Philosophy Course: Evaluation and Assessment - Prof. Rychter, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga Philosophy Course: Evaluation and Assessment - Prof. Rychter y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! Philosophical thought in English-speaking countries Groups A and B, academic year 2014-2015 Syllabus Prof. Pablo Rychter - pablo.rychter@uv.es Prof. Claudia Compte – claudia.compte@uv.es This document completes the information about the course that you will find in the General Teaching Guide of the course. The present syllabus concerns the groups A and B of the academic year 2014-15. 1. Summary This course belongs to the module Formacio General Humanistica of the English Studies program. In this course, you will be introduced to some major philosophical problems that have been object of reflection in the English-speaking countries at different historical periods. You will learn about the major answers that these problems were given, and will be encouraged to develop your own thinking about the subjects. 2. Learning outcomes In addition to acquiring the competences specified in the General Teaching Guide of the course, by the end of the course you are expected to: -Have acquired an idea of what philosophy is and how it may be relevant and useful for the professions that you will pursue after graduation. -Understand some central concepts and issues in the philosophical traditions of the English- speaking countries. -Be able to apply those concepts and issues to concrete situations that are present in your own social context. -Be able to develop your own arguments and views about the topics studied. -Have acquired the ability to identify, reconstruct and evaluate the central argument in a philosophical text. -Have improved your mastery of English. 3. Description of contents We will address five topics. Prof. Rychter will be mostly in charge of topics 1, 2, 3 and 5. Prof. Compte will be mostly in charge of topic 4. 1. Language and thought. What is knowledge? What can we know? Arguments for skepticism. 1 The nature of linguistic meaning. Theories of reference. 2. Personal identity. What is a person? How can a person change so much through time and still be the same person? What kind of changes can a person survive? Locke's theory of personal identity and contemporary views. 3. Freedom and determinism. Am I free to choose what I will have for dinner tomorrow? How is freedom compatible with determinism? The different arguments for determinism. The compatibilist solution. 4. Cultural conflicts. How should we deal with ethical confrontations where people involved do not share the same value system? Is the current philosophical understanding of this kind of situations of any help? Two positions: universalism and relativism. 5. Feminism: issues and arguments. Gender roles. Sexual harassment. Abortion. Feminine appearance. Language change. Implicit bias. 4. Methodology 1. Classes: we will have two weekly sessions, on Mondays and Thursdays. In general, Monday classes will be mostly expository, although student participation is expected and highly encouraged. On Thursdays students are expected to assume a much more active role, either in student presentations or discussion sessions (more on these two activities below). 2. Exams: we hope there will not be any. If you work fine during the course and do the tasks described below, you will not need to take any exam. But if you are fond of exams, you will still be able to take one (more on this below). 3. Short essays: during the course, you are expected to write three short essays. These essays will b e no longer than 650 words (about one page and a half) and will be submitted through Aula Virtual, following very precise guidelines that we will provide in advance. One of these three essays will be on topic 4, and the other two will be on topics 1, 2 or 3 (you will choose two between these three options). There will be vey strict deadlines for submission of these assignments, after which they will not be accepted. We recommend not to wait until the last minute to upload your essay: bear in mind that technical problems may always arise. We will mark these short essays using the table that you can find as appendix 3 of this document. It is essential that you understand the feedback that we will provide you with this table, and that you apply it to the following essays. Positive progress on the basis of the feedback provided will be taken into account for your final mark. 4. Final short assignment: at the end of the course, you are expected to write a last short assignment, also of no more than 650 words. In this final short assignment you will be asked to summarily explain what you have learnt from the course and how this may be useful for your future professional endeavors. Precise guidelines for this task will be provided in advance. The deadline for submitting this assignment will be June 5th. 5. Student presentations: at some point during the course you are expected to do, together with two or three classmates, a short presentation (about 20 minutes long) for the rest of the class. These presentations will take place on Thursdays and will be connected to topic 5. Precise guidelines will be provided in advance. After the presentation, the rest of the class (also working in groups of three people) will answer a short query about the presentation you made. In the first two weeks of the course we will close a schedule for these presentations. Please have a look at appendix 6. 