Spring 2006. MWF, 11:15-12:05, Herter 113.
Prof. Brad Skow. (follow link for contact information.)
This course will survey answers philosophers have given to metaphysical questions about time, and also to questions about time and value, and about time and rationality.
This course has three goals.
To give you a good working knowledge of what philosophers have said about these topics.
To improve your ability to extract arguments from philosophers' writing and evaluate those arguments.
To improve your ability to write philosophy papers.
The course will be a mixture of lecture of discussion, with some class meetings devoted entirely to discussion.
I have ordered copies of the following books at Amherst books:
There is also a course packet, available at copycat print shop in Amherst (ask for CP #88). Other readings are available on the internet (see links on the reading schedule).
You must have taken two previous philosophy courses. I will presuppose that you have some experience "doing philosophy"---extracting arguments from things we read and evaluating those arguments. (Improving these abilities is goal 2 above.)
You should come to class prepared to discuss the reading. That means: you know what claims are defended in the reading; you have a view about how the author argues for those claims; you know which parts of the reading you did not understand.
Three times in the first part of the semester (see the reading schedule for dates) I will hand out a list of questions. Answers will be due the following monday. The purpose of these assignments is for you to gain experience doing the kind of things you will do in your term paper, but in a shorter, more guided assignment. (The list will contain further instructions.)
The paper should be between 5 and 7 pages. Paper topics are here. The paper is due on May 12st. Your paper will be evaluated according to these criteria.
A useful resource is Jim Pryor's Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper. Read these guidelines several times while writing your paper; we will discuss them in class.
While it will be comprehensive, the exam will focus more on the parts of the semester not covered in the short written assignments. It is on May ??.
Jim Pryor's Philosophical Terms and Methods.
The Uncyclopedia's entry on Time is tragically unfunny. Please try to improve it.
Late work will not be accepted without an acceptable (usually medical) excuse.
If you plagiarize you will receive an "F" in this class and be reported to the dean.