The Meaning of Life

4

Monday 3/23: Meaning and God: Leo Tolstoy, selections from My Confession (available online at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/tolstoy/confession.txt)

Wednesday 3/25: Despair, Defiance, and Irony: Thomas Nagel, “The Absurd”

Week 13: The Ethics of Belief: What Should I Believe?Monday 3/30: Belief and Evidence: W. K. Clifford, “The Ethics of Belief”

Wednesday 4/1: Belief and Inclination: William James, “The Will to Believe”

***4/2: Last day of Winter classes.***

Date for final examination TBA. Note: the final examination will be scheduled during the University’s official Winter exam period. Do NOT plan your vacation until you know this date!

Tutorials for PHL100Y1Y (L0201)If you have not already done so, please register in a tutorial as soon as possible. The tutorials for this lecture section of the course (0201) are numbered T1801 to T2103. The tutorials are listed below by time of meeting; please take note of the room location and number.

Thursday Tutorials2pm T1801 UC44

T1802 UC257T1803 SS621

Friday Tutorials9am T1901 UC44

T1902 UC D301T1903 UC376

10am T2001 UC44T2002 UC67T2003 SS621

11am T2101 SS621T2102 UC44T2103 SS570

***SUPER IMPORTANT!*** Do NOT register in a tutorial for this course unless it is one of the above tutorials! There is another lecture section of this course, and if you register for one of its tutorials, you will be in the wrong place.

5