PHILOSOPHY 1        THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY        SPRING, 2007
PROFESSOR RICHARD ARNESON        TEACHING ASSISTANT TARUN MENON

CLASS SYLLABUS. (download)
The syllabus contains a detailed list of reading assignments and other information not duplicated below.


Discussion section, Wednesdays 10:00-10:50 a.m., Philosophy Department Library, 8025 Humanities and Social Sciences Bldg.

Week by Week Calendar--Links to Readings not in the Course Texts, also links to some class notes, and information on exams and the writing assignment.

Week 1.  April 2-8.
FRI: Guest lecturer: Professor Gila Sher.
Notes on Descartes, Meditation 1 (download).

Week 2. April 9-15.

Week 3.  April 16-22.
MON: Reading: William Paley, "The Watch and the Watchmaker." (download)
WED: Reading: Robert Hambourger, "The Argument from Design."(download)
FRI: Reading: Adolf Grunbaum, "Psychoanalysis and Theism." (download)

Week 4.  April 23-29.
MON: Reading: David Lewis, "Evil for Freedom's Sake?" (download).  Notes on David Lewis essay.(download)
WED: Reading: Blaise Pascal, "The Wager" (download); also Robert Adams, "Moral Arguments for Theistic Belief." (download)
FRI: [Guest lecturer: Mr. Tarun Menon.]  Reading: Soren Kierkegaard, "Subjectivity Is Truth." (download)
Blackboard Notes on Kierkegaard and Adams readings (download).

Week 5.  April 30-May 6.
MON: Reading: Robert Adams, "Kierkegaard's Arguments against Objective Reasoning in Religion." (download).
MON: Advance information on midterm exam (download).
WED: Midterm exam in class.

Week 6.  May 7-13.

Week 7. May 14-20.
MON: Reading: Edmund Gettier, "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" (download).
WED: Writing assignment (download).
WED:  Guide to writing philosophy papers (download).  Another guide to writing philosophy papers (download).
WED: Robert Nozick, "Knowledge and Skepticism." (download)
WED: Notes on knowledge terminology (download).
FRI:  Guest Lecturer: Mr. Tarun Menon.  Reading: David Lewis, "Elusive Knowledge." (download)

Week 8.  May 21-27.
MON: Reading: Karl Popper, "Conjectures and Refutations."(download)
WED: Reading: Thomas Kuhn, excerpt from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.(download)

Week 9.  May 28-June 3.
MON: Holiday.  No Class.
WED: Reading: B. F. Skinner, "The Causes of Behavior." (download)
FRI: Reading:  J. J. C. Smart, "Sensations and Brain Processes." (download).


Week 10.  June 4-10.
MON: Reading: J. Fodor, "The Mind-Body Problem." (download)
WED: Reading: Frank Jackson, "Epiphenomenal Qualia" (download); also Paul Churchland, "Eliminative Materialism." (download).
FRI: Reading: David Chalmers, "The Puzzle of Conscious Experience." (download)
For your information: Short-answer questions from last year's Philosophy 1 final exam (download).
Advance information handout on final exam (download).

Arneson's office hours: Tuesdays 2-3 p.m. and Thursdays 11-12 a.m. in HSS 8057.  
Arneson's Email:   rarneson@ucsd.edu