Kate Rogers          PHIL 101         Great Western Philosophers      Distance Learning/Online
krogers@udel.edu
831-8480

Greetings Online Students!  A few words from your professor before you get going.  Please read the information below on the text and requirements very carefully.  The crucial thing in succeeding in this course is paying close attention to the lectures and taking good notes on them.   You will not be able to pass the course simply by memorizing the outline of information on the slides.  You will need to understand the issues and for that you’ll need to listen and take good notes.  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail or call or, if you’re in town, stop by my office, 204 in the main Philosophy Department building, 24 Kent Way.  Regarding e-mail, the e-mail I check regularly is krogers@udel.edu.  Please include PHIL 101 in the subject so I don’t accidentally delete you as junk!

Text: Philosophy: History and Readings Eighth Edition, Samuel Enoch Stumpf and James Fieser, eds. Again, note that we are using the Eighth edition.

The notes from which I lecture are on my home page, http://www.udel.edu/rogers.  They are a sketchy outline of material presented in lectures and will by no stretch of the imagination substitute for good notes taken on your own.  However they can be useful in organizing your notes and in making sure that you got everything in the right order. These notes change from semester to semester as I teach my regular classroom version of the course, so be alert.  If you find discrepancies between the online lectures and the notes on my page, it is the lectures, following this syllabus, for which you are responsible.  If you’re not sure what you need to know, feel free to get in touch.

Do the readings before class.  Note that the book is divided into a primary section about the philosophers under discussion, and a secondary section of material by the philosophers.  The page numbers start over at the beginning of the second section.

Requirements: Four multiple choice tests, one after each section, to be weighted equally in figuring final grade.  93-100=A, 90-92=A-, 87-89=B+, 83-86=B, 80-82=B-, 77-79=C+, 73-76=C, 70-72=C-, 67-69=D+, 63-66=D, 55-62=D-, below 55 = F.   Students taking the tests on the computer, either in Newark or at a distance, should be able to check for grades immediately upon submission of the test.  Students taking tests on paper must wait until tests have made their way through snail mail to me so that I can grade them and post your score on Sakai.  If you don’t find a score when and where you think you should, let me know.  Tests are not returnable, but I will be happy to respond to any questions you have.  If you want to look over your test it can be arranged.
 
 
 

TESTING INFORMATION: You will be taking your tests either at the testing center, if you are local to Newark, or with a proctor. You should receive testing information from the Online office in with your course materials. Please refer to this for dates and times.  I do not have anything to do with the mechanics of the testing, so if there is a problem with pulling up your test on the computer, or that sort of thing, you will need to get in touch with the Online office. If you have to take a makeup, you will need my permission, and you will have to make arrangements with the online office and, if you are testing with a proctor, with your proctor.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 I. ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

Class #

1 Introduction

2 The Pre-Socratics, pp.3-25, 11-16 (from Fragments) (The second set of pages is from the second part of the book.)

3 The Pre-Socratics cond.

4 Socrates pp.26-40, pp.32-37 (from the Apology). (Feel free to read the rest if you want!)

5 Plato, pp. 41-67, pp. 60-69 (from the Republic).

6 Aristotle, pp.68-89. (You can skip the part on art.), 70-75 (from Physics, Metaphysics, and On the Soul) (Note that the understanding of Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover is different in the lecture than in your text book. For test purposes go with the lecture.)

7 Aristotle continued,  pp.75-89 (from  Nichomachean Ethics and Politics).

 TEST #1 (Each Test covers the material which is listed in the section above it. After Test #1, that means what’s listed since the previous test.)
 
 

 II. MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
 

8 Introduction to God (no readings)

9 St. Augustine, pp.114-129

10 Augustine continued. pp. 114-119 (from On the Trinity, etc.)

11 St. Thomas Aquinas, pp. 149-168, pp.124-127 (from Summa Theologiae. Note that “Objections” are the views with which Aquinas will DISAGREE!).

12 Aquinas continued, pp.129-133(from Summa Theologiae).

 TEST #2 (Covers lectures 8-12)
 
 
 

 III. MODERN PHILOSOPHY
 

13 Descartes, pp.204-215, pp. 150-163 (from Meditations and The Passions of the Soul).

14 Locke's epistemology, pp.229-236, 167-173 (from Essay Concerning Human Understanding).

15 Berkeley, pp.239-244 and pp.174-183 (from Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous).

16 Hobbes and Locke on government, pp.199-203, 236-239.

17 Hume, pp.244-253, pp.183-196 (from Treatise of Human Nature) and 210-217 (from Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion).

18 Kant, pp.271-284.

19 Kant, pp.284-290 (skip the part on art), pp.252-258 (from Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals).
 

 TEST #3 (Covers Lectures 13-19).
 
 

IV. NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY
 

20 Mill, pp.327-333, pp.281-291 (from On Liberty and Utilitarianism).

21 Marx, pp.346-360, pp.291-298 (from The Communist Manifesto).

22 Analytic Philosophy (Logical Positivism and The Verification Principle), pp. 398-399, 402-409.

23 Sartre, pp. 431-439, pp.339-345 (from Existentialism is a Humanism).
 

TEST #4 (Covers lectures 20-23).