Course Requirements

Evaluation

Judgment about the progress of your work is based on the quality and depth of critical and constructive thinking exhibited on tests and posts on readings. Your writing and comments should not consist merely of a statement of your religious beliefs or how you feel about the issues. Instead, your comments should express reasons, grounds, or evidence for your agreement or disagreement with the philosophers your read about.

Please keep in mind the following points:

1. If you use quotations from the Internet or from books, you must use a proper citation method: e.g., MLA, APA, or Chicago Style, or no credit will be given for the question. If you need help on how to cite references, post a request to the mwforum Message Board. A quick good source for Internet citation styles is Citation Styles Online!, a useful source for links to cite Internet, email, message boards, news groups, chat, Telnet, FTP, and gopher sites in various citation styles including MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE, ACW, and Yahoo. See:
   http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html

2. Quotations from the online notes, tutorials, and Wikipedia are discouraged. By all means, consult these valuable sources to help you get oriented and comfortable with the subjects (and also those listed at the bottom of the WebCT homepage), but your writing must reflect your understanding of the material by your own explanation.
3. Quotations from the textbook readings with your explanations, analyses, or interpretations are welcomed.
4. On essay questions, answer in considerable detail--usually about four hundred words per answer in length. Clarify your understanding of the question carefully, as if you were explaining the philosophy slowly and carefully to a younger brother or sister.
5. Essay questions must give supporting reasons for views stated and your own clarification of important concepts used. If the question asks for your own analysis, then feelings, religious beliefs, and political views should be totally avoided unless you give good logical reasons, verifiable empirical evidence, or insightful examples supporting your views.
6. Lists, diagrams, and tables must be explained. Use complete sentences, good spelling, and correct grammar on tests. Use spell checkers and grammar checkers provided by most word processing programs. If you use OpenOffice you might install and try the program LanguageTool available here as an extension or a standalone program:
   http://www.danielnaber.de/languagetool/languages.html
   

   You can define additional grammar rules to check for with this program, but it is nowhere near as useful at Microsoft's grammar checker in MS Word ^TM.

Your course grade is determined by averaging the points you achieve from the following scores:

Test 1

: Philosophy and Meaning of Life

Test 2

: The Philosophy of Religion

Test 3

: Philosophical Ethics

Posts

Reading Posts on the mwforum Philosophy Discussion Board (minimum of two critical comments posted on the readings per week, where ``weeks'' are specified in the online class schedule.)

Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average.

Your semester average is determined by adding the take-home tests and the weekly posts and dividing by four. Your grade for the course is based upon this average in accordance with the corresponding letter grade in the table given above under the heading of ``Grades'' in ``Class Policies'' in this Syllabus.

Grades

Judgment about the progress of your work is based on the above four scores. The course is essentially performance based and consists of a progressive series of concepts to be learned and mastered. For this reason, few students can do well in this course by ``cramming'' before exams. Normally, the course is not difficult if you study regularly, keep up with the reading and homework daily, and do not attempt to learn a large amount of information at one time. Understanding philosophy cannot be hurried; only by spending some time and patience does philosophy finally prove accessible.

Tests

Description of Tests: Tests in this course are ``take-home,'' ``open book,'' and ``open notes'' papers and are handed in by submitting doc, rtf, or txt attachments by email to your instructor. The tests are usually true-false, paragraph-answer, and essay-answer in form. The subject-matter is primarily based on the reading and homework assignments, especially the questions at the beginning of the readings. If you understand the questions at the beginning of the readings, you will do well on tests. If you have difficulty with these questions, then post your queries and your best analysis to the mwforum Message Board as your ``weekly reading post'' in order to obtain other insights from the rest of the class.

All grades during the semester will be posted on the philosophy server. Mid-term grades will be posted on WebCT. Students should realize that the mid-term grade is only used to indicate their approximate progress at the point in time that the grade is issued and the mid-term grade is not a factor in computation of the student's final grade.

Independent Work on Tests: Important! It is imperative that tests or parts of tests are not copies or paraphrases of notes or tutorials taken from the Web. All writing is to be the student's own work.

