ETHICS 115 - OLD ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thursday, February 18
#1 - A PHILOSOPHY TUTOR is available to help you better understand the readings, prepare for quizzes and exams and to work on your HWs and/or paper. You can also visit me of course during my schedule office hours.
The philosophy tutor is Ryan Garrett - he's very approachable, patient, and sharp. Here are his hours at the Library and Learning Center (in the library on the MJC east campus):
Mondays: 11:30 am to 5 pm
Wednesdays: 11:30 am to 7 pm
You will need to call 209-575-6346 for an appointment during these times.
#2 - I will begin ANNOTATION/JOURNAL APPOINTMENTS starting NEXT WEEK. On Monday I will be posting an APPOINTMENT SCHEDULE (in 10 minute increments) on my OFFICE DOOR AT 120K FOUNDERS HALL (1st floor). You will have about 6-7 weeks to come and visit. What you need to do: a) Go to my office door sometime in the next month starting this monday; b) sign up for an open appointment that you can attend; c) come to your appointment! (Note: if you have to cancel an appointment do not email me. Simply go back to my door and cross off your name so that another student can take your spot!)
When you visit bring: a) all primary texts that we have read up to the date of your appointment (so early birds bring less and late birds bring more!); b) your journal - i expect to see at least two pages per week completed at the time of your appointment - again early birds vs late bird rule applies. I might ask you to comment on your annotations that you have made. At the conclusion of your appt we will decide on a fair grade for this part of the course.
I will post TWO WEEKS of appointments at a time on my door. Again you will have up to roughly 6 weeks to see me.
Friday, Feb. 12
Given the blackboard problems (they were just fixed yesterday), there will be NO ONLINE quiz. Instead we will have a 10 question quiz next Friday in class (it will count as "two quizzes"). We will finish the Abrahamic arguments in favor of USR BEFORE we take the quiz. See below for the quiz topics/questions.
The quiz will be a mix of "easy questions" in which you need to show me that you know the general view of the following philosophers and some difficult questions in which you need to show me evidence that you have read these texts carefully.
The quiz will be open-book and open note.
The purpose of the quiz is to motivate you to read these readings as carefully as possible, to come to class next Friday with questions!!!, and to see if you can figure out the argument being given by each author (St. Anslem, Richard Taylor, William Craig, J.L. Mackie, Richard Swinburne and Robin Lepoideven and the introductory chapter on pages 83-89). I want you to struggle to figure out what the argument is, and how it works. I strongly encourage you to annotate these readings if you have not already done so:
What else should you do this week? In addition to carefully reading, annotating, and preparing for the in class quiz next week you should also work on your short paper number one which is due next Friday at midnight. On turnitin.com . By working on your paper and closely annotating the readings for this week (see below – I have updated the reading schedule) you should find it fairly easy to work on your paper as well. In regards to your paper if none of the views satisfy you so far you are free to propose your own arguments – as long as you explain at some point why you find the views of philosophers insufficient. In other words be sure to make it clear to me that you have read the readings carefully.
Enjoy and feel free to email me if you have questions. – Bill
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Here are some extra credit activities you can do for 115. These are due anytime during the semester. One activity is a review of a "media impression" that you find on the internet in which someone is attempting philosophy of religion. The other activity is a philosophical interview with a religious leader at a faith-based (or USR-based) community that is unfamiliar to you.
There have been some technical problems loading up the black board quiz. I should have this fixed today (due to an outage blackboard was unable to load new classes - it's now been fixed (2/11/16) and I will announce the quiz here. The due date will be extended appropriately.
There is NO class on Friday. I'll update the readings later today.
Thursday, Feb. 4th
Tomorrow, Friday, we will finish discussing the U.S.R. for Buddhism and Taoism and then we will primarily focus on the evidence and arguments regarding Abrahamic U.S.R. (ie, arguments for and against the existence of God).
Wednesday, Feb. 3rd
My office hours are cancelled today due to an MJC meeting that I must attend
Tuesday, January 26
1. We will begin class on Friday with the quiz that was scheduled for last week. The quiz concepts are listed below under the Jan. 21 announcement.
2. I have now posted HW 1. Since I am just posting it now it is not due until this Saturday, midnight, via turnitin.com. Turnitin access information can be found on your syllabus. Here are the criteria and instructions for the HW:
A. Describe what you think is Ultimate Sacred Reality (1 paragraph). List the attributes of this Ultimate Sacred Reality (U.S.R). Then, for the remainder of the page, provide your BEST argument (reasons in support of your view) for the existence of this U.S.R.
B. Based on the readings compare and contrast two different descriptions of U.S.R.s Choose one from the Abrahamic traditions and one from eastern religions. Then tell me which seems more "logical" and "internally coherent."
