100 Level Courses

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Course Offerings for 2013-14:

 

**New this Spring/Summer 2013**

PHIL 111 (Online Course), Great Works of Philosophy 3L/S

J. Miller Spring-Summer  2013 Term

This course is offered through Continuing and Distance Studies. For more information on the content of this course, please go to the following website:  http://www.queensu.ca/artsci_online/courses/great-works-of-philosophy/summer-2013. 

In this course, we will be exploring a wide range of philosophical issues.  Our readings will consist of a combination of classical and contemporary sources.  Class itself will feature audio and video recordings of me going through my notes on the readings.  Marks will be based on four papers, six quizzes, two exams (one in December and a second in April), and participation in online discussion groups.  Regular participation in our class’s online forum is also expected, though it will not be a formal part of the mark.

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PHIL 111 (Online Course), Great Works of Philosophy 3L/S

J. Miller Fall-Winter Term

This course is offered through Continuing and Distance Studies. For more information on the content of this course, please go to the following website:   http://www.queensu.ca/cds/courses/phil.html

In this course, we will be exploring a wide range of philosophical issues.  Our readings will consist of a combination of classical and contemporary sources.  Class itself will feature audio and video recordings of me going through my notes on the readings.  Marks will be based on four papers, six quizzes, two exams (one in December and a second in April), and participation in online discussion groups.  Regular participation in our class’s online forum is also expected, though it will not be a formal part of the mark.

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PHIL 111 - 001, Great Works of Philosophy 3L/S

D. Knight Fall-Winter Term

Students in this course will be introduced to a number of major works in the history of philosophy, examine just what sorts of issues and questions count as philosophical problems, and reflect on how different philosophers approach the task of writing and doing philosophy.  Through the close reading of texts, students will learn how to analyse and interpret important philosophical arguments.  Assignments will allow students to develop critical writing skills.

The first term will feature two short dialogues by Plato and a considerable amount of his Republic, Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, and what is arguably the first major work of early modern philosophy, René Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy.  The questions we will consider include the nature of morality, how it is best to live, and what counts as knowledge.

Students can expect to write two short in-class tests, two short essays, and a mid-year (December) exam.

In the first part of the second term, we will examine the question of personal identity, with readings by Locke, Butler, Reid, and Kant as well as contemporary philosophers such as Shoemaker, Williams and Parfit.  We will ask what ensures that you are the same person you were yesterday or in childhood or will be next year, and consider a range of puzzle cases (or thought experiments) that challenge the sorts of answers we might initially give to such questions. 

The final section of the course will be devoted to Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, where among other questions we will consider whether being moral is bad for human flourishing.

EXCLUSIONS: No more than 1 course from PHIL111/6.0; PHIL127/6.0; PHIL151/3.0.

Note:  Students considering a Major or medial in Philosophy are strongly urged to take either PHIL111 or PHIL115 in their first year. 

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PHIL 111 - 002, Great Works of Philosophy 3L/S

J. Miller Fall-Winter Term

In this course, we will be exploring a wide range of philosophical issues.  Our readings will consist of a combination of classical and contemporary sources.  Class itself will feature audio and video recordings of me going through my notes on the readings.  Marks will be based on four papers, six quizzes, two exams (one in December and a second in April), and participation in online discussion groups.  Regular participation in our class’s online forum is also expected, though it will not be a formal part of the mark.

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PHIL 115 - 001, Fundamental Questions 3L/S

H. Laycock/M. Smith Fall-Winter Term

FALL TERM. We begin by exploring one of the most influential world-views of all time, the metaphysical theory of Aristotle. From the Ancient World, we move to the early modern world following the Scientific Revolution, and study the experience-based philosophy of John Locke. Here, Aristotle's views are completely rejected. Instead, we consider whether the world really is as it appears. Are objects really coloured, or is this just an effect they have on our senses? Are we really the very same people now that we were when we were five or six years old, and if so, why? Finally, from the early modern period, we turn to philosophy as it is done in the contemporary analytical context, in the work of influential thinkers such as Quine and Bertrand Russell.

