Fall 2026 Phil 1001 Section 123
Course Website Under Full Revision. Final version 31 August 2026
Students should first purchase this physical book (not eBook): Plato Reader: Eight Essential Dialogues, ed. C.D.C. Reeve. ISBN 978-1603848114
Shortcut Links To Phil 1001 Course Webpages
Syllabus Part 1 of 2
Welcome!
Instructor: Prof. Richard Taylor, MU Philosophy Department
Course Location: Cudahy Hall 126
Office Hours at Marquette Hall 437: Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:30-5 pm; Tuesdays & Thursdays AMU Cafeteria 5:15-6:15 pm. I can also meet in person or online via TEAMS other days and times by appointment. Email: Richard.Taylor@Marquette.edu
After discussing BRAINS in several ways, we will turn to an explanation of our course through Aristotle’s conception of the four causes (Final, Formal, Material and Efficient) and the Neoplatonic conception of the six causes (which adds Instrumental and Paradigmatic).
(1) Final Causes: Purposes and Goals to be achieved
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:
(a) 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.
(b) 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).
(c) 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.
(2) Formal Cause: Course Syllabus. See the Detailed Syllabus page: HERE.
(3) Material Causes: Texts studied.
Required texts:
(i) Physical book (not eBook): Plato Reader: Eight Essential Dialogues, ed. C.D.C. Reeve. ISBN 978-1603848114
(ii) Augustine. On Free Choice of the Will, Thomas Williams, tr., Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1993 (Available free online through Marqcat. Details of location forthcoming.)
(iii) Selections of other materials to be made available through the instructor. (Handouts and articles for study will be made available to you but for class you must study and bring with you printed versions. I will announce in class any exceptions to this.)
Students should also budget ca. $20 for required copying.
(4) Instrumental Cause: Your instructor
(5) Paradigmatic Cause: You as a manifestation of Human Being
(6) 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 in the course by your own effort and engagement with the course. I provide them by observation.
GRADING POLICY
Participation Grade: 20%. As the Captain in the original series Star Trek frequently says, “Engage!” This engagement in class discussion 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.
Homework Notes (Link) are part of the 20% Participation Grade along with Class Discussion. Homeworks will be graded in this way: E quite excellent, + very good, ✓ good, ok developing, X poor or inadequate. These are recorded on my own grading sheets. Homeworks are returned to you at class. Again, homework represents only part of the Participation grade.
Special Participation Grade Experiment: As indicated above, the Participation Grade is made up of two parts, Engagement in Class Discussion and Homework Notes. Students who (i) show good Engagement in classroom discussions and (ii) have at least half of Homework Notes grades of ✓ good or better, will receive a grade of A for Participation in the end of term final calculation of grades.
Quizzes will be 20% of your final course grade. In grading the lowest 3 of 13 quiz grades will be excluded from the final grade calculation for quizzes. The quizzes are T/F and there are 10 questions, 1 point per question. Normally I will not announce in advance that there will be a quiz. Again, there will be 13 quizzes that are graded but the lowest 3 quizzes will be dropped in the final calculation of the quiz grade. There will be no make-up quizzes. Missed quizzes will be graded as 0/10 and counted among those three dropped. Note: Quizzes are designed to be completed by students in 6 minutes. Students will have up to 9 minutes to complete them if necessary. Quiz grades will be entered in D2L.
In sum: 3 Exams* at 20% each, Quizzes 20%, Participation (Note Sheets, Classroom Discussion) 20%. *I am pondering the possibility of having 1 or 2 of the exams as oral exams. This will be decided later in the semester.
This Course’s Final Grading Scale:
A 93-95; A- 90-92; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 83-81; C+ 78-80; C 75-77; C- 72-74; D+ 69-71; D 66-68; D- 60-65. Below: F.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION AND MAKE UP POLICIES
See here for Marquette’s policies: http://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergrad/academicregulations/#attendance
Regular attendance is required. Every single absence means missing something very important contributing to your intellectual and character development. This course is very challenging and will require hard thinking and a great deal of reading as you learn how to think philosophically and expand your brain’s intellectual capacities. What you learn may change your thinking about life. (Many students have told me this is so.) Excessive or regular absences may require removal from the course or substantially lowered grade for Participation. What is excessive regarding absences? More than two. Talk to me in person before or after missing a class.
Extra Credit Opportunities: There may be some announced opportunities for enhancing quiz grades.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
See here for Marquette’s policies: https://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergrad/academicregulations/
ACCOMMODATION OF DISABILITIES
Please see me before or after your first time in class to discuss this matter. See here for Marquette’s policies: https://bulletin.marquette.edu/resources-opportunities/disability-services/. Suitable accommodations will be made in accord with Federal and State law.
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!
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/. What should you ask at your first visit? “How should I do outlines for my Phil 1001 class?”
ELECTRONIC DEVICES and AI Tools
Students are forbidden to use AI tools in studying for this class except for when the instructor specifically approves use. If use of AI is detected in a homework or on an exam, the case will be taken to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for plagiarism. Why? You are beginners in complex philosophical brain tasks of thinking but AI often is used in ways that undermine development of your learning ability with your most important tool, your brain.
The NPR show On Point on 1 January 2026 was focused on brain development and learning and the question of whether AI hinders brain development and thinking. Guests were national and international experts. “Does AI dumb you down?” A recent study shows that people using AI to write for them experience some negative cognitive effects. What is it about the act of writing that improves our thinking? Link. Handwriting was the key.
Technology provides us with wonderful tools but they can be distracting and time and focus wasting. For you truly to learn in this class, I must have your full attention for our philosophical studies. (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!) Hence, while I want you to bring your devices to class, you may not use them in class unless I give you explicit permission.
While electronic tools (e.g. computers, tablets, phones) are not permitted for regular classroom use, nevertheless we will experiment with AI together in class, not as if it is an authority but as if it is another discussant of philosophical issues and arguments. (Handouts and articles for study will be made available to you but for class you must study and bring with you printed versions.)
Special Exception: In accord with Wisconsin state law and US federal law students with MU registered academic accommodations will be permitted use of electronic devices when approved by the Office of Disability Services.
“What? No AI tools? What universe is this prof living in?”
AI tools are developing quickly, so quickly it is a very difficult challenge to keep up with new forms and uses. In this course I intend to do some thinking and experimenting about how to use AI tools to advance learning. Marquette University academic committees and departments are working to figure out the positive uses of AI tools that do not involve plagiarism or promote student laziness contrary to the mental and character development MU is always seeking to advance. So I will be working to figure out ways to use AI to enhance learning (which is not memorization of facts) and brain development.
CONSUMPTION OF FOOD AND DRINK IN CLASS
Consumption of liquids in class is encouraged as vital hydration or attention stimulation (coffee, tea, water, sodas). But consumption of food in class is prohibited except when pre-approved by the instructor on the basis of medical need.
Religious Observances
MU Requirements for Students:
- Make every effort to schedule classes that will minimize conflicts caused by these activities and related travel.
- Provide written notification, including a schedule of all activities and related travel to all your instructors within the first two weeks of each term, or as soon as possible for non-scheduled events.
- Obtain any class notes or other course material missed due to these absences, prior to taking any subsequent examinations or submitting any subsequent graded assignments.
- Make arrangements with the instructor to make up any missed work/lectures, prior to any of these absences.