Thursday, January 21
Tomorrow there will be a reading quiz per the schedule below. There is no HW due this week by the way (if there was HW due it would be listed on the schedule page). The questions will cover the assigned reading. The quiz will be open book. I am aware that I did not post the quiz topics until now so let's see how we do with the quiz tomorrow. Here are the topics that the short (4 question) quiz will focus on:
Friday, January 15 - Welcome to Philosophy 115, Philosophy of Religion!
Be sure to check this page as well as the home page for updates on campus events and this course. When I update the schedule/assignments to the right I will also let you know in the announcements section. You can also see your grades, syllabi, and links to resources that will help you succeed in this class. Finally I will also post here the overview (topics) for most classes.
Thursday, February 18
#1 - A PHILOSOPHY TUTOR is available to help you better understand the readings, prepare for quizzes and exams and to work on your HWs and/or paper. You can also visit me of course during my schedule office hours.
The philosophy tutor is Ryan Garrett - he's very approachable, patient, and sharp. Here are his hours at the Library and Learning Center (in the library on the MJC east campus):
Mondays: 11:30 am to 5 pm
Wednesdays: 11:30 am to 7 pm
You will need to call 209-575-6346 for an appointment during these times.
#2 - I will begin ANNOTATION/JOURNAL APPOINTMENTS starting NEXT WEEK. On Monday I will be posting an APPOINTMENT SCHEDULE (in 10 minute increments) on my OFFICE DOOR AT 120K FOUNDERS HALL (1st floor). You will have about 6-7 weeks to come and visit. What you need to do: a) Go to my office door sometime in the next month starting this monday; b) sign up for an open appointment that you can attend; c) come to your appointment! (Note: if you have to cancel an appointment do not email me. Simply go back to my door and cross off your name so that another student can take your spot!)
When you visit bring: a) all primary texts that we have read up to the date of your appointment (so early birds bring less and late birds bring more!); b) your journal - i expect to see at least two pages per week completed at the time of your appointment - again early birds vs late bird rule applies. I might ask you to comment on your annotations that you have made. At the conclusion of your appt we will decide on a fair grade for this part of the course.
I will post TWO WEEKS of appointments at a time on my door. Again you will have up to roughly 6 weeks to see me.
Friday, Feb. 12
Given the blackboard problems (they were just fixed yesterday), there will be NO ONLINE quiz. Instead we will have a 10 question quiz next Friday in class (it will count as "two quizzes"). We will finish the Abrahamic arguments in favor of USR BEFORE we take the quiz. See below for the quiz topics/questions.
The quiz will be a mix of "easy questions" in which you need to show me that you know the general view of the following philosophers and some difficult questions in which you need to show me evidence that you have read these texts carefully.
The quiz will be open-book and open note.
The purpose of the quiz is to motivate you to read these readings as carefully as possible, to come to class next Friday with questions!!!, and to see if you can figure out the argument being given by each author (St. Anslem, Richard Taylor, William Craig, J.L. Mackie, Richard Swinburne and Robin Lepoideven and the introductory chapter on pages 83-89). I want you to struggle to figure out what the argument is, and how it works. I strongly encourage you to annotate these readings if you have not already done so:
- The Ontological argument in favor of God's existence- what is the basic argument? (ie, St. Anselm's ontological argument).
- The Cosmological argument in favor of God's existence - what is the basic argument?
- How does Richard Taylor use the principle of sufficient reason to argue that God exists (this is his version of the Cosmological argument in support of God's existence).
- How does Richard Taylor use the concepts of "necessary and contingent" to argue for the existence of God?
- William Craig/kalam argument/Ghazali - what is Craig's view regarding the idea of "a past sequence of events that continue on into infinity in the past…" Does he think that this is possible? How does Craig refer to this notion, "that the past my eight continue on forever into the deeper past" in his argument regarding God?
- How does J.L. Mackie respond to Craig's view about "actual infinities"?
- J.L. Mackie thinks that he has destroyed the cosmological argument by Taylor that relies on "the principle of sufficient reason". Describe Mackey's counterargument – his argument that says that relying on the principle of sufficient reason will not work if one is trying to prove that God exists.
- The Design argument in support of God's existence. What is the basic argument here?
- What is Richard Swinburne's "design argument" – how is it different from William Paley's? Does Swinburne reject or accept evolution here?
- What is Robin Lepoideven's response to Richard Swinburne? Does he agree with Swinburne's design argument in support of God? Or does he criticize it? How does he criticize it?
- How does Puligandla's use turiya in his argument for the existence of Atman and thus Brahman ?