Many persons believe that it is sufficient to briefly paraphrase the online notes and related Internet sources immediately prior to the due date of the tests. Surprisingly, the lack of understanding of what is read and written in such cases is evident from inadvertent inconsistencies, vague language, a rush to meet a deadline, and poor or inappropriate examples thought up ``on the fly.'' The reason the tests are given ``open-book'' is so that the student has time to reflect and think about the questions asked. Thus, answering questions should be similar to writing a paper where you reconstruct the philosophies in terms of your own thought and words.

The tests are neither based on memorized facts nor based on objective information derived from memorized arguments. Instead, the emphasis given in tests is on the operation and active transformation or manipulation of the concepts learned. ``Operation and active transformation or manipulation of the concepts learned'' implies writing in your own words. Occasionally, some particularly difficult optional questions are included for extra credit.

On paragraph and essay questions, be sure to answer with complete sentences; answers provided as lists of phrases or the names of concepts, alone, do not reflect an understanding of the subject and will be given little, if any, credit. Example tests and lecture notes for previous non-WebCT classes are online at http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/. Test Review Worksheets are provided in the Appendix to this syllabus and form a good basis for studying for tests as you study for the weekly readings.

Even though tests are written with open books and open notes, because of the nature of philosophical inquiry, consistent study and understanding is essential to write with insight and understanding.

Point Deductions on Tests: Five points are deducted from tests for each of the following:

1. Test sent to a different email address than that stated under Section 1 Essential Information above.

2. Test written in the body of the email and not sent as attachment to the email.

3. Test not in a doc, rtf, or txt file type (doc files are preferred): See section 3.5 How to Save with a .doc Extension below.

4. Test mailed late (5 pts./each 12 hour period).

5. Email etiquette not used by the end of the course.

6. For each reminder to write full name on the Profile Page. (See section 3.12 Profile Page below.

Extra Credit

Other than some occasionally offered intriguing problems on tests, no other opportunities for extra credit are offered in this class. Subjects and problems for this course have been chosen on the basis that they are the best and most important introduction to beginning study of philosophy. ``Extra Credit'' problems are in addition to class requirements--not a substitute for, or a make-up of, missed class assignments.

How to Save with a .doc Extension

If you word process with StarOffice, OpenOffice (Sun Microsystems, LGPL), WordPerfect©, or a word processing program other than Microsoft Word^TM 2003, save your document with a doc (or rtf or txt) file extension. With Microsoft Word^TM 2007 the docx extension also must be changed to a doc format.
To do so, when the document is finished and ready to save, on the menu bar near the top of the page in your work processing program, click on ``File.'' When the drop-down menu appears, click on ``Save As.'' Next click on the down-triangle next to ``File Type,'' and click on any one of the following:

1. Microsoft Word's proprietary extension (.doc) (preferred)
2. Generic Rich Text Format (.rtf)
3. Generic Text Format (.txt)

The doc file extension is preferred. The screenshot in Figure 1 illustrates the process in OpenOffice.

Figure 1: Saving a Document with a doc Extension in OpenOffice

Online Quizzes

Online quizzes are provided as study aids only and may be used for self-testing. They are entirely optional and form no part of your grade in this course. Practicing with the online quizzes is especially important to test your understanding of the important concepts before you take a test.

Reading Posts and Comments

1. Subject of Posts: For full credit, be sure the subject of the post reflects the content of your post and as precisely as possible. In this manner, specific posts can be much more easily located. Subject titles such as ``Test,'' ``Post,'' ``Question,'' ``Chapter 3,'' ``Comment,'' ``Week 2,'' ``Question,'' or ``Grades'' are much too imprecise. Construct a topic which accurately portrays the content of the message such as "Russell's enlargement of self,'' ``Problem of the Soul in Socrates,'' or ``Difference between hard/soft determinism.''

2. Rather than just naming the subject as very general category such as the name of a chapter or the name of a philosopher, please take a moment to state the subject more specifically as shown in the examples above. Precise subjects are difficult to compose because of the text-length limitation of the Message Board Program.

3. Comments: The comment should give reasons supporting the point of the post. Try to avoid comments such as ``I agree with'' ``I disagree with,'' ``I believe,'' or ``I feel'' unless reasons are given explaining why you agree or disagree. Philosophy is based on rational discourse rather than feelings of likes or dislikes. Do not state your religious beliefs unless you are providing rational or empirical evidence or support for your views.

