Spring 2001
Lecturer. David Carrier, Professor of Philosophy
There is a chance for discussion of questions in every lecture. In addition, there are 3 other ways to contact me:

1. My Office Hours are TuTh 2-2:45 and by appointment
   • Office BH 161E (at the front of the building)
2. E-mail: dc40@andrew.
3. My Mailbox: 135BH, in the philosophy department.

E-mail is a good way to convey information; discussion is better done in person.

Section Instructors

Each TA (teaching assistant) will announce office hours.
Additional hours will be made available for discussion of the paper assignments.

Your TA is responsible for giving your grade. You should hand in all work directly to your TA.
All papers must be hard copy- E-mail or fax submissions are not acceptable.

Texts:

Purchase these books at the CMU bookstore.

Required:

• Mill, The Subjection of Women (MIT)
• Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Dent)
• Perry and Bratman, eds, Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford). Third Edition
• Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (Vintage)
• Rousseau, Social Contract (Penguin)
• Cornel West, Race Matters (Vintage)

A few books listed below on the syllabus are available on reserve; in general, only one copy will be available. Plan ahead!

The lectures introduce you to some important philosophical problems, and to explain how philosophers argue. In the Friday discussion sections you discuss the materials presented in lecture.

You are expected to attend the lectures and your recitation sections. The exams and the papers draw on the reading, on the handouts given in the lectures, and on the lectures themselves. The easiest way to learn this required material is to do the reading, and attend class.

Instructions.

All the required readings are listed below. Additional materials will be given in the lectures. You will learn more if you read each assignment before the lecture when it is discussed.

Grading.

Class attendance is important. It is the easiest way to learn the material fundamental to this class. To encourage attendance, there will be eight unannounced quizzes, given throughout the semester, at either the start or the end of the lectures. And five unannounced quizzes in the Friday recitation sections. We will not give quizzes on religious holidays. No advance notice of quizzes will be given. We will not accept any excuses for absences from quizzes. Each exam covers the material since the previous exam up to and including the assigned reading for that day.

We also ask you to write two short, 4 page papers. The paper topics are given out in Friday discussion class. Each TAšs students will have separate topics.

Your midterm grade is:

• Average of unannounced quizzes up to that time.

• 40% two assigned papers, i.e. 20% per paper
• 40% best four quizzes in lecture, i. e. 10% per quiz.
• and
• 20% best two quizzes in recitation i. e. 10% per quiz.

We drop your lowest quiz grades. This means that you can miss up to four unannounced quizzes in lecture and three in recitation without penalty. And that if you are unhappy with your grade on any of unannounced quizzes, you can make it up by doing better on the others.

If you miss a quiz for any reason, whether because of illness, because you are busy with other class work, and just because you donšt come to class that day, then you will receive a zero for that quiz. There will be no exceptions to this policy. If you come in late or leave before the quiz, you have missed that quiz. There are no make up quizzes.

If you cannot come to class regularly, you should not take 80-100.

If we catch you cheating at any time in any way, you will fail the course. This policy will be discussed in detail at the start of the course.

The use of secondary sources is not required nor recommended. If you feel you need secondary sources, your TA may be able to provide recommendations. If you a secondary source, you must indicate that in a footnote. If you borrow from a secondary source, you must quote.

We give you both a midterm grade and a final grade. The midterm grade is a record of your progress‹do take it seriously.

Midterm grade = average of unannounced quizzes up to that date

If you turn in a paper late, you must personally hand it to either your TA or to a secretary in the philosophy department, asking her to date and initial it. Office hours normally are Monday to Friday, 9-5. No credit is given for late papers left in mailboxes or under office doors.

The grades on all late papers are lowered, 1/4 grade per school day Monday-Friday. There will be no exceptions to this policy except for verified medical excuses or family emergencies.

Your TA is responsible for your grade. Please see him or her if you have questions. It the problem cannot be resolved, please see me.

The schedule attempts to not require graded assignments on any religious holidays. If I have made any errors, please inform me. This class meets according to the university schedule.

Normally the class meetings are devoted to lectures. On some occasions, I will devote part of the class to providing detailed practical information about the paper assignments and the exams.

Course Schedule

Wednesday January 17

• Introduction.
• Distribution of Syllabus.
• Explanation of Course Plan

Friday January 19.

• 1st Meeting with TA.
• Make sure that you are in the right section.

I. Descartes' Theory of Mind

Monday January 22

• What philosophy is: the theory of knowledge; ethics.
• The situation of philosophy in the 17th century.
• Background to the reading of Descartes

Wednesday January 24

• How to read philosophy.
• What is knowledge.
• How do we know that we know anything?

Friday. January 26.

• First paper Assignment Given out.

