WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS: Philosophy is the 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, in the case of this class, 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, as reality is not based on 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." Avoid thinking in these terms and using subjective phrases like "personally" and "in my personal opinion" when doing philosophy. Philosophy (and indeed all academic discourse) is about your impersonal opinion, i.e. your opinion backed by reasons and evidence. 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.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN AND NON-WESTERN CULTURES: There were few women philosophers until the beginning of the feminist movement in the 19th century. This was true of most other academic fields due to the institutionalization of pre-modern gender roles. Because this is a survey class concerned with major historical figures and basic concepts in epistemology, we won't be reading many women philosophers. This should in no way be seen as casting aspersions on women as a class of people.

Along those same lines, for various complex historical and cultural reasons, philosophy emerged and flourished in the West and is the heritage of Western Civilization. It uniquely sowed the seeds for the scientific and subsequent industrial revolutions in Western Europe, leading to our modern technological world. It is important to understand that "Western" is just a conventional term for ideas which first emerged in Western Europe. An idea's place of origin or the particulars of the person who first developed or expounded it has nothing whatever to do with its truth value or importance in increasing human understanding. Newton and Leibniz discovered calculus around the same time and each accused the other of stealing his discovery. Yet calculus is neither essentially a British idea nor a German idea, nor is it a European or "white male" idea. Who was first to discover it, where he lived and the details of his ancestry and nationality are irrelevant to the validity and usefulness of calculus. So it is with all intellectual discoveries and theoretical innovations, including those concerning the foundations of knowledge.

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 perform well in on quizzes and exams and in online forums.

LECTURE/DISCUSSION (LIVE OR RECORDED): It is important to attend class, if in the hybrid section, or to watch the recordings of these class sessions uploaded to Moodle Tuesday evenings, if in the online section. Class lecture and discussion will help you understand the readings, especially primary source material, which can sometimes be rather sense and complex.There may be material on the exams which is covered in these sessions that is not explicitly stated or covered in the text. For live interaction, attend office hours with the instructor in person or on Zoom.

QUIZZES: There are ten weekly quizzes based on that week's reading, class lecture/discussion (live or recorded) plus any other material linked in Moodle for that week. Some of these questions may appear again on the midterm exams and final. Quizzes are due every Sunday before 11:59pm. Late quizzes are not accepted. There will be an Extra Credit Quiz in Week Ten. The Syllabus Quiz from the first week will also count toward your quiz score. Out of these twelve quizzes your lowest two scores are dropped.

FORUM POSTS: The purpose of the forum assignment is to give you the opportunity to interpret, evaluate and apply what you have learned, and to discuss the merits and implications of class concepts and theories with your classmates. It emphasizes peer-to-peer learning in which you learn from your fellow students.

Every Monday new topic prompts will be posted. Choose FIVE of the ten weekly forums to respond to throughout the term. Make one post of 150 to 300 words to one of the topics in the forum before the deadline. For example, you might make a post to the Week Two Forum, Week Three Forum, Week Eight Forum, Week Nine Forum and Week Ten Forum. These posts would be due by Sunday 11:59pm of Week Two, Week Three, etc. These five required posts are in addition to your post in the Personal Introductions Forum. Your lowest of these six posts (Personal Introduction Forum + five posts to the weekly forums) will be dropped.

Avoid all titles, headers, greetings and signatures. Moodle displays your name, the date, the topic and the forum week; duplicating this information clutters up the forum. When replying to another student, include that student's first name in your reply. Write in block format with no indenting, single-spaced with two or more paragraphs, spacing between paragraphs, and using the default font. Avoid all titles, headers, greetings and signatures. Moodle displays your name, the date, the topic and the forum week; duplicating this information clutters up the forum. When replying to another student, include that student's first name in your reply. Write in block format with no indenting, single-spaced with two or more paragraphs, spacing between paragraphs, and using the default font. Do not post a wall of text with no paragraph breaks or your post will be penalized.

It is recommended that you compose your post in Google Docs or Word (or similar word-processor) and check the word count by choosing Tools --> Word Count. This will also prevent your post being lost in case of a connection error in Moodle. If you're pasting from Google docs, Microsoft Word or similar programs, you may need to save as plain text first. After you've posted, make sure that your post's formatting looks OK, that the font size and style is the same as the rest of the forum, that there are no extra spaces above or below the text (a common problem with copying and pasting), that you have at least two paragraphs and that the word count is above 150 and below 300 words.Your post formatting must look exactly like the prompt. Formatting errors will be penalized. Posts below 150 words or above 300 words will be penalized. Do not post over 300 words and apologize for going over length; edit your post down to below 300 words. See the Student Help Desk for help using Moodle forums.

