WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS: Philosophy is an attempt to come to a systematic understanding of the objective world through the use of reason. The philosophical approach assumes a commitment to follow the truth wherever it leads, however uncomfortable it may make us and in spite of what we may wish to be true. It strives for logical consistency and agreement with the empirical evidence. Philosophy is about asking questions, especially questions no one else wants to ask. Philosophy even questions the unquestionable, including things considered to be "common sense," such as the existence of an external world of matter, free will, God, the soul, an afterlife or the existence of universal, objective moral values (or perhaps the unquestionable certainty of our age is the dogma that morality is culturally relative or completely subjective). Philosophy uses conceptual analysis as its primary tool. Properly analyzing concepts requires the rigorous definition of terms, so the precise use of language is very important to philosophers, or at least to the good ones. This goes all the way back to Socrates. Fuzzy language evinces fuzzy thinking.

WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS NOT: Philosophy is not about exploring your "personal beliefs." Nor is it about your feelings (please avoid the phrase "I feel" when expressing your point of view in class, as hopefully what you have to say is based on more than your subjective emotional state). Philosophy is not about your identity, your sex, your gender, your sexual orientation, your culture or your "race." It's not about your faith or "how you were raised." Please avoid referring to these things in class unless they have some direct bearing on the issue at hand. Although there is an historical tradition associated with philosophy, it is not primarily about history, and even though understanding their historical or cultural context may help us understand the ideas of particular philosophers, it is the ideas themselves with which philosophy is concerned.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Theories of knowledge (epistemology) address issues such as the nature of truth and rational justification, whether knowledge comes primarily through reason or the senses and how our common sense beliefs about the world might be proven. Additional topics may include how much control we have over our beliefs, whether duties or rights apply to beliefs and the relationship between faith and reason.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objectives are this course are for students to (1) come to a clearer understanding of epistemological issues through the study of classical and contemporary theories (2) acquire some factual knowledge about the history of philosophy and important philosophical thinkers (3) come to their own conclusions about which theories are best or most likely to be true, even if those conclusions are of a tentative nature (4) acquire critical and analytical reasoning skills along the way (5) apply conclusions about the nature of knowledge to their present way of assessing evidence and worldviews.

READING: It is important to read the material in order to participate intelligently in class discussion and perform well on exams.

HYBRID INSTRUCTION: A hybrid class is a combination of traditional classroom and online instruction. Hybrid students are required to attend classroom sessions MW 2-3:20 in Building 4/Room 203 and do approximately one hour of online work in the form of additional reading and quizzes in Moodle.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: It will be very difficult to succeed in this class without regular attendance. Some material may appear on the exams which is not covered in the text, and students with sporadic attendance almost always do poorly on exams. After the first week, there is no need to contact the instructor about absences of one or two class days due to illness or other contingencies. On the other hand, if you must be absent for more than a week due to serious illness, military service, business travel, family emergency, and so on, don't hesitate to contact me if you must take an exam at a later date or require other help. If you don't require special accommodation, please simply download the podcast and check for any new announcements or handouts on Moodle. Note: There will be no class Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day). The entire campus will be closed.

If you are sick, please stay home and rest. Coming to class sick will prolong your own illness and infect others. Also, please refrain from visiting my office if you still have flu or cold symptoms; it is a small, confined space and I do not want to contract your illness. You can reach me via Moodle message and set up a phone appointment, if necessary.

IN-CLASS QUIZZES (10%): A quiz will be given at the end of each class. Answers will be reviewed in class. You will get credit for being present and taking the quiz, but the scores won't be recorded. These quizzes will function as practice for the exams and an incentive for regular attendance. Remember that 10% is one letter grade. Missed quizzes can add up fast! You can't make up the quizzes themselves, though you can make up the points by visiting the tutors or attending the Philosophy Club (see below).

EXAMS (90%): You will have a window of several days during which you must take each exam, including the final, in Instructional Testing Services, (located in CEN 311 on the Main Campus), or at the Cottage Grove Center, the Florence Center, or with an approved proctor (see section below). Exams are taken via Moodle but with a test setting which restricts access to LCC testing centers (or approved proctors). Exams cannot be taken at home. Opening and closing times of exams are listed in the table above and may also be seen by clicking on the exam name in the main course view. Hours for Instructional Testing Services may be found at https://www.lanecc.edu/its/hours. Hours for Cottage Grove Center and Florence Center are different and may be found at https://www.lanecc.edu/cottagegrove/hours and https://www.lanecc.edu/florence/florence-hours (Florence asks that you call to check availability - see the link for details).

You must arrive one hour before closing. You will need an official photo I.D., such as a state-issued driver's license, state-issued I.D. card, student I.D. card, passport or "green card." Unfortunately, LCC bus passes no longer qualify as valid photo I.D. You will need to know your L Number and MyLane PIN to log into Moodle. If there is more than one exam open or you've been granted an extension to take an exam late, make sure to tell the testing personnel which exam you would like to take so they don't give you the wrong one by mistake. If English is your second language, dictionaries will be on hand for you to use. If your native language isn't a common one, please contact Instructional Testing Services ahead of time to make sure they have your language. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use your own paper or electronic dictionary.

