Philosophy 101

Readings

We will be working through approximately the first 7 chapters of Richard Feldman's 1999 text Reason and Argument. Chapter 1 of the text can be downloaded here.

It is important that everyone does all the assigned readings before lectures are given each week. You should try to come to lecture with a relatively good sense of what Feldman is saying in the assigned readings for the week. My lectures will be designed to clarify and explain the distinctions and techniques covered in the text. It should be clear from my lecture notes where we are in the readings.

From time to time, I will supplement the text with my own handouts. But, for the most part, we will work strictly within the framework set-up by Feldman.

Homeworks

Every other week, I will assign a homework which you will have two weeks to complete. Here is a schedule of those assignments (this will evolve as the semester unfolds -- so stay tuned). The homeworks are worth 40% of your final grade. No late homeworks will be accepted (except in very rare circumstances), but we will drop your lowest HW score. Here is a schedule of the HWs. Stay tuned — this will evolve as the semester unfolds.

• HW #1 (assigned 1/20/11, due 2/3/11). (1) p. 8: #4, (2) p. 14: #2, (3) p. 14: #4, (4) p. 20: #4, (5) p. 22: #5. See my solutions handout and my 2/8/11 lecture for discussion.
• HW #2 (assigned 2/3/11, due 2/17/11). (1) p. 33 #6, (2) p. 33 #7, (3) p. 52 #1, (4), p.49 #4.
• HW #3 (assigned 2/17/11, due 3/3/11). (1) p. 53 #8, (2) p. 53 #9, (3) p. 60 #2, (4) p. 60 #4, (5) p. 60 #5.
• HW #4 (assigned 3/10/11, due 3/24/11). (1) p. 72 #2, (2) p. 72 #4, (3) p. 83 #2, (4) p, 92–93 #1 (all 5 parts), (5) p, 93 #3d, (6) p, 93 #3e.
• HW #5 (assigned 3/24/11, due 4/7/11). (1) p. 134 #6, (2) p. 134 #7, (3) p. 143 #10, (4) p. 143 #11, (5) p. 143 #12, (6) p. 147 #1(a), (7) p. 148 #1(c).
• HW #6 (assigned 4/7/11, due 4/21/11). Click here for the final homework. Note: two extra-credit problems are given at the end of this last HW set.

Quizzes

Beginning on Feb. 10, we will have an in-class quiz (roughly) every other Thursday (when no homework is due). These quizzes will take around 25 minutes each. There will be 6 such quizzes throughout the semester. The quizzes are worth 25% of your final grade. There will be no make-up quizzes. But, we will drop your lowest quiz score. Here is a schedule of the quizzes (with the material they will cover). Basically, the quizzes will cover the material in lectures since the last quiz. Stay tuned — this will evolve as the semester unfolds.

• Quiz #1 (2/10/11). This quiz will cover the material from the first few weeks of lecture. See my 2/8/11 lecture for brief discussion.
• Quiz #2 (2/24/11). This quiz will cover the material from chapter 2 on rational belief — pages 33-48 of the text.
• Quiz #3 (3/10/11). This quiz covered material from chapter 3 and chapter 4 (22 T/F) questions.
• Quiz #4 (3/31/11). This quiz will be a re-do of quiz #3 (since I mistakenly gave that quiz prematurely).
• Quiz #5 (4/14/11). This quiz will involve 5 true/false questions from chapter 5, and three short argument reconstructions.
• Quiz #6 (4/28/11). This quiz will involve 2 short answer questions about reconstructing arguments, and one argument reconstruction problem.

Final Exam

Here is the take-home final. It is due on May 12, by 4pm. Please submit your take-home final using DropBox on our Sakai site. Look here for instructions.

Extra-Credit Problems

Here are five (5) extra-credit problems. These are due on May 12, by 4pm. Please submit your take-home final using DropBox on our Sakai site. Look here for instructions.