Syllabus

This one semester course is an introduction to the methods, the vocabulary, and a small fragment of the subject matter of Philosophy. We will focus on on a specific topic in order to unify and connect what we learn. This semester, our topic will be Good and Evil: what they are, where they come from, and why we care about them.

We will familiarize ourselves with some of the approaches that philosophers of different historical periods have taken to justifying their answers to such questions. By the end of the semester, you should expect (1) to know more about what a few philosophers have said about these weighty matters, (2) to better appreciate the challenges these questions present to all of us, and (3) to have acquired a few versatile tools for thinking clearly about such questions (and, incidentally, for thinking clearly about everything else as well).

Classroom expectations and policies

Textbooks and Materials

You don’t need to buy a book for this class. Instead, I’ll make the articles and chapters we’re reading available to you through Populus, a tool you can access from the landing page of the course website. Populus will allow you to discuss the readings online with your classmates. You can highlight passages, record text, audio, and video messages, and respond to comments from your classmates. Populus is under active development, so if you encounter any challenges while using it, please get in touch with me, via email.

Preparation

You’ll be expected to have completed the assigned reading before each class meeting. The readings will generally be short. 

You should read carefully. When you don’t understand what the author is saying, try to figure out what’s puzzling you. When you do understand what the author is saying, try to think about why he or she is saying that, and whether you agree with what’s being said (and why or why not!). Careful reading will be richly rewarded. You’ll find that you have good questions for discussion, and intelligent things to say when you’re asked to say what you think about the topic and why. Careless reading wastes everyone’s time, especially yours.

The key to careful reading is to read actively. Don't just let the words wash over you. Evaluate what you read. Think about what you're being told, and ask yourself, “do I want to add this to the list of things I believe”? If you disagree with an author, try to think about why. If you think something is good, try to ask yourself why it is good. If you feel confused, try to ask yourself what it is exactly that you don't understand.

Populus is designed to assist with active reading. You can use Populus to get help from me and your classmates finding the most important parts of each reading. You can also use Populus to share your considered reactions to the reading, and to ask questions that help you understand the text better.

Conduct

Classroom

In the classroom, I expect you to be respectful of others. This doesn’t mean never objecting to or disagreeing with what other people says. But it means keeping the focus on ideas, rather than on the people who are putting the ideas forward. It should go without saying that any kind of language or activity that threatens or demeans another person—in particular, any racist, sexist, or homophobic language, or its equivalent—will not be tolerated.

Email

I’m most likely to respond quickly if an email is clearly worded and organized. The best way to organize your email is to begin with a salutation (like “Hi Graham”), to end with a signature (like “Cheers, —Megan Zellner”), and to have the first line of your email say what the subject of your email is (for example, it might say “I have three questions”).

I’ll respond most quickly to specific questions about class material. For example, if you write to ask “What does Descartes mean when he uses the word ‘extension’ on the first page of the reading?”, then you can pretty much be sure that I will write back to you within twenty-four hours. If you ask me a question that’s not very specific (like “What is Descartes talking about in the first meditation?”), or if you don’t ask a question at all, then it may be a while before I’m able to get back to you.

If you ask a question which can be answered by looking at the syllabus, or at the K-State website, I’ll try to point you in the right direction, but I’ll expect you to figure out the answer yourself.

Attendance

Because of the challenges posed by Covid-19, class attendance will not be required or monitored. Attendance-only activities at certain events will count towards the engagement portion of your grade. However, engagement can also be earned via outside-of-class activities, like discussion on Populus.

If you are unvaccinated, or if you are experiencing symptoms of a potential breakthrough infection—these are similar to the symptoms of a common cold, and include cough, fever, headache or especially the loss of your sense of smell—please think twice about coming to class. There's no downside to playing it safe. There’s a huge downside to making a mistake. If you're not vaccinated, you could become seriously ill. If you're vaccinated, you could still harm an unvaccinated or immunocompromised classmate by transmitting the disease.

Assignments and Grading

Grades will be based on your reading quizzes (see the section Reading Quizzes), engagement, and on a midterm and final exam.

Engagment

Your engagement grade will be based on:

1. Your engagement with the readings in Populus (it's enough to simply do the readings, but a particularly high level of discussion activity will earn a particularly high engagement score).

2. Your completion of classroom activities during formal classroom discussions.

3. Other discernable signs of active engagement with the classroom material. Lots of things can count here, but the key is that I, your professor, know about it. So for example, if you organize a study group before one of the exams, just send me a note to let me know that you deserve a few extra engagement points. If you find yourself reflecting on the topics of our readings in some other class, or working them into some creative activity of your own (a short story! a t-shirt design! a dungeons and dragons campaign!), again, just let me know, so that I can consider this when I estimate your engagement.

Exams

Both the midterm and the final exam will have the same format. Each one will present you with some passages that you have read. You will need to identify the author of each passage, the context of the passage (what piece of writing it is a part of), and give an interpretation of the passage. The midterm will be about halfway through the semester, on March 9th.

Grades

Your final grade is calculated according to the weights given in the table above. 40% of your grade will be based on your engagement with class. You may, for a small amount of extra credit to be counted towards your engagement grade, email me a photo of a capybara hanging out with some other species of animal, so long as this is done before Friday of the first week of classes. Once the final percent score has been calculated, it will be converted into a letter grade with percentages 100-90 an A, 89-80 a B, and so on. K-State doesn’t give pluses or minuses, but I’ll round up fractions.

