Office: Caldwell 206B
Office Hours:  MW 5-6pm and by appointment.

Email: megw@email.unc.edu
Course Webpage: http://www.unc.edu/~megw/Phil110F08.html
Where:  Caldwell 105
When: TR 6-7:15pm

Required Texts

There are no required texts for this course. All readings will be on-line and can be found either on this webpage here or on Blackboard. Linked readings will be in the following sorts of formats: html, doc, and pdf. Please make sure that you can access these types of files. Also, there will occasionally be readings that are linked through JSTOR; you will need to be on campus or working through the University's proxy server in order to access them. Please get in touch with me if you are having difficulty accessing any of the material.

Course Description

Take a look around you. You probably believe that you are looking at a computer screen reading these very words. Perhaps, you think, you are in your office, or in your room, or in a coffee shop or out in the quad. Take a listen around you. You believe that you hear particular sounds--the hum of the hard drive, the whir of the latte steamer, the voices of people talking outside, etc.--and that these sounds alert you as to what's going on around you. Take a feel around you. You feel the hardness of your chair, or the prickly softness of the grass, or the coolness of the coffee shop stool. You can use your sense of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell to get information about the environment around you; you trust your senses to tell you what's going on and where you're at.

But now imagine that you get the following note in your inbox:


Can your eyes and ears and taste and touch can be trusted? Isn't it at least possible that someone could be feeding you all of your sensory information, making you believe that you are reading these words right now, but really you are in an armchair in some office, merely having the illusion of experiencing the things you think you are veridically experiencing? Can we ever be certain of any of our beliefs? Do we know anything for certain, and if so, what?

The first part of this course will center on Puzzles of Knowledge, such as the one presented above, by navigating our way through classic texts in the philosophical literature such as: Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, selections from Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, selections from Berkeley's Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, and selections from Hume's An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

The second part of the course will center on Puzzles of Time. We will discuss metaphysical questions about time such as: whether time is real, whether the past, present and future exist, whether time travel is possible, and issues involving free will and fatalism. We will be reading some classic texts, some contemporary texts, and a smattering of science fiction short stories.

Course Requirements

(i) 2 Papers 

There will be 2 papers 4-6 pages in length. Due dates for the papers can be found on the reading schedule. Rough drafts for the papers, while not required, are strongly encouraged. I will be holding extra office hours the week the papers are due so that we can go over the rough drafts in person.

(ii) 1 Final

There will be 1 comprehensive final at the end of the semester. It will cover all of the material and will be in short answer/essay format. Date: Saturday, December 6 at 6pm.

(iii) Participation

You are expected to read the assignments, think carefully about the readings, and come to class prepared. Part of what makes philosophy so engaging is being able to discuss various views with others. My hope is that this course will provide you with a forum where such discussion can take place. Thus, a small part of your grade will be allotted for participation, which includes coming to class, taking part in class discussions, turning in class assignments, coming to office hours, etc.

Grades

Your final grade in this course will be broken down as follows:

First Paper                    30%
Second Paper               30%
Final                             30%
Participation                   10%


Caveat: You must pass the final exam, and you must turn in all of the required assignments, in order to pass the class.

Honor Code

It is expected that everyone in the class has read, understood, and obeys UNC's Honor Code, which you can read on-line here. For more general information about the university's honor system, go here.

General Advice

Philosophy is oftentimes difficult. You may find that you need to read an article several times before you even have a sense of what the article is about. Please don't get frustrated—you’ll discover that having patience and working through such arduous material will be incredibly rewarding. However, chances are that even reading and re-reading the material will not be enough. That is why I encourage every single one of you to see me in my office hours whenever you feel you need the extra help. I have two hours a week specifically allotted for meeting with students, but feel free to make an appointment with me if another time would be more convenient. Also, I am open to having group meetings or study sessions outside of class time whenever you feel such a meeting would be beneficial.

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