Introduction to Philosophy

PHI1110A Introduction to Philosophy

Preliminary Syllabus

Course description:

This course is a general introduction to philosophical methods and problems.

The goal s are to:

‧ Introduce you to the pleasures and importance of philosophical reflection on things that matter in life , such as knowledge, the nature of mind, rationality, god, moral values, art, human identity and the meaning of life.

‧ Demonstrate how philosophy can make a distinctive contribution to your understanding of yourself , your beliefs and the world .

You will gain a basic familiarity with some of the major philosophical fields, figures and topics, be encouraged to develop your own views and to defend them with rigorous reasoning.

Learning philosophy is a matter of acquiring not so much a body of information but skills to reflect, in a critical manner, on concepts and their relations.

Our mode of teaching/learning is traditional – reading, thinking, discussing, and writing. No IT or multimedia tools. You are expected to:

‧ Attend all classes,

‧ Read pre-class materials assigned (usually a short essay or book chapter) and think or try to think through them,

‧ Arrive prepared to discuss the materials and participate in class discussion.

In the first tutorial session. You tutor will brief you on the format of tutorials, on what will be expected of you and what you can expect regarding teaching in tutorials.

Topics:

I. Introduction

1. What is philosophy? Why study it?

II. God, Mind and Soul

2. Faith and Reason: Can you prove God exist?

3. Mind & Body: What is consciousness? Can machines have minds?

4. Self, Person & Identity: Who am I?

III. Knowledge and Rationality

5. Matrix, Dreaming & Skepticism: Does the external world really exist?

6. Paradigm of Conceptual Engineering: What is ‘knowledge”?

7. Confirmation and Induction: Are you sure the sun will rise tomorrow?

8. From Prisoner’s Dilemma to the Origin of Virtues: How do we act rationally?

IV. Values and Morality

9. Subjectivism and Relativism: Are there objective values?

10. Normative Ethics: Is what is moral what has the best consequences?

11. Applying Ethics: Is discrimination always morally wrong?

Assessment

The grading of the course will be based on tutorials, short essays/quizzes,take-home examination.

References:

General only. References for each topic will be supplied in lecture notes.