Introduction to Philosophy: A Global Approach
Topic outline
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INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY: A GLOBAL APPROACH - JPB156
ETCS: 6 credits
Prerequisites: None
Taught in WINTER Semester
Lecturer: Dr Janusz Salamon
Time: MONDAY, 9.30-11.00-12.20-13:50 (including lectures and seminars - see details below)
PLACE: Jinonice, classroom C520 (Seminar at 9:30) & classroom C123 (Lecture at 11:00 and seminar at 12:30) - see details below
CONTACTS:
Email: janusz.salamon at fsv.cuni.cz
Office hours: Monday, 12.30-14.00 & Tuesday, 14:00-15:30 (3 Tuesdays per month) at office 514 (Floor 5) in Jinonice
also at other times ONLINE after appointment at https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/4572739330
COURSE GOALS
Since the course is intended primarily for students of social sciences, who are in need of intellectual tools to understand the complexity of our increasingly interconnected and yet also ideologically fragmented world, its main aim is to teach the skills of careful, thoughtful, rigorous, rational analysis of beliefs, problems and questions, which find no answers in natural sciences, because pertain to specifically human, “first person”, perspective of self-conscious subjects. Thus we will treat philosophical questions as “open questions”, which unsurprisingly have no definitive answers and yet have to be confronted by every individual who hopes to live a meaningful life and by every society hopes to create conditions for flourishing life of its members. Philosophy, since its inception in Ancient Greece, China and India, teaches critical engagement with beliefs, convictions, doctrines and dogmas taken for granted by most in an unreflective manner, thus often clearing the path for a social progress (Plato’s philosophical argument in favour of intellectual equality of men and women may serve as an example). On the other hand, philosophers (including the leading thinkers of the Western tradition), like all of us, tended to be blind to their own cultural prejudices and tended to ignore the contribution of other cultures. Living at the threshold of a Global Age, thoughtful human beings need to engage in a critical but constructive way with the wealth of the diverse intellectual and ethical traditions of humanity, therefore this course adopts a “global”, that is cross-cultural perspective in addressing the eternal human questions: “Who am I?”, “What can I know?”, “What should I do?”, “What can I hope for?”
COURSE OUTLINE
Class 1: Philosophy in the Global Age: Theorising Cross-Cultural Differences [A double LECTURE from 11:00 till 13:50 for everyone] [PLEASE, DO THE HOMEWORK WATCHING THIS TWO-PART DOCUMENTARY:
Class 2: Epistemology (I): Knowing the world or "shaping" the world?
[SEMINAR 1 for Group 1 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 2 at 12:30]
Class 3: Philosophy of language: Wittgenstein or "the limits of my language are the limits of my world" [SEMINAR 1 for Group 3 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 4 at 12:30]
Class 4: Epistemology (II): Epistemic justification and the challenge of scepticism
[SEMINAR 2 for Group 1 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 2 at 12:30]
Class 5: Pragmatism on knowing and acting
[SEMINAR 2 for Group 3 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 4 at 12:30]
Class 6: Introducing "Continental philosophy"
[SEMINAR 3 for Group 1 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 2 at 12:30]
Class 7: Metaphysics or on the "nature of reality" [SEMINAR 3 for Group 3 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 4 at 12:30]
Class 8: MID-TERM WRITTEN TEST for ALL: 11:00-13:50 (covers ONLY the material of classes 1-5 and Seminars 1-2]
Class 9: Problem of the Self or metaphysics of 'personal identity' [SEMINAR 4 for Group 1 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 4 for Group 2 at 12:30]
Class 10: Philosophy of mind and freedom: Are we free or causally determined? [SEMINAR 4 for Group 3 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 4 for Group 4 at 12:30]
Class 11: PPE Philosophical Problems (I) [SEMINAR 5 for Group 1 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 2 at 12:30]
Class 12: PPE Philosophical Problems (II) [SEMINAR 5 for Group 3 at 9:30, followed by LECTURE at 11.00 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 4 at 12:30]
Class 13: SEMINAR 6 for ALL Groups
FINAL WRITTEN EXAM (3 exam dates will be published in the SIS in due course)
COURSE READINGS.
All readings will be available in electronic format available for download from THIS course website (in the SIS).
The readings will be extracted chiefly from the following anthologies:
Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings (ed. Perry, Bratman, Fischer)
Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida (ed. Baird)
Philosophy and Contemporary Issues (ed. Burr, Goldinger)
Philosophy: The Quest for Truth (ed. Pojman)
The Truth about the World: Basic Readings in Philosophy (ed. Rachels)
COURSE GRADING:
Quality participation in the SEMINAR + Final SEMINAR Essay = 30%
Mid-term In-Class Written Test 30%
Final Written Exam 40%
Total 100%
SEMINAR INSTRUCTION
The seminar is mandatory. As indicated in the Syllabus (above), the seminar will be taught in 4 groups. Each student will be informed during Week 1 to which group they belong. Each student must do the relevant seminar reading in advance (the familiarity with the seminar reading will be tested through quizzes at the beginning of each seminar, therefore students who will arrive late and will not take the quiz, will loose the points awarded for the quizzes (2, 1 or 0 points for a single quiz).
The "seminar readings" are uploaded below (in the SIS, not Moodle). The seminars will consists of the discussion of the philosophical arguments introduced in the "seminar readings"
Seminar Essay will be due 48 hours before the final exam (and it will be up to the student to choose from among three final exam DATES published in the SIS in due course).
The Final Seminar Essay instruction will be discussed during seminar 4 (i.e., after the mid-term exam), since the students need to accumulate enough knowledge to be able to work efficiently on the essay.
EXAM INSTRUCTION
The course includes mid-term written test/exam and final written exam. The exams will include TWO types of assignments: (a) writing short essays devoted to the topics selected by the students from a list of topics covering the reading material of "CLASS READINGS"; (b) brief explanations of of few "seminar ARGUMENTS" or "CASE studies". In both cases, the point of the exam will be to test the understanding of the MAIN philosophical issues explored at BOTH the lectures AND the seminars.
NB: Mid-term test will cover ONLY the material of classes 1-5 and Seminars 1-2, while the Final Exam will cover the material explored in the REMAINING lectures and seminars.
GRADING SCALE:
- A = 91-100 % – excellent
- B = 81-90 % – very good
- C = 71-80 % – good
- D = 61-70 % – satisfactory
- E = 51-60 % – minimal pass
- F = 0-50 % – fail