Monday January 29

• Descartes on the Nature of the Self.
• Why it exists.
• Why it always will exist

Wednesday January 31

• How to write a philosophy paper.
• We devote an entire class to presenting the process of developing, perfecting and polishing a paper.

Friday February 2

Monday 5 February.

• How is the soul connected with the body?
• Descartes' view of religion, physiology and physics

Wednesday 7 February

• The relation between the body and the soul.
• The problem of Other Minds.
• Descartes' view and other possible solutions to this problem.

Friday February 9

Monday 12 February

• The relation between the body and the soul.
• The problem of Other Minds.
• Descartes' view and other possible solutions to this problem.

II. Recent Perspectives on Descartes' Claims. Three issues: Consciousness, Personal Identity, Thought

Wednesday 14 February

• How can we describe consciousness and explain its importance?
• Materialist theories of the mind.

Friday 16 February

Monday 19 February, Wednesday 21 February

• The nature of personal identity.
• Could the Cartesian view of the self be completely wrong?

Friday 23 February.

First Paper Due in class.

Monday 26 February

• Descartes did not believe that a machine could think.
• Was he right?
• Behaviorism as a response to the problem of Other Minds.
• The Turing test.
• Is there a reliable way of distinguishing persons from computers?

Wednesday 28 February

One of the most important contributors to this field is a CMU Professor, Herbert Simon. His Sciences of the Artificial provides a broad perspective on these issues.

• Are human beings like computers.
• What can computers tell us about human intelligence.
• The concept of intentionality.

Friday 2 March.

Second Paper Assignment Given Out in class.

III. The Theory of Justice. The Nature of a Just Government

Monday 5 March

• The realization of freedom as the goal of government.
• Is this possible?
• Is it desirable?

Wednesday 7 March

• How would such a just government work in practice.
• Could there actually be a just government?
• Critical discussion of Rousseau's ideal

Friday 9 March.

Monday 12 March

• Television Direct Democracy, a realization of Rousseau's political ideals.
• Modern perspectives on Justice.
• Utilitarianism is one important alternative to the social contract theory.

Mid Term grades due 13 March

Wednesday 14 March

• The most famous modern social contract account, by John Rawls, offers a plausible reworking of Rousseau's essential claims.
• Rawls' rejection of Utilitarianism.

Friday 16 March

Monday 19 March

• Responses to Rawls.
• Much of the recent discussion of justice involves a debate about Rawls' claims.
• Handout of examples of Interpretation

IV. Interpretation. The meaning of history and morality

Wednesday 21 March

• What is interpretation? How do we interpret human actions?
• How do we interpret historical events.
• Discussion of handout examples.

Friday 23 March

March 26-30. Spring Break

Monday April 2

• How Nietzsche interprets morality.
• Skepticism about morality.
• What does the history of morality teach us about its foundations?

Wednesday April 4

• Nietzsche's interpretation of the Christian story of the origin of good and evil

Friday April 6.

Second Paper Due in class.

Monday April 9

• Skepticism about knowledge.
• If we only have perspectives on the world, do we really know anything?
• How Nietzsche reworks a traditional philosophical problem.

Arthur Danto, who has written about Nietzsche, offers a general account that develops with Descartes' framework. As time permits, we summarize that discussion briefly.

V. Feminism and Race.

• What can Philosophy contribute to the discussion of these questions?
• Can philosophers be socially active?
• Ought they to be?

Wednesday April 11

• What can philosophical argumentation tell about the rights of women?

Friday April 13

Monday April 16

• How is it possible to bring about moral change?
• Is Mill's 19th century argument still relevant in 2001?
• Feminism and art history.
• Mill's anticipation of recent debate.

Wednesday April 18

• Is it worthwhile trying to bring about moral change?
• Is it possible for a philosopher's arguments to do that?
• The Contemporary American Philosopher as Social Activist.
• Philosophy and the Politics of Race

Friday April 20.

No Class. Spring Carnival

Monday April 23

• Analyzing the argumentation of an African-American Philosopher Activist.
• How may we compare West to Rawls and Mill?
• How plausible are his claims?
• Blues- an African-American artform; its origin.
• We listen to several selections by Robert Johnson

VI. The Philosophy of Art

Wednesday April 25

• What is a work of art?
• How can art be interpreted?
• Art as representation; art as expression.
• The classical theories of aesthetics.

Friday April 27

Monday April 30

Recently Arthur Danto has given an important argument about the nature of art. If his theory is correct, all of the older accounts of art are mistaken. Dantošs analysis is linked into a larger philosophical system, which incorporates a perspective on Descartes.

Wednesday May 2

• Overview.
• What have we learned?
• How far have we advanced?
• What can philosophy tell us.

Friday May 4.

There is no final exam in this class. You may pick up your graded paper and exam in the philosophy department after grades are turned in, May 22. Or leave a self-addressed envelope with your TA, and we will mail it to you.