Philosophy 001: Introduction to Philosophy

University of California, Riverside

Fall 2015
TR 12:10 01:30 PM
University Village, THE10
This course is an introduction into the problems, methods, and scope
of philosophical inquiry by reading key texts in the Western tradition.
In particular, we will explore what philosophy is through its relation to
various forms of skepticism. Some of the questions we will ask are:
What counts as knowledge? Can we know that there is an external
world? Can we know certain necessary features of this world? And
what would it be to know moral truths, truths about what we ought to
do? With these questions in mind, we will read texts by Plato,
Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche.
Professor
Andreja Novakovic
andreja.novakovic@ucr.edu
Office: HMNSS 3210
Office Hours: T 9 11 AM (or by appointment)
Teaching Assistants
Stephanie Allen (stephanie.allen@email.ucr.edu)
Office: HMNSS 3204/ Office Hours: M 2 4
PM
Daisy LaForce (daisy.laforce@email.ucr.edu)
Office: HMNSS 3217/ Office Hours: R 2 4 PM
David Shope (david.shope@email.ucr.edu)
Office: HMNSS 3204/ Office Hours: R 2:15
4:15 PM
Eric Walker (eric.walker002@email.ucr.edu)
Office: HMNSS/ Office Hours: TR 2 3 PM
Your TA is here to help you with the course material. If you
have a question about the requirements, readings, or lectures,
do not hesitate to contact your TA. Contact your TA first before
you contact the professor.

Required Texts:
Plato, Five Dialogues (Hackett)
Ren Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse
on Method (Hackett)
Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
(Cambridge)
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality (Hackett)
[The assigned sections of David Humes An Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding will be posted to iLearn.]
Course Website: https://ilearn.ucr.edu. The syllabus and other
materials and announcements will be posted to this site. I will be
posting my powerpoint presentations after class. You are also
expected to take notes during class.
Requirements
Lecture Attendance (10%)
Lecture attendance is required and will make up 10% of the final
grade. You have three free absences. After three absences your
attendance grade will drop by 30% for each absence (even in the
case of emergencies). We will be using clickers in class. I will be
asking review questions at the beginning and at the end of class to
be used to document your presence in class. You have to be
answer the questions at the beginning and at the end of class in
order to count as present in class that day. If you have a legitimate
reason to leave early or arrive late, let your TA know.
If you forget your clocker or your clicker runs out of batteries (or
otherwise fails to function), then at the end of class hand your TA a
sheet of paper that includes the answers to the clicker questions,
your name, sections, and the date. This will be allowed two times.
After that, if your forget your clocker, or if you clicker runs out of
batteries (or otherwise fails to function), you will be market as
absent for the day.
Section Attendance and Participation (10%)

You are expected to attend and participate in the discussion in your

assigned section. You are allowed three free absences. After three
absences your attendance grade will drop by 30% for each absence
(even in the case of emergencies). You are also expected to
participate in the discussion will be factored into your grade.
Paper (30%)
You will be asked to write one 3-4 paper in response to prompts,
which will be posted to iLearn at least one week before the due
date, November 12. The paper will be worth 30% your final grade.
Note that late papers will be penalized by 1/3 of a letter grade for
every 24 hours after the deadline. Papers that are more than 7
days late will not be accepted.
Exams (25% each)
There will be a midterm (October 27) and a final exam (December
3). Both exams will be given in class. Please note that the final
exam will not be during the finals period, and it will only cover the
material since the midterm. Each exam will be worth 25% of your
final grade.
Policies

Grading scale (in %):

A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF

94 100
90 93
87 89
84 86
80 83
77 79
74 76
70 73
67 69
64 66
60 63
under 60

Attendance. Regular and punctual attendance is required for

this course, both at the lectures and at your assigned discussion
section. This is not the kind of material that you can learn on
your own from reading other peoples notes. If you are more

than 10 minutes late to class, you will be counted as absent. If

you need to leave class early, you need to ask for permission in
advance. You must attend the section to which you have been
assigned and it will only be possible to change your section
assignment through arrangement with your TA.