The exam format will be multiple choice and true/false questions. During the exam you may use a 3 x 5 note card (both sides) or a piece of paper measured with a ruler and cut to the same size. The final will not be comprehensive.

Once you take your exam, you'll immediately receive your score as well as be able to see the questions you missed along with the correct answers. Please give yourself time to review the exam right after you take it, as you will not be able to review your exam from home. Reviewing your exam will be especially helpful to you if you plan on taking the Extra Credit Exam, which will cover the same material. If you wish to review your exam at a later date, you will have to see one of the philosophy tutors. A small curve be may included which will add to your raw score. Your adjusted score can be viewed by clicking on "Grades" on the side bar in Moodle.

Instructional Testing Services (and everything else on campus) will be closed Friday, May 3 (Spring Conference) and Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day).
 
PROCTORED TESTING FOR REMOTE STUDENTS: See http://www.lanecc.edu/laneonline/test-proctoring for details on proctoring if you are taking the course from out of the greater Eugene area. If you need help locating a proctor, try  Consortium of College Testing Centers at http://www.ncta-testing.org/cctc. A per test fee is usually required; fees will vary by institution.

EXAM DEADLINE POLICY: Since you will have at least a week to take each exam, you will be expected to meet the deadline, however, you may contact the Philosophy Assistant before the deadline via Moodle messaging to request an extension without penalty. Please include the date you would like the exam extended to in your message. The Final Exam closes WEDNESDAY 7PM of Final Exam Week. Since Instructional Testing Services on the main campus closes for the term Thursday at 5pm, extensions are not possible past that time.

PENALTIES FOR CHEATING: Students caught cheating will be given an F in the course.

EXTRA CREDIT EXAM: There is an optional Extra Credit Exam, based on the material from the First and Second Midterm Exams. It will replace the lowest of your First or Second Midterm Exam scores. If it is lower than either, it will have no effect. In order for it to count, you have to take both midterms. It is not a substitute for taking either midterm or the final exam.

OTHER EXTRA CREDIT: You may also earn extra credit visiting the philosophy tutors and attending the Philosophy Club, adding a maximum of 3% to your course grade (details below).

GRADING: Exams may be curved upward, based on the distribution of scores. This is done by adding a certain number of points to every student score. At the end of the term, the class will be graded on the following absolute scale, with course totals rounded to the nearest whole number:

A+ 97% -100%	A  93% - 96%	A-  90% - 92%
B+  87% - 89%	B  83% - 86%	B-  80% - 82%
C+  77% - 79%	C  73% - 76%	C-  70% - 72%
D+  67% - 69%	D  63% - 66%	D-  60% - 62%
	F 0% - 59%

GETTING HELP WITH THE CLASS: If you are having difficulties with the class, please see one of the philosophy tutors as soon as possible. The tutors' walk-in hours and contact information to make an appointment are linked at the top of the main course page in Moodle. The tutors can go over your exam with you and help you to improve your grade on the next one as well as the Extra Credit Exam. Please see the tutors first about issues involving understanding basic concepts and improving your test grade. You will also earn extra credit for each visit, up to four visits. Each visit will earn you 0.5% toward your course grade, up to a maximum of 2%.

EARLY OUTREACH AND REFERRAL (EOR) PROGRAM: At Lane Community College, we want every student to be successful. The Early Outreach and Referral (EOR) Program is a campus-wide effort to support students early in the term when they first begin experiencing difficulty in a class. If I feel you are having difficulty in this class (ex. missing classes, missing assignments, and/or receiving low test or assignment scores) I may refer you to an Early Outreach Specialist. Once referred, an Early Outreach Specialist will follow up with you by phone or email to find out how to best support you by connecting you with necessary resources and helping you develop and implement a Success Plan, which may include individual tutoring or other additional services.

ADVANCED QUESTIONS: If you have a particular issue from the readings or class lecture/discussion that you would like to explore, discuss or perhaps debate in more depth than is practical in Moodle messages, please visit me during my office hours. I am also happy to help clear up any questions you may still have after seeing one of the tutors about anything else.

TECHNOLOGY USE AND HELP: This is an online course. It requires you to use (but not necessarily own) a computer, tablet or smart phone. The syllabus, schedule, announcements, supplementary material and resources, practice exam questions and grades are all distributed via Moodle. Campus labs are staffed with people who can help you if you are new to computing devices or have difficulty using them. Visit the Student Help Desk (SHeD) website at https://www.lanecc.edu/learningcommons/student-help-desk, call them at 463-3333 or visit them on the 2nd floor of the Center Building, Learning Commons, Library, Room 221B. A list of campus computer labs and hours may be found at https://www.lanecc.edu/it/computerlabs.

PHILOSOPHY CLUB: The Philosophy Club meets Tu 2-3pm. Join on OrgSync to be updated on club activities. Attending a meeting will add 0.5% to your final course grade (maximum of two visits or 1% possible with this activity).

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY: I am the faculty advisor for Young Americans for Liberty, a locally controlled, independent student club dedicated to limited government, individual rights, personal responsibility and creating a free society guided by reason, tolerance and compassion. If you're interested in earning 2 or 3 credits in Cooperative Education (Political Science) helping out with the club, send me a Moodle message. For more information on the club, check out YAL at LCC on OrgSync and click the big green Join Now button to be updated on club activities.