Philosophy of Human Nature (Summer): Course Syllabus

PHIL 201
Philosophy ofHuman Nature
Summer Course

Course Description and Syllabus

Course description

Goals of the Course

Focus Themes (Reading and Discussion Questions)

Required Readings

Leonardo da Vinci, Hand sketches from Notebook

Course Description

Human beings seem uniquely to be the biological entities on this planet that ask, What are we? and, Who are we? Humans desire to know what kind of beings they are and in what relationship they stand to the rest of the world. The study of human beings and reflection on what it means to be human have gone on since our earliest recorded civilizations. The questions involved in this study and reflection have varied from time to time and place to place, but some questions seem to recur. Are all human beings also persons? What do the intellectual, linguistic and emotional abilities indicate about the make-up of human beings? When can humans be held morally accountable for what they do? Do human beings survive death? These questions indicate the diverse issues which arise when one asks, "What is human nature?" This course will provide an overview both of some of the authors who have discussed human nature and of some of the issues which they have thought important.

Goals of the Course

1. To increase students' KNOWLEDGE. By the end of the course, the student should know what some philosophical problems or questions are, some ways in which philosophers go about trying to solve these problems, some philosophical terminology (appropriate for impressing friends and family), and the contents of some specific philosophical texts.

2. To promote students' UNDERSTANDING. The student should come to have not only knowledge of what some long-standing philosophical problems are and of what some famous philosophical works say, but should also come to have an understanding of why these problems have been thought to be important and of how some famous philosophical works have sought to raise and solve these problems. Moreover, the student should have an understanding of the interconnections among these philosophical problems, and an increased understanding of her own position on these matters.

3. To develop students' ABILITIES. The student will develop an ability to read philosophical texts. The student should be able more effectively to articulate and argue for her views. In short, the student should develop her abilities to analyze, assess, argue and articulate.

Focus Themes (Reading and Discussion Questions)

Use these questions to guide your reading, to compare different thinkers, and to focus the writing of your papers.

1. Reality. How is the Universe structured? What sorts of things are real? How do human beings fit into the totality of what is real?
2. Mind and Body. Is there a human mind or soul? What is it, and what characteristics does it have? How should we understand the human body and its relationship to the mind or soul?
3. Knowledge. What sorts of knowledge are human beings capable of attaining? Where does knowledge come from, and how is it possible? What sort of knowledge is most important for human beings, and why?
4. Humans and Animals. Are human beings significantly different from animals? If so, what features distinguish the two?
5. Death. What is death? What attitude should we have toward death? What happens to a person after death?
6. Freedom. Are human beings free? If so, in what sense? Explain.
7. Humans and God. Are there divine beings? If so, what relationship do human beings have with divine beings?

Course Grading

Course participation (10% of final grade)
Discussion preparation journal (up to 30% of final grade)
Short papers (one or more) (up to 30% of final grade)
Final Essay (up to 30% of final grade)

In calculating your final grade, each short paper you write (including the final essay) will be weighted equally with your composite grade on your Discussion Preparation Journals. For example, if you write only the one required paper and the final essay, each will be worth 30% of your final grade. If you write two papers and the final essay, each paper and the journals will be worth 22.5%.

Course participation

This component of your grade includes attendance, preparation for class, contribution to class and group discussions.

Discussion preparation journals
You should prepare a one-page summary of or critical response to each day's reading assignment. Do this in such a way that it makes specific reference to each of the readings assigned for the day. Each day's journal entry should be made on a separate sheet of paper. Your instructors will collect these at the beginning of each class period. Entries will be graded on a pass/fail basis. (For a sample Discussion Preparation Journal entry, click here.)

Short papers. Each student will write at least one short (4-6 page) paper, but may choose to write more than one such paper. Students will choose whether to write on specific thinkers, or to compare different thinkers on particular issues. Papers should summarize and explain the views of the thinkers, and should include some critical response to those views. Students may wish to select one or two of the "focus themes" to address in such a paper.

THERE ARE FOUR CONDITIONS FOR PAPER SUBMISSIONS: (1) students must complete a Topic Approval Form and have it approved by the instructors prior to submitting a paper; (2) no more than one paper may be submitted in any week; (3) at least one paper must be submitted by the end of the Thursday class during the third week of the term; (4) absolutely no papers will be accepted after the final Tuesday class meeting.

Final essay. The final essay will be on an topic assigned by the instructors and will be due on the final Thursday that the class is in session (June 29).

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students are responsible for attending class meetings on a regular basis. Absences in excess of the number allowed under University policy will result in a grade of "V." (Students will find brief statements of the University policy on class attendance in the Catalogue and the Student Handbook.) In this course, the maximum number of allowable absences is two. Because class attendance is a factor in the final grade, the student will find that any absences will affect the final grade.

The goals of the instructors' attendance policy are to (1) promote opportunities for learning and class participation, (2) foster communication between student and instructors, (3) make clear the policy which governs attendance in this course so that students can make informed decisions, and (4) insure student accountability.

