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Introduction to Philosophy PHIL 1013 Syllabus Section MW01S Term: Late Spring 2022

Instructor Information

Instructor Email and Phone Office Location Professor Angela D. Cotner, M.A., J.D.

Office Hours

[email protected] 405.682.1611 ext. 7238

AH 3E5 (3rd floor of AH Center)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:30-9:20 11 am-2 pm

12:30-1:30

8:30-9:20 11:30-1:30

8:30-9:20 12:00-1:00

Online; by appointment

General Information

Description

After a review of the methods and sub-fields of philosophy, students will describe the positions selected philosophers have taken on several basic problems. Students will also describe and defend their own perspectives on these problems.

Course Competencies/Objectives

• Engage in deeper reading of primary text material

• Identify elements of effective philosophical thinking

• Discuss and apply theories of various philosophers regarding questions of metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology

• Analyze various arguments related to metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology to determine their logical consistency and implications for human existence

• Apply critical thinking skills and analysis to social issues

• Practice analysis of ideas and epochs

Required Textbook

Free, Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook: Ondich, Jody. Words of Wisdom. Lake Superior College, Duluth, MN. 2018.

https://www.oercommons.org/courses/words-of-wisdom-intro-to-philosophy Other Course Materials: You will select your own outside research sources.

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Instructor Policies and Procedures

Email

Use your OCCC email address when communicating about grades or assignments. I will check email frequently between 7 am – 4 pm each weekday and will respond within a few hours on weekdays during those hours. For emails in the evenings and on weekends, I will respond within 12-24 hours.

Respect to Fellow Classmates

Diversity of thought is a strength. A class with varying opinions is a great opportunity to learn from each other. Be courteous and show respect to others in their opinions and ideas by acknowledging that their family and culture have shaped their views and by not trying to argue someone out of their own experience. Academically appropriate language is required at all times.

Course Grades

The final grade for PHIL 1013 will be a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F as defined in the college catalog.

Likely Breakdown of Points

A 1000-900 points

B 899-800 points

C 799-700 points

D 699-600 points

F -599 points

Course Work

The course is designed so that you will have the opportunity to reflect and to articulate ideas in a philosophical manner. This means you will gain practice in analysis, reading and research, coherent writing, and organization of projects that will all strengthen your own philosophical understanding and views. Course activities include:

Forum/Discussion Posts: Online discussions consist of an initial post and two response posts. The discussion topics will come from the textbook and from outside resources.

Initial Postings: Initial postings are essential to provide the foundation for discussion, so you should plan to make your initial posting as early in each week as possible. 15 points each

Response postings: Effective discussion requires that a student attentively reads what others say in their weekly Initial Postings and respond to what they are saying. You may disagree or offer an alternative point of view; however, you should be respectful and avoid any attacks on what someone else states. Practice tact and diplomacy even if you disagree with someone. 5 points each.

To earn the maximum number of points for discussion each week, you must make at least one initial posting as well as respond to two other postings. The total possible for your participation in the discussions is 25 points each week. For a good initial post, 300 + words are expected, assessing

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the Forum with coherence and unity and always philosophical decorum. Your response posts should be 50 + words and should support a positive dialogue among our many ideas encountered.

Reading: Good philosophers cannot get away from reading, and in fact, it is a real plus to enjoy reading, and reading things that stretch and strengthen your brain. Practice engaged reading by taking notes, writing down questions you have, and by pondering the concepts you encounter. This is college, and this is a philosophy. Expect to read a section more than once to understand it. See the Schedule of Assignments for readings that correspond to the digital textbook.

Weekly Reflections: instead of exams, you will demonstrate your understanding of a week’s material by completing weekly summaries where you can reflect on what you learned and ask questions of material you still do not understand. Reading Journals: Your thinking and journaling practice is crucial to attaining the skills and insights that a good philosophy experience can offer. This is an opportunity to reflect upon your reading by drawing out the essential ideas and by narrating your connection to those ideas. Journals are the most unstructured of all the assignments. They can be written as essay reflections, dialogues, charts, graphs, diagrams, cartoons, drawings, video, etc. Journaling is to capture your response and insights to readings and to class discussions and activities. To do this well, you will discover for yourself a focused idea from each week’s reading experience and develop an essay-like format with defines your thesis idea and its development. 25 points each

Creative Projects: You will complete 2 Creative Projects for this course: "Befriending a Philosopher" and "Becoming a Philosopher." Project one contains four parts, and project two contains three parts. See the Projects section of Moodle for details.

"Befriending a Philosopher" is about your research of a selected philosopher and concerns biography, historical context, reading primary text, and connecting the given philosopher to the modern world. This project will culminate in a final form of essay by Week 4.

"Being a Philosopher" is your focused intent upon one of the many possible philosophical issues. You will choose from self-interest and self-curiosity from almost anything: a given theory, a field like ethics or metaphysics, one well-known idea from a given philosopher, a field like the philosophy of religion or the philosophy of science, a compare/contrast of two ideas, etc.

