Phil 101 (A): INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
    Fall 2010
    Instructor:    Dr. Malcolm Murray
    Office:    Main 413
    Phone:    566-0575
    E-mail:    mmurray@upei.ca
    Office Hours: T,Th 11:30-12:30pm
        (or by appointment)

    Required Text: Andrew Bailey (ed.) First Philosophy: Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy (Broadview Press, 2002)

Philosophy hopes to make sense of the world. What is knowledge? What is truth? Is morality an invention,

a convention, or a discovery? Is there a God? Do we have free will? What is the connection between the

mind and the body? Can machines think? What makes you you? Is reality something beyond appearance?

How can you tell whether or not you’re in a dream matrix? This course introduces such  philosophical

puzzles and explores some of the prevailing answers. That is, we will explore some of the topics in

metaphysics, epistemology, and the mind-body problem.


Syllabus
Sept. 9: Introduction
    I. Metaphysics
Sept. 14, 16: God. Anselm 24, Aquinas 42
Sept 21, 23: Problem of Evil. Leibniz 96, Mackie 106
Sept. 28, 30: Free Will. Campbell 523, Dennett 553
Oct. 5: Ethics. Plato 606; Oct. 7: TEST 1
    II. Epistemology
Oct. 12, 14: Certainty. Descartes 145
Oct. 19, 21: Idealism. Berkeley 201
Oct. 26, 28: Scepticism. Hume 281
Nov. 2, 4: Synthetic A Priori. Kant 230
Nov. 9: TEST 2
    III. Mind
Nov. 16, 18: Mind and Body. Ryle 396, Smart 409
Nov. 23, 25: Qualia. Searle 438, Nagel 478
Nov. 30: Eliminativism. Churchland 457
Dec. 7:  PAPER due.*

    Assignments
Test 1: multiple choice/short answer/short essay on metaphysics 35%. Thurs. Oct. 7
Test 2: multiple choice/short answer/short essay on epistemology 35%. Tues. Nov. 9
Final Paper: Due Tues. Dec. 7. 6-7 pages on whether or not the mind is reducible to matter.

Explain the arguments pro and con, then defend your stance. 30%

    *5% deduction per day for late papers. No paper accepted after Dec. 14.