Phi 109-02—Perspectives on Philosophy: the Idea of Free Will
Fall 2015—Glen Helman

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

E-mail: helmang@wabash.edu

Office: Center 311, (765) 361-6334

My posted hours currently are 2:30-3:30 on T and 3:10-4:10 on F (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 11 MWF and 1:10 TTh. (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 11/13)

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 12/15)

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 10/30, 2nd due 11/6, 3rd due 12/4)

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.

10/19   introduction
10/21   Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bk. 3, ch. 1 (Pereboom, sel. 1, pp. 1-4)
10/23   Stoics, sels. and reports (Pereboom, sel. 2, pp. 5-13)
10/26   ———, cont’d, and Lucretius, from On the Nature of Things (Pereboom, sels. 2-3, pp. 13-18)
10/28   Augustine, from On Free Choice of the Will, bk. 3 (Pereboom, part of sel. 4, pp. 26-33)— 
10/30 wrt1 Spinoza, from Ethics (Pereboom, part of sel. 6, pp. 62-68) 
11/2   ———, cont’d (Pereboom, part of sel. 6, pp. 68-75) 
11/4   Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, VIII, pt. 1 (Pereboom, sel. 8, pp. 87-99) 
11/6 wrt2 ———, pt. 2 (Pereboom, sel. 8, pp. 99-104) 
11/9   Kant, from Critique of Practical Reason (Pereboom, sel. 10, pp. 120-129) 
11/11   Williams, Free Will and Determinism, pp. 1-21 
11/13 ppr1 ———, pp. 21-41 
11/16   ———, pp. 41-58 
11/18   Frankfurt, “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility,” §§I-III (Pereboom, sel. 15, pp. 185-190) 
11/20   ———, §§IV-V (Pereboom, sel. 15, pp. 190-195) 
     
11/30   Frankfurt, “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person,” intro. and §§I-II (Pereboom, sel. 16, pp. 196-205) 
12/2   ———, §§III-IV (Pereboom, sel. 16, pp. 205-212) 
12/4 wrt3 Wolf, “Asymmetrical Freedom” (Pereboom, sel. 18, pp. 228-235) 
12/7   ———, cont’d (Pereboom, sel. 18, pp. 235-242) 
12/9   Strawson, “The Impossibility of Ultimate Moral Responsibility,” §§1-5 (Pereboom, sel. 21, pp. 289-299) 
12/11   ———, §§6-7 (Pereboom, sel. 21, pp. 299-305) 
12/15 ppr2