Phi 109-01—Perspectives on Philosophy: the Idea of Free Will
Fall 2013—Glen Helman

Instructor: Glen Helman, Assoc. Prof. of Philosophy and Dept. Chair

E-mail: helmang@wabash.edu

Office: Center 214, (765) 361-6334

My posted hours currently are 2:30-3:30 on M and 3-4 on Th (but this can change). I usually arrive on campus between 9 and 10 and leave between 5 and 6, and you stand a good chance of finding me in my office whenever I am not teaching. My other classes meet at 10 and 1:10 MWF. (While I am in my office most noon hours, the noon hour is also a common time for meetings and other events, as is the afternoon after 4.)

Home: 314 W. Wabash Ave., (765) 362-0428

This is your best bet evenings and weekends, but try my office too.

Cell phone: (765) 366-0791

Texts

In the bookstore:

Derk Pereboom (ed.), Free Will, 2nd (ed.), Hackett, 2009.

Clifford Williams, Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue, Hackett, 1980.

Grading

Requirements:

Writing:

Two graded papers,

(1)a short paper of 2-3 pp. (due 9/19)

on a topic arising from the texts you read (I will assign the general form of the paper and the type of topic, but the specific topic will be your choice),

(2)a longer paper of 5-6 pp. (due 10/15)

developing your own views on a topic related to what you have read, and

(3)three ungraded writing assignments of 1 or 2 pp. (1st due 9/5, 2nd due 9/12, 3rd due 10/1)

interspersed among the papers.

Participation:

Regular, prepared, and active

(4)participation in class discussion

and timely completion of graded assignments.

Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 20% and 45%, respectively for the graded papers, 5% each for the timely and serious completion of ungraded writing assignments, and 20% for participation in discussion and other aspects of class participation. (When you receive credit for an ungraded assignment, its portion of your final grade will be figured using your highest grade for other aspects of the course, so completion of the ungraded assignments will alter the proporitions above in a way that could raise but cannot lower your grade.)

Attendance and due dates:

As part of my evaluation of your participation, I will be keeping a record of your attendance. You will be automatically excused if you notify me in advance that you will miss a class (e-mail or voice-mail messages are fine). After the fact, I will expect you to have a good reason. Due dates for the papers are subject to negotiation. I set a default due date for the class, but I am willing to set individual due dates (within reason) for those who find that inconvenient. My policy on missed deadlines is similar to that on missed classes: I’ll re-negotiate the deadline (again within reason) if I hear in advance; but after the fact, I’ll expect an excuse. Unexcused missed deadlines will have an effect on your participation grade.

Calendar

Detailed calendar. The assignments below are approximate and tentative. Sometimes a reading-guide handout will specify the details of an assignment, and it may include passages that are part of your assignment.

8/29   introduction and Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bk. 3, ch. 1 (Pereboom, sel. 1, pp. 1-4)—reading guide
9/3   Stoics, sels. and reports, and Lucretius, from On the Nature of Things (Pereboom, sels. 2-3, pp. 5-18)
9/5 wrt1 Augustine, from On Free Choice of the Will, bk. 3 (Pereboom, part of sel. 4, pp. 26-33)
9/10   Spinoza, from Ethics (Pereboom, part of sel. 6, pp. 62-75)
9/12 wrt2 Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Nature (Pereboom, sel. 8, pp. 87-104)
9/17   Kant, from Critique of Practical Reason (Pereboom, sel. 10, pp. 120-129)
9/19 ppr1 Free Will and Determinism, pp. 1-21
9/24   ———, pp. 21-41
9/26   ———, pp. 41-58
10/1 wrt3 Frankfurt, “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility” (Pereboom, sel. 15, pp. 185-195)
10/3   Frankfurt, “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person” (Pereboom, sel. 16, pp. 196-212)
10/8   Wolf, “Asymmetrical Freedom” (Pereboom, sel. 18, pp. 228-242)
10/10   Strawson, “The Impossibility of Ultimate Moral Responsibility,” §§1-5 (Pereboom, sel. 21, pp. 289-299)
10/15 ppr2 ———, §§6-7 (Pereboom, sel. 21, pp. 299-305)