The instructors recognize that there are circumstances (e.g., illness, death in the family) which prevent a student from attending. The student should try to notify the one of the instructors in advance that she will be absent and inform the instructor of the relevant circumstances (when this is appropriate). When it is not possible prior to an absence for the student to notify an instructor, the student should still be sure to talk to the instructors if she believes that she had a legitimate reason for missing class.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Although there will be occasions when your instructors will lecture (e.g., to give you background information to help you understand the reading or topic), we hope to promote classroom discussion. It is very important that students come to class prepared to discuss the material assigned for the day. Your discussion preparation journals will help you in this regard. You may also want to come to class prepared with one or two questions. Once we have learned each student's name, we will keep track of participation on a daily basis. We will use the following scale: 2= significantly contributed (contribution furthers discussion, deepens our understanding); 1= participated; 0= attended without participating; -1= slept in class; -2= disrupted class (e.g., carried on private discussions or read the newspaper).

ESSAYS AND GRADING

Essays should be typewritten, double-spaced with 1" margins, and stapled in the upper left-hand corner. Do not put your essays in a plastic folder or any kind of binder.

The grades on essays will be recorded as letter grades. The interpretation of the letter grade is based on the current Catalogue: A, A- = Excellent; B+, B, B- = Good; C+, C, C- = Average; D+, D = Poor; F = Failing.

It is our working assumption that all students at this University are capable of doing, at a minimum, satisfactory (or average) college work. So, we assume that an average grade on an essay should be a "C." (You should never receive less than a "C" on an essay.) In practice, both the mean and median grades for essays tend to be somewhat higher than this; quite often, in the "B-" range. However, a grade outside of the average range (i.e., either higher than a "C" or lower than a "C") depends upon the product of student effort and ability. We cannot grade your effort, nor can we grade your ability: the only evidence upon which we can base a grade is the actual product of your effort and ability. We also do not start by assuming that everyone begins with an "A" and that our job is to try to lower that grade to get a proper curve.

Students may generally expect their instructors to return their essays within two class periods from the date the essays were turned in. However, there are occasions when it may take somewhat longer than this. Your instructors will notify you if there will be a delay beyond the normal timeframe. Please do not ask, prior to the end of the timeframe, when your essays will be returned: at least one of your instructors already suffers from enough anxiety and guilt without this.

QUIZZES

If it becomes evident that students are coming to class without having read the material assigned for the day, we will have short unannounced quizzes. The quizzes will focus on the assigned readings for the day. Grades from these quizzes will be counted in the preparation and participation component of your final grade.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Honesty is a key virtue in a community of scholars. The University has expressed its commitment to this value by adopting an "Academic Honesty Policy." Your instructors expect you to be familiar with this policy.

The most troublesome area for students is plagiarism. To plagiarize is to take the ideas or words of another and to present them as one's own. To avoid plagiarizing, students must, at the least, acknowledge the source of ideas or wordings. Moreover, students should seek to move beyond their sources and to do original work.

We have borrowed the following six principles from a handout which is given to students at the University of Notre Dame. You may find them useful.

1. Every paper or report submitted for credit is accepted as the student's own work. It may not, therefore, have been composed, wholly or partially, by another person.
2. The wording of a student's paper or report is taken as his own. Thus he may not submit work that has been copied, wholly or partially, from a book, article, essay, newspaper, another student's paper or notebook, or any other written or printed source. Another writer's phrases, sentences, or paragraphs may be included only if presented as quotations and the source acknowledged.
3. Similarly, the ideas expressed in a paper or report are accepted as originating with the student. A paper that paraphrases any written or printed material without acknowledgement may not be submitted for credit. Ideas from books and essays may be incorporated in a student's work as starting points, governing issues, illustrations, and the like, but in each case the source must be cited.
4. A student may incorporate in his paper or report ideas that have arisen from discussions or lectures when understanding and conviction have made them his own. He may not, however, seek out and restate the ideas of another simply to meet the assignment [emphasis added].
5. A student may correct and revise his writing with the aid of reference books, and also discuss individual details with other persons. He may not, however, turn over his work to another person for wholesale correction and revision.
6. It is permissible to submit papers typed by another person, provided the typist has not sought to change the wording, ideas, organization, or any significant aspect of the paper in any way. Students submitting such papers should proofread carefully.

The best rule to observe is the following: If you are unsure whether to footnote or not, footnote! The point of footnoting is to indicate to your reader that the idea or wording is not your own, and to give your reader some idea of where to go to find this information. Thus, your footnotes need not always be "formal": give your reader the needed information and move on. Your footnotes don't even need to be footnotes; endnotes are perfectly acceptable.

It is not acceptable for a student to submit work in this course which has been or is being submitted for credit in another course, unless the student has received prior permission from all the instructors involved. If such a paper is submitted without prior permission, it will constitute academic dishonesty and the student will receive a grade of "0" (zero) for the assignment. In fact, a grade of "0" (zero) will be the typical penalty for any assignment on which academic dishonesty has occurred. In some cases, a more severe penalty (as discussed in the University's "Academic Honesty Policy") may be imposed.

It is not acceptable for students to quote or paraphrase any other person's work, including texts used in the course, without citing the source. Failure to provide such citations will constitute academic dishonesty, and the assignment will receive a "0" (zero).

If you have any questions about this, be sure to talk them over with your instructors. You should also consult the relevant section(s) of the textbook used in the English Composition courses at Gonzaga University.

Required Readings

Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. Hackett.
Plato. Phaedo. Hackett.
Articles available on course website.