You may reply directly to the prompt or reply to another student. You do not need to do both. To reply to the prompt, click its "reply" link. To reply to another student, click the "reply" link in that student's post. Your post must substantially and directly address the prompt and display a familiarity with the reading and video lectures and discussions, i.e. your post must be distinguishable from someone who hasn't done any of the reading or seen the lectures, looks at the prompt and "gives their opinion." Avoid phrases like "personally" and "in my personal opinion." You are expected to give your impersonal opinion, backed by logical arguments, empirical evidence and clear examples. For example, instead of saying "In my personal opinion, Descartes' Arch Deceiver argument isn't very convincing" say "Descartes skeptical argument relies on the questionable assumption that unembodied consciousness is possible; the only conscious beings of which we are aware are embodied with nervous systems which produce that consciousness." Don't use phrases like "I feel," "I believe, or even "I think." It is assumed that anything you state in your post is what you believe or think, and "I feel" suggests you are trying to think with your emotions, which is always a bad idea, but especially so in an academic assignment. Generally speaking, first-person pronouns like "I" and "my" should not occur in your post. Express your thoughts in objective, third-person language.

Do not quote dictionary definitions of philosophical terms. A dictionary definition gives the popular or colloquial usage and is often different from the technical, philosophical usage of a word. If you are going to begin with a definition of truth, justification or knowledge, for example, use the one in the text, not the dictionary.

Avoid tedious references to lots of people having lots of different opinions on the subject or the suggestion that this fact alone -- if it is a fact -- shows that "there is no (one) answer." Assume that there is always an answer, and say what you think that answer might be.

After the first week, avoid invoking relativism or framing ethical issues in relativistic terms. This includes lazy, meaningless comments about people having their own beliefs - or worse - their own truths. Watch yourself on this or you will lose points. Assume from Week Two onward that truth is objective, i.e. even if knowledge of it is impossible extremely difficult to obtain, as skeptics claim, it exists independent of your subjective mental states.

Read the prompt carefully before answering. Be careful about misinterpreting or misunderstanding the question or wandering into irrelevant biographical information or personal anecdotes unless you're absolutely sure they apply to the subject. Posts which do not directly address the prompt will not receive credit. The inclusion of irrelevant material a.k.a. "going off on tangents," will be penalized. Before replying to another student, make sure that student's post is directly responsive to the topic. If it isn't on topic, the original poster won't receive any credit and neither will you. "Me, too" and "Good job!" comments will not receive credit, though you are free to make them. For credit you need to add something original to the discussion: a supporting example, a counter-example or objection, an observation, an application, a request for clarification, etc.

Your answer should include examples or illustrations that demonstrate your understanding of the concepts being discussed and present arguments to support your claims. Chains of assertions without supporting examples, illustrations or arguments will be penalized.

It is up to you to convince me in the space allotted that you understand the material; it is not up to me to pore over vaguely worded assertions without examples or illustrations in order to divine whether you understand the material or to attempt to judge whether what you say could reasonably be construed as an argument. You need a claim (that is, a clear answer to the prompt) and an argument for it (reasons why your answer is the right one). Simply explaining the point of view of one of philosophers under discussion or various possible takes on an issue is not sufficient. Say what you think is the correct answer and why. If you receive no credit and tell me what you meant by your post was such and such, I will tell you that then you should have written that.

Posts which are dashed off at the last minute without serious thought and consideration and with no revision or proofreading are unlikely to receive good scores.Topics are posted every Monday. Start early. This is 25% of your grade, so please put some thought and effort into your posts so that you can do well in the course.

You will have 30 minutes to edit your post after you have made it. Moodle will display your word count; make sure it is over 150 but under 300 words. Make sure the font and formatting matches other posts and that there are no blank spaces at the bottom. Carefully revise and proofread your post for typos, awkward language, conceptual vagueness and inconsistency. Make every word count. Make sure you are using the right words. Use proper grammar. Avoid long run-on sentences and ambiguous reference problems. Avoid overly formal language. This typically just comes off as pretentious and makes your post more difficult to read. Don't use overblown rhetoric, excessive sarcasm, slang, obscenities or other language or tones which are inappropriate for an academic assignment. Give some consideration the other side(s) and avoid straw man and ad hominem arguments.

Your post should not read like a stream of consciousness of you trying to figure things out "on the fly." It should not be a series of disjointed observations. If it helps you to write something like that first, go ahead, but then revise it into a clear, methodical and coherent argument. Avoid meaningless, introductory throw-away comments or restating the question; get straight to the point. If you pad your post with meaningless fluff at the beginning, your post may be penalized for insufficient word count. Omit needless words. Be concise.

