UPDATE, Jan 17: We've lost a week to the weather. Everything is pushed back a week (at this point).
Introduction to Philosophy, aka CoPhilosophy ("CoPhi") in Oliver's classes/ PHILOSOPHY 1030-returns to MTSU January 16- Sections H01, H02, H03: TTh 9:40, 1 pm, 2:40; in HONR 218
Phil.Oliver@mtsu.edu. 300 James Union Building (JUB).
Office hours Spring 2024: T/Th 11:15 to 12:45 on campus, other days on Zoom & by appointment... (615) 898-2050, (615) 525-7865 only during office hours please: call before coming in.
We'll use this site, NOT D2L, for online discussion and support.
Eventually we'll all become "authors" on this site, to post reports etc. Meanwhile, post your thoughts, research discoveries, and questions in the "comments" spaces (which appear below each post).
Philosophy, whatever else it is, is an open-ended conversation among ourselves and with philosophers of the past, and anticipating those of the future. Participate in the conversation.
TEXTS
REQUIRED for Spring 2024:
A Little History of Philosophy (LHP) by Nigel Warburton - see link to etext in sidebar
Why Grow Up? Subversive Thoughts for an Infantile Age (WGU) by Susan Neiman
Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life (SS) by John Kaag
Life is Hard by Kieran Setiya
THE SOCRATES EXPRESS: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers by Eric Weiner
RECOMMENDED (on 3-day reserve* in Walker Library):
- How the World Thinks (HWT) by Julian Baggini
- Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen (FL)
- Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James-companion anthology to Sick Souls
- Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives by Robert Richardson
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
- William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism by Robert Richardson
Writings of William James (WJ) -- James's work is in the public domain, & free on the Internet... but if you'd prefer a handsome keepers' edition in book format I recommend the Library of America's two volumes:
Some miscellaneous links and other recommended texts here... Grandfather Philosophy's YouTube channel (he's one of our more mature recent MTSU alumni)...
Feel free to use etexts and audiobooks, when available.
* "Reserves books are checked out at the Circulation/Reserves Desks. To borrow a reserves book, students must have either their student ID or another picture ID. No more than 4 reserves books can be borrowed out at a time. Reserves books can be returned at the Circulation/Reserves Desks or the book drop on the side of the building. However, I always recommend students return reserves books to the Circulation/Reserves Desks. We are only able to check the book drop periodically and a book may be in the book drop for some time before it is checked in and removed from the student account. Books brought to either desk are checked in when returned.
Typically 3-day loans cannot be renewed and must be returned on the due date. Reserves books that are 14 days overdue will be considered lost. Students will be billed a $75 flat fee ($50 replacement + $25 processing) for the lost item. These fees will be transferred to the Bursar’s Office and reflected on students’ accounts. Students’ fees for replacement books must be paid through the Bursar’s office. Once fees have been transferred to the Bursar’s Office, they can no longer be refunded by the library, even if the books are returned to the library." --Suzy Burkhardt, Walker Library
"Pluralism" means, among other things, respecting and engaging with many voices, many points of view... not because you agree with them all, necessarily, but because they all may nonetheless have something to teach you. So, we'll be considering multiple texts simultaneously. Think of it as a multi-lane highway of ideas. They may not always integrate smoothly, lane-changes may sometimes be a challenge... but if we drive attentively we'll get where we're going. Always read all the assigned material before class.
IMPORTANT DATES Spring 2024
- Jan 16 – MTSU Classes Begin
- Jan 25 -- Select midterm report presentation topic & date
- Feb 1 -- Mid-term report presentations begin
- Feb 27 -- Select final report presentation topic & date
- Feb 29 -- EXAM 1
- Mar 4-9 – Spring Break
- Mar 12 -- Final report presentations begin
- Apr 23-- Exam 2
- Apr 24 -- last day of MTSU classes
- Apr 26 -- Final blogpost due (post earlier for constructive feedback). See note below on * Deadlines.
- May 2 – Last Day of Term
- May 4 – Commencement (Days and Times TBD, may hold additional ceremonies on May 3), Official Spring Graduation Date
- May 5 – Deadline for Submission of Final Grades, 11:59 p.m
JAN
16 23 Introductions. Post your response to these questions, interpreted any way you like: Who are you? Why are you here? And, What do you think Philosophy is? Do you have a favorite philosopher? Do you have an easily-summarized personal philosophy? (Maybe something short like Charlie Brown's sister Sally's?--"No!")
Recommended: William James, Pragmatism lecture 1; Gymnasiums of the Mind (on the Peripatetic philosophy); Pale Blue Dot, & WATCH: Pale Blue Dot (Sagan). Also recommended, for general knowledge: What's Philosophy for? School of Life (SoL); LISTEN: What is Philosophy? and Who's Your Favourite Philosopher? (PB Philosophy Bites). And check out the This I Believe website, for examples of others' personal philosophies succinctly summarized.
18 25Socrates and Plato-LHP 1. Weiner Intro, 1-2. Recommended: FL 1-2. HWT Intro & prologue.
23 30 Aristotle-LHP 2. Rec: FL 3-4. HWT Sections 1-3.
FEB
25 1 Skepticism-LHP 3. Rec: FL 5-6. HWT 4-5. Select midterm report presentation topic & date
30 6 Epicureans and Stoics-LHP 4-5. Weiner 6, 12. Rec: FL 7-8. HWT 6-8.
1 8 Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas-LHP 6-8. Rec: FL 9-10. HWT 9-10. Midterm report presentations begin.
6 13 Machiavelli, Hobbes-LHP 9-10. Rec: FL 11-12. HWT 11-13
8 15 Montaigne, Descartes, & Pascal-LHP 11-12. Weiner 14. Rec: FL 13-14. HWT 14-15.
[Everything pushed back a week, due to 1st week weather cancellation]
20 Spinoza, Locke, & Reid-LHP 13-14. Rec: FL 15-16. HWT 16-17.
22 Berkeley, Leibniz, Hume, & Rousseau-LHP 15-18. Weiner 3. Rec: FL 17-18. HWT 18-19.
27 Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Schopenhauer-LHP 19-23. Weiner 5. Rec: FL 19-20. HWT 20-22. Select final report presentation topic & date
29 Mill, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Marx-LHP 24-27. Rec: FL 21-22. HWT 23-24. EXAM 1.
🌞🌄🌅 SPRING BREAK
MAR
12 Peirce & James, Nietzsche, Freud-LHP 28-30. Weiner 11. Rec: FL 23-24. HWT 25-26. Final report presentations begin
14 Russell, Ayer, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus-LHP 31-33. Weiner 13. Rec: FL 25-26. HWT 27-28.
19 Wittgenstein, Arendt, Popper & Kuhn, Foot & Thomson-LHP 34-37, Rec: FL 27-28.
21 Rawls, Turing & Searle, Singer-LHP 38-40. WGU Introduction-p.35. Rec: FL 29-32.
26 WGU -p.79 Rec: FL 33-34.
28 NOT MEETING TODAY but read and post comments on WGU -p.122. Rec: FL 35-38.
APR
2 WGU -p.165.SSHM Prologue. Recommended: FL 39-40. WJ, Is Life Worth Living?
4 NOT MEETING TODAY but read and post comments on WGU -p.192. SSHM ch1. Setiya Intro-1. Rec: The Dilemma of Determinism. FL 41-42
8 (Monday) Not required, but recommended: Honors College Lecture, 3 pm...
9 WGU -p. 234 SSHM ch2. Setiya 2. Rec: The Moral Equivalent of War. FL 43-44.
11 SSHM ch3. Setiya 3 Rec: FL 45-46.
16 SSHM ch4. Setiya 4 Conclude final report presentations
18 SSHM ch5. Setiya 5.
23 SSHM ch6-7 Setiya... Exam 2 (NOTE: Exam 2 is not a "final exam," it covers material since Exam 1.)
26 Final blogpost due (post earlier for constructive feedback). See note above on * Deadlines.
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EXAMS. Two objective-format exams based on daily questions, each worth up to 25 points. Bonus questions covering Recommended texts.
REPORTS. Midterm (10 minutes presentation), final presentation & related blog post (10 min, 1,000+ words minimum). Worth up to 25 points each. Indicate your topic/date preferences in comments below "Report Presentations" post.
PARTICIPATION. Participation includes attendance, your full and attentive presence in class, and posts, comments (etc.) to our CoPhi site prior to each class. No points formally allotted, but steady participation earns strong consideration for a higher final grade. (Hypothetically, for instance: say you earned a total of 88 points (of a possible 100) on the exams and reports. If you did not participate consistently and well, your course grade would be B+. If you did, it would be A.)
