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Course Requirements

Grades

Your course grade is based quizzes and tests.  The quizzes and tests are thought provoking and require thinking through abstract issues carefully.

Quizzes are short papers or objective questions written in class on a specific philosophical problem or argument.  The quiz topic is announced in advance of the quiz day, and the topic has been thoroughly explored in a previous class.  Your Quiz Average is based on your five best quizzes out of a total of seven quizzes given.  Two quiz grades are dropped before averaging in order to allow for normal excused student absences.  For this reason, there are no make-ups for Daily Quizzes. 

Online example quizzes for this course are available at http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/quizzes.html . In order to encourage discussion and help on philhelp discussion list, one point on each ten-point quiz is credited if you have posted a message on the mailing list prior to the quiz.  In other words, if you do not post a message prior to a quiz, the highest grade possible on that quiz is nine out of ten points.

Tests are usually a combination of objective, short answer, and essay questions.  They are based on questions from the reading assignments, but unlike the quizzes, 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. Some examples of the difference between the figurative knowledge used in quizzes and the operational knowledge used in tests are given in Appendix A of this syllabus.  Some particularly difficult optional questions are often included for extra credit. 

The Position Paper is a four to seven page paper on your considered analysis of a specific philosophical problem.  All exact quotations are documented and cited in a standard bibliographical manner.  The paper is to be typed and double-spaced. Detailed information on the position paper is provided in Appendix B.   (If you are learning a modern language, you may choose to do the Modern Language Option described below instead of writing a position paper.)

The Modern Language Option is the choice to write a short translation of a work in French, German, or Spanish.  If you choose to do a translation in place of a position paper, you must (1) consult with your instructor and (2) find a mentor in your language.  More information on this option is given Appendix C of this syllabus.  

The philosophy mailing list philhelp is an important part of our philosophy course. philhelp is a forum where you can discuss, argue, and debate any issue relating to a philosophical topic. Your ideas are automatically sent via e-mail to other members of the list. You are encouraged to post questions, problems, or answers on any topic relating to philosophy, and you are especially encouraged to try out your philosophical ideas and theories.  In addition, might be a good place to seek information about test questions, interesting readings, or a pre-evaluation of your philosophy papers.

For this aspect of the course, you will need an e-mail account. All new and returning students have Lander e-mail accounts based upon your user name and password (your 4-digit PIN number issued to you when you registered for classes). If you do not know your PIN number and password, please see a lab assistant at the help desk on the second floor of Laura Lander Hall. The lab assistant will help you find your user name and password and explain how to use the web-based e-mail. If you prefer, I will be glad to help you become familiar with web-based e-mail in the Logic Lab, Learning Center M 33, during normal office hours.

The Office of Computing Services has set up a server whereby you can check your e-mail on the following web page: http://student.lander.edu/webmail, or you can accesses your mail with a 3.5" Eudora Email Diskette available for purchase at the University Bookstore. Many students set up web e-mail accounts with a free Internet service such as http://www.hotmail.com. An extensive list of free e-mail account directory is provided at http://www.emailaddresses.com.

For one of the purposes of this course and to encourage you to become conversant with the tools of the everyday world, a requirement of our course is for you to post a minimum of five messages during the semester as part of your course grade. In order to reduce bandwidth on the faculty network at Lander, your posts need to be distributed over the course of the semester, rather than at the end of the course. For this reason, the scoring for this aspect of the course is somewhat arbitrary. You will earn 1 point on each quiz, if you have posted at least one message to philhelp prior to that quiz. In other words, if you choose not to post a message prior to a quiz, the highest grade obtainable on that quiz is 9 out of 10 points.  

The most convenient way to join philhelp is to type in the following URL (Address) in your browser (i.e., Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or Opera): http://philosophy.lander.edu/philhelp/index.html. Type in your e-mail address in the form at the left and click the "submit query" button.  You will receive on-screen confirmation of your subscription. That’s all there is to it.

To submit a message to philhelp, just send an e-mail to philhelp@philosophy.lander.edu as in the following example:

If e-mail is new to you, please stop by the Logic Lab in M33 during office hours, and I will be most happy to show you how to use Lander’s web-based email, how to sign up for philhelp and how to send e-mail.

When you post messages to philhelp, for proper credit, observe the following guidelines: 

1)      Include a clear and precise subject line.  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 to All” in your e-mail client; this click will automatically set the subject –line of your e-mail.

2)      Spam, chain letters, cursing, and flaming are expressly prohibited and, if repeated, can result in the sender’s suspension from the list.

3)      Include your name and email address.

4)      Finally, as is usual with e-mail etiquette, please do not use all capital letters in your posts, and include all text in the post, itself¾i.e., do not use attachments to your e-mail.

Evaluation of Your Course Grade, as a whole, is based equally on the following four factors:

          w  Test 1:  Philosophy and the Meaning of Life (20%)

          w  Test 2:  The Philosophy of Religion (20%)

w   Test 3:  Ethics and Philosophical Ethics (20%)

w   Comprehensive Final Exam (variable 0-60%) 

w  Position Paper or Modern Language Translation (20%)

w  Quiz Average (20%) (based on five highest quizzes and/or problems of the week) with participation in the philhelp Majordomo Discussion List  (10% of each Quiz grade).

Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average.  You can access your grades at any time on the philosophy server at http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/ ¾just click on the hyperlink under “Class Grades” and enter the username and password you were given in class.  Grades are usually posted before papers are returned in class.  If you lose your password, for security reasons, please inform your instructor immediately.  You will be given a new password in class.  For security reasons, no password can be issued via e-mail or telephone. 

Grade Evaluation:  Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average.

• An A (above 90 points) reflects approximately three to four hours of study per class period and represents a great deal of time, thought, and effort.

• A B (above 80 but below 90 points) reflects approximately two hours of study per class period and represents above average time, thought and effort.

• A C (above 70 but below 80 points) reflects approximately one-hour study per class period and represents average time, thought, and effort.

• A D (above 60 but below 70 points) reflects cramming for examinations and represents minimum time, thought, and effort.

• An F (below 60 points) reflects very little time, thought, and effort and represents below college level work.

• An FA reflects attending fewer that 75% of class meetings.

• An INC can only be given in cases of sudden illness or emergency.