PHI 6 - Introduction to Philosophy

Long Beach City College  Fall 2002     B. Carver
Wednesday 12:00 – 3:00     M 219

Syllabus

Study Guides

Introduction

Plato - The Apology
W. K. Clifford - The Ethics of Belief

Philosophy of Religion

St. Thomas Aquinas - The Five Ways
William Rowe - An Examination of the Cosmological Argument
William Paley - The Watch and the Watchmaker
David Hume - A Critique of the Teleological Argument
St. Anselm and Gaunilo - The Ontological Argument
Blaise Pascal - Yes, Faith is a Logical Bet
J.L. Mackie - Evil and Omnipotence
John Hick - There is a Reason Why God Allows Evil

Metaphysics

Pojman's Intro to Part V (320-325) & Baron d'Holbach - We are Completely Determined
W.T. Stace - Compatibilism
Richard Taylor - A Contemporary Defense of Free Will
John Locke - Our Psychological Properties Define the Self
David Hume - We Have No Substantial Self With Which We Are Identical
Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey - Brain Transplants and Personal Identity
Paul Edwards - An Argument Against Survival
John Hick - In Defense of Immortality

Political Philosophy

Thomas Hobbes - The Absolutist Answer
John Locke - The Democratic Answer
John Stuart Mill - A Classical Liberal Answer
John Hospers - The Libertarian Answer
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - The Communist Answer
John Rawls - The Liberal Answer
Bertrand Russell - The Value of Philosophy (in Pojman 18-22)

Political Philosophy Questions

Lecture Notes & News of Interest

The Judeo-Christian Conception of God
Ohio Board Hears Debate on an Alternative to Darwinism (New York Times)
Fumes and Visions Were Not a Myth for Oracle at Delphi (New York Times)
Information on Split-Brain Research
Philosopher John Rawls, 81, Died November 24, 2002 (Washington Post)

Online Texts

Philosophy of Religion

Plato - The Apology
W. K. Clifford - The Ethics of Belief (Read Section I)
St. Thomas Aquinas - The Five Ways
William Paley - Excerpts fromNatural Theology
David Hume - Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Read Part II [143-150] and all of Part V.)
    St. Anselm - Excerpts from Proslogium (Read Chapters II-IV)
    Gaunilo's Reply (Read Point #6)
    St. Anselm's Rejoinder (Read Chapter III)

Metaphysics

Baron d'Holbach - Excerpt from The System of Nature (Read Chapter XI)
More coming...

Political Philosophy

Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan
More coming...
Bertrand Russell - The Value of Philosophy (Chapter 15)

Exam Results

Exam #1 Results
Exam #2 Results
Exam #3 Results

Educational and Other Resources

Me. (The first place you should turn if you are having trouble in the course.)
Philosophers use fancy words:Look them up!
How to get a free web-based e-mail address

Just for Fun

Calculate the number of communicative civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy with the Drake Equation
Five Ways to Prove the Existence of Santa Claus
Kant's Criticism of Anselm in Cartoon