Los Angeles Valley College, Fall 2007 K.L. Ross, DrKelley@AOL.com
Philosophy 1 & 1H, Introduction to Philosophy Office: Campus Center 224
MW 8:00-9:25 (8174 & H 8175), CC 205 Phone: (818) 947-2467
https://www.friesian.com/valley/
SYLLABUS
TEXTS: Five Dialogues, by Plato
The Bhagavad Gita, Penguin Edition
The Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu, Penguin Edition
Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel
Handouts for this class can be purchased in booklets at the
Campus Bookstore, or they can be examined and downloaded from the
World Wide Web, with some web links and extra graphics, at:
https://www.friesian.com/valley/#1
CONTENTS: This course is intended to familiarize students with the origins
and some of the basic perspectives and continuing issues and questions
found in Western philosophy and in the philosophical traditions of
India and China. Emphasis is placed on how each of these traditions is
an example of philosophy and how each deals with fundamental questions
of being and value. Background lectures will be followed by the close
examination of selected texts.
Unit 1: Pre-Philosophic thought; the beginning of Greek philosophy--the
Presocratics: tentative quiz October 10
Unit 2: Greek philosophy--Socrates and Plato: tentative midterm
November 14
Unit 3: The transition from ancient to modern philosophy, and the origin
of modern science and philosophy, focusing on René Descartes.
The material of this unit will be covered by handouts and tested
on the final
Unit 4: Indian Philosophy, focusing on the Bhagavad Gita:
tentative quiz December 5
Unit 5: Chinese philosophy and Zen Buddhism, focusing on the Tao Te
Ching and Zen in the Art of Archery.
Final: Wednesday, December 19, 8 AM
ATTENDANCE: This is primarily a lecture class: tardiness and
absences thus will result in missing material that cannot be found in
the texts or in other sources. The texts are primary sources which
are not self-explanatory; and you will not find what I say in
encyclopaedia articles or in most other books. Believe me, you will
not do well in the class unless you are present for the lectures
or arrange to obtain lecture notes, and it is your responsibility
to arrange with others to obtain the materials for classes that you
miss. You may tape record lectures.
After the third week attendance is no longer taken for each class
meeting. However, attendance will be taken occasionally and randomly,
and students with more than a week of absences may be excluded for
non-attendance. Do not report absences to me. It is your own
responsibility to drop the class if you wish to do so (final drop date:
November 25th). Anyone on the roster at the end of the semester
who has not been present for the tests will receive an F. It is your
responsibility to obtain from other students any material or assignments
you miss when absent. If you miss any examinations, including the due
date for take home exams, and you return within the period when a makeup
is allowed, you must be prepared to take the test, or hand in any
materials, promptly at the beginning of the class on the day you return.
Holidays this semester are Veteran's Day, November 12; and Thanksgiving
November 22-23. The last day of classes is December 13.
Note well: Anyone who persistently disrupts my class by talking,
arriving late, repeatedly leaving & returning, or through any other
distracting or inconsiderate behavior may be instructed to leave the
class. If you do not want to be here, don't come in the first place.
OFFICE HOURS: My office hours are MW 7:30-8:00 & 11:10-11:45 AM,
TuWTh 6:30-6:45 PM, and by appointment in CC 224. The phone number is
(818) 947-2467. This is a direct line, and no one else will answer
the phone. You should call during office hours. If you call at
other times, you can leave messages on voicemail. You do not
need to report absences, or your reasons for them, by voicemail.
Do not leave messages for me to call you, without the times you can
be reached at your number. I will not return calls if all you want
is to be brought up to date for classes you have missed. Just return
to class. Any inquiries by e-mail can be answered within a couple
of days: DrKelley@AOL.com. Identify the class in the subject line
of the e-mail.
TESTS: There will be one midterm exam, two quizzes, and a final. The
major exams will include multiple choice, short answer identifications,
and essay questions. The two quizzes will be all multiple choice. The
final will be comprehensive. The Honors class will also have a term
paper required--see separate handout. Make-up tests and quizzes will
only be given until the exams are handed back. If you miss a test, you
must take the make-up the day that you return. Do not ask to make up a
test weeks after it has been given. If you miss the final and cannot
take it at another time I have scheduled, you cannot make it up during
the current semester and will be credited with an F unless you request
an Incomplete--which you may do simply by leaving a message for me
before I turn in the grades.
Point values are assigned to grades as follows: F=0, D=3, C=6, B=9,
& A=12. Minuses subtract one point, and pluses add one. A C+ is thus
worth 7. The midterm grade will be multiplied by two and the grade of
the final exam by four for the course grade = {[(Quiz I) + (Quiz II) +
2x(Midterm) + 4x(Final)]/8}. Missed tests or quizzes will count as F's
unless made up. For the purpose of the following rule, the grades of
the two quizzes will be combined: If that grade or the Midterm grade
are more than one letter grade lower than the other, or than the Final,
they will be replaced with the highest grade with the penalty of one
letter grade. For instance, an A+ (13) on the final means that a
Midterm grade, or a combined quiz grade, lower than a B+ (10) is
replaced with a B+. If the course grade is as much as 10 (B+),
without rounding, an A will be awarded. If a 7 (C+), a B; a 4 (D+),
a C; and a 1 (F+), a D.
In all the work you do in my classes, you are not expected to agree
with me on any issue; but you are expected to know what has been
presented in the course, in the lectures, books, and handouts (unless I
instruct you otherwise), and to present reasons or arguments for any
views you wish to advocate. Outside materials or opinions are welcome
so long as they are not a substitute for awareness or discussion of the
materials of the course. I must warn students from India especially,
that although you may feel that you know all about the The Bhagavad
Gita from a religious point of view, it is possible that you do not
know all about Indian philosophy and the philosophical origin or
analysis of the Gita. That is what you are responsible for in this
course. This is not a class in religion or the history of religion,
despite some overlap in different areas.
You are expected to do your own work, so do not prepare common essays
with your study partners. You must state things in your own words and
in your own way. On a test, if I read an essay that I have already
read, I will grade it down, regardless of how the original essay may be
have been graded. Also, while you may quote from the handouts in your
essays, it is not acceptable to write an essay that simply reproduces
the handouts or uses long passages without quotation marks or
attribution. I reserve the right to exclude or fail anyone who turns
in work that they have not done themselves, who plagiarizes, or who
cheats in any other way.
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