Electronic devices. You are expected to bring your clickers to

each lecture. Aside from your clickers, no other devices are
permitted (without special permission). This counts for laptops,
cell phones, iPods, iPads and other electronic devices. Turn off
all of your devices as soon as you enter the classroom and leave
them off until the end of class. If you have special needs, come
talk to the professor at the start of the term.

Adding the course. No one will be permitted to add the course

after the first two weeks of the quarter. You may add this
course during the first two weeks of the quarter through the
Philosophy Department office, and only if there is space in both
lecture and a section. If there is no space, you may be added to
a waiting list. But if you want to enroll in this class, you must
attend all lectures, including those during the first two weeks of
the quarter.

Requirements. You must submit the required paper and take the
midterm and final in order to pass the course. If you fail to
submit any of the written work, you will fail the course,
regardless of your average grade for the other assignments.
You will not be able to take the exams on any other day than on
the days scheduled (October 27 and December 3) except in
cases of a documented medical emergency. Keep in mind the
late penalty for papers.

Incompletes. An I will be given in this course only in the case of

documented inabilities to complete the course on time, in
accordance with University guidelines. If you have questions
about these guidelines, you can find out about them in the
Catalogue of Courses.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the attempt to pass off someone elses

work as your own. It includes failure to acknowledge or
footnote a source that you have used, either printed or from the
Internet. If you have any questions about what counts as
plagiarism, or when acknowledgment of a source is needed,
please ask your TA right away. Plagiarism is a form of
dishonesty that is incompatible with the ideals of the University

and is therefore unacceptable. Anyone caught violating this

policy will fail the course and will be referred to Student Judicial
Affairs for disciplinary action.
To use someone elses clicker in class is considered cheating.
To walk out of the classroom after attendance has been taken is
considered cheating. If you are caught doing either of these
things, you will be reported to the Student Judicial Affairs for
disciplinary action.

Schedule
9.24 Introduction
9.29 Plato, Euthyphro (pp. 2 20)
10.1 Plato, Apology (pp. 22 44)
10.6 Plato, Phaedo (pp. 94 132)
10.8 Plato, Phaedo (pp. 133 154)
10.13 Descartes, Meditations I & II (pp. 59 69)
10.15 Descartes, Meditations III (pp. 69 81)
10.20 Descartes, Meditations IV & V (pp. 81 92)
10.22 Descartes, Meditations VI (pp. 92 103)
10.27 MIDTERM
10.29 Hume, Sections IV & V of An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding (pp. 15 37)
11.3 Kant, Groundwork, Preface (pp. 1 6)
11.5 Kant, Groundwork, Section I (pp. 7 18)
11.10 Kant, Groundwork, Section II (pp. 19 46)
11.12 Kant, Groundwork, Section II & III (pp. 47 66)
PAPER DUE
11.17 Nietzsche, Genealogy, Preface (1 8) & First Essay (1
4, 10 14)
11.19 Nietzsche, Genealogy, Second Essay (1, 2, 4 8, 10, 12,
16)
11.24 Nietzsche, Genealogy, Third Essay (1, 7, 9 15, 23, 24,
27, 28)

11.26 Thanksgiving (NO CLASS)

12.1 Review
12.3 FINAL EXAM
General Advice
A philosophy course does not present you with a set of facts. Rather,
it presents you with a set of questions and concepts. It examines how
different philosophers have analyzed these concepts and have
attempted to answer these questions. But the aim of a philosophy
course is to help you engage with these questions and to stimulate
you to think through them on your own, or with your peers, and to
form your own conclusion about how they are best answered.
Preparing for class and active participation in class are important for
understanding the issues. Active participation includes asking
questions in lecture and section and contributing to class discussion.
But it also includes reading the material carefully and thinking
critically about what is said in lecture. You should do the reading
before it is discussed in lecture. Ideally you would read it again after
it has been discussed in lecture. You should prepare for section by
reviewing the material from the last week and thinking about
questions or points that you want to discuss. Questions are welcome
in both lecture and section, and if you feel that you do not understand
some part of the course material, you are encouraged to contact your
TA or the professor.