Syllabus – Philosophy 499                            Professor Tom Atchison 
Advanced Seminar in Philosophy                Office:  317 St. John’s Hall (St. Paul Campus)
Spring Semester 2023                                   Office hours: Wednesday from 11:00 to 2:00 and by appointment

Email: Thomas.Atchison@metrostate.edu (best contact method)
Office phone: 651-793-1493 (seldom answered)

Catalog Course Description

            This course is intended to support students in doing advanced work in philosophy. Students will work together as a community of inquiry to study a particular author, genre, period or problem selected by the instructor. Texts and topics will be chosen to illustrate the variety of styles and strategies employed by philosophers of varying cultural backgrounds and to include the critiques and contributions of authors from marginalized communities/communities of color. Each student will complete a course paper or project using concepts and methods derived from this and other philosophy courses to explore a philosophical topic of personal interest connected to the seminar topic. Prerequisite: Open to philosophy majors near graduation and to others with appropriate preparation (non- majors need instructor's permission to register). Course may be repeated with instructor¿s permission when topics are significantly different.

 

More Specific Description for This Semester’s Version

This seminar will explore the concept of freedom in several dimensions: metaphysical (as in ‘freedom of the will’), psychological, and social/political.  We will begin with J.S. Mill’s classic essay On Liberty; then explore several more recent treatments of the nature of liberty by Isaiah Berlin (a liberal), G.A. Cohen (a Marxist), F.A. Hayek (a conservative), and others. The later part of the semester will be devoted to exploration of recent writings about freedom, as chosen by students, who will read a boook (or set of articles) of their choice and then report back to the class on their findings. Students will write a substantial paper on some topic that connects to these course readings.  I am hoping that the range and diversity of the readings will offer everyone some place to attach their personal interests and ideas. 

 

Course Objectives from the Catalog

Students will learn to

  1. Demonstrate mastery of the discipline’s scholarly writing conventions, including smooth integration of research material and correct use of documentation and citation procedures at a level consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are characteristic of advanced-standing philosophy majors at a university.
  2. Develop a coherent and sustained argument with a clearly organized development, sufficient evidence, and significant conclusion at a level …[as above]
  3. Develop reading(s) of philosophical text(s) which demonstrate an understanding of argumentative structure, context and lacunae at a level …
  4. Perform research and integrate more than one source about the author, the text, and/or social/ historical context(s) at a level …
  5. Respond effectively to theoretically and culturally diverse research materials in support of an original thesis at a level …
  6. Demonstrate a sensitivity to the role of social identities and power relationships in the shaping of philosophical texts and problems at a level …
  7. Demonstrate familiarity with critiques and contributions by authors from underserved communities/communities of color at a level …

 

Course Materials

            Course readings will be online or handed out in class.  Students who prefer books they can hold in their hands may want to purchase some from an online or brick-and-mortar bookstore.  For example, our first reading will be John Stuart Mill’s essay On Liberty.  This is easily available online, but some may prefer to purchase a print edition.

Please bring the assigned reading to class with you each week.  (We will often spend a good deal of our class time looking at the texts.)

Please make sure your Metro State email account is working and check regularly for class related emails.

Class website:  I maintain a simple website where I post course handouts and information.  The URL is http://www.woldww.net/classes/

 

Conduct of the Course

            Class time will be devoted largely to discussion.  I will rarely lecture, more often I will answer questions as they come up in discussion, and even more often I will try to help you figure out how to answer your questions yourself. 
Much of our discussion will focus on understanding and evaluating the texts.  This will work well only if you have done the assigned reading carefully -- often twice or three times -- and given it some thought.  In philosophy we are interested not in the information that can be extracted from a text, nor simply in the conclusions or opinions that an author expresses; we are primarily interested in understanding and assessing the reasoning that an author uses to try to establish or support those conclusions.  This requires a very careful sort of reading. 
Since a major goal of this course is to help you write a somewhat longer, somewhat deeper paper we will spend some class time working on that, both in a group and individually.

