Spring 2022, MW 11:15 am-12:05 pm in Chapman 211, plus Friday recitations, 3 credits
UNC students enrolled in the course (or otherwise authorized by the instructor) can access the Sakai webpages for this course at https://sakai.unc.edu/portal/site/phil101-s22.
Those pages include the Zoom links for the course meetings and for Professor Pryor’s office hours. These can also be retrieved from this restricted page.
Most of the information for the lecture part of the course will be published here, outside of the Sakai system, and can also be viewed by people not enrolled in the course. Your recitations may work more closely with Sakai.
This front web page won’t be updated frequently. Regular announcements, readings, and lecture notes will be posted at this page instead.
We are obligated to copy this general information onto every syllabus. See below for a description of how this specific instance of the course will be run.
PHIL 101. Introduction to Philosophy: Central Problems, Great Minds, Big Ideas. 3 Credits. An introduction to philosophy focusing on a few central problems, for example: free will, the basis of morality, the nature and limits of knowledge, and the existence of God. Honors version available. Gen Ed: PH. Grading status: Letter grade.
This course will be an introduction to philosophy focusing on a few central problems:
What does it take to have free will? Is this incompatible with one’s choices being programmed or physically determined?
Relations between minds, brains, and machines: Are your mind and body made of different stuffs? If a machine duplicates the neural structure of your brain, would it have the same thoughts, experiences, and self-awareness that you have?
How can we tell whether animals and future computers have minds, or whether they’re instead just mindless automata?
Personal identity and its relation to surviving bodily death: What makes you the person you are? If we perfectly recorded all the neural patterns in your brain, could we use that to “bring you back” after a fatal accident?
Questions about the nature and disvalue of death: What does it mean to die? Do you have an immortal soul which could survive the death of your body? Why is death bad? How can it be bad for people who aren’t alive anymore to be harmed?
This course does not presuppose any prior background or coursework in philosophy.
It aims to introduce you to a range of philosophical topics and writing, and give you experience analyzing and discussing arguments and writing philosophical papers.
More specifically, the course goals include:
Gaining familiarity with major questions, positions, and arguments in contemporary philosophy (mostly metaphysics and philosophy of mind). You should understand why the questions listed above are significant, and be able to explain different answers to them.
Improving your ability to closely read, interpret, and evaluate contemporary philosophical texts. This includes identifying arguments and their underlying assumptions; formulating counter-examples and other objections; and recognizing how a view can best be defended (whether you endorse it or not).
Improving your ability to clearly explain and critically respond to philosophical arguments, both in discussion and in writing.
Improving your ability to articulate your own positions, formulate your own arguments, and reply to reasoned objections.
The course is offered by Professor Jim Pryor (he/him).
Professor Pryor’s office is Caldwell 108A. He can best be reached by email, at jimpryor@unc.edu.
Professor Pryor’s office hours are on Mondays starting at 3 pm, and Wednesdays starting at 1 pm. (If you have a quick question, you can also ask just after class.) If you’re unable to meet in person, we can also arrange to meet by Zoom. The Zoom link for office hours can be found on this restricted page.
Feel free to drop into office hours to discuss anything you like about our course. I’m happy to talk about paper ideas, continue discussion, and so on. If you do come to my office and I’m already speaking with someone, make sure that we know that you’re waiting for us to finish.
All recitations meet on Fridays (starting the first week of classes) for 50 minutes. They’ll meet in person as circumstances allow.
Sorting the recitations by times: there is one at 9:05 (led by Ripley), one at 10:10 (led by Frank), three at 11:15 (led by Ripley, Devin, and Jackson), one at 12:20 (led by Frank), and two at 1:25 (led by Devin and Jackson).
The TAs’ emails are linked above. Here are their office hours and locations. (Your TAs may sometimes or regularly hold office hours by Zoom; they’ll let you know.)
These should be available in the bookstore. You can also buy or rent them online. I’ll also make sure readings from the textbooks are available to everybody at the start of term.
Additional readings will be provided by web links. Some of these are in a restricted section of the course website. The username and password for these were emailed to you, and will also be announced in class.
In addition to philosophy articles and textbooks/dialogues, we’ll also read some science fiction stories and watch one movie that deals with issues that we’re examining in the course. We’ll discuss all these in class and (especially) in recitations.