4. Threaded Messages: If your comment is in relation to another post, click on the blue hyperlink ``Reply'' just above the message you are commenting on. You can practice such threaded messages anonymously by not logging in and using the Testing Lounge Area at the top of the Philosophy Forum Board.

5. How to Copy and Paste: You can ``copy and paste" your message into the ``Message Body" area if you want to compose it separately in a word processing program or text editor. With your mouse, highlight the text in your word processing program, and for the Copy, press the Control Key and the letter ``C'' at the same time. For the Paste, click the mouse anywhere in the Message Body area, and press the Control Key and the letter ``V'' at the same time.

6. Late Posts or Working Ahead: No credit is given for posts on readings from past or for future weeks since the value of posting is for class discussion and understanding of current topics rather than based on already considered or topics yet to be assigned. Much of the learning from the online course comes through the discussion with class members. If students were to work through the readings at different times, the current discussion topics would be disparate and the depth of discussion would be less insightful. You are free to read ahead so long as discussion comments and tests are completed in accordance with the course assignment schedule. The readings listed in the assignment schedule are the minimum number of readings for this course; you are encouraged to consult as many of the recommended links and sources listed in the course notes and tutorials as is necessary for clear understanding.

   Posting twice a week is not a guarantee that you will receive full credit for posting. Note that you post must have critical content of some kind-even if your post is to ask for help in understanding.

Email Accounts

As a Lander student, you will need an email account, and you are encouraged to use your Lander email account which was assigned to you at registration. Information on your Lander email account is available at

http://www.lander.edu/its/students/student_email.html .

Your email account information is listed under the ``My Profile'' section in Bearcat Web. Your default password should be your birth date in as yyyymmdd, (i.e., June 10, 1987 = 19870610).

The Office of Computing Services has set up a server whereby you can check your email on the following Web page:

http://mailbox.lander.edu

Instructions for configuring your mail client such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express are described at

http://www.lander.edu/its/students/student_email.html

If you are on campus and you need further help with Lander email, you may obtain help from Lander's ITS (Lander's Information Technology Services) or from the Computer Labs in Jackson Library or Laura Lander Hall.

When you use email, please observe the following guidelines:

1. Include a clear and precise subject-line. When the subject box is left blank or when the subject is not specific enough (as in such subjects as ``test,'' ``reply'' ``problem,'' or ``question''), the message is sometimes rejected by the proposed receiver's SPAM filter or the recipient.
2. When responding to a previous message, type your subject-line with a ``Re:'' before the subject given in the subject-line of the previous message. A simpler way to respond to a previous message is by clicking ``Reply'' in your email client; this click will automatically set the subject-line of your email so that your message is part of the appropriate message thread.
3. Important: Include your name and class and section in the message body even though your email address may be in the ``From'' line in the message header. I normally do not reply to anonymous email, and for reasons of confidentiality,I normally do not reply to email sent from a different account than that held by the student.
4. Do not use all capital letters, as this is the convention for screaming or angry content.
5. A good summary of professional practice for email is provided by Emailreplies.com:
   http://www.emailrepies.com/
   and is well worth study-especially for graduating seniors first entering the marketplace.

WebCT Discussion Board

The WebCT Discussion Board is not used in this class. Instead, we will be using the mwforum Discussion Board on the Philosophy Server at

http://philosophy.lander.edu/cgi-bin/forum.pl

for which you will need to register as described below.

mwforum Message Board

The mwforum Message Board is used in our WebCT class for the posting of questions of any kind, reading comments, and replies to comments. The minimum number of comments posted is two comments per week, although more comments are evidence of student involvement in the course. Only comments analyzing some part of the reading selections count toward your ``Reading Posts'' grade as discussed above in sections Evaluation and section 3.7 Reading Posts and Comments above.

The mwforum Message Boards are an important part of obtaining help in real time from your classmates and from your instructor. You are encouraged to post questions, problems, or answers on any topic relating to the course policies, procedures, or homework of our philosophy class. Your post is placed directly on the Philosophy Web and can be immediately accessed by anyone in the world. The Philosophy Message Board is a good place to obtain a pre-evaluation of your philosophy reading questions or to seek answers to questions at the beginnings of the readings.

The purpose of the mwforum Message Board is to discuss the daily class activities of our philosophy course: reading posts, comments, homework questions, homework answers, housekeeping matters, class procedures, assignments, test dates, and class policies.