SCORECARDS. Because your professor is a baseball fan, we'll track participation with baseball scorecards adapted to the purpose. Come to class to get on 1st base. Post pertinent comments and questions for discussion prior to class to advance to 2d & 3d base.To come home and "score" a participation run, post a pertinent research discovery-something we wouldn't have known just from the day's assigned reading. Good places for quick online research include the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Philosophical Dictionary, and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
(For instance, when we discuss Socrates and Plato you might post a comment indicating your view of his so-called enlightened ignorance -- "I know that I know nothing" etc. -- or of Plato's confident assertion of the possibility of rationally understanding the ultimate structure of reality, "Forms" etc. You might also pose the discussion question "Do you think Socrates should have taken the opportunity to escape Athens before his death sentence was imposed?" And you might share your discovery that Socrates seemed to have a higher opinion of women than most of his companions had, speaking of “men and women,” “priests and priestesses,” and naming foreign women as his teachers: Socrates claimed to have learned rhetoric from Aspasia of Miletus, the de facto spouse of Pericles (Plato, Menexenus); and to have learned erotics from the priestess Diotima of Mantinea (Plato, Symposium). --Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Socrates"
Keep a detailed and dated log of your posts and comments, appended to your last post each week. Always include your section # (7, 11, or 12 this semester) with your posts.
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"Solvitur ambulando"... the art of walking
A NOTE ON THE BLOG POST FORMAT: Midterm & final report blog posts should include appropriately-bloggish content: not just words, but also images, links, videos where relevant, etc.
A NOTE ON WORD COUNTS. 1,000 words is a minimum. Write more, if you've got more to say. Write a tome, if you've got one in you. But your main goal in writing for our course is always to be clear, to say what you mean, and to say things your classmates (and I) will want to respond to. Think of your weekly blog posts not as "papers" but as contributions to a conversation. And again, do think of them as blog posts, with links, graphics, videos. etc., not just words.
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Watch this space for updated info on the university's and our department's FREE tutoring service... and learn how to study, get help with understanding difficult course material, receive better test grades, or simply improve your grade point average. Tutoring is available in study skills and learning strategies that includes sessions on time management, notetaking, when and where to study, and memory principles. Tutoring is also available in over 200 courses including biology, history, computer information systems, physics, math, psychology, chemistry, economics, recording industry, and many more. The central location for tutoring is the Tutoring Spot, located in Walker Library, but is also conducted at various other campus sites. For available tutoring opportunities, visit http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/tutoring.php#on . For questions, call the Tutoring Spot at 615-904-8014.
Dr. Cornelia Wills
Director of Student Success
Middle Tennessee State University
P. O. Box 500
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Telephone: 615-898-5025
http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/index.php
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Title IX
Students who believe they have been harassed, discriminated against or been the victim of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking should contact a Title IX/Deputy Coordinator at 615-898-2185 or 615-898- 2750 for assistance or review MTSU’s Title IX website for resources. http://www.mtsu.edu/titleix/
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Writing Center
The Margaret H. Ordoubadian University Writing Center serves all MTSU students, from freshmen to PhD candidates, on writing from any discipline, and in any genre. [website...] We have a brand new digital class visit, a brief introduction to the UWC, which can be embedded in any D2L shell for your students.
Tutoring sessions begin August 24th, and this semester, students will have two choices for online writing support:
Live Chat: students to use their mic and camera and meet tutors in real time to work on a shared document;
Document Drop: students upload their text and assignment sheet, identify specific feedback needs, and receive tutor feedback through email.
We also support writers through course-specific or assignment-specific workshops. The UWC administrative team has worked closely with faculty in diverse programs and departments, such as Biology, Anthropology, and Professional Studies, to create workshops and writing support for students in those courses. Please email Erica Cirillo-McCarthy, Director of the UWC, at erica.cirillo-mccarthy@mtsu.edu if you are interested in talking about ways the UWC can support writers in your class.
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Resources for awards, scholarships, grants, Study Abroad etc. from the University Fellowship Office --
Services We Offer
We try to match students with national and international opportunities. As time permits, we can also read essays and give feedback on how to be competitive. Student can simply email Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu
The Undergraduate Fellowships Office has had students receive numerous scholarships, including Fulbright, Goldwater, Gilman, Critical Language Scholarship, and Udall, as well as finalists for the Marshall Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship, and Truman Scholarship.
Most Popular Fellowships and Links:
Our main website: https://www.mtsu.edu/
Study Abroad Funding: https://www.mtsu.edu/
For example, there is special funding for students who have a Pell grant with the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad.
Gilman Website: https://www.
Living Overseas after Graduation: https://www.mtsu.
Fulbright: https://us.
STEM options: https://www.mtsu.
Full List of options: https://www.mtsu.edu/
List of winners: https://www.mtsu.edu/
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Additional information of possible interest...
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Register to Vote here
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