Three credits, Wednesdays 7:00, Hafer 307, Curry College Milton Campus

Alan Anderson; Faculty Building 212; 333-2145

Office Hours: usually a few hours before each class, and by appointment. Messages may be left at 617-333-2145 or 781-828-6965, or by e-mail at alan@neweverymoment.com

This course deals with basic questions of reality, values, ethics, and the creative process in relation to such topics as health care delivery, abortion, confidentiality, dying, genetic engineering, life prolongation, social justice, and alternative views of healing.

We are concerned with what is possible and what is desirable, what we can do and what we should do in relation to health. What is doable depends on what reality is: how the universe is set up and what we can do in relation to it. The area of philosophy that deals with this is metaphysics. The area of philosophy that deals with what is desirable, what we ought to do, is ethics. This course brings them together in practical as well as theoretical ways. The student can gain many insights that will be of value in relation both to his or her personal life and to understanding such vital questions of public concern as assisted suicide, abortion, and health care systems. Healing systems from numerous times and places are considered.

REQUIRED TEXTS (available at Curry College Bookstore):

SOME BOOKS IN LIBRARY, NOT on reserve, for optional reading:

WORLD WIDE WEB RESOURCES:

Philosophical and Other Resources, at http://websyte.com/alan/phil.htm, provides many relevant links, some of them listed specifically in connection with this course. The associated sites http://websyte.com/alan/phil2.htm and http://websyte.com/alan/phil3.htm provide links to numerous related newspaper and magazine articles.

The class will be conducted primarily by discussion of readings reported on by students who volunteer or are picked for this purpose. The number of times that one reports in class will depend on the size of the enrollment.

Supplementing and updating the schedule given below, as far as possible, I'll announce at each class (1) the next class's topic, (2) the specific readings being dealt with, and (3) the students who are reporting at that next class. In this way each student will be given the immediate opportunity to read the material before it is discussed in class. All students are responsible for having some degree of familiarity with all readings discussed in class by students or by the instructor.

In addition to giving reports, each student is to keep a cumulative journal (not to be confused with class notes) presenting a record of the student’s growth in thought, briefly summarizing the material covered in class and giving the student’s own reaction to it, including comparisons with other material in or out of the course, and any relevant personal experiences. In this, the student should keep in mind that this is a philosophy course, and the journal commentaries should emphasize philosophical issues, although not necessarily exclusively. Similarly, oral reports should include reference to whatever ethical or metaphysical positions are involved with the topic, regardless whether reported-on writings refer to such positions. The adequacy of the journal will be determined largely by the amount and quality of philosophical material--primarily ethical and metaphysical--that it includes. In addition to having currently relevant books and/or handouts in class, students should have their journals, from which they may be required to read aloud at any class. Perhaps the best way to submit journals is to e-mail them to alan@neweverymoment.com; they will be acknowledged even before being graded.

Grading will be based on in-class reports and cumulative journals (see above), to be handed in before mid-term and at the end of the semester. Outstanding oral participation in class will be taken into consideration, particularly in cases in which there is some question about the worth of other work. The Sept. 27 oral presentations do not count as in-class reports referred to below, but students who are late in doing this work will lose credit as if they were late to the class, for each class when not ready with this work. This work is simply a prerequisite to the earning of credit as indicated below.

In each case below, note that the grading is subject to possible loss of credit for absences and tardiness, as stated below, and subject to being raised for exceptionally good class participation.

If you write no journal and give no oral report, you will receive a course grade of F.

If you write (preferably on a computer or typewriter) a poor journal and give a poor oral report, or write a satisfactory journal (indicating significant understanding of what was covered in assignments and in class) journal but give no oral report, or give a satisfactory oral report but write no journal, you will receive a grade in the D range.

If you write a satisfactory journal and give a satisfactory report, you will receive a course grade in the C range.

If you write a satisfactory or outstanding journal and give an outstanding oral report in class, you will receive a course grade in the B range.

If you write an outstanding journal and give two or more oral reports, at least one of which is outstanding, you will receive a course grade in the A range.

