Course Description

This course will introduce the students into the world of Philosophy. It will first offer a brief description of Metaphysics and Ethics, and then present the students with a selection of articles aiming at triggering off their own reflection on value-related issues.

            The term metaphysics originally referred to the writings of Aristotle that came after his writings on physics. It is the study of the kind of things that exist in the universe. Some things are physical (e.g. rocks, bodies, stars, etc.), others are not (e.g. thoughts, gods, values, etc.). Traditionally, meta‑physics refers to the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand the fundamental nature of all reality, whether visible or invisible. In order to help the students realize that metaphysical thinking is not an exclusive peculiarity of the West, the course will briefly introduce Hindu Vedanta Metaphysics, which has exerted its influence on people such as Mahatma Gandhi and Aldous Huxley.

            Human values are dealt with in the area of Philosophy known as ethics. The metaphysical component of ethics involves discovering specifically whether moral values are eternal truths that exist in a spirit-like realm, or simply human conventions.

To ensure that all participants understand the same thing by values I will include a definition from a report (1987) for UNESCO by the Club of Rome: “The concept of value refers to two contrasting ideas. At one extreme we speak of economic values based on products, wealth, prices - on highly material things. In another context, however, the word value acquires an abstract, intangible and non-measurable meaning. Among such spiritual values are freedom, peace, justice, equality. A value system is a group of interconnected values that form a system and reinforce each other. They are anchored in religion or in humanist traditions. To be precise, it is necessary to distinguish clearly between the values themselves and the means of attaining them. In many cases there is broad agreement over ethical goals, but there are differences of opinions over rules of conduct.... In any society you will find different systems of values co-existing - but nor peacefully - side by side.”

The array of texts that will be dealt with during the lectures examines specific controversial issues such as:

·         Abortion, suicide, and bio-genetics

·         Feminism, Racism, Culture and Identity - examines certain social problems in relation to cultural development, gender and concern for the preservation of cultural heritage

·         Democracy and War - examines morality in democracy, politics, and war (specifically in the aftermath of the war in Iraq) from a Euro-American and African perspective

Course Requirements

v      All students are required to read the texts assigned for each class (see “course outline”) and to actively participate in class discussions about the texts (20%). Therefore, always bring the assigned text to class!

v      Open class discussion (20%).

v      Each student must write a midterm essay (4-5 pages, excluding the table of contents) on a metaphysical topic envisaged from a Caribbean perspective (30%).

v      Each student must write one end paper (7-10 pages, excluding the table of contents) on an ethical issue viewed from his or her own local perspective (St. Martin, Jamaica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, USA, etc.), taking the articles on African Philosophy as a guideline. (30%)

Students are encouraged to use one or more of the articles taken up in the Reader as starting point for their essay and/or paper.

NOTE

Students who attend the preliminary special public lectures of the Education conference and submit a short report on the talks they followed and 5 philosophical questions that could be asked about what the speaker said will gain extra points for the PHIL 232 course.

See https://consultants2006.tripod.com/conference

Course Objectives

It is not the course’s main aim to have the students learn endless lists of philosophical jargon by heart. Even though students will be presented with some of the essential vocabulary of this discipline, they will be asked to concentrate on the use of the concepts dealt in class and/or the texts, and to develop their personal, critical, and consistent thinking.

There are six overarching objectives to this course:

1.       to acquaint the students with some of the basics concepts presupposed in the mainstream current philosophical discourse which our students may encounter in the media

2.      to expose the students to a variety of texts in the field of ethics, epistemology, existentialism, literature, social history, and feminism. This should bring the students into contact with different value systems

3.      to help the students realize that many of the values that guide our actions today have a long history and are in deed of re-evaluation and re-adjustment

4.      to assist the students in their search for the meaning and foundation of their personal identity

5.      to show them how philosophical theories and methods relate and apply to problems in professions such as law, medicine and business, as well as to social problems in the world at large

6.      to instill in the students the habit of thinking clearly, critically, and responsibly.

Attendance

Students are required to attend all classes. In order to verify attendance, an attendance list will be circulated to be signed in by each student and submitted by the end of each class.

If an urgent situation should arise, causing you to be late for class, or if you should need to leave the class early, please do notify the instructor beforehand.

Students who have missed classes without a valid cause will be given lower marks than others who have consistently attended all lectures.