PHIL 106.01 (Philosophical Texts)
Murat Baç
Spring 2007

Hours: T7 Th5 F5

Course Description:  In this course we will continue “Introduction to Philosophy” by studying various philosophical texts and by getting acquainted with different styles of doing philosophy.  We will examine several excerpts with an aim of getting a sound idea about some of the major branches of philosophy.

Reading material:  A course package will be available at Hisar Copy Shop (Nispetiye Str., 23).

Note:  If took my PHIL-101 in Fall 2006 and still have the reader, you will need only COURSE PACKAGE -2.  Otherwise get both COURSE PACKAGE-1 and 2.  The readers contain the following:

Epicurus:  Selections from Principal Doctrines

St. Anselm:  The Ontological Argument for the existence of God

St. Thomas Aquinas:  The Cosmological Argument for the existence of God

W. Paley:  The Teleological Argument for the existence of God

B. Pascal:  A “wager” about the existence of God

R. Descartes:  Meditations I & II

J. Locke:  Selections from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

I. Kant: Selections from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

A. Ayer: Selections from Language, Truth, and Logic

R. Taylor:  Reality consists of matter

G. Berkeley:  Reality consists of Ideas

T. Bisson:  “They Are Made Out of Meat”

J. Dewey: Democracy provides good government

K. Marx: Communist Manifesto, historical materialism

H. Arendt:  Selections from The Human Condition

M. Foucault:  Selections from Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

Grading:  There is no mid-term examination for this course.  You will write an in-class, closed book final exam (40% grade value) which will take place in the finals period.  The remaining part of your total grade will come from three take-home assignments (20% grade value each).  These three essays are expected to be satisfactory both content-wise and with regard to their form.

Reminder: Please read “About Plagiarism” given at the beginning of the course reader carefully.