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. Because this is a course in applied reasoning, our approach will be mainly topical, practical and contemporary, though I do draw on some historical works.

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 online forums 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:  This course is aimed at developing practical reasoning skills. Students will learn to analyze and evaluate arguments, detect fallacies, distinguish science from pseudo-science, recognize media bias, and better understand methods of deception employed by advertisers, political organizations and others. A central goal of this course is to develop an attitude of fair-mindedness and intellectual honesty while learning to avoid the pitfalls of defensiveness and rationalization.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objectives are this course are for students to (1) be able to identify, analyze and evaluate arguments, including being able to recognize hidden assumptions and implied conclusions (2) be able to identify various kinds of valid and strong arguments and to distinguish them from formal and informal fallacies (3) develop an awareness of various kinds of psychological bias that can cloud clear thinking and to develop effective strategies for overcoming it (4) develop an awareness of social, cultural and institutional bias and to develop strategies for correcting for its influence (5) be able to guard against non-rational means of persuasion such as slick sales techniques, rhetoric and propaganda (6) be able to apply critical thinking skills in different contexts, e.g. advertising, science, religion, ethics, politics (7) be able to distinguish between unreliable personal experiences or anecdotal evidence and good empirical evidence (8) understand and appreciate the value of rationality and objectivity.

AUDIO PODCASTS: Three to three and a half hours of lecture/discussion from a recent face-to-face version of this class will be linked in each week of the Moodle course.  These audio podcasts will will help explain the reading and course concepts. Not listening to these recordings would be the equivalent of not going to a face to face class and attempting to pass by simply reading the textbook. There will also be some material presented in these recordings which will be tested on but which is not in the readings and videos provided in Moodle. You can stream these recordings from within Moodle or download them to your computer or phone and listen to them while doing routine household chores, exercising, commuting and so on. Please ignore and free to skip over any old announcements at the beginning of class. All current announcements will be posted in the Announcements Forum or Social Forum in Moodle.

FORUM POSTS: The purpose of the forum assignment is to allow 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. Every Monday a new forum prompt will be posted. To receive credit, you must make one reply of 100 to 300 words that substantially and directly addresses the prompt and displays a familiarity with the reading, i.e. your post must be distinguishable from someone who hasn't done any of the reading, looks at the prompt and "gives their opinion." Avoid all titles, headers and signatures. Moodle displays your name, the date, the topic and the forum week; duplicating this information clutters up the forum. Write in block format with no indenting, spacing between paragraphs, and use the standard font. If you're pasting from Google docs, Microsoft Word or similar programs, save as plain text first. After you've posted, make sure that your post's formatting looks OK, that the font matches everyone else's and that there are no extra spaces above or below the text (a common problem with copying and pasting). See the Student Help Desk for help using Moodle forums.

Read the prompt carefully before answering. Make sure you are actually answering the question since off-topic posts will not receive credit. You should carefully revise and proofread your post for typos, awkward language, conceptual vagueness and inconsistency. Posts making unsupported or contradictory claims will not receive credit. Your post should not read like a stream of consciousness of you trying to figure things out "on the fly." If it helps you to write something like that first, go ahead, but then revise it into something clear, methodical and coherent. Avoid meaningless, introductory throw-away comments or restating the question; get straight to the point.

Plagiarism, which includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from websites, will result in a penalty of one letter grade on the first offense (the equivalent of a zero on all forum posts) and an F in the class on the second offense. 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. Postings will be graded on a credit/no-credit basis and are due before Sunday 11:55pm at the end of each week.

Late posts will not receive credit. Give yourself 30 minutes to review and edit your post after you have made it, making sure the formatting matches if you have copied and pasted it from a word processing program. If it doesn't match the font style and size, save as plain text in your word processor and try again. 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 exam dates and grade option/drop deadline, too). Posts of fewer than 100 words will not receive credit. Use the word count feature in your word processor or online if you are in doubt. If your post is over 300 words, edit it down. An extra credit forum will be available in Week Ten to make up for one missed post. Students are also expected to read every post and pay special attention to posts made by the instructor.
EXAMS: 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, videos, forums, online reviews or PowerPoints which you would like to explore, discuss or perhaps debate in more depth than is practical in online forums or 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.