It is important that you attend the class meetings regularly. Material not in the readings will be presented there, and useful background and framing for many of the readings will also be provided. The University’s Policy on Class Attendance can be found here. In brief, they authorize absences only for some University activities, religious observances, disabilities, significant health conditions including pregnancy, and personal or family emergencies. If these include your situation, then consult the link about how to get your absence approved. (The University Approved Absence Office (UAAO) also has useful information.) If you need to miss class meetings for other kinds of reasons (like a job interview or to attend your mother’s wedding), ask me about it well in advance. In any case, you will be responsible for catching up with missed course content; and permission to miss a class doesn’t excuse you from deadlines for work due before or after the class.
Though this is an in-person course, attending a class meeting doesn’t necessarily mean being bodily present in the room. As the carolinatogether website says:
Each time prior to coming to campus, all members of the Carolina community should self-assess whether you are experiencing any symptoms.
If you have symptoms, you should stay home. You should not enter any campus building, attend any class or report to work.
Information about Covid testing is available here.
Information about quarantining and isolation is available here.
If you need to stay home during any of our class meetings, try to attend the meeting by Zoom instead.
See the Policies section below about wearing masks and using laptops or other devices in class.
When you join the class meetings, you are expected to have read any material assigned for that day, and to be ready to discuss it (in recitation) and/or ask questions about it (in recitation or lecture).
It is essential that you ask questions when things in the readings or lectures are unclear, and be ready to participate when we have class discussions. We’ll expect you to actively engage with each other in recitation, and encourage you to do it outside of class too. Talking about philosophy is one of the best ways of learning how to do it. Your overall participation will make up 15% of your grade for the course. See this page on participation for more details. If you don’t plan to participate earnestly, you should not take this course.
There will be reading assignments for most class meetings. These readings are often pretty short, but they all require close study. You should read them carefully before we discuss them in class, and you’ll need to read them more than once. For most of the readings, you won’t understand the material sufficiently with just a single reading. A good strategy would be to read the assignment once before we discuss it, and then go back and read it again after we’ve discussed it. If you don’t plan to do this, you should not take this course.
Here is a detailed explanation of how you’ll be expected to read philosophy papers.
You will have to submit four brief writing exercises (about a half-page each) for the course, due on Jan 18, Jan 25, Feb 1, and Feb 8. These will be graded one of: High quality/Satisfactory/Low quality. You will submit a more substantial, 3-5 page paper on Mar 1. This will receive a normal letter grade and feedback from your TA. You will then have to rewrite and resubmit that paper, improving it in light of that feedback. The rewrites will be due on Mar 29, and will also be graded. You will also write a new 3-5 page paper that is due on Apr 19.
We will arrange that grading of your work is done without us knowing whose work is whose.
Here is a detailed explanation of how you’ll be expected to write philosophy papers. That page includes a section “How you’ll be graded”; here is more information on how I understand different grades for written work.
There will also be a final exam, given in compliance with UNC-Chapel Hill’s final exam regulations and according to the final exam calendar. Our exam will be on Fri May 6 from 12-3 pm.
See below about rescheduling your final or paper deadlines.
The University Honor Code applies to all course assignments, exams, and petitions for absences or rescheduling. In brief, this means students are expected to refrain from “lying, cheating, or stealing” in the academic context. For more information or to clarify which actions violate the honor code, consult with your instructors, honor.unc.edu, and/or The Instrument of Student Judicial Governance.
What constitutes “lying, cheating, or stealing” depends on the academic activity.
In this course, you’re allowed (indeed encouraged!) to get feedback from your peers on your work before submitting it, and to use their ideas as starting points. But what you submit must represent your own developed thoughts and expression, and you must give appropriate credit for ways that others influenced the product.
During the exam, you won’t be allowed to collaborate, or rely on outside resources.
Papers submitted for this and another course (whether taken the same semester or not) must be substantially different.
Your grades for the different components of the course will be weighted as follows:
15% for participation and brief writing exercises 15% first draft of substantial paper 1 20% revised version of paper 1 25% substantial paper 2 25% final exam
Grade Appeals: If you feel you have been given an incorrect grade for any part of the course, we can review together how we applied the announced standards. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, you have the right to discuss with our department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies (currently Professor Markus Kohl), or to appeal through a formal University process. You’ll be expected to make a case that the grade reflects an arithmetic/clerical error, arbitrariness, discrimination, harassment, or personal malice. To learn more, consult the Academic Advising Program website, or this summary of University policies.
Most requests that I and other professors hear for changing grades are based on how good/bad it would be for a student to get a given grade; but it would be unfair and inappropriate for justifications like that to succeed.
This schedule lists due dates for assignments and the rough order of our topics. See this other page for course announcements, specific readings, lecture notes, and any minor tweaks to the schedule. Check that page frequently.
