PHIL 495: Philosophical Writing (Spring 2007)

The URL for this syllabus is http://aristotle.tamu.edu/~rasmith/Courses/PhilosophicalWriting/07a/

• Place and Time: T 8:00-8:50 AM, Bolton 018
• The Instructor: Robin Smith (rasmith@tamu.edu)
• His Office: Bolton 314
• Its Telephone: 845-5696

This is a course about writing philosophical prose. Since philosophical writing consists of philosophical arguments, we will spend much of our time studying how to analyze, criticize, and construct philosophical arguments, as well as how to put them into words in a clear way.

Writing-Intensive Course

This course qualifies as a Writing Intensive course for the purpose of the University's Core Curriculum.

Objectives

In this course, you should learn:

• How to analyze and criticize philosophical essays written by others
• How to analyze philosophical arguments
• How to construct philosophical essays of various types of your own
• How to do research in philosophy:
  • Using library resources: finding books and journal articles
  • Using The Philosopher's Index and other indexes
  • Making critical use of the Internet
• How to understand, make use of, and answer criticism of your own philosophical arguments
• The details of writing a scholarly essay, including the appropriate standards of style and form
• How to make responsible use of the work of others:
  • Standards and forms for citations
  • Using footnotes, bibliographies, and in-text citations
  • Plagiarism vs. fair use

Texts

We will not use a commercial textbook for this course. Instead, there will be a series of notes on the topics for the course. We will also analyze and discuss philosophical arguments from a number of sources, including selections brought to class by students (see below for the details).

What We Will Do

In general, each class day will be divided between some discussion of philosophical arguments and some discussion of techniques for clear and effective writing. The syllabus below gives the topics under each of these headings for each day. Classroom discussion will center usually on short examples of philosophical prose. I will bring some of these to class myself, and I will ask you to search for examples elsewhere: in the writings of philosophers, in newspapers and other popular publications, on the Internet. There will also be a total of five short written assignments in this class. Four of these will involve analyzing or producing philosophical arguments, while one will be based on using research techniques (we will have one class session in Evans Library to go over this).

Grading basis

1. Four short essays (two pages each) on philosophical subjects: 40% (10% each)
2. Library research assignment: 10%
3. Classroom participation: 25%
4. Paper assignment for co-requisite course: 25%

Each essay will have an assigned topic related to the readings most recently covered in class. Each essay is due by the beginning of class on the date indicated in the schedule below. Since this is a course in philosophical writing, essays will be graded in part for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and writing clarity. Essays may be submitted either in printed form or via email attachment.

Co-Requisite

This course has a co-requisite: you must enroll in another 300- or 400-level philosophy course which has a term paper requirement at the same time. You must inform the instructor of your co-requisite course that you are using it as your co-requisite for PHIL 495. You will also need to submit to me a copy of the term paper you are writing for your co-requisite course. For the purposes of determining your grade in PHIL495, that essay will be graded on its language, organization, structure, and use of research strategies.

Here is a tentative list of the course sections which satisfy this co-requisite for the Spring semester 2007 (THIS IS SUBJECT TO REVISION):

If you are not enrolled in one of these courses, you will not be able to continue in this course. If you are enrolled in more than one, you'll need to let me know at the beginning of the semester which one you will be using as your co-requisite course.

Schedule

The schedule below is subject to change to accommodate unforeseen problems. I reserve the right to drop things from the schedule or slow down the pace if it appears to me that the class is having trouble keeping up with the material. All changes will be announced in class as well as appearing here.

Academic Integrity Statement

The Aggie Honor Code:

Effective September 1, 2004, Texas A&M University has an Honor Code that defines campus policy on academic integrity and academic misconduct. The Aggie Honor System is charged with the enforcement of this Code. Students should be aware that the Aggie Honor System has the power to impose punishments for academic misconduct. For information on the Aggie Honor System, see http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor; information of particular concern to students, including definitions of types of academic misconduct, may be found at http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/student.html.

It will be my policy in this course to include the following statement on all examinations and request students to sign it:

 "On my honor, as an Aggie, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

________________________________

Signature of student 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accomodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accomodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 118 of Cain Hall, on the Internet at http://disability.tamu.edu/, or by telephone at 979-845-1637.