Phil 1000: Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2018
Schedule (subject to change!)
Below is a tentative schedule of what topics we will cover, and what reading(s) you should complete BEFORE each class meeting.
| M, Jan 15 | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- No Class Suggested Video: “I Have a Dream” speech |
W, Jan 17 |
Lecture Topic: About this course—An Intro to Intro to Philosophy |
F, Jan 19 |
A Brief Intro to Philosophy and its Methods |
M, Jan 22 |
UNIT ONE: EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, AND CRITICAL THINKING |
W, Jan 24 |
Logic (validity and soundness) |
F, Jan 26 |
Logic- Continued |
M, Jan 29 |
Logic- continued |
W, Jan 31 |
Logic- continued |
| F, Feb 2 | Finish Logic |
M, Feb 5 |
Informal Fallacies |
| W, Feb 7 | Informal Fallacies- continued |
| F, Feb 9 | Finish Informal Fallacies **Homework Assignment Given Out** Reread: Informal Fallacies |
M, Feb 12 |
**Homework Due** |
W, Feb 14 |
Knowledge, Skepticism, and the Method of Doubt |
| F, Feb 16 | Finish Epistemology and Skepticism Suggested reading: Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” Suggested film: “Inception” |
M, Feb 19 |
UNIT TWO: METAPHYSICS |
W, Feb 21 |
Arguments for God- continued |
| F, Feb 23 | Arguments for God- Teleological and Pascal's Wager Videos: Intelligent Design and Pascal's Wager Reread: This Is Philosophy Ch. 3 (p. 63-95) |
M, Feb 26 |
Arguments against God’s existence- The Problem of Evil |
W, Feb 28 |
Free will- Do we have it, or are our actions determined? |
| F, Mar 2 | **MID-TERM EXAM** |
M, Mar 5 |
UNIT THREE: VALUES/ETHICS, MORALITY, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE |
W, Mar 7 |
Egoism, and Individual Relativism |
| F, Mar 9 | Cultural Relativism (continued) Reading: Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” Suggested film: “Avatar” |
M, Mar 12 |
Mid-term exams Returned |
W, Mar 14 |
Cultural Relativism (continued) |
| F, Mar 16 | Cultural Relativism and the Objectivity of Ethics Start God and Morality Reading: Shafer-Landau, “Does Ethical Objectivism Require God?” |
M, Mar 19 |
Is God the source of morality? DCT and the Euthyphro Dilemma |
W, Mar 21 |
Is God the Source of Morality? |
| F, Mar 23 | Class and Office Hours Cancelled |
M, Mar 26 |
Spring Break- no class |
W, Mar 28 |
Spring Break- no class |
| F, Mar 30 | Spring Break- no class |
M, Apr 2 |
Normative Ethics: Utilitarianism |
W, Apr 4 |
Utilitarianism continued |
| F, Apr 6 | Objections to Utilitarianism Reading: Rachels “The Debate over Utilitarianism” Suggested TV show: “Dexter” |
M, Apr 9 |
Responses to Objections to Utilitarianism |
W, Apr 11 |
Utilitarianism, Objections, and Responses (continued) |
F, Apr 13 |
Finish Utilitarianism and Objections |
M, Apr 16 |
**Homework assignment due** |
W, Apr 18 |
Applied ethics- Poverty and World Hunger (continued) |
| F, Apr 20 | Finish Singer Reread: Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” |
M, Apr 23 |
Deontology |
W, Apr 25 |
Deontology continued |
F, Apr 27 |
Virtue Ethics |
M, Apr 30 |
The Meaning of Life |
W, May 2 |
Happiness and the Meaning of Life (continued) |
FINAL EXAM |
on official day scheduled by Registrar’s office (Posted in your mycuinfo) |
Additional Resources for Students
Guidelines on writing a philosophy paper (J. Pryor)
Writing Philosophy Essays (M. Tooley)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
7/3/19: I am thrilled to have accepted a position as an Instructor at the University of Colorado at Denver! I was extremely impressed by the students and community when last I was there, and am excited to be returning to now teach all the core classes for the UCD Philosophy of Science Minor!
5/6/16: I'm honored to be the first person to receive both the CU Boulder Philosophy Department Morriston Teaching Award (2016) and the University of Colorado-Boulder Graduate Teaching Excellence Award (2014-2015)! My thanks go out to the many great teachers and students with whom I've been lucky enough to learn!
Office Hours: By appointment
Location: Remote via Zoom
Please feel free to drop by with any questions, or simply to chat about philosophy, life, the universe and everything...