(Whether or not you’re on the waitlist, the procedure is the same.) Come to the first week of classes and be in touch with me asap about your interest in the course, how it fits into your larger educational plans, and what your background in other philosophy courses might be. We’ll accommodate you if we can; but you should also figure out a backup plan.
If you have issues about which of the recitation sections you’re signed up for, please be patient about this. To take this course, it’s mandatory that you have space in your schedule to attend at least one of our scheduled recitations. But if you can’t sign up for the one that suits you best, we’ll try to sort that out eventually. Make sure you go to some recitation the first week anyway, even if it’s not the recitation you ultimately hope to be in. We ask you to email the TAs rather than Professor Pryor about any recitation-scheduling matters. (All our emails are listed above.) The registrar will need to assign you to some section; but at the start of term you don’t need to worry about whether they think you’re taking a section we give you permission to take.
If you know in advance you’ll have good reason for being unable to submit a paper for a deadline:
Some requests will be University-Approved Absences. See that link for instructions about how to get these approved and communicated to us.
The University Approved Absences Office (UAAO) doesn’t handle requests to reschedule final exams, but their website has links to the offices that do. (See also below if you have multiple exams scheduled at the same time.)
If your reasons for missing a deadline don’t qualify as University-Approved, but they are reasonable and you discuss them with us well in advance of the deadline (at least a week before), we may be able to make other arrangements for the deadline on our own. (This does not hold for final exams though.)
What if it turns out that you can’t turn the work in, but now it’s only days or hours before (or even after 😮) the deadline?
The Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS) has staff who work with students who are dealing with medical and/or personal issues that are interfering with their courses. If you contact ODOS, they will be able to work with you to verify the cause of the disruption, connect you with campus services that may help, and notify me and other professors about the issue. They sometimes make recommendations about what would be reasonable accommodations for your situation, which we will take seriously. If you’re going to miss a deadline, or you’ve already missed it, then get in touch with them as soon as possible (in any case within five days) to tell them about your situation. We’ll expect any last-minute or after-the-fact requests for extensions or other academic accommodations to come through the ODOS.
What if you missed the deadline and don’t have an extension, or you were granted an extension but you missed that too? Then we’ll permit you to turn the paper in up to 72 hours late, for a 10% grade penalty. (For example, this takes what would have been a B- to a C-.) This permission can only be used once during the semester.
What if your paper is more than 72 hours late, or you already used up your permission to turn a paper in late earlier in the semester? In that case, it’s still best for you to complete the late paper and turn it in. We will still grade it and give you feedback on it, and if the work would have earned at least a C had it been turned in on time, then we’ll give you a grade of 50% for the assignment. That’s still an F, but as a “high F” it’s better than getting the 0% you would otherwise have gotten. Also you’ll still get the pedagogical benefits the assignment was supposed to serve in the first place.
If you have two final exams scheduled at the same time, or three scheduled within twenty-four hours:
You can apply at the dean’s office for permission to have one of the exams rescheduled. This must be done before the first day of exam period, and there are rules about which exam will be rescheduled. See here for more details.
As noted on that page, you cannot be excused from taking a final exam except in special circircumstances, which must be documented and approved by an academic dean.
The first few of these are specific to our course; the rest are information that the University mandates we include on every syllabus. (So you will see a lot of overlap with your syllabi for other courses.)
I won’t prohibit the use of laptops or tablets for taking notes, though I strongly discourage this. I’ll post summaries of the main outlines of our lectures, so you won’t need to write everything down during our meetings. You should be reviewing those lecture notes outside of class anyway. An effective use of your time in the classroom is to focus on following the discussion, and actively raising questions when you don’t. If you must have a device open in class, don’t browse the web, or read/send texts or other social media during our meetings. It’s pretty clear to everyone when you are doing this, and it’s rude and distracting to your instructors and your classmates.
You may not record our class meetings in any format without prior express authorization from us and the department. To request the use of assistive technology as an accommodation, contact the ARS (see below). For others, permission to record will only be granted in extraordinary circumstances. Students are never permitted to copy or distribute recordings of the class, and must delete any they possess when the course concludes.
Spring 2022 Course Delivery: As long as it is possible to do so safely, we will be meeting in person this semester. We understand the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may require changes to this plan and we’ll be monitoring the situation closely. If we need to change the format of the course temporarily due to outbreaks of illness, we will announce this via email and the course Sakai site.
This semester, while we are in the midst of a global pandemic, all enrolled students are required to wear a mask covering your mouth and nose at all times in our classroom. This requirement is to protect our educational community — your classmates and instructors — as we learn together. If you choose not to wear a mask, or wear it improperly, we will ask you to leave immediately, and we will submit a report to the Office of Student Conduct. Students who have an authorized accommodation from ARS (see next item) have an exception. For additional information, see Carolina Together.
UNC-Chapel Hill facilitates the implementation of reasonable accommodations, including resources and services, for students with disabilities, including mental health disorders, chronic medical conditions, temporary disabilities, or pregnancy complications resulting in barriers to fully accessing University courses, programs and activities. Accommodations are determined through the Office of Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS) for individuals with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. See their website ars.unc.edu for information, or email ars@unc.edu.
With pre-arrangement by your instructor, the College of Arts and Science’s Undergraduate Testing Center provides a proctored testing environment for students who are unable to take an exam at the normally scheduled time for reasons other than those handles by ARS. The Center works with instructors to provide a secure, proctored exam environment for undergraduate students who are not registered with ARS and who don’t need testing accommodations as provided by ARS. For more information, visit testingcenter.web.unc.edu.
We value the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds reflecting the diversity of our students. We broadly define diversity to include race, gender identity, national origin, ethnicity, religion, social class, age, sexual orientation, political background, and physical and learning ability. We strive to make our classrooms inclusive spaces for all students. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve. We appreciate suggestions.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is strongly committed to addressing the mental health needs of a diverse student body through timely access to consultation and connection to clinically appropriate services, whether for short- or long-term needs. Go to their website caps.unc.edu or visit their facilities on the third floor of the Campus Health Service building for a walk-in evaluation to learn more. Students may also call CAPS anytime at 919-966-3658 for immediate support.
In this course, as in other University programs and activities, you should expect an environment free of discrimination, harassment, and other misconduct. If this expectation isn’t respected, here are links for more information about University policies, how to obtain support, and file grievances:
The University’s Policy Statement on Non-discrimination says:
The University is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment and to ensuring that educational and employment decisions are based on individuals’ abilities and qualifications. Consistent with these principles and applicable laws, it is therefore the University’s policy not to discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status as consistent with the University’s Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct. No person, on the basis of protected status, shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation under any University program or activity, including with respect to employment terms and conditions. Such a policy ensures that only relevant factors are considered and that equitable and consistent standards of conduct and performance are applied.
Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct
Students who are impacted by sexual discrimination, harassment, dating or relationship violence, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, or stalking are encouraged to seek resources on campus or in the community. Reports can be made online to the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (EOC) using this form. Please contact the University’s Title IX Coordinator (Elizabeth Hall, interim titleixcoordinator@unc.edu), Report and Response Coordinators in the EOC (reportandresponse@unc.edu), Counseling and Psychological Services (confidential, link above), or the Gender Violence Services Coordinators (confidential, gvsc@unc.edu) to discuss your specific needs. Additional resources are available at safe.unc.edu.
If you’re experiencing other forms of harassment or discrimination contrary to University policies, you can also seek assistance through the Report and Response Coordinators in the EOC (reportandresponse@unc.edu), or file a report using the EOC form.
For free feedback on any course writing projects, check out UNC’s Writing Center. Their coaches can assist with any writing project, including multimedia projects and application essays, at any stage of the writing process. You don’t even need a draft to come visit. To schedule a 45-minute appointment, review quick tips, or request written feedback online, visit writingcenter.unc.edu.
Want to get the most out of this course or others this semester? Visit UNC’s Learning Center at learningcenter.unc.edu to make an appointment or register for an event. Their free, popular programs will help you optimize your academic performance. Try academic coaching, peer tutoring, STEM support, ADHD/LD services, workshops and study camps, or review tips and tools available on the website.
By attending UNC-Chapel Hill, you agree to abide by the University’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for IT systems and services. The AUP sets the expectation that you will use the University’s technology resources responsibly, consistent with the University’s mission. In the context of a course, it’s quite likely you will participate in online activities that could include personal information about you or your peers, and the AUP addresses your obligations to protect the privacy of class participants. In addition, the AUP addresses matters of others’ intellectual property, including copyright. These are only a couple of typical examples, so you should consult the full Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy, which covers topics related to using digital resources, such as privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property. Additionally, consult the Safe Computing at UNC website for information about the data security policies, updates, and tips on keeping your identity, information, and devices safe.
The instructors reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus, including paper due dates. These changes will be announced as early as possible so that students can adjust their schedules.
We welcome your input about the course at any time. You are welcome to approach me and the TAs directly. We’ll also provide opportunities for anonymous evaluation and feedback during the term.