GREAT BOOKS: PHILOSOPHY
Instructor: Dr. Jim Schwartz
Office: Dwyer 256
Phone: (419) 586-0356; (800) 237-1477
Website: http://drjimschwartz.com
Email: drjimschwartz@drjimschwartz.com
Office Hours: immediately before and after class (and by appointment)
TEXT
Wall, Thomas F. On Human Nature: An Introduction to Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2005.
NOTE: This textbook is available at the Lake Campus Bookstore.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Philosophy 204 offers students an introduction to selected seminal readings in the history of Western philosophy chosen from three areas: ancient/medieval, modern, and contemporary. We will be examining these readings both within their respective historical frameworks and as exercises in critical thinking.
GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM GOALS
• sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills;
• learn about the aesthetic, ethical, moral, social, and cultural dimensions of human experience needed for participation in the human community;
• increase knowledge and understanding of the past, of the world in which we live, and of how both past and present have an impact on the future.
COURSE ATTENDANCE
You are expected to attend all regularly scheduled classes. Please do not come to class ill prepared for the day's assignment, since you may be called on at any time to answer questions about the day's readings.
GRADING & ASSIGNMENTS
You will complete one group oral presentation and, because of the writing-intensive nature of the course, three written assignments leading to your final grade. All assignments will be marked using an A through F scale. Please refer to the “Grading Standards” menu option on the left for more information about the A through F scale as it applies to your writing.
Each response paper will be typed, double-spaced, and approximately rwo to three pages in length. Particular philosophical arguments should be offered. The journal will be typed, double-spaced, and contain three direct quotes, chosen by the student, from each assigned reading followed by a three- to five-sentence thoughtful analysis of each quote's respective content.
The group oral presentation will focus on one of the following four philosophers: Plato, Descartes, Marx, or Sartre. I will create the groups and assign each group a topic, after which the group must prepare an interactive, question-and-answer presentation about the assigned topic.
Each assignment’s value is as follows:
Journal = 50%
Response Papers (2 @ 15% each) = 30%
Group Oral Presentation = 20%
COURSE CALENDAR
06/14 Monday - A-Term Begins; Course Introduction
06/16 Wednesday - Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (18-40); Confucius (41-62)
06/21 Monday - Plato (63-82); Aristotle (102-121)
06/23 Wednesday - St. Augustine (137-160); Response Paper #1 due
06/28 Monday - St. Thomas Aquinas (160-188); René Descartes (189-230)
06/30 Wednesday - Immanuel Kant (231-271)
07/05 Monday - 4th of July Holiday Observed (University closed)
07/07 Wednesday - Karl Marx (272-312); Jean-Paul Sartre (313-352); Response Paper #2 due
07/12 Monday - Sigmund Freud (353-379)
07/14 Wednesday - Course Evaluation; Oral Presentations; Journal due