Philosophy 1: Introduction to Philosophy

Curtis Bowman
Logan Hall 464
898-6913 (o)
898-8563 (dept.)
cubowman@nous.phil.upenn.edu

Course Description

In this course we will look at two traditional philosophical subjects: ethics and metaphysics. We will focus on basic ethical concepts and then on several theories in normative ethics--the attempt to establish principles for determining right and wrong--especially the theories of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. Our study of metaphysics will focus on two famous problems: the mind-body problem and the problem of free will and determinism. We will begin with the behaviorist response to mind-body dualism and then look at other efforts to understand the relation between mind and body. Finally, we will look at the problem of free will and determinism and how various solutions affect our conception of ourselves as moral agents.

Required Texts

Robert Holmes, Basic Moral Philosophy (Abbreviated as BMP)

Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism

John Searle, Minds, Brains and Science

Gary Watson (ed.), Free Will

There is also a packet of photocopies at the Campus Copy Center (3907 Walnut).

Readings

Ethics

1. The Concerns of Moral Philosophy: chapters 1, 2 & 11 of BMP

2. Egoism and Divine Command Theory: chapters 5 & 6 of BMP

3. Utilitarianism: chapters 2 & 5 of Mill's Utilitarianism; chapter 9 of BMP

4. Kantianism: chapters 1 & 2 of Kant's Grounding & "On a Supposed Right to Lie"; chapter 8 of BMP

The Mind-Body Problem and Proposed Solutions to it

1. Behaviorism: (1) chapters 1, 2 & 10 of John Watson's Behaviorism (in bulkpack); (2) A. O. Lovejoy's "The Paradox of the Thinking Behaviorist"

2. The Identity Thesis: J. J. C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (in bulkpack); Jerome Shaffer's "Could Mental States Be Brain Processes?" (in bulkpack); James Cornman's "The Identity of Mind and Body" (in bulkpack)

3. Functionalism and Artificial Intelligence: D. M. Armstrong's "The Nature of Mind" (in bulkpack); chapter 6 of Paul Churchland's Matter and Consciousness (in bulkpack) and chapters 2 and 3 of Searle's Minds, Brains and Science

4. A Final Proposal: chapter 1 of Searle's Minds, Brains and Science

5. A Cautionary Conclusion: Thomas Nagel's "Consciousness and Objective Reality" (in bulkpack)

Free Will and Determinism

1. Introduction to the Problem: A. J. Ayer's "Freedom and Necessity" and Peter van Inwagen's "The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism" (in Free Will)

2. Responding to Incompatibilism: P. F. Strawson's "Freedom and Resentment" and Harry Frankfurt's "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person" (in Free Will)

3. Freedom and the Self: Roderick Chisholm's "Human Freedom and the Self" (in Free Will)

4. Can We Solve the Problem?: chapter 6 of Searle's Minds, Brains and Science

Conclusion

Charles Taylor's "Self-Interpreting Animals" (in bulkpack)

Course Requirements

Students will write two papers of 5-10 pages each. The first paper will be due around the middle of the semester; the second will be due on the last day of class. There will also be a comprehensive exam at the end of the semester. Each assignment will count for a third of the course grade.