If you ever need clarification about the reasoning behind a particular grade, I encourage you to contact me. I’ll never lower your grade as the result of reexamining an assignment, and if you give me reason to believe that I undervalued your work, I’ll correct my mistake immediately. I ask only that before coming in to speak with me, you send me a short (≈1 page) written explanation of your question, or explanation of why you think your work deserves a better grade than the one I gave it. If you think I missed your point, try to explain that point again or indicate exactly what I misinterpreted. If you think that I’m missing a reasonable interpretation of a piece of text, include the text and show me what I’ve got wrong.

Having something specific written down makes it much easier for me to answer your question, or to see where I may have gone wrong in evaluating your work. And, in philosophy as elsewhere, sometimes just carefully articulating a question is nine-tenths of arriving at the answer. You may discover that you don’t need me for that final tenth.

Late Assignments

I can’t accept late reading quizzes (since the reading quizzes are supposed to encourage you to do the reading before class). 

Contacting Me

There are lots of ways to contact me!

If you'd like to discuss class material you can:

• Schedule a meeting during office hours (1-3 Tuesday) using the "Schedule a Meeting" link in the course navigation sidebar. If we have a meeting scheduled, at least one hour ahead of time, I'll be ready to talk to you in my online office
• Send me an email.

To schedule a one-on-one meeting or a phone call, just send me an email. 

When sending an email or Canvas message, please give me at least 24 hours to respond. I will not normally be able to respond to emails over the weekend, except in emergencies.

General K-State Syllabus Statements

A. Academic Honesty

Kansas State University has an Honor and Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that, in academic matters, one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor and Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor and Integrity System (Links to an external site.) apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor and Integrity System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work." A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.

B. Disability Accommodations 

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Julie Rowe, Diversity, Inclusion and Access Coordinator, at jarowe@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2971.

C. Classroom Conduct 

All student activities in the University, including this course, are governed by the Student Judicial Conduct Code (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Student Governing Association By Laws (Links to an external site.), Article V, Section 3, number 2. Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment may be asked to leave the class.

D. Statement on Mutual Respect and Inclusion in K-State Teaching and Learning Spaces

At K-State, faculty and staff are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. K-State courses, labs, and other virtual and physical learning spaces promote equitable opportunity to learn, participate, contribute, and succeed, regardless of age, race, color, ethnicity, nationality, genetic information, ancestry, disability, socioeconomic status, military or veteran status, immigration status, Indigenous identity, gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, religion, culture, as well as other social identities.

Faculty and staff are committed to promoting equity and believe the success of an inclusive learning environment relies on the participation, support, and understanding of all students. Students are encouraged to share their views and lived experiences as they relate to the course or their course experience, while recognizing they are doing so in a learning environment in which all are expected to engage with respect to honor the rights, safety, and dignity of others in keeping with the K-State Principles of Community.

If you feel uncomfortable because of comments or behavior encountered in this class, you may bring it to the attention of your instructor, advisors, and/or mentors. If you have questions about how to proceed with a confidential process to resolve concerns, please contact the Student Ombudsperson Office. Violations of the student code of conduct (Links to an external site.) can be reported here. If you experience bias or discrimination, it can be reported here.

E. Copyright

(Copyright 2023) Graham Leach-Krouse as to this syllabus and all class materials, including slides, lectures and handouts. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course. In addition, students in this class are not authorized to provide class notes or other class-related materials to any other person or entity, other than sharing them directly with another student taking the class for purposes of studying, without prior written permission from the professor teaching this course.

F. Student Resources

K-State has many resources to help contribute to student success. These resources include accommodations for academics, paying for college, student life, health and safety, and others found at www.k-state.edu/onestop

G. Mental Health

Your mental health and good relationships are vital to your overall well-being. Symptoms of mental health issues may include excessive sadness or worry, thoughts of death or self-harm, inability to concentrate, lack of motivation, or substance abuse. Although problems can occur anytime for anyone, you should pay extra attention to your mental health if you are feeling academic or financial stress, discrimination, or have experienced a traumatic event, such as loss of a friend or family member, sexual assault or other physical or emotional abuse. 

If you are struggling with these issues, do not wait to seek assistance. 

Kansas State University Counseling Services offers free and confidential services to assist you to meet these challenges.  Lafene Health Center has specialized nurse practitioners to assist with mental health. The Office of Student Life can direct you to additional resources.  K-State Family Center offers individual, couple, and family counseling services on a sliding fee scale.  Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education (CARE) provides free and confidential assistance for those in our K-State community who have been victimized by violence). 

H. Technology

K-State has technology recommendations, including a computer buying guide for success in online learning. You can also visit the K-State Global Campus website to make sure your technology is up to date.

The K-State IT Help Desk is there to assist you with questions regarding the technology used for your course.

• Phone: 785-532-7722 or toll-free 1-800-865-6143
• Email: helpdesk@k-state.edu

If you have issues with your technology, please contact them first, they are the technology experts. If you miss a deadline due to technical difficulties, make sure it is documented through communication with the IT Help Desk, then exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.