Late Work: No work can be turned in after the last day of class. All other assignments may be turned in up to one week late for a ten percent deduction. Each student will have one late pass to use on an assignment, which allows an assignment to be turned in up to one week late without a late deduction. To use a late pass, add “late pass” when submitting a discussion, journal, or weekly summary.

Course Schedule

See the Schedule of Assignments in the Class Info section for due dates.

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OCCC Policies

Accommodations for Students with Special Needs

Oklahoma City Community College complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act & the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities who seek academic adjustments/accommodations must make their request by contacting the office of Student Accessibility Support located on the first floor of the main building near SEM entry 3 or by calling 405-682-7520. All academic adjustments/ accommodations must be approved through this office.

If you have been approved by Student Accessibility Support to receive academic adjustments/accommodations, you will receive an email or letter from them with your approved accommodations attached. You should forward that email to me so I will know what is authorized and then you must talk with me either after class, via email, or during my office hours. This will allow me to be better informed on how to assist you with access during the semester. To respect your privacy, I will not approach you, but the academic adjustments/accommodations must be discussed to ensure ideal implementation for you. All information will remain confidential.

Pregnancy and Parenting Oklahoma City Community College does not discriminate against any student or exclude any student from its education program or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of parenting, such student’s pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery therefrom. For the purpose of this policy, Caretaking is defined as a person providing for the needs of a child and Parenting is defined as the raising of a child by the child’s parents in the reasonably immediate post- partum period. Oklahoma City Community College has a new policy (Policy 1013) with procedures for ensuring the protection and equal treatment of pregnant individuals, persons with pregnancy-related conditions, and new parents. Students are encouraged to work with their faculty members and OCCC’s support systems to devise a plan for how to best address the conditions as pregnancy progresses, anticipate the need for leaves, minimize the academic impact of their absence, and get back on track as efficiently and comfortably as possible. If you should need assistance you can contact the Equity and Compliance Coordinator, Kimberly Rundell, at [email protected] or 405-682-7850. You can learn more about Reasonable Accommodation of Students Affected by Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Conditions and Authorization for Modified Academic Responsibilities Policy for Parenting Students at https://www.occc.edu/wp-content/legacy/policy/pdf/1013.pdf Title IX The Equity and Compliance Coordinator will assist with Title IX policy and procedures as needed. If you should need assistance you can contact the Equity and Compliance Coordinator, Kimberly Rundell, at [email protected] or 405-682-7850. You can also contact the Title IX Coordinator, Regina Switzer, at [email protected] or 405-682-7890. Accommodation Statement Oklahoma City Community College complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act & the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities who seek academic adjustments/accommodations must make their request by contacting the office of Student Accessibility and Support located on the first floor of the main building near SEM entry 3 or by calling 405-682-7520. All academic adjustments/ accommodations must be approved by Student

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Accessibility and Support. If you have been approved by Student Accessibility and Support to receive academic adjustments/accommodations, you will receive an email from them with your approved accommodations attached. You should forward that email to me so I will know what is authorized and then you must talk with me either after class or during my office hours. This will allow me to be better informed on how to assist you with access during the semester. To respect your privacy, I will not approach you, but the academic adjustments/accommodations must be discussed to ensure ideal implementation for you. All information will remain confidential. Copyright Lectures and course materials in this course, including presentations, tests, exams, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by United States copyright law (Title 17, US Code) and belong to either OCCC or the individual instructor. During this course, students are encouraged to take notes and download course materials for their own educational use. Students are prohibited from sharing or selling copyrighted course materials to any other person or entity, other than sharing them directly with another student enrolled in the course during the same semester for purposes of studying, without prior written permission from the course instructor. Students are prohibited from selling any course materials to any website or any individual. Never Attended/Non-Attendance

• Students who do not attend class(es) for which they have enrolled, will be reported as Never Attend and will receive a status of NA. The deadline for students to attend class or engage in an online class is the drop with refund date for the respective term.

• The NA will not be reported on the student’s transcript. • The status of NA is given regardless of the student’s financial aid status and/or if the

student has made any payments. • A first semester student who is NA’d from all of their respective classes, will not be

charged the $30 enrollment fee. • Students will not be charged for the class(es) for which they receive an NA. • Students’ financial aid awards will be recalculated to remove NA courses, which may

result in a reduced award amount.

Withdrawal “W”

You officially withdraw from a class by submitting a drop form in the Office of Records and Graduation Services, or by dropping the class through your student portal. Withdrawals don’t count toward your GPA. However, withdrawals may negatively impact your eligibility for federal student financial assistance. Remember, there is a deadline for withdrawing for each semester or term. Your professors can’t drop you from any class, but you should consider discussing your decision with your professor before dropping a class.

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