 

Assignments and Grading

Reading assignments
I expect you to find time (several hours) to do the reading for each class and to come prepared to discuss it.  Come to class ready to say what you found interesting, what you found confusing, questionable, or just plain wrong, what seemed to you to be the most important claims made, and what arguments or justifications were offered for those claims.  Expect that you will need to read the assignments more than once to understand them adequately, and plan your time accordingly.

Reading response papers
20 % of your grade will be earned by submitting brief (a page or two, typed, double-spaced) responses to the readings for each class. These must be submitted to the appropriate D2L assignment folder by the beginning of the class period to get full credit. Late papers get no more than 1/2 credit.  Each of these papers should contain: 1) a brief, concise statement of what you take to be the main point (or points) made in the reading) and 2) your questions, objections, observations and/or reactions to the reading for that class. More specific assignments may be made in class and by email.

Class discussion
20% of your grade will also be determined by my evaluation of the quality of your participation in class discussions.  Just showing up and paying attention earns a C for this component; occasionally making helpful contributions earns a B; regularly making helpful contributions earns an A.  Helpful contributions include: asking pertinent questions, answering questions asked by the instructor or by other students, expressing your views about the texts or topics we are discussing, responding (relevantly and respectfully) to the views expressed by others.

Capstone Paper

You will write one longer paper (10-15 pages), due at the end of the semester (May 1).  You will need to submit a topic proposal on March 12 and a rough draft on April 9.  This paper will count for 60% of your grade

Note:  I try hard to base my evaluation of your work on your understanding of the reading, the quality of your reasoning and questioning, and the clarity and effectiveness of your expression of your thoughts, not on whether I agree with your philosophical theories, ideas, or opinions.

Time commitment outside of class
In accordance with Metropolitan State University guidelines, I've designed this course with the expectation that students will do 2-3 hours of course-related work outside of class for every hour spent in class.  In other words, you should expect to spend 6-9 hours a week outside of class working on this course. 

Needed reading and writing skills
Although there are no specific prerequisites for this course, it is intended for philosophy majors ready to do advanced work.  This means that you should have a good number of previous philosophy courses under your belt and the following reading and writing skills:

 

Course Policies

University Non-Attendance and Reporting Policy and Procedure

The purpose of the Non-Attendance and Reporting Policy is to ensure Federal Title IV regulations are adhered to with respect to a student’s enrollment level for the purpose of calculating and paying financial aid.  While Metropolitan State University is not required to take attendance, Federal Title IV financial aid regulations require a procedure to establish that students have attended, at a minimum, one day of class for each course in which the student’s enrollment status was used to determine eligibility for the Pell Grant Program.  In addition, the university needs to determine a last date of attendance for those students who receive all failing grades or unofficially withdraw.

Attendance is defined based on course delivery mode. A student is “in attendance” if he or she meets the following conditions before the end of the second week of the course:
•      Classroom Courses – the student is present in the classroom.

Attendance
I do not require attendance per se, but part of your grade is determined by your participation in class discussion.  I strongly advise regular attendance because the material in this course is relatively difficult and confusing, and few students are able to do well without the explanations and practice provided in class.

Late work
Response papers must be turned in at (or before) the beginning of class to receive full credit.  Late response papers will receive half credit. In fairness to students who turn their capstone papers in on time, I will subtract one grade (e.g., B+ to B) for each day that a capstone paper is late.

Incompletes
I will give incomplete grades only to students who have satisfactorily completed most of the course work and who are unable to finish on time because of circumstances beyond their control.

Plagiarism
All work submitted for this course must be your own.  Plagiarism is the academic ‘sin’ of presenting someone else’s work as your own.  It is plagiarism if you copy something verbatim (word for word) from a published source, from the Internet, or from another student.  It is still plagiarism if you rearrange, paraphrase, condense, or summarize someone else’s work without making clear to your reader what is your contribution and what is taken from your source. If the exact wording comes from your source, then use quotation marks.  If the idea comes from someone else, give him or her credit for it. The way to do this is to cite your sources.  There is a clear and detailed explanation of various forms of plagiarism and of proper citation practices at http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/avoiding-plagiarism.  I will give a grade of ‘F’ to any student who submits plagiarized work for this course.