Signing up for the mwforum Message Board is a completely separate procedure from WebCT and is explained here.

1. On the Philosophy Homepage on the Web at http://philosophy.lander.edu/ (notice that there is no ``www'' in this URI or Web address), click on the ``mwforum Message Board" link.
2. From the mwforum Philosophy Forum page, click on the ``Register'' tab at the top of the page.
3. Fill in a username of your own choosing and your email address--taking care to remember the username you have chosen. In a few moments, a password will be sent to your email address. If you cannot find the email from mwforum in your Inbox, check to see if the message arrived in the Bulk Mail Folder in your email program. See Figure 2 for a screenshot of the register page.

   Figure 2: How to Register for mwforum Message Boards

   
   

4. Click on the ``Register" button, and a login page will load. Log in with your chosen username and the password you have just received via email. Be sure to take note of your password--perhaps, by saving or printing out the email message. Next, click the ``Login" button. See Figure 3.

Figure 3: How to Login to mwforum Message Boards

Message Board Troubleshooting

Lost Password: If you lose or forget your password to the mwforum Message Board, click on the Login link on the upper-right of the mwforum Homepage. At the bottom of the Login page in a box labeled ``Request Password.'' Fill in your username in the username bar, and click the ``Request'' button. Your password will be sent to you via email.

Forgotten Username: If you have forgotten your username to the mwforum Message Board, click on the Login link on the upper-right of the mwforum Homepage. At the bottom of the Login page in a box labeled ``Request Password,'' fill in your account's email address in the username bar, and click the ``Request'' button. Your username will be sent to you via your account's email.

Forgotten Email Address: If you have forgotten your email address and you have posted to the Message Board at least once in the past, then find your message on the Message Board and click on your username. Your ``Profile Page' will load, and your email address will be displayed, if you chose not to hide it when you first registered for the Message Board.

Profile Page

When you login to the mwforum Philosophy Message Board for the first time, you must enter personal information on your Profile page. To accomplish this, log in to the mwforum Message Board and click on the ``Option'' link at the top of the page.

When the Profile page loads, you can change your password to a more easily remembered password if you wish to do so. Choose a simple easily remembered password, and record the password in your philosophy notebook or in the space provided below:

Username:
Password:

Also, on this Profile page, be sure to enter your real name so that your posts can be credited. Unless your real name is recorded here on the Profile Page, credit cannot be assigned to your posts since the recording program does not have your name to collate with your posts. If you wish to hide your email address when you post, check the appropriate box on this page. I recommend but do not require that you do not hide your email address so that your instructor and other students can email you privately. If you do hide your email address, be sure to check your official Lander email account for class-related communications daily even if you do not normally use that email account. When finished entering the information you want, scroll way down to the bottom of the page and click on the ``Change'' button so your information will be saved.

After you post to the Message Board, if you click on your blue hyperlinked username or you click on ``Options'' at the top of the page in the mwforum Message Board program, you can find out how many times you have posted as well as find out about your other personal data. To do so, click ``Info'' on the same line as your username on the Profile page. Next, click on the ``Posts'' link for a list of all your messages.

Figure 4: How to Find Your Posts

How to Post to the Board

1. From the homepage on the philosophy Website at
   

   http://philosophy.lander.edu
   

   (again, note there is no "www in this URL,) click on the ``mwforum Message Board'' link toward the middle of the left-hand column.

2. When the ``Philosophy Forum'' page loads, click on the mwforum Message Board of interest. (In the screenshots presented here, the names of the Message Boards might not exactly match the current names on the board). The Message Boards for this class are under the heading: ``WebCT Introduction to Philosophy Online Course.''
3. (You need to log in to the mwforum Message Board in order to post comments, but you need not log in just to read the messages posted. If you work on a public computer, be sure to log off the Message Board in order to prevent the possibility of someone else posting to the Board under your name.)

   Figure 5: How to Post a Comment to the mwforum Message Board

   
   

4. If you wish to submit a comment, click on the blue hyperlink ``CE6 Discussion/Post (SEMESTER)'' under the black font ``WebCT Introduction to Philosophy Online Course'' heading. When the ``CE6 Discussion/Post'' page loads, click on the ``Post Topic" link. See Figures 5 and .

