Course Syllabus for Fall 2018, meeting time Mondays 9:05-11:50 in MH 107
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Professor: Alexander R. Pruss |
Office: MH 213 |
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Office Hours: normally Mon/Thu 1:15 – 2:30 in MH 213, or just drop in |
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Text: |
Editor: J. Kvanvig |
The topic of the course is in the philosophy of religion, with significant
amounts of epistemology and metaphysics and ethics as they arise in the
articles in the collection of essays for the course. This course has as its
goal mastering the art of writing a critical essay in philosophy, an essential
skill for success in graduate school in philosophy and for publication success
after securing a position in philosophy. The course material is simply a
convenient vehicle for achieving this goal.
As such, this
course is designed for first-year graduate students in philosophy. For those
planning a career in philosophy, the skills in question are indispensable for
graduate careers and professional careers to follow.
1. Each student will develop and present 2 critical essays for the course, and will submit summaries of the logical structure of each piece assigned below in the volume. Late summaries will not be accepted for credit. In addition, comments will be given to each student on each of their essay drafts.
2. Students are responsible for conducting whatever background research is necessary to develop a critical perspective on the article in question. To that end, I include a “background research” section at the end of this syllabi. This section contains useful sources for the kinds of readings for the course, but it is only meant to be taken as suggestions of where to begin looking if you are having difficulty. In addition to this list, it is also often useful to pay attention to things cited in the footnotes of the article you are reading, in order to check to see whether the criticisms offered are in fact telling against the positions described.
3. A passing grade for the course requires full participation in
getting work done and done on time (on-time drafts, summaries of articles and
comments in class and in writing on the work of classmates, subject to possible
extensions in exceptional circumstances). The level of the passing grade
will then be determined by the quality of papers written during the course.
Roughly, A = at least one paper at APA main program quality or better, A- = at
least one paper at quality of a more minor conference (e.g., SCP regional),
with grades at B+ or below chosen at instructor’s discretion. These rough
grades may be lowered if there is an obvious drop-off in quality.
4. The
default grade for cheating is an F in the course.
5. Please
tell the instructor at least two weeks ahead of time, either directly or via
the Office of Access and Learning Accommodation (OALA), about any
disability-related accommodations that are needed.
Paper
1:
·
Essays
1, 4, 7, 9 and 10 in OSPR8
·
Initial
logical structure summaries due in class August
27: B: #1, D: #4, G: #7, H: #9 and J: #10; be ready to present
o
Choose
the most central argument you can find. Give a numbered logically valid
rendition if reasonably possible; if not reasonably possible, give a numbered
logically invalid rendition; repeat for controversial premises; continue to as
many levels as you wish (minimum 2)
·
Read
the other four essays and write
logical structure summaries on three
of them (your choice) by September 10;
be ready to present; be ready to discuss how the OSPR papers could have been
better written
·
Present
logically valid logical structure summaries of your paper on September 17; go to second level on all
controversial premises; go to third level on at least one second level
controversial premise
·
Prepare
first draft of 9-12 page paper (on any of the five essays) by 2 pm on September 21; distribute to instructor
and commenting student: B to D, D to G, G to H, and J to B by the preceding
Thursday (or later by arrangement)
·
September 24: Commenter gives critique of draft to
author; each commenter gives a 12 minute
presentation of the paper they read with no critique (slides are
optional); the writer clarifies accuracy; the commenter and others offer
critique and suggestions
·
Prepare
second draft of paper by class on October
1, email to all students and instructor; bring a laptop or other device
with a keyboard; each student spends 50 minutes reading and writing comments on
three other papers in class (if extra time is required, this can be completed
after class); B comments on D, G and H; D comments on G, H and J; G comments on
H, J and B; H comments on J, B and D; J comments on B, D and G; instructor will
circulate
·
Prepare
third draft of paper by class on October
8; prepare 18 minute (strict maximum) presentation with slides of paper;
mini-conference in class, with 18 minute presentations and 12 minutes of
discussion (last minute of discussion, next speaker cues up slides, for
efficiency)
·
Prepare final draft of paper by class on
October 15.
Paper 2:
·
Remaining
essays in OSPR8.
·
Initial
logical structure summaries due in class on October 15: B: #2, D: #3, G: #6, H: #11, J: #12; be ready to
present. Go at least two levels, three on at least one premise.
·
Each
student hands in four summaries, of
their choice from among the papers not covered in the first half of the semester.
This is due in class on October 22;
be ready to present.
·
Present
logically valid logical structure summaries of your paper on October 29; go to second level on all
controversial premises; go to third level on at least two second level
controversial premises
·
Prepare
first draft of 9-12 page paper (on any of the essays covered by this half of
the semester) by 2 pm on November 1;
distribute to instructor and commenting student: D to B, G to D, H to G, J to
H, and B to J
·
November 5: Commenter gives critique of draft to
author; each commenter gives a 12 minute presentation of the paper they read
with no critique (slides are required); the writer clarifies accuracy; the
commenter and others offer critique and suggestions
·
Prepare
second draft of paper by class on November
12, email to all students and instructor; bring a laptop or other device
with a keyboard; each student spends 50 minutes reading and writing comments on
three other papers in class (if extra time is required, this can be completed
after class); B comments on G, H and J; D comments on H, J and B; G comments on
J, B and D; H comments on B, D and G; J comments on D, G and H; instructor will
circulate
·
Prepare
third draft of paper by class on November
19; email to instructor ahead of time; instructor makes comments on three
or four of the papers in class
·
Email
fourth draft of paper to instructor by noon on November 26; bring laptop or other device with a keyboard; you will
each be writing anonymous referee’s reports on two papers; instructor will
circulate.
·
December 3: Prepare 25 minute (strict maximum)
presentation with slides of paper; mini-conference in class, with 25 minute
presentations and 12 minutes of discussion; no paper draft due to enable
greater polish in presentations; class
will go on for an extra 40 minutes
·
December 12: Prepare
and email final draft of paper by midnight.
Acknowledgment
This syllabus was originally adapted
from one by Jon Kvanvig.