Los Angeles Valley College, Fall 2005 K.L. Ross, DrKelley at AOL.com
Philosophy 14, Modern Philosophy Office: Campus Center 224
MW 9:40-11:05 AM (0523), CC 207 Phone: (818) 947-2467
http://www.friesian.org/valley/
SYLLABUS
TEXTS:
Classics of Western Philosophy, Steven M. Cahn
The World as Will and Representation, Volume I, Arthur Schopenhauer
The Fatal Conceit, F.A. Hayek (recommended)
Handouts for this class, with some web links and extra graphics,
are on the World Wide Web at: http://www.friesian.org/valley/
CONTENTS: The course is intended as a survey of modern Western
philosophy, with emphasis on background, fundamental
themes, and selected topics.
Unit 1: a) the first modern philosophers, the Continental
Rationalists--Descartes, Spinoza, & Leibniz.
b) the theory of scientific method--Francis Bacon & Karl
Popper. Background handouts: the beginnings of modern
science--Copernicus and Galileo. Tentative midterm
October 10
Unit 2: a) value, meaning, understanding, and interpretation in
recent philosophy: Existentialism and deconstruction-
-Sartre, Camus, Heidegger, & Richard Rorty.
b) the British Empiricists, the "Scottish Enlightenment,"
Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume; the synthesis of Rationalism
and Empiricism--Immanuel Kant. Tentative midterm
November 14
Unit 3: a) the Idealist reaction to Kant and its consequences--
Hegel, Marx, Lenin, Stalin, & the Fall of Communism.
Liberal Economics: Adam Smith, J.S. Mill, & F.A. Hayek
b) philosophy and the unconscious--Schopenhauer, Nietzsche,
Freud, and Jung. Final: Monday, December 19,
9:30 AM, CC 207.
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 talk about 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.
Attendance will be taken for each class meeting. Excessive absences
(more than 3 weeks) may subject you to exclusion or reduction in grade.
It is your own responsibility to drop the class if you wish to do so
(final drop date: November 23rd). You will not be penalized if absent
for religious, work-related, or serious personal reasons, but I will
exclude people if in my judgment their absences are so numerous as to
preclude a proper understanding of the course.
Holidays this semester are Labor Day, September 5; Veteran's Day,
November 11; and Thanksgiving, November 24-25. The last day of
classes is Thursday, December 15th.
Note well: Anyone who persistently disrupts my class by talking,
arriving late, leaving early, 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 MWF 7:30-8:00 & 11:10-11:45 AM, TuTh
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. Do not 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. Any inquiries by e-mail can be answered within a
couple of days: DrKelley at AOL.com. Identify the class in the subject
line of the e-mail.
TESTS: There will be two midterm exams and a final. The exams will
include multiple choice, short answer identifications, and essay
questions. The final exam will be comprehensive. Make-up tests
will not given after the original tests are handed back (after
about a week). If you miss a test, you must take the make-up
the day that you return. Do not ask me for a make-up tests weeks
later. 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 grade on the final exam will be multiplied by two
(Midterm I + Midterm II = Final). The lowest midterm grade (or an F
for a missed midterm) will be dropped if the grade is improved
by the substitution of the grade of the other midterm or of the final
with the penalty of one letter grade (sub-tracting 3
points). For instance, an A+ (13) on the final means that a
midterm 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 tests 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, both in the lectures and in the books, 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.
You are expected to do your own work, so do not prepare common essays
with your study partners. On a test, if I read an essay that I have
already read, I will grade it down. Do not simply reproduce the
handouts or quote from them without 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. I
apologize in advance for the security measures it has become necessary
to take to guard against cheating on examinations. This is irritating
and insulting for us all.
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