   Figure 6: How to Submit a Comment

   
   labelfig:p-finish-p

5. Type in the space provided the title of your comment in the ``Subject" bar and the text of the comment in the ``Message Body" area. Be sure to review information about comments and posts in section 3.7 Reading Posts and Comments above.
6. If you work on a public computer, be sure to log off the mwforum Message Board in order to prevent the possibility of someone else posting to the Board under your name.

Philosophy Chat

The Chat Program on the Philosophy Server is easier to access than that on WebCT, and for that reason, we will use the Philosophy Server for our online chat sessions.

One of the services provided by the Philosophy Website is an pretenseless Chat program written by Tommi Leino with a CGI Web page written by John Archie. Jicra is a very simple IRC client Java applet--a one channel Chat room without IRC commands or other features. No special knowledge or skill is necessary to use this applet.

The Philosophy Chat is available for student use at any time for any purpose (e.g., you are welcome to use the Chat for any group-project discussion in any class at Lander for the convenience of students both on and off campus). You can reserve your privacy for chat by devising your own channel for Chat simply by having your group type in whatever specific name you choose for your group.

We will use Chat in the default channel called ``philosophy'' for online office hours for special purposes to be announced. The Jirca Chat program operates like this:

1. From the Philosophy Homepage click on the CHAT link in the lower-right corner of the page. See Figure 7 which approximates the appearance of the link.

   Figure 7: How to Open the Chat Program

   
   

2. When the login page loads, enter your screen name and your real name, if you wish. Otherwise, the name ``guest[number] will be assigned as your username. Next, click on the login button. See Figure 8.

   Figure 8: How to Login to the Chat Program

   
   

3. When the Chat window loads, type your message in the bar at the bottom of the window, and hit the enter key, and your message can be read by all persons logged onto the chat. See Figure 9.

   Figure 9: How to Enter Chat Messages

   
   

Grade Evaluation

Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average as described above in section The number of hours advised to study given below is usually an accurate guide to how well you will do in this class. If you study only before tests or try to complete tests without prior reading and, your doing well in the course is unlikely. Many students assume they can do well in philosophy without careful reading because they have been able to do so in other high school or college classes. Since these students have become habituated to passing courses without much study, they are often alarmed to discover our philosophy course is substantially different from what they have expected. Your Web course puts a substantial burden on you to take charge of your own learning.

A

(above 90 points) reflects approximately one hour study per day; a great deal of time, thought, and effort; and mastery of the subject.

B

(80 or above but below 90 points) reflects approximately one-half hours study per day above average time, thought and effort; and superior achievement.

C

(70 or above but below 80 points) reflects approximately only several hours per week, average time, thought, and effort; and average achievement.

D

(60 or above but below 70 points) reflects cramming for examinations; minimum time, thought, and effort; below college level work; a less than adequate grasp of the course content; and less than satisfactory achievement.

F

(below 60) reflects little or no understanding of course content and unsatisfactory achievement.

FA

reflects few posts or tests submitted.

INC

can only be given in cases of sudden illness or other emergency situation. To be considered for an INC, email the instructor prior to the final test.

*

If, at the end of the semester, the mitigating circumstances of substantial hardship this semester caused you to receive low grades, you may petition for withdrawal or retroactive withdrawal from the course. Talk to your adviser for information about this option.

Grades Online

You may access your grades online at any time on the philosophy server (not Lander WebCT) with a username and password from this course as described below (not your WebCT username and password).

Username: Your username for the course is the first letter of your first name followed by your complete last name in lowercase letters and without spaces. For example ``Lauren Bouchett Satterfield'' would have the login username of ``lsatterfield'' with no limitation of number of letters as with some email programs.

Password: Your password is your Lander L-number (without hyphen). Type a capital L followed by eight digits: e.g., Lxxxxxxxx.

Where to Log In: From the Philosophy Homepage click on the yellow ``Introduction to Philosophy" link under the gray heading entitled ``Class Grades" as in Figure 10. When the Grades Login page loads do the following:

Figure 10: Where to Find Grades Online

1. Choose your class from the descriptions in the drop-down box. If you log in incorrectly, be sure to re-select your class from the drop-down box because an incorrect login might re-set the class to a default philosophy course. See Figure 11.
   