In connection with each of these, class participation other than in the giving of oral reports will be taken into consideration, especially with regard to plus and minus additions to letter grades.

If time allows, if you give an unsatisfactory oral report, you may give additional oral reports on other topics until you give a satisfactory one.

There will be no examinations.

Each unexcused absence after the first one will result in loss of one grade (such as B+ to C+) in the course grade. Two instances of tardiness (lateness) will equal one absence, and there will be no exemption of a week, which is found in the case of absences. It is the responsibility of the student seeking an excused absence to notify the instructor before or not later than the class next after the absence. Students who are late should call the instructor's attention to their presence at the end of the class in order to be sure of being counted as present. Students who leave class early without permission may be considered absent from the class. Students who notify the instructor in advance of an absence to be excused should check upon returning to confirm that the absence was so recorded.

TIPS ON APPROACHING PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

The term journal is used in this course because it is to be a cumulative record of your own reading, listening, thinking, and deciding about topics throughout the course, and you are invited to share your own reactions in it. However, in order to get a good grade, you must include much more than a record of your feelings and preferences. You will be safe if you consider the journal largely a collection of little philosophical papers, with appropriate indications of their connections. To get additional guidance in philosophical writing, you should consult the Web, including the University of California, Irvine, "Philosophical Writing Manual" at http://e3.uci.edu/programs/philoswr/long.htm, of which the following is a small excerpt:

There is also a shorter version of the UCI "Philosophical Writing Manual," at http://e3.uci.edu/programs/philoswr/short.htm.

Some other sources of help are:

http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/course/evaluation.html, writing tips and forms of citation as well as links to related sites

http://osu.orst.edu/Dept/philosophy/resources/guide/TOC.html, "Writing Philosophy Papers: A Student Guide," Oregon State University

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/hilde/Philhandouts/Writing_Philosophy%28Myers%29.html, "Writing a Philosophical Essay," Birmingham-Southern College

Some students have the misconception that in philosophy and in religion there are no right or wrong answers, that one answer is as good as another. Although there is disagreement about which, if any, of the answers that people have reached over the centuries ought to be accepted, there is no problem about what you can know with certainty about the content of a course that objectively examines these matters. You can and should know about any topic under consideration:

Throughout the course you should be asking yourself how any material encountered relates to the major branches of philosophy:

Work will be graded largely on the degree to which it deals with these topics in relation to the topic at hand; to the extent that you put your observations into this larger context, your grade will be higher.

Since philosophy deals with many interrelated problems, the more you know about any of them, the more likely you are to understand others more easily as they arise. So a philosophy course is somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle, in which it becomes easier as you proceed. It is natural to be confused at the start, and considerable confusion may remain at the end, but with increasing clarity about numerous terms and problems as different pieces fit together. You may find that suddenly much becomes clarified at some point. You should keep working at it, confidently expecting to understanding it.

The old rule of two hours of preparation for each hour in class remains a helpful one.

Plagiarism, by intent or oversight, and other forms of cheating to help oneself or others, are serious offenses. Identical or nearly identical wording in written work (except in listing or quoting) will result in no credit given for the answers in questions for anyone submitting these answers, and may result in disciplinary action.

In accordance with the policy of the Department of Humanities, all work written outside of class must be accurate in grammar and spelling. Work that does not meet these standards will be returned to the student for correction before credit is given, or credit may be reduced for inadequacy in this regard, irrespective of other standards employed.

Illegible journals will be returned without being graded; if at all possible, journals should be word-processed or typewritten.

SCHEDULE

The following schedule is tentative, and, with advance notice, may be modified greatly, depending largely on special interests of students. Probably not all selections in M&D will be covered in detail, but as much of it as is feasible, and students are responsible for knowing the major issues and alternative possible solutions, in the context of ethics and metaphysics.

(Sept. 21 Add/drop deadline, without fee. No adds after this date; "W" and fee for drops)

(Sept. 28 Grade/Pass/Fail declaration deadline)