The Waking Mind:
A Philosophy Elective
The Syllabus and Basic Curriculum Outline
Welcome to Philosophy!
A traditional philosophical course of study in Western Philosophy begins with reason and logic and progresses to mastering the unique beast that is the philosophical paper. It also spans the seemingly endless branches of Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Political Theory, Economic Theory, and Social Theory. Given that our time together is limited, both on a daily basis and for the rest of the year (it is, after all, just a one-semester course), you can expect to be exposed to a variety of methods of philosophical inquiry and theory. We cannot cover everything, so we will not even try.
It has always been my attitude that philosophy needs to be pragmatic. Sure, name dropping philosophers and broad-stroking their theories will impress (or possibly annoy) people at cocktail parties. But that is not what philosophy is about. As the title of this course suggests, it is about “awakening” your mind to philosophical wonder and exploration. Some of the best moments of your life might be sitting, late at night, with a friend in a roadside diner, drinking coffee and pontificating the meaning of life. Or on a rooftop, staring into a bright blue sky, trying to understand human nature or the nature of the cosmos. The essence of philosophy is not the theory that may result through inquiry and study, but the questioning that gets you there.
In short, this course is meant primarily to stimulate thinking. To be a student of philosophy is to engage in the idea of philosophy and improve your reasoning skills. By choosing to participate in this course, you agree to:
-participate in class discussion and activities
-respect your classmates and the philosophical process
-read and annotate assigned readings
-complete assigned reflections on google classroom
Class will be boring and painful without lively, thoughtful discussions. Lively, thoughtful discussions cannot happen if you are not prepared for class. Ideas discussed in class lose their meaning without independent reflection. Independent reflection cannot develop into wisdom and skill without application and structured writing.
Getting Started
You will receive a lot of handouts and will need a designated place to keep them organized. My suggestion:
- one 1 1/2” binder
- (always) a pen, a pencil, and 4 different color highlighters
Keep all work for this class in its own binder.
Keep all work for each unit of study together, date everything, and place in order by date.
Expectations and Grades
Grades are calculated differently in this class. Instead of building up to a grade, you work to keep the grade you start off with—an A. There is a philosophical reasoning behind this alternative grading system.
We are all philosophers to start.
It is entirely up to you to determine how focused on and committed to developing an examined life you want to be.
Enrolling in this class means you want to develop a philosophical awareness of the world and your place in it.
Therefore, your grade should reflect your focus and your commitment, in addition to your understanding.
In short, your grade will reflect your progress in the process of strengthening your philosophical abilities. Your grade is calculated each quarter by the following:
- Participation:
You start off with 100 points for participation for the quarter.
The trick is to notlosepoints.
Show up, be attentive and prepared, engage in discussion, respect your peers = keep your points.
Failure to do any of the above will result in loss of daily participation points.
You will get participation cards during class. When you have contributed productively to the discussion, fill out your card and toss it into the participation bucket. No contribution, no card.
Participation cannot be made up.
Legal absences will not be penalized.
- Reading Preparation:
You start off with 100 points for completing your reading assignments.
The trick is to notlose points.
Read, highlight and annotate the assigned reading = keep your points.
Failure to do this will result in loss of reading preparation points.
I will walk around and spot-check your work.
Reading preparation cannot be made up.
- Written Reflections:
You start off with 100 points for writing thoughtful, fully developed reflection assignments.
The trick is to notlose points.
Periodically, questions will be posted on Google Classroom.
Post thoughtful, fully developed reflections = keep your points.
Posting brief, underdeveloped answers that do not reflect what we talked about in class or do not demonstrate deep philosophical inquiry will result in loss of points.
**NOTE** You get 4 “mercy” cards a quarter. They can be used if you are unprepared for class or simply want to
opt out of the conversation. They cannot be used for unexcused absences or disrespecting your peers. Use them wisely. Consider unused mercy cards “extra credit.” You can hand them in at the end of the marking period.
- Unit Assessments:
Assessments are creative critical thinking projects.
You start off with 100 points a project.
The trick is to not lose points.
Apply the philosophical process = keep your points.
Apply philosophical theories = keep your points.
Think outside the box = keep your points.
Take the project seriously and use class time productively = keep points.
Failure to do any of the above will result in loss of points on your assessment.
**NOTE** Seniors:Seniors will take a final exam before departing for Senior Options. It will be multiple choice,
matching, and short answers. Study guide will be given. It will be cumulative.
(Tentative) Curriculum Outline
Unit 1: Who are you and why are you here? (IDENTITY, FREE WILL)
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” –Socrates
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” –Socrates
Unit Goal: establish your identity as a philosopher.
Possible Essential Readings:
Plato:Allegory of the Cave
Plato: Euthyphro
William Irwin: Computers, Caves, and Oracles: Neo and Socrates
Hume: Of Personal Identity
Bertrand Russell: On Denoting
Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Contemporary Application: Do Computers Think?
Émile Durkheim: Social Consciousness
Skills Development:
Socratic Method
Logical fallacies: fallacies that are on the attack; fallacies that are garbled cause & effect
Pop Philosophy:
MOVIE: The Matrix
MOVIE: The Matrix Revisited
Episode of Through the Wormhole: Mysterious of the Subconscious
Episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Q Who?"
Unit 2: Why are you here and where are you going? (NATURE OF REALITY)
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” -Philip K. Dick
Unit Goal: establish an awareness of your philosophical environment
Possible Essential Readings:
Hillary Putnam:Brain in A Vat
David Mitsuo Nixon:The Matrix Possibility
Plato’s Forms
Carolyn Korsmeyer: Seeing, Believing, Touching, Truth
Skills Development:
Logical fallacies: fallacies that manipulate content
Pop Philosophy:
MOVIE: Source Code
DOCUMENTARY MOVIE: What is reality?
Unit 3: How will you get there? (EPISTEMOLOGY, EMPIRICISM AND RATIONALISM)
“Why should things be easy to understand?” -Thomas Pynchon
Unit Goal: establish an awareness of the means by which we acquire knowledge and establish the self
Possible Essential Readings:
René Magritte’s Words and Images (C’est nes pas un pipe: Art as Expression or Truth)
René Descartes: Meditation I
René Descartes: Meditation II
Skills Development:
Logical fallacies: fallacies that are faulty deduction
Pop Philosophy:
MOVIE SHORT: The Voorman Problem
MOVIE: Moon
Unit 4: How will you know if it is right or wrong? (MORALITY AND ETHICS)
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” –Shakespeare
Unit Goal: establish your principles on how to live the good life
Possible Essential Readings:
H.W. Lewis: Why Flip a Coin: The Art and Science of Good Decisions
Bertrand Russell: The Elements of Ethics, IV. Determinism and Morals
William James: The Will to Believe
H Baron Holbarch: The System of Nature
Skills Development:
Logical fallacies: fallacies that appeal to the mind; fallacies that appeal to emotion
Pop Philosophy:
Episode of Through the Wormhole: Did We Invent God?
Episode of Through the Wormhole: Can We Eliminate Evil?