MONTGOMERY COUNTY
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
On Line Course Syllabus
Professor James P. Cooney
Summer 2002
Welcome to the on-line version of Philosophy 100 at Montgomery County Community College.
Be assured that our on-line course will have the integrity and quality of a classroom course. You will be expected to do considerable reading and writing and take the same kind of exams as students in our classroom courses. My Compectures and our on-line communications will substitute for the lectures and discussions of the classroom.
As we work together at our computers, we will examine the ideas of major writers in the Western tradition who have earned the distinction of being called philosophers. If we read well, we will have a beginning. The challenge is to go beyond their thoughts as we prepare to confront similar questions ourselves.
We will discover, I am sure, that it's not really very hard to be philosophers. All that's needed is an attitude of determination and a disposition to question the things that others take for granted. We need, also, to have a strong tolerance for ambiguity as we discover that few questions have definite answers. Nevertheless, it's important to pose the questions, for in doing so, we fully embrace the human condition.
I recommend to you the following sentiment (by an American philosopher) because it suggests that we can be deliberate without being too serious...that we can enjoy life-- while we think our way through it:
"I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain oneself on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely...."
--Henry David Thoreau, Walden
TEXTBOOK:
Samuel Enoch Stumpf. Socrates to Sartre: A History of Philosophy. Sixth Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 1999.
SCHEDULE:
(Note: Essays are due FREQUENTLY and may be submitted any time in advance of the due date listed. You should read carefully all of the material assigned as well as the appropriate Compecture for the unit you are reading. Compecture, explained below, is my term for "Computer Lecture." All of the Compectures are published in the Course Documents section.)
(NOTE: The date in parenthesis is the date on which your papers are due.) They should be e-mailed to me at jcooney@mc3.edu. Your papers will usually be returned to you within a week of their receipt.
Due Dates:
1 (5/22) Introductions and Orientation to the Course.
Assignment Due: E-mail a short autobiography to me and post a version of it to the discussion forum.
2 (5/28) Plato Chapter 3 (44-74)
Summary/Explanation ( approx. 400 words) Due: Briefly, but in specific terms, and in your own words, summarize one of the following of Plato's ideas: the Cave allegory, doctrine of the forms, or political philosophy.
3 (6/3) Aristotle Chapter 4 (75-99)
Summary/Explanation Due: Provide a summary of Aristotle's thought focusing on substance and form (be sure to explain the four causes) OR ethics (types of ends and the Golden Mean), OR his politics--and be sure to do it in your own words.
4 (6/10) Augustine Chapter 6 (123-139); and Aquinas Chapter 9 (162-181)
Summary/Explanation Due: Provide a summary in your own words of Augustine's doctrine of illumination and his teaching on disordered love; OR provide a summary of St. Thomas’s theory of natural law, including the four types of natural law.
5 (6/13) Descartes Chapter 12 (220-232)
Summary/Explanation Due: Summarize in your own words Descartes' method of systematic doubt. Explain how he moves from doubting his own existence to first in his thinking self, to belief in God, and then to the existence of his extension and other things.
6 (6/19) Locke and Hume Chapter 13 (246-256 and 262-270)
Summary/Explanation Due: Explain in your own words John Locke’s political theory OR David Hume’s theory of knowledge and his notions of causality and the Self.
7 (6/20-6/24) Mid-term Exam—Make appointment by calling
college. [Blue Bell: (215) 641-6452; Pottstown: (610) 718-1865]
8 (6/26) Kant Chapter 15 (287-298)
Summary/Explanation Due: Provide summary in your own words of Kant's categories of thought and the distinction between the noumenal and phenomenal worlds; OR his concept of the Categorical Imperative and how it differs from other kinds of imperatives.
9 (7/1) James and Marx Chapters 20 (359-366) and 21 (372-386)
Summary/Explanation Due: Explain in your own words James's concept of Pragmatism and the relevance of the Will to Believe; OR Marx's dialectical theory of history and theory of alienation.
10 (7/8) Existentialism Chapter 25 (448-456 and 472-482)
Summary/Explanation Due: Summarize in your own words the basic components of Kierkegaard's Three Stages OR Sartre's atheism and notion of personal responsibility.
11 (7/9-7/15) Final Exam—Make appointment by calling
college. [Blue Bell: (215) 641-6452; Pottstown: (610) 718-1865]
COMPECTURES:
I have posted a series of Compectures (computer lectures) which address the concerns of all philosophers dealt with in the course, as well as a few others whom you will not be asked to read about in the textbook. (The reason the others are there has nothing to do with the difference between a classroom course and an on-line course. I choose to teach different philosophers in different courses and different semesters. I figure I may as well give you all of the good Compectures, even those by philosophers I am not asking you to read about in this particular course.)
These Compectures are found in the Course Documents section. Become familiar with these Compectures, and be sure to read the Compecture about a particular philosopher soon after reading the textbook material about that person.
EVALUATION:
*On line participation, asking questions and making comments to the instructor and other students via Discussion Forums, is an important factor in making this course a quality experience for you and your classmates. Each student should offer a comment or question at least once a week.
The final grade will essentially be determined on the basis of performance in the following areas:
(Percentages suggest the approximate weight given to each factor.)
*Essay responses to the readings 40%
*Mid-term Exam 30%
*Final Exam 30%
SUMMARY/EXPLANATIONS:
Each week students will prepare a personal summary/explanation (in the student's own words - not a simple paraphrase of the text) of key points in the readings in response to directions presented in the Schedule of readings. These should be submitted to the
instructor by e-mail by the due date on the syllabus.
The objective is to summarize the philosophers ideas in the student's own words. NOTE WELL: Students are not expected to analyze the philosophers' ideas or agree or disagree with them. Rather, a simple objective summary/explanation demonstrating the student's clear grasp of the material is all that is required.
These essays should be about 400 words long. Longer essays are acceptable, but excessive length beyond the 400-word recommendation should be avoided.
The essays should be in the student’s own words and not just a close paraphrase of the text or something lifted from an Internet site or a book.
The best approach is to read the assignment carefully, pen in hand, marking important points, underlining interesting passages, and making marginal notes. Next the student should read the appropriate Compecture for that assignment. The student should then turn to the syllabus and read the instruction after Summary/Explanation.
Next, the student should carefully compose an essay that addresses in specific terms each point mentioned in the directions. The student should return to the chapter(s) to check on the precision of his or her recollection of the ideas. However, it is important that the student not just copy information from the textbook, changing a few words here or there. The challenge is to explain what the textbook says in your own words and in your own way.
NOTE: Students are encouraged to consult with the instructor and/or each other via the Discussion Forum at any time in the preparation of these assignments.
These essays will be graded both on content and form, so care should be taken to make them effective. Specifically, the essays should be carefully organized and developed with specific references to the material read. Essays should be carefully revised and corrected so as to be free of errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Writing effectiveness will be a criterion used in evaluating the essays.
EXAMINATIONS:
Students must take a mid-term and final examination by showing up in person at the Learning Assistance Lab of either the Blue Bell (Central) or Pottstown (West) campuses. Upon showing satisfactory personal photo identification, the student will be given the exam by the Learning Lab attendant. (For students at too great a distance to be able to take the exams at MCCC, other arrangements will be made. Please contact me immediately if this applies to you.) The exam must be written in the presence of the Learning Lab receptionist or other proctor who will be designated.
Study sheets will be posted to Blackboard prior to both examinations.
“Where is the
wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
--T. S. Eliot, "The Rock," 1934