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PHIL 120: Introduction to Philosophy

Summer 2022

Course Description

Philosophy 120 is designed to be an introduction to the history, ideas and methods of philosophy as an organized discipline.  During the course of the semester we will explore various ideas encountered by major figures in the history of philosophy.  People like Plato, Aristotle and Descartes will be discussed; also ideas concerning the nature of reality, how humans know, what one ought to do in order to be moral, whether we have free will, and whether we can prove the existence of God, will be examined.  We will begin by tracing the origins of philosophy in Greek culture and determine what philosophy is and what it is that philosophers do. The course has multiple objectives: To acquaint students with major texts in the history of philosophy; to introduce students to contemporary philosophical discussions about how and what we know about our world and ourselves; to develop the students’ abilities to engage in critical analysis of difficult texts and the arguments presented by these texts; to enhance the abilities of students to write a sustained argument and to engage in research supporting the argument they present; to prompt students to engage in reflective and critical discussions of issues about knowledge.  

We will approach this course by considering two thematic areas: Core issues related to knowledge- What is knowledge?  How do we get it? What can I know? What type of critter are we that can acquire knowledge?  What faculties/capacities must we have to do so? and Application issues- What am I? What is real? What ought I to do? How can I distinguish truth from falsehood (truth from error)?

In addition to the above course objectives, it is expected that upon completing this course, you will have made significant progress toward meeting the following goals: students will become familiar with central theories, figures, and texts from the history of philosophy, with a focus on the traditions of western philosophy stemming from ancient Greece but also including aspects other philosophical traditions; students will become familiar with contemporary academic philosophy as practiced in philosophy departments at universities in the United States; students will learn how to read a philosophical text; students will learn how to write philosophical/argument-based essays.

Required Texts

Plato, 5 Dialogues 2^nd edition, Hackett Publishing, 2002

Rene Descartes,  Meditations, Objections and Replies, Hackett Publishing, 2006

David Hume, Enquiry into Human Understanding, Hackett Publishing, 1993

Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, Hackett Publishing, 2002

Karl Jaspers, Way to Wisdom, Yale University Press, 2003

Other reading materials (and most of these) will be provided through your student center.

Course Assessment Requirements

During the term, there will be:

4 short papers- due every week (15% each, 60% total)

Daily homework- (reading questions- 1% each, 20% total)

Daily discussion posts/attendance- (1 % each, 20% total).  

The short papers will be 1-2 pages, single-spaced, TimesNewRoman 12 pt font (apprx. 650 words), and will address one topic from the week that you find the most philosophically interesting. More details on BB

Zoom meeting every Tuesday 9am China time (9pm EST, US).

Evaluation and Grading

Course Hours

The course has 20 class sessions in total. Each class session is 120 minutes in length, for a total of 2400 minutes of in-class time. The course meets from Monday to Thursday from June 27, 2022 – July 29, 2022. FHSU awards 3 credits for this course. Different universities may count course credits differently. Consult officials at your own home institution.

Attendance- for online class

Summer session is very intense and to be successful, students need to perform all the activities for every class. Occasionally, due to illness or other unavoidable circumstance, a student may miss a reading question assignment or discussion  post.   Any absence may impact on the student's grade. Moreover, any student who has more than 5 missing assignments will fail the course.

Academic Honesty

EPIE in conjunction with FHSU expects all students to do their own work. Instructors will fail assignments that show evidence of plagiarism or other forms of cheating, and will also report the student's name to the University administration. A student reported to the University for cheating is placed on disciplinary probation; a student reported twice is suspended or expelled.

Disability Accommodation 

Any student who needs special accommodation due to the impact of disability should inform the University within 10 days before the program starts. 

Tentative Schedule

Please note the schedule is subject to change