Introduction to Philosophy

University of Maryland, College Park

Summer 2015
Instructor
Christian Tarsney
ctarsney@umd.edu
christian.tarsney (Skype)
Office hours: 3-5pm Thu & by appt
During office hours Ill be available both on Skype and through the ELMS conference function.
Course Description
We will explore a few of the questions that have puzzled philosophers over the centuries. For
instance: How can we know that we are not systematically deceived about the world around us,
like brains in a vat? Is our conscious experience anything more than a complicated interaction of
elementary particles? What is free will, and can it exist in a world where our choices and basic
character often seem to be governed by forces outside our control? Is it morally permissible to
harm, even kill, an innocent person to protect a greater number of innocent people? What
justifies the authority of governments, and how should they balance values like the general good,
social equality, and individual rights?
Structure and Expectations
Summer term is short, and we have lots of ground to cover. Therefore, keeping up with course
material on a daily basis is extremely important. There are three basic things youll be expected
to do every weekday: (i) watch lecture videos for the day, which will be posted on ELMS; (ii)
participate in online discussions, also on ELMS; and (iii) keep up with assigned readings, which
should amount to ~10 pages per day of class. Other assignments include periodic reading
quizzes, to be taken through ELMS, two short papers (mainly exegetical) and one longer final
paper (more critical). Detailed instructions regarding each of these assignments will be given in
lecture and on ELMS.
Readings
All of the assigned readings will be made available through ELMS.
Coursework and Grading
Discussion Posts (30%)
You will be asked to contribute at least once per day to the discussion forum on ELMS. Daily
posts should be a minimum of 150 words (although additional posts of any length are
encouraged). Discussion posts give you a chance to ask questions about readings, or float ideas
that might go into your papers. Outstanding participation in online discussions can boost your
final grade.

Reading Quizzes (20%) (best 4 of 5)

Quizzes will be given through ELMS and consist of 10 multiple choice questions, which you will
have a limited time to answer. Doing well on the quizzes will require a careful reading of the
assigned texts as well as taking notes from lecture.
Short Papers (25%)
Two short papers (800-1000 words) are due at the end of the second and third weeks of the
course. Paper topics will be given a week in advance. These papers will be mainly exegetical, i.e.
your job will be to explain some difficult concept or argument from the readings.
Final Paper (25%)
The final paper will be due on the last day of class. It will be longer than the short papers (12001500 words) and will ask you to give a critical response to a philosophical doctrine or argument
along with exegesis. As with the short papers, the prompt will be given a week in advance.
Late Work
Discussion posts will not be accepted late. Late papers will be docked 1/3 of a grade (e.g. B+ to
B) for every 24 hours, rounding up.
Academic Honesty
I take this very seriously. Any suspected dishonesty will be reported to the Student Honor
Council and punished to the fullest extent possible, up to and including expulsion. If you have
any doubts at all about whether something counts as academic dishonesty, you should either err
on the side of caution or just ask me first. The full university policy on academic integrity can be
found at http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/docs/III-100A.pdf
Other University Policies
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, religious observance, or any other
reason, please see me to make arrangements before tests, assignments, or missed days.

Schedule of Readings
WEEK 1
6/1
Course intro
(i) Syllabus (ii) What is philosophy? (iii) Informal logic primer (no reading)
6/2
Radical Skepticism
P1: Dreams and Demons (Descartes, Meditation I)
6/3
Radical Skepticism
P2: The Simulation Argument (Bostrom, Do we live in a computer simulation?)
6/4
Minds and Bodies
P1: Conscious Experience (Jackson, What Mary Didnt Know)
Quiz #1
6/5
Minds and Bodies
P2: Mind-Body Interaction (Smullyan, An Unfortunate Dualist)
FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE (by 11:59 PM on 6/5)
WEEK 2
6/8
Existence of God
P1: Arguments for Theism (Manson, The Fine-Tuning Argument)
6/9
Existence of God
P2: Arguments for Atheism (Mackie, Evil and Omnipotence)
6/10 Euthyphros Dilemma
P1: God and the Good (Plato, Euthyphro)
6/11 Euthyphros Dilemma
P2: Divine Commands (Abraham and Isaac - Genesis 22:1-19)
6/12 What makes life worth living?
P1: Happiness (Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics Books I & II)

Quiz #2

Quiz #3

SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE (by 11:59 PM on 6/12)

WEEK 3
6/15 What makes life worth living?
P2: Meaning (Nagel, The Absurd)
Quiz #4
6/16 Killing and Letting Die
P1: The Trolley Problem (Foot, Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect)
6/17 Killing and Letting Die
P2: Intuitions, Framing, and Bias (Kahneman & Tversky, Pizarro studies)
6/18 Just Government
P1: Political Authority (Huemer, Problem of Political Authority pp. 1-12) Quiz #5
6/19 Just Government
P2: Distributive Justice (Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia pp. 149-164)
FINAL PAPER DUE (by 11:59 PM on 6/20)