WINTER TERM - TBA  

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PHIL 115 - 002, Fundamental Questions 3L/S

J. Davies Fall-Winter Term

It has been said that philosophy is less about getting the right answers than about asking the right questions. For the philosopher even this claim raises immediate questions: What would count as a right answer? How could we tell?

In PHIL 115-002 we explore a range of questions that have engaged the attention of philosophers in the western tradition from the Socrates to contemporary writers. We will consider questions they have asked about truth, meaning, value, goodness, human nature and how to live a good life, individually and with others. Examination of the way these questions have been formulated and reformulated by various thinkers reveal common threads as well as differences in philosophical method. We shall compare approaches to answering and to formulating these questions, as well, of course, as actual responses that have been offered.

Our survey of the (mostly male and European or Euro-American) major figures and movements that traditionally dominate the study of western philosophy is enriched by consideration of the works of a number of female intellectuals and otherwise marginalized thinkers whose contributions are often overlooked by western academics. As well we will compare and contrast perspectives available from a variety of non-western wisdom traditions.

While we learn from the insights achieved by various past and contemporary thinkers, the course is meant to foster your own inclination to ask your own questions and to imagine how we might begin to respond to them. Various classroom exercises and course assignments will provide you with opportunities to enhance your ability to explore philosophical questions orally and in writing, to practice the clear formulation and expression of your insights and the habit of supporting them with good arguments. Considerable attention is also paid to learning to listen and to read philosophically. This too involves paying attention with questions in mind.

There are no regular tutorials for this course, though special optional tutorial meetings will be organized to enhance philosophical reading and writing skills. Regular classroom participation is expected. Evaluation is based on completion of a mandatory short diagnostic essay at the beginning of the academic year as well as performance on one optional set-topic essay per term, one test per term and one exam per term as well as a discretionary overall participation mark.

Most course readings are drawn from Kit R. Christensen's anthology Philosophy and Choice: Selected Readings from around the World. This text is available new and used through the Campus Book Store and other local outlets. A couple of other online readings will also be recommended.

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PHIL 153* The State and the Citizen 3L/S

Equality and Liberty, Power and Principles

C. Sypnowich Fall Term

This course initiates students to the ideas of political philosophy.  Political philosophy is concerned with how individuals can live in common.  The relation between citizen and state is thus a problem central to political philosophy, and it underpins the many questions political philosophers ask, such as:  What is the rationale for government?  Is there a right to private property?  Does the individual have an obligation to obey the law?  Should government promote equality?  What is the nature of freedom?  Some of the more lively contemporary debates in political theory concern whether the idea of citizenship is viable at all.  For example, some feminists detect a sexist bias in the very idea of the citizen, whilst other critics note the difficulty of reconciling citizenship with cultural diversity within society.  Still others claim that citizenship is a feature of a bygone era, anachronistic in the face of a global economy and sophisticated telecommunications.  This course considers a variety of philosophies and ideas to consider some of the principal trends in political argument.

Assessment:

2 short papers, a mid-term test, and a final exam, each worth 25%.

Texts:

There are three texts, Jonathan Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy, H.B. McCullough (ed.), Political Ideologies and Political Philosophies, and a short guide for writing philosophy papers.

Structure:

Lectures will set out the arguments and issues of the readings, providing context and fielding questions.  Tutorials will take place alternate weeks and will enable general discussion (e.g. about the assignments, questions from the lectures or readings) as well as close examination of particular texts. 

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PHIL 157* Moral Issues L/S

P. Fairfield Winter Term

This course introduces students to the study of ethics through an examination of several contemporary issues.  Some of the questions we shall examine include:  Are there circumstances in which we can speak of a right or even a duty to die?  Ought same-sex marriage to be recognized in law?  Should the legal prohibition on drug use be removed?  What is the moral status of animals?  What are our duties regarding the environment, and is there an ethics of consumption?  What is the nature of terrorism, and must the "war" on it conflict with human rights?

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