2 MO 2/3 LECTURE ON TOPIC II -PERSONAL IDENTITY TH 5/3 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G4, G5, G6, G28, G29, G30 MO 9/3 LECTURE ON TOPIC II -PERSONAL IDENTITY TH 12/3 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G7, G8, G9, G31, G32, G33 MO 16/3 NO CLASS - FALLAS ------ TH 19/3 NO CLASS - FALLAS ------ MO 23/3 LECTURE ON TOPIC II HAND IN SHORT ESSAY 2 -PERRY ON PERSONAL IDENTITY TH 26/3 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G10, G11, G12, G34, G35, G36 MO 30/3 LECTURE ON TOPIC III -FREE WILL TH 2/4 NO CLASS - EASTERN ------ MO 6/4 NO CLASS - EASTERN ------ TH 9/4 NO CLASS - EASTERN ------ MO 13/4 NO CLASS - EASTERN ------ TH 16/4 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G13, G14, G15, G22, G37, G38 MO 20/4 LECTURE ON TOPIC III -FREE WILL TH 23/4 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G16, G17, G18, G23, G39, G40 MO 27/4 LECTURE ON TOPIC III HAND IN SHORT ESSAY 3 -FRANKFURT ON FREE WILL AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TH 30/4 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON TOPIC V -GROUPS G19, G20, G21, G24, G41, G42 MO 4/5 LECTURE ON TOPIC IV BERLIN: THE PURSUIT OF THE IDEAL TH 7/5 -DISCUSSION SESSION ON TOPIC IV BERLIN: THE PURSUIT OF THE IDEAL MO 11/5 LECTURE ON TOPIC IV WILLIAMS ON RELATIVISM TH 14/5 -DISCUSSION SESSION ON TOPIC IV WILLIAMS ON RELATIVISM MO 18/5 LECTURE ON TOPIC IV HAND IN SHORT ESSAY 4 NUSSBAUM ON UNIVERSAL VIRTUES TH 21/5 -DISCUSSION SESSION ON TOPIC IV NUSSBAUM ON UNIVERSAL VIRTUES 5 8. Mandatory Readings Topic 1 1. Bratman, M. & Perry, J. “On the Study of Philosophy”. Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, 3a edició, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999 2. Jackson, Frank, “Epiphenomenal qualia”. Philosophical Quarterly 32 (1982): 127-136. 3. Descartes, R. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1. Multiple editions available. 4. Putnam, Hilary “Brains in a Vat” in Reason, Truth and History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981, pp. 1–21. Topic 2 1. Locke, J. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, (ed.) by P. Nidditch, Oxford UP, 1975. Book II, ch. 27. 2. Perry, J. A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Hackett Pub Co, 1978. Topic 3 1. Theodore Sider & Earl Conee (2005). Riddles of Existence: A Guided Tour of Metaphysics. Oxford. Cap. 6. 2. Frankfurt, Harry. “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility,” Journal of Philosophy, 66: 829-39, 1969. Topic 4 1. Berlin, I.; "The Pursuit of the Ideal", in The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas, Henry Hardy (ed.), London: John Murray Publishers Ltd, 1990, pp. 1-19 2. Williams, B.; “The Truth in Relativism”, in Moral Luck, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, pp. 132-143 3. Nussbaum, M.; “Non-relative Virtues: an Aristotelian Approach” in Ethical Theory: An Anthology, Russ Shafer-Landau (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007, pp. 685-700 Topic 5 1. Saul, Jennifer M. Feminism: Issues & Arguments, Oxford UP, 2003. General resources 1. Stanford: http://plato.stanford.edu/ 6 Appendix 1: Example of instructions for short essays Exercise: Reconstruct and assess the central argument of the author X in the paper Y. If you find that the paper contains more than one argument, focus on the one that you take to be the central one. Other instructions: − The essay should be written in English. − Maximum length: 650 words. Please write the word-counter result in the heading of your essay. − Deadline for submission: Monday X before noon. Please submit your essay through Aula Virtual as an answer to the corresponding task. The application will not allow submissions after the deadline. − The essay should be headed by the following information: your name, the word-counter result, and the following phrase: ‘Philosophical thought in the English speaking countries, academic year 2014-15’. − Please re-read and follow the Guidelines for writing short essays available in Aula Virtual. −− Appendix 2: Example of instructions for presentations Exercise: Working together with your group-mates, prepare a presentation directed to reconstruct and assess the central argument of text that was assigned to your group. If you find that the text contains more than one argument, focus on the one that you take to be the central one. Other instructions: − Your presentation should be in English. – Prepare a draft of your presentation (max. 650 words), and a short report of your work as as group (max. 400 words). Follow the Guidelines for preparing presentations available in Aula Virtual. − Submit your draft and report 24hs before your presentation through Aula Virtual. − Your draft and report should be headed by the names of the group members, and the following phrase: ‘Philosophical thought in the English speaking countries, academic year 2014-15’. − Please re-read and follow the Guidelines for preparing presentations available in Aula Virtual. −− Appendix 5: The meaning of grades 1-2: your essay does not meet the lowest expectations and/or does not offer evidence of a serious work. 3-4: your essay offers evidence of a serious work, but does not meet our expectations. The essay does not do what the exercise requires to do, perhaps as a result of a poor understanding of the exercise instructions, or of an ineffective studying technique. 