TUTORIAL MODULE PHIL1017 SYLLABUS
SPRING 2011
MODULE TUTOR: ARTHUR SCHIPPER
EMAIL ADDRESS: a.schipper@ucl.ac.uk
MEETING TIMES: TBD
MEETING ROOM: Room B06 in 18 Gordon Square
AIMS OF THE MODULE:
- Developing study skills – reading and understanding philosophical texts - that will enable the students to extend their knowledge on their own.
- To develop their skills and confidence in philosophical writing, argumentation and debate.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Weekly Essay and Presentation: One student from the group is required to write an essay on the topic for the next meeting, of approximately 1,500-2,000 words in length. The writing role rotates; each student will have written at least two essays in a term. When you write the essay for the given meeting, you are required to bring four other copies to the class, for the other students and for me. Free photocopying will be provided in the Philosophy Department Library if you are photocopying your tutorial essay for class. The student who will write the essay for the given week, will be required to read the essay to the group. After this, there will be a general discussion, lead by me, of the required text(s) and the essay.
- Weekly Preparation: The other three students are expected to do the reading and to think, or make notes, about the topic. These students will be required to send me one or two questions concerning the reading for the week by around 5PM of the day before the meeting. Any question that may pop into your head while reading the text will be OK, as long as you put some thought into it. Be prepared to discuss these in class.
- Attendance and Participation: It is crucial that every student actively participates in the group discussion every week. Attendance in tutorials is absolutely mandatory. In the event of illness or emergencies, students must inform me beforehand and provide evidence upon request.
- Final assessment: Each student will be assessed by one 2,000 word essay, to be submitted at the end of term. This will, most likely, be a reworked and edited version of one of the essays you write for the tutorial.
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS:
- Electronic copies of the documents will be accessible on either the moodle site for the course, or on any of the various sites accessibly via the Library, such as JSTOR. If a paper is difficult to find from the various library resources you have access to, I will leave a master copy in the Departmental library for the students to make further photocopies of.
OUTLINE OF READINGS:
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTORY MEETING
REQUIRED READINGS:
- Jim Pryor's "Guidelines on Reading Philosophy", which can be found here: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html
- Jim Pryor's "Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper", which can be found here: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html
WEEK 2: DESCARTES 1 - SKEPTICISM & CERTAINTY
REQUIRED READINGS: Descartes’ Meditations I - III
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: Do the doubts of the First Meditation extend to all clear and distinct perceptions, such as the cogito and the premises in proving God’s existence? If so, how can Descartes avoid falling into a vicious circle?
WEEK 3: DESCARTES 2 - DUALISM
REQUIRED READINGS: Meditations II&VI
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: Explain Descartes’ example of the piece of wax. How is this discussion supposed to support Descartes’ view of the essence of mind? How successful is the example in supporting Descartes’ view?
WEEK 4: MIND/BODY 1 – MENTAL PHENOMENA
REQUIRED READINGS: CRANE, Elements of Mind, Chapters 1 & 3 (until p. 88)
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: Are all mental states intentional?
WEEK 5: MIND/BODY 2 – PHYSICALISM & CONSCIOUSNESS
REQUIRED READINGS: CRANE, Elements of Mind, Chapters 2 & 3 (pp. 88-102)
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: Explain the commitments (essential claims) of physicalism, and then critically discuss ONE of the following objections to physicalism at length:
- The knowledge argument
- Zombies
- The explanatory gap
WEEK 6: TBD or MIND/BODY 3 – MENTAL CAUSATION
REQUIRED READINGS: CRANE, (1995) ‘The Mental Causation Debate’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume LXIX, 211-236
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: What is non-reductive physicalism? Can it solve the problem of mental causation?
WEEK 7: TBD or SUBJECTIVE/OBJECTIVE DISTINCTION
REQUIRED READINGS:
- NAGEL, “What is it like to be a bat?”;
- NAGEL, “Subjective and Objective”
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: What is the subjective/objective distinction and how does it provide a problem, if any, for physicalism?
WEEK 8: TBD or FREE WILL 1 – METAPHYSICS OF FREE WILL
REQUIRED READINGS: VAN INWAGEN, “An Argument for Incompatibilism”
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: TBA
WEEK 9: TBD or FREE WILL 2 – FREE WILL AND RESPONSIBILITY
REQUIRED READINGS: FRANKFURT, “Alternative Possibilities and moral responsibility”
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: TBA
WEEK 10: TBD or POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY - FREEDOM AND LIBERTY
REQUIRED READINGS: BERLIN, “Two concepts of Liberty”
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS: TBA