Phl 340 / Hms 410
FREEDOM AND DETERMINISM
TTh 3:00-4:15 HM 468 seminar room.
Winter, 2000
DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE
With Calendar and assignments.
Research Paper and Presentation
Paper Themes (with presentation
dates)
Writing Assignment Requirements
Class
Notes Index Page
FINAL EXAM ASSIGNMENT
Instructor: Michael H. Barnes, Ph.D.
Office: HM 446
Phone: x2034 (home: 223-3300
before 9:00 p.m.)
Regular office Hours:
MTWThF, 11:30 - 1:30.
Other times by prior arrangement.
Introduction
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Inner freedom has long been in dispute. Karma rules for
Buddhists and Hindus; Christians preach Predestination; Muslims submit
to the will of Allah. Philosophers have argued about this from the Stoics
to Sartre. Marxists, Freudians, and behaviorists have added their opinions.
Evolutionary psychologists now claim our behavior and values are molded
by innate tendencies. The course will review sources and others to find
out how free we are, what inner freedom might consist of, and whether it
can be taught or learned.
These are the major sections of the course:
• Introduction: readings and a film to provide a sense
of the issues at stake.
• A survey of major religious positions on fate and predestination,
with an emphasis on Western beliefs
* A review of major philosophical positions on inner
freedom, especially Western thought
• An wide examination of several positions from sociobiology,
anthropology, and psychology
• Student presentations based on their research papers
• Summary and conclusion of course.
For further information about specific course
content, see the calendar of classes and the topics and readings listed.
TEXTS: The only full book for the course is the
Bhagavad
Gita, available in the bookstore. Numerous other readings, and at least
one film, are part of the course. See the calendar of classes for the sequence.
These will be handed out in class.
EVALUATION: Thirty percent of the grade will
be based on a ten to fifteen page Research Paper
on the topic of inner freedom, using resources selected by each student.
Forty percent will be based on four brief
(5-6 page) analyses based on classes and texts at the end of each of
the four first sections of the course. Twenty percent will be based on
a final "exam" of 10 to 12 pages. Five percent will be based on the student's
brief presentation about the paper. The last five percent will be based
on participation in class.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
As in any course you are responsible for whatever
happens in class, even in your absence. In case of your absence sure to
have someone who can inform you about class material and announcements.
If you are going to miss an exam or be late on an assignment, please call
me in advance if at all possible.
All assignments for this class must represent
new learning for this course; papers done for other courses are not acceptable,
though you are welcome to build upon your work in another course provided
you clear it with me, Barnes, in advance.
Cooperative learning is good. Please feel
free to work with others in the course to learn with and from them, especially
if you are having trouble with aspects of the course. But on the exams
and on the paper, the material you hand in must be your own understanding
and your own wording of that understanding. Always be sure to identify
any sources from whom you are taking material. It is especially important
that you cite your source when you quote; and it is important to use quotation
marks when you are quoting. (See the student handbook, 37-39 for more on
this.) (As always any instance of plagiarism can earn an "F" for the entire
course. See the student handbook for descriptions of plagiarism.)
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