   Figure 11: How to Log in for Grades

   
   

2. Enter your username exactly as described above.
   
3. The login process is case-sensitive--be sure to use lowercase letters for your username and a capital ``L'' in your L-number password. If you obtain the result of ``bad login," check to see if the Caps Lock key is on, or you have confused the letter ``l'' with the number ``1'' or with the capital letter ``I.'' Occasionally, the number ``0'' is can confused with the capital letter ``O.''

Your Job

Our course is not difficult if you study daily and keep up with the assigned work.

A good place to see how to study in our course is the ``Notes on How to Study'' on the Web at

http://philosophy.lander.edu/study-topics.html.

• Follow a study schedule.
• Take notes on posted comments.
• Take notes on the important points of the assigned reading.
• Answer all study questions.
• Make extensive use of the online lectures, sample problems, quizzes, and tests.

My Job

We will find that philosophy is quite essential in all fields of endeavor.

• I will attempt to create the conditions under which you can exercise your native curiosity.
• Class material will be varied, and I will try to use interesting examples.
• I will show practical applications for all the philosophical methods employed.
• I will provide online handouts and Web-based instructions for additional problem-solving support.

If I do my job correctly, our philosophy course will be one of the most valuable in your university career.

Class Policies

The following policies are explicitly stated here because these policies help protect fairness of the course evaluation for the class as a whole. Some of these policies are generally assumed in most classes at Lander University.

Make-Up Policy:

Make-up tests are provided for persons who cannot complete the test on time due to a verifiable emergency and a written excuse provided by an independent party. Contact your instructor as soon as possible if you are unable to complete a scheduled test in time.

Academic Honesty:

Students are expected to do their own work in this course. To use another writer's or speaker's ideas without giving credit by means of standard documentation is plagiarism. All cases of academic dishonesty on tests or posts will be handled in accordance with the Academic Honor Code as presented in the Lander University Student Handbook.

Important This class policy includes the instructor's notes and tutorials on the Web. If you plagiarize from any work including the online notes, you will receive a ``0'' for your answer. Almost every semester since this online course has been taught, some students do not pass this course because they copy work from the online notes or from the Internet without proper citation. Also, please do not attempt to submit tests completed after the due date and claim the email and test attachment was delayed and did not go through in time. Computer and server logs clearly show dates documents are processed, saved and email sent. Any such academic dishonesty will result in a ``0'' assigned to the work and possible failure in the course.

Learning and Physical Disability

If you have now or develop during this semester a physical or a learning disability and you want your instructors to make reasonable accommodations, you must contact the Student Wellness Center nurse and provide her with appropriate documentation. Once she is aware of your disability, she will inform all of your instructors each semester you attend Lander University unless you ask her in writing not to do so.

Phone: +1 864 388 8885
E-mail: studentwellness@lander.edu

The Academic Success Center offers testing accommodations for students with disability who need extra time as well as a quiet room for testing during the year. Please notify Gay Coleman, Learning Center 340, telephone +1 864 388 8317 and your instructor prior to the test date.

Lander University's Cell Phone Policy:

Cell Phones are to be turned off before entering the class (lab, clinical, etc) and shall remain off for the duration of the class. If there is an extenuating circumstance which requires the cell phone to be on during a class, the student must obtain permission prior to the class from the instructor to leave the phone on vibrate. Cell phones are not to be visible or used at any time, especially not during quizzes or exams. Each instructor reserves the right to further restrict use of cell phones in class and to determine the consequences of not following this policy. (I realize the pointlessness of a cell phone policy for an online class, but Lander University requires this statement in all syllabi.)

Closing of the University:

If hazardous weather conditions or any other state of emergency necessitate University closing, the information will be available from the Lander automated information system (telephone +1 864 388 8400) or local radio and TV stations. Usually, however, the Internet and Lander's Web Server are available during inclement weather or other emergency. If Lander's Web service is down, the philosophy server will also be down. If access to the Lander domain is not possible immediately prior to a due date for a test or a post, additional time will be allowed for the completion of that assignment.

Also, these Websites will provide information in case of cancellations, delay of classes, or the closing of the university:

Lander University: http://www.lander.edu

State Office of Human Resources:
http://ohr.sc.gov/OHR/OHR-index.phtm

Appendices