Shortcut Links To Phil 1001 Course Webpages
Syllabus Part 1 of 2
Welcome!
Instructor: Prof. Richard Taylor, MU Philosophy Department
Location: Cudahy Hall 143, TT 9:30-10:45 am
Office Hours: Revised TU & TH 8:15-9:15 Cudahy Hall 143; TH 2:00-4:00 pm at Marquette Hall 437. I can also meet in person or online via TEAMS other times by appointment. Email: Richard.Taylor@Marquette.edu
An Explanation of our course through Aristotle’s conception of the four causes: Final, Formal, Material and Efficient.
Final Causes: Purposes and Goals
Course Learning Objectives/Outcomes
Core Learning Outcomes
This course is part of the Marquette University Core. This course introduces the following Core learning outcomes:
Responsible and Ethical Communicators
Marquette students will be able to use responsibly and ethically written, spoken and visual communication to express ideas, create meaning, build relationships, foster understanding, and advocate for a better tomorrow.
Moral and Ethical Actors
Marquette students will be able to articulate appropriate professional and personal judgments that are rooted in an ethical and moral foundation and informed by Catholic, Jesuit thought. They will seek to analyze the sources and implications of inequity for a stronger community and a just society.
Citizens with Purpose
Marquette students will develop a sense of purpose professionally, personally, and as global citizens who demonstrate critically reflective discernment processes that are rooted in their theological, intellectual, and personal commitments.
Course Learning Objectives and Assignments
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
(1) Articulate their own deepest philosophical questions: Articulate their own fundamental questions about the nature of the human condition, moral value, and the meaning and purpose of human life in relation to a variety of philosophical approaches to these questions. Students should be able to express in writing and orally how their own experiences have made these questions relevant for them and may influence their preliminary answers to these questions.
(2) Explain how past and present philosophers have asked and attempted to answer these and related questions: Explain how a variety of philosophical approaches ask and attempt to answer questions about the nature of the human condition, moral value, and the meaning and purpose of human life and the logical connections philosophical approaches make among these ideas (e.g., how a philosopher’s understanding of human nature or the human condition bears on their understanding of morality and meaning/purpose of human existence).
(3) Demonstrate facility with a variety of critically reflective philosophical processes of discernment: Demonstrate facility with a variety of critically reflective processes of discernment philosophers use to address fundamental questions about the human condition, moral value, and the meaning and purpose of human life.
Formal Cause: The Course Syllabus: See the Detailed Syllabus page: HERE.
Material Causes: Texts Studied
Required: Note that you do not need to have purchased books before 8 September.
(1) A Guide For Argument Analysis: Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments, 5th edition, Indianapolis / Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2017.
(2) Plato Republic, C.D.C. Reeve, tr., Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2012.
(3) Augustine. On Free Choice of the Will, Thomas Williams, tr., Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1993
(4) Selections of other materials to be made available through the instructor.
Efficient Causes: You are the efficient cause of your learning. I have a function in this but I do not put knowledge and understanding into you. Those are realizations and perfections of your nature taking place in you. Rather, I act as a stimulant and, as Socrates would have it, as a midwife assisting you in bringing birth to knowledge and understanding in yourselves. You earn your grades by your own effort and engagement with the course. I provide them by observation.
Participation Grade: 20%. As the Captain in Star Trek frequently says, “Engage!” This and your Note Sheets are 1/5 of your entire grade. Be sure to build this part of your grade by being active in class.
Grading total is based on 13 Quizzes (20%l lowest 3 dropped), Notes and Participation in Class Discussions (20%), and three (3) Examinations (20% each).
Homework Notes are part of the 20% Participation Grade. Homeworks will be graded in this way: + very good, ✓ good, ok minimally okay, X poor or inadequate. These are recorded on D2L as A, B, C, D respectively but these mean + very good, ✓ good, ok okay, X poor or inadequate. Again, homework represents only part of the Participation grade.
Quizzes will be 20% of your final course grade. In grading the lowest 3 will be excluded from the final grade for quizzes. The quizzes are T/F and there are 10 questions. Roughly, 10 A+, 9 A, 8 B, 7 C, 6D, 5 and lower F. I will not announce in advance that there will be a quiz. There will be 13 quizzes that are graded but the lowest 3 quizzes will be dropped in the calculation of the Quiz grade. There are no make-up quizzes. Missed quizzed will be counted among those three dropped.
Note: Quizzs are designed to be completed by students in 6 minutes. Students will have up to 9 minutes to complete them if necessary.
Course and University Policies
GRADING POLICY
This Course’s General Grading Scale:
A = 4.00 90-100%
B = 3.00 80-89%
C = 2.00 70-79%
D =1.00 60-69%
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION AND MAKE UP POLICIES
See here for Marquette’s policies: http://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergrad/academicregulations/#attendance
Regular attendance is required. Please let me know in advance if you have to be absent. If your absence is required on short notice, speak with me about the reasons immediately following it and I may approve. Excessive absences may require removal from the course or substantially lowered grade for Participation.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
See here for Marquette’s policies: https://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergrad/academicregulations/
ACCOMMODATION OF DISABILITIES
See here for Marquette’s policies: http://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergra /personalresourcesandfacilities/#disabilityservices
THE WRITING CENTER
The Ott Memorial Writing Center is a place for all Marquette writers! Our trained peer tutors can help you brainstorm ideas, plan or revise a draft, or fine-tune any piece of writing. You can drop in or make an appointment online; you can also meet weekly with a tutor who can help you stay on top of your writing, including coursework and special projects for school, work, or just for you!
During Fall 2023, 30- and 60-minute appointments are available both in person and online. The Ott Writing Center located at 240 Raynor Library: Drop in or signup online. You’re also welcome to reach out to us at writingcenter@marquette.edu.
I recommend that you consider taking advantage of the Writing Center (located on the second floor of the library) early and often during the course of the semester. The Writing Center is a free service for all students and can provide assistance with nearly every step of the writing process in either 30 or 60-minute appointments. https://www.marquette.edu/writing-center/
ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Technology provides us with wonderful tools and we will be using it in this class. But I must have your full attention in our philosophy class. I have sat in on classes in which students were emailing, browsing and otherwise wasting their class time on laptops or phones or tablets. Humans often find that they can resist anything, except temptation!
Use of such devices in class is generally not permitted. But if you must use them, you must agree not to allow it to distract you from our class and you also must agree to allow my inspection of your use at any time without advanced notice. If there is abuse of this permission, it may be withdrawn for individuals.
CONSUMPTION OF FOOD AND DRINK IN CLASS
Consumption of liquids in class is encouraged as vital hydration or attention stimulation (coffee). But consumption of food in class is prohibited. Exceptions may be permitted in cases where food is provided for all the students and for the instructor of the course. Talk to the instructor about exceptions for medical reasons or other factors.