Introduction to Philosophy 3501-WISIP-INPHIL
Each chapter will be discussed over two consecutive meetings.
Week 1: When is it appropriate to ask the question ‘why?’, and when is the question inapplicable?
Week 2: How to make a definition? The difference between descriptive and projective definitions.
Week 3: Paradoxes of truth.
Week 4: How does evidence differs from observation, proof, argument and assumption?
Week 5: Illusions and hallucinations.
Week 6: Phenomenalism, reliability of senses, solipsism.
Week 7: The myth of the given.
Week 8: Hypotheses and theories.
Week 9: Determinism and indeterminism
Week 10: Necessity in the causal connection.
Week 11: Personal identity.
Week 12: Artificial Intelligence.
Week 13: Religious experience.
Week 14: Arguments for the existence of God
Week 15: Deriving Ought from Is.
Week 16: Ethical theories.
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
A. Knowledge:
1. Student will acquire basic information about leading philosophers in the history of Europe.
2. He/she will develop an opinion about the relationship between philosophy, arts and sciences.
3. He/she will acquire basic philosophical vocabulary.
4. He/she will learn to see individual philosophical issues against the background of leading philosophical opinions.
5. He/she will be able to identify major philosophical topics.
B. Skills:
1. Student will learn how to use the Internet to find answers to philosophical questions.
2. He/she will attempt to participate in philosophical discussion in a rational manner.
3. He/she will be able to detect logical connections between different theoretical claims.
4. He/she will learn the methods of fair criticism.
5. He/she will be able to compare the rationality of different philosophical arguments.
C. Social Competence
1. Student will cherish the chance to use a library.
2. He/she will understand the competing impacts of frankness and of unanimity.
3. Her/she will be able to rely on other fields than philosophy to better interpret philosophical issues.
4. He/she will learn not to be gullible, stubborn, verbally arrogant, repetitive and boring.
5. He/she will acquire the ability to work collectively with his/her peers.
Assessment criteria
Students will be evaluated for their knowledge of each chapter and for their participation in discussions (50%). They will write a semester paper on a chapter of their choice (50%).
Number of absences: 2
Bibliography
John Hospers, "Introduction to Philosophical Analysis"
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: