SYL
LAB
US
Welcome! Step 1: Forget whatever you thought was going to happen in a Philosophy course. This will be different, I promise. We are going to explore life's big questions -- Who am I? What do I want? What do I need? What is love? What is justice? What is fair? What is virtue? -- and we’ll study some classic philosophers’ answers to those questions, but our focus will be on our own big questions (and our own big answers). Most uniquely perhaps, you’ll be exploring these questions with the people in your life -- family, friends, strangers, lovers, enemies...Philosophy will deepen your bonds with these people, and those bonds in turn will deepen your appreciation of philosophy. You’ll read and write, yes, but you’ll also play, experiment, make movies, eavesdrop on humanity, write letters you never send, and, well, you’ll see...
ASSIGNMENTS
You will complete a total of 13 assignments. Some assignments will be games -- just read the instructions and (usually) go play with someone. Others will be conversations: go find someone to have a deep talk with. Some will just be observations. Some will be readings. Some will be writings. And after each assignment, you'll produce something -- maybe a video recording, maybe an audio recording, maybe a reflection. Each assignment will be worth either 10 or 15 points. Note that you'll do the "The And" exercises four times. The final paper due at the end of the course will be worth 10 points. All assignments should be submitted through Brightspace. Here's the breakdown:
1. The AND I 5 points DUE FRIDAY 10/3
2. Life's Soundtrack 5 points DUE FRIDAY 10/3
3. Telepathy 5 points DUE FRIDAY 10/10
4. Plato's Cave 10 points DUE FRIDAY 10/17
5. Lars and the Real Girl 10 points DUE FRIDAY 10/17
6. The AND II 5 points DUE FRIDAY 10/24
7. Descartes 10 points DUE FRIDAY 10/31
8. The Power of Now 10 points DUE FRIDAY 10/31
9. The Roots of the Environmental Crisis 10 points DUE FRIDAY 11/17
10. The AND III 5 points DUE FRIDAY 11/14
11. Writing the UnSaid 10 points DUE FRIDAY 11/21
12. The AND IV 5 points DUE FRIDAY 11/28
13. Final paper 10 points DUE FRIDAY 12/5
Total = 100 points
AI/Plagiarism (Academic Honesty) Policy
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Plagiarism is the act of presenting a piece of writing written by someone else as though it were your own writing.
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AI-usage refers to the act of feeding an instructor's assignment prompt into an Artificial Intelligence agent (e.g. ChatGPT) and then submitting the AI generated response as though it were your own writing.
Any assignments I flag as either AI-generated or plagiarized, in whole or part, will received a ZERO without the opportunity of re-submission.
If you believe you've been accused of plagiarism/AI usage incorrectly, e-mail me and if I agree that I may have been incorrect, we'll arrange a zoom call in which you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate to me your understanding of the material. If I decide you understand the material sufficiently to have written the assignment submission yourself, I will apologize and correct your grade. If I determine after the meeting that, in fact, you don't understand the material sufficiently to have written the submission yourself, the zero will stand. If you still believe you've been falsely accused of academic dischonesty at that point, please contact the dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Christine Pense at cpense@northampton.edu to discuss the issue further.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES TIED TO PROGRAM OR CORE OUTCOMES.
Upon completion of this course, successful students will be able to:
1) Reflect philosophically on perennial philosophical questions
such as the nature and meaning of existence, free will
and determinism, the existence of God, the functions
of religion and science, appearance vs. reality,
the meaning of life, happiness, and
enlightenment.
2) Define, understand, and explain
central philosophical theories,
ideas, and problems, in the
domains of Metaphysics,
Epistemology, Ethics, A
esthetics, and Politics.
3) Explicate, elucidate, and evaluate, both orally and in writing, the primal philosophical themes, issues, and arguments, found in the seminal writings of selected philosophers.
4) Think critically about their own, and their culture’s basic beliefs and presuppositions.
5) Think, speak and write in terms of abstract and complex ideas, arguments and theories.
attitude
try your best, when going through this course, to go as deep as you possibly can. then go deeper. in the process, reflect on what it meant that you just "went deeper" -- what do the words "deep" (or "deeper," or "deepest" (if there is such a thing...) mean to you? the deeper you go, the better your chances of figuring that out.
Try to avoid, the best you can, taking a"get 'er done" attitude. don't worry about just getting these assignment done so you can get on with your life. have you ever noticed that pretty much everything we do we do with a "get 'er done" mentality? get school done. get work done. we're all hurrying to get things done. sometimes i feel like we're hurrying to get life itself done already. take this class as an opportunity to get out of that mode. you're deepening your relationships in this class, and as a bonus, you're creating artifacts of memoranda -- recordings of deep conversations with loved ones that you'll be able to look back on in ten or twenty (or fifty) years, perhaps when some of these people will be gone. don't rush this. you'll thank me later when you have all this to listen to. you're also making, in these reflections, a kind of photograph of your own mind that you'll be able to look back on in the future.
grades.
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most assignments are worth 5 points. For those that are worth more, double or triple these values (e.g. For an assignment worth 10 points, a 5 becomes a 10, a 4 becomes an 8, etc.).
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Here's a rough rubric:
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5: Your reflection demonstrates that you took the assignment seriously. This could mean a few things. You made connections between your concrete personal life and abstract principles and ideas. Beyond this, the process sparked new ideas. Perhaps you made connections between this assignment and other assignments in the class, or topics you’ve learned in other classes. It was not written with the spirit of trying to get a good grade or to “get ‘er done,” but rather in that of a genuine inquiry into, and curiosity about, the subject matter. You considered alternative points of view. Perhaps your reflection takes us on a journey from not understanding to understanding, or perhaps it takes us on one from certainty about your beliefs to curiosity, mystery, and lack of certainty. Perhaps you change your mind part way through upon giving due consideration to opposing points of view. Perhaps a new question emerges. Perhaps an entirely different approach. Perhaps a proposal for a new assignment…
4: Your reflection demonstrates that you followed the instructions and worked hard on the assignment. You understood what was at stake and what it meant to your personal life.
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3: Your reflection demonstrates that you basically followed the instructions, but it’s not clear that you really understood what the point of it was, how it connects to your personal life, or to the overall trajectory of the course. It’s written in the spirit of “get ‘er done,” not in that of genuine inquiry into the mysteries of existence. You did it, moved on, and didn’t look back. It’s “fine.”
2: Your reflection demonstrates that you did not follow the material or the instructions for assignment. It’s likely too short, but it might have met the length-requirement with words that ring hollow, hurried, and incurious. You “got ‘er done.”
1: You submitted something vaguely connected to the intent of the assignment.
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e-mail me at kburak@northampton.edu if you're ever not sure what to do
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