5-6: your essay meets our expectations. Perhaps it does not do all that is required to do, but there is a clear attempt in the right direction. However, it can be improved in many or almost every respect. 7-8: your essay meets our expectations, does what it is supposed to do, and out-stands in some respects. 9: your essay is very good and out-stands in many respects, although it could be improved in some others. 10: your essay meets all our expectations. There may be space for improvement, but the essay is good enough to deserve the highest grade. − In deciding your final grade, we will take into account your ability to improve on the basis of our feedback. Do not worry too much if the first grades you get are not so good. Lower grades at the beginning are compatible with getting the highest final grade. 10 Appendix 6: Arrangements for presentations In order to arrange for the short presentations on Thursdays, we have to divide the class in groups of three (or in some cases four) people each, assign a text to present to each group, and schedule a day for the presentation. This is a difficult business in such a large class as yours, so we beg you patience and ask for your collaboration. A special effort is requested from some students enrolled in the morning course, who will be asked to come one Thursday in the afternoon hours (3 to 5 pm) to make their presentations there. We very much appreciate your collaboration on this, and take it into account. We intend to proceed as follows: -In the evening of Monday 2 (first day of class) we will publish an initial proposal in Aula Virtual. In this proposal, you will find yourself in a randomly created group of three or four people. The groups will be identified by the acronyms G1, G2, G3, etc.... Each group will be assigned a text and a date to make their presentation. -From the evening of February 2 until midnight February 9 (i.e, during the first week of the course), we will consider all your petitions for changes to the initial the proposal. The following two types of change to the initial proposal are possible: - Individual member exchange between groups: a member of a group may switch her place with a member of another group if the two persons agree with it. For instance, if in the initial proposal Tom is in group G1 and Sally is in group G6, Tom and Sally may change their places in their respective groups: Sally may become a member of G1 and Tom a member of G6. Of course, Sally and Tom should mutually agree on this. - Switching dates between groups: a group as a whole may switch the date of presentation with another group, if all six people involved agree on it. For instance, in the initial proposal Sally, Molly and Dolly are the members of group G1 and thus have their presentation scheduled for Feb. 26, whereas Tom, Tim and Ted are the members of group G6 and thus have their presentation scheduled for April 23. In that case, if the six of them agree with it, Sally, Molly and Dolly may become members of G6 (and thus make their presentation on April 23) and Tom, Tim and Ted may become members of G1 (and thus make their presentation on Feb. 26). -If you want to suggest one of these changes, you should first agree on it with the classmates that would be affected by the change. If everyone concerned agrees with the proposed change, the second step is letting us know before midnight of Feb 9. For this, please proceed as follows: -Just one of the people concerned should write an e-mail to pablo.rychter@uv.es explaining the proposed change. -Please include in the cc field the addresses of the all the other people involved in the proposed change. -Before asking for a change consider this: it is generally a good idea that your group-mates are not also your best friends in class. Experience shows that groups randomly created work better than groups created on the basis of friendship and personal affinity. -After Feb 9 and during the second week of the course, we will publish the final distribution that results from these changes. After that, no changes will be allowed, unless there are very strong and justified reasons for that. -Bear in mind that the initial schedule of the course may (and surely will) be modified as we go. As a result of this sort of modifications, your presentation may end up being at a later date than scheduled in the final distribution. -Bear also in mind that it is not necessary that all members of the group talk or even be present the day of the presentation. What matter is that everyone contributes their share to the final result. 11