- Extra credit question: describe the argument by Karen Carr and Philip Ivanhoe against rationalism and in favor of anti-rationalism when it comes to arguing for ultimate sacred reality
What else should you do this week? In addition to carefully reading, annotating, and preparing for the in class quiz next week you should also work on your short paper number one which is due next Friday at midnight. On turnitin.com . By working on your paper and closely annotating the readings for this week (see below – I have updated the reading schedule) you should find it fairly easy to work on your paper as well. In regards to your paper if none of the views satisfy you so far you are free to propose your own arguments – as long as you explain at some point why you find the views of philosophers insufficient. In other words be sure to make it clear to me that you have read the readings carefully.
Enjoy and feel free to email me if you have questions. – Bill
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Here are some extra credit activities you can do for 115. These are due anytime during the semester. One activity is a review of a "media impression" that you find on the internet in which someone is attempting philosophy of religion. The other activity is a philosophical interview with a religious leader at a faith-based (or USR-based) community that is unfamiliar to you.
There have been some technical problems loading up the black board quiz. I should have this fixed today (due to an outage blackboard was unable to load new classes - it's now been fixed (2/11/16) and I will announce the quiz here. The due date will be extended appropriately.
There is NO class on Friday. I'll update the readings later today.
Thursday, Feb. 4th
- Short Paper #1 - "The BEST argument for USR" is due Friday, Feb. 19 at 11:59 pm via turnitin.com . You have an option to use xmind.net for part of this paper. This is a free mind-mapping software program that works on both MACs and PCs. you can download it here.
- Reading Quiz 2 will be conducted ONLINE via blackboard. It will open on Monday, Feb. 7 at 11:59 pm and close Saturday, February 17, 11:59 pm.
- Readings have been updated - see the schedule page below.
Tomorrow, Friday, we will finish discussing the U.S.R. for Buddhism and Taoism and then we will primarily focus on the evidence and arguments regarding Abrahamic U.S.R. (ie, arguments for and against the existence of God).
Wednesday, Feb. 3rd
My office hours are cancelled today due to an MJC meeting that I must attend
Tuesday, January 26
1. We will begin class on Friday with the quiz that was scheduled for last week. The quiz concepts are listed below under the Jan. 21 announcement.
2. I have now posted HW 1. Since I am just posting it now it is not due until this Saturday, midnight, via turnitin.com. Turnitin access information can be found on your syllabus. Here are the criteria and instructions for the HW:
- HW LENGTH: 1 to 1.5 pages typed, 1.5 spacing, .7" margins, ONE LINE at the top for your name and title.
- Choose A or B BELOW
- DUE DATE: 11:59 PM, TURNITIN.COM
A. Describe what you think is Ultimate Sacred Reality (1 paragraph). List the attributes of this Ultimate Sacred Reality (U.S.R). Then, for the remainder of the page, provide your BEST argument (reasons in support of your view) for the existence of this U.S.R.
- Do your best to use reasons that are each different from the others (so don't repeat the same idea in different ways. Give me a number of unique reasons)
- You might try to imagine what you would have to do to convince a RATIONAL, UNBIASED skeptic of your view.
- OPTIONAL: Evaluate your argument - are you contradictory in any way? Are you stating things are very likely to be false or unprovable? Are there perspectives from other traditions that would disagree with you?
B. Based on the readings compare and contrast two different descriptions of U.S.R.s Choose one from the Abrahamic traditions and one from eastern religions. Then tell me which seems more "logical" and "internally coherent."
- NOTE: you might agree that X U.S.R. is more logical than Y even though you personally prefer Y. You can mention this if you wish.
Thursday, January 21
Tomorrow there will be a reading quiz per the schedule below. There is no HW due this week by the way (if there was HW due it would be listed on the schedule page). The questions will cover the assigned reading. The quiz will be open book. I am aware that I did not post the quiz topics until now so let's see how we do with the quiz tomorrow. Here are the topics that the short (4 question) quiz will focus on:
- Philosophy of religion vs. Religious Philosophy vs. Religious studies - what is the difference?
- What is public reason? (see pages 6-7)
- Classical Monotheism vs. Panentheism vs. Polytheism vs. Hindu Vedanta Brahman"ism"
- Possible internal coherence or internal "contradictions" within classical monotheist views.
Friday, January 15 - Welcome to Philosophy 115, Philosophy of Religion!
Be sure to check this page as well as the home page for updates on campus events and this course. When I update the schedule/assignments to the right I will also let you know in the announcements section. You can also see your grades, syllabi, and links to resources that will help you succeed in this class. Finally I will also post here the overview (topics) for most classes.
- WEEK ONE: 1) Syllabus, What is Philosophy? The Three Branches of Philosophy; PHILOSOPHICAL TOOLS: Mapping out the Space of Logical/Metaphysical Possibility; Genus/Species Definitions; 2) What is Ultimate Sacred Reality?