PHI 10 - Introduction to Philosophy

Riverside Community College Spring 2002
79776     1:50 P.M. - 3:25 P.M. TTH        QD 202    B. Carver

Syllabus

Reading Questions

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

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)

Lecture Notes

2/26: The Judeo-Christian Conception of God
3/12: Ohio Board Hears Debate on an Alternative to Darwinism (New York Times)
3/19: Fumes and Visions Were Not a Myth for Oracle at Delphi (New York Times)
4/25: Information on Split-Brain Research

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 from Natural 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

Educational and Other Resources

Me. (The first place you should turn if you are having trouble in the course.)
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus (Philosophers use fancy words. Look them up!)
RCC Academic Counseling Services
Disabled Student Programs & Services
RCC Extended Opportunity Program & Services (EOP/S)
RCC Library
RCC Tutorial Services
RCC Health & Wellness Center
Información en español
RCC International Student Center
School and Community Outreach
RCC Student Financial Services
Puente Program
RCC City Campus Spring 2002 Schedule of Philosophy Classes

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