Don't overuse quotes.The maximum length is 300 words, so there is not room for a lot of quotes. Don't quote something like "A SHIPOWNER was about to send to sea an emigrant-ship. He knew that she was old, and not over-well built at the first; that she had seen many seas and climes, and often had needed repairs. Doubts had been suggested to him that possibly she was not seaworthy. These doubts preyed upon his mind and made him unhappy; he thought that perhaps he ought to have her thoroughly overhauled and refitted, even though this should put him to great expense." That's 80 words of extraneous detail introducing a simple example. You've just burned through over a quarter of the posting limit. Instead, say "Clifford gives the example of a man who suppresses his doubts about the seaworthiness of his old ship, leading it to sink with all of its passengers and crew, thus demonstrating that it is ' wrong to believe on insufficient evidence, or to nourish belief by suppressing doubts and avoiding investigation.'" Attributing the quote to the author, as done above, is sufficient for citation purposes when quoting from the text. You can do a 10/10 post without any quotes whatsoever. Don't feel like you have to use them.

Plagiarism, which includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from websites, will result in a "0" and may result in a penalty of one letter grade on the first offense (10% of your course grade) and penalties up to an F in the course on the second offense.

Paraphrasing from another source without citing it is plagiarism. Using the ChatGPT bot is plagiarism. Having been an instructor for many years, it is easy for me to immediately identify cases of plagiarism. Don't do it. If you do the readings, you should have no trouble responding to the prompt in a way that is sufficient for credit without looking at any other sources. The borrowing of an opinion from a secondary source, even if cited, is strongly discouraged. Don't try to Google the answer. Read the assignments, watch the recorded lectures and do your own analysis.This is not a research assignment; this is an opportunity for you to do some philosophizing. Don't be a second-hander. If you rely on material outside of the course, which, I repeat, is strongly discouraged, make sure to cite the reference.

Postings will be awarded a grade of "10" (full credit) to "0" (no credit) and are due before Sunday 11:59 pm at the end of each week. You will receive an automatic "10" for posting to the Personal Introductions Forum before the Sunday 11:59pm deadline the first week. Please note that I have the grade book set to ignore empty grades. Therefore, if you miss the deadline for a forum post, it won't show up in your grade until the end of the term when I will turn that setting off. At that time, all empty grades will turn to zero and your lowest forum score (including the Personal Introductions Forum) will be dropped. I have the "ignore empty grades" setting on now to give you a meaningful and accurate assessment of your grade "thus far" at any point in the term, assuming you complete the assignments.

Even though the requirement is to make five posts by the end of the term, each week's forum has it's own Sunday 11:59pm deadline. Only one post per forum per week will count for credit, so make sure that you are not caught flat-footed near the end of the term, having missed too many posting opportunities. Late posts are not accepted. Posting after the deadline Sunday 11:59pm deadline is blocked in each forum. If you miss the deadline, you will have to post to a future week's forum. Set a weekly reminder in your phone or online calendar so you don't forget to post (while you're at it, you might want to put in the weekly quizzes and exam dates and grade option/drop deadline, too).

EXAMS: Exams are taken in Moodle and may be taken from home from any personal computer. The exam format will be multiple choice and true/false questions. The final will not be comprehensive. Go over the Questions for Review at the end of each section of the reading in Moodle. Make sure you can answer each of them. If you don't know the answer to a particular question, search the relevant section of the online text, the Powerpoints, your notes from the lectures and videos for the answer. You may even want to write out the answers, which you can consult while taking the exam. If you still come up short, feel free to message the instructor, come by office hours or make an appointment. It is also recommended that you review your notes from class videos and/or review the Powerpoint slides, as there may be questions about lecture material that is not emphasized or covered in the online text.

Once you take the exam, you will immediately receive your score. Because of test security issues, you won't able to review your exams unsupervised, as you were able to with the weekly quizzes. You won't be tested on this material again, but if you would still like to review your exam, see the philosophy tutor. If one is not available this term, please come by my office hours.

The lowest of your two midterm scores is dropped. Note that this applies only to the midterm exams, and does not include the Final Exam. This means that even if you get an F on the First Midterm Exam, you can get some help with the class, figure out where you went wrong, apply yourself, and possibly end up with an A in the class.

You will have about a week to take each exam. Exams are taken via Moodle with a time limit of one hour. The opening and closing times of exams are listed in the table above, in the course outline below and in the Weekly Outline in Moodle. Clicking on any exam in the main course view in Moodle will also show you the exact opening and closing dates and times as well, along with the chapters and weeks it covers.

EXAM DEADLINE POLICY: Since you will have at least a week to take each midterm, you will be expected to meet the deadline, however, you may contact the philosophy tutor before the deadline via Moodle message to request an extension without penalty. Make sure to tell the tutor the class and exam and have in mind the date to which you would like the exam extended. If a tutor is unavailable this term, send a Moodle message to the instructor. If you miss the deadline for the Final due to some unforeseen circumstance or emergency situation, contact the instructor via Moodle message for options ASAP.

Moodle will tell you your grade based on the assignments completed so far. Anything you don't complete will be converted to a zero near the end of the term. Make sure to complete all of the exams by the deadlines!

GRADING: There is no curve. At the end of the term, the class will be graded on the following absolute scale, with course totals rounded up to the nearest whole number: