Bellevue College

(Previously Bellevue Community College)

Syllabus

Phil&101 (Previously Phil 100): Introduction to Philosophy, Spring 2010

Room: L211

Class: MW 3:00p to 5:10p

Office Hours: 12:30p to 1:30p Tuesday and by appointment in C207A

Instructor: David Long

Email: david.long@bellevuecollege.edu Phone: 425-564-4129

Requirements:

You will need to read all of the assigned material.

You will need to be prepared to discuss material.

50% of your grade will come from two relatively short papers.

30%.of your grade will come from one essay test (the final).

20% of your grade will come from class participation, class exercises and unannounced quizzes.

Goals:

The basic goal of this course will be to familiarize students with philosophical problems. These philosophical problems will touch on many things students already think they understand and believe. The hope is that this course will inspire students to think more deeply about the nature of existence. We will carefully examine five of Plato’s dialogues and Descartes’ Meditations. In addition, we will discuss various traditional philosophical problems. We will examine the problem of evil, questions concerning free will, arguments for the existence of God, questions about the fundamental nature of reality, and the limits of human knowledge. The final result is that this class will develop basic philosophic acumen. Also, it will build stronger writing, thinking, and communication skills.

Books:

Plato. Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo. Translated by G.M.A. Grube.

Rene Descartes. Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by Donald A. Cress.

Students with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the Director of DRC (Disability Resource Center)(room B132-G; 425-564-2498 or TTY 425-564-4110) to establish their eligibility for accommodation. The DRC office will provide each eligible student with an accommodation letter. Students who require accommodation in class should review the DRC accommodation letter with the instructor during the first week of the quarter.

Grading Policy:

Make-up tests will only be given with a verified and legitimate excuse. Papers will receive a 0.5 GPA deduction for each day that they are late. Do not email me your paper. You must hand in a hard copy of your paper in class. Hardship Withdrawals and Incompletes are only given for appropriate reasons which do not include maintaining your GPA. Do not plagiarize!

Course Schedule:

Date	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
April 5^th to April 9^th	Ideas & Thoughts		Relativism of the Truth
April 12^th to April 16^th	Moral Relativism		Moral Relativism
April 19^th to April 23^rd	Presocratics		Plato
April 26^th to April 30^th	Plato		Plato
May 3^rd to May 7^th	Plato		Plato
May 10^th to May 14^th	Plato (1^st Paper due)		Plato
May 17^th to May 21^st	Aristotle		Metaphysics
May 24^th to May 28^th	Descartes		Descartes
May 31^st to June 4^th	x		Descartes
June 7^th to June 11^th	Descartes (2^ndPaper due)		Descartes
June 14^th to June 18^th	Problem of Evil		Final	X	X

This course schedule is meant to give you a rough idea of how the quarter will go. The dates may change depending on how much time is needed to properly cover material.

Department Website: http://bellevuecollege.edu/philosophy/default.htm

Final: Wednesday, 6/16, 1:30-3:20 pm