2020 — SPRING TCCD-NE Course

Here you will find the reading schedule for my 2019 Fall Intro to Philosophy courses at TCCD Northeast. Check back frequently for updates.
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Have the assigned readings completed by the time you get to class. The first class each week we will talk about the reading and Maggie will do some impromptu philosophizing. Our second class usually will emphasize discussions, one on one or in small groups. Be sure you look at worksheet’s and response essay prompts assigned for the class before your discussion day. This will help you do the assignments later and have a better discussion in class. Remember that there are no make-ups for missed class discussions.

Disclaimer
The instructor reserves the right
to amend this syllabus as necessary

No textbooks required. All readings are available here and on Blackboard eCampus. You will also find links to videos we will be watching this semester.

An excellent resource for helping you get a grip on the basic trajectory of the Western tradition in philosophy is Julian Marías (1967) The History of Philosophy. Just remember, if you use any of this text in your homework, MLA Format for citations.

§1: Getting familiar with the Loving Struggle

WEEK 1: Intro to philosophizing with Maggie—working to get over what we take for granted in life.
1. READ: M. Brown, Being playful with your education
2. WORKSHEET: PM00A First Day Worksheet
3. RESPONSE ESSAY: Follow the exercise prompt contained in PM001 Whatification. After you have done your exercise, tell me about it in a short essay.

WEEK 2: What is Philosophy?
1. READ: K. Jaspers, Way to Wisdom, Ch. 1
2. WORKSHEET: PM002, Reading Ch. 1 of Jaspers
3. Recommended: Maggie revisits Jaspers’ notion of the Loving Struggle

WEEK 3: Locating the Source
1. READ: K. Jaspers, Way to Wisdom , Ch. 2
2. WORKSHEET: PM003, Reading Ch. 2 of Jaspers
3. RESPONSE ESSAY: PM003A, Responding to Jaspers
4. Recommended: More on the Loving Struggle.

§2: Ancient China and Greece

WEEK 4: Laozi and the Way (Dào)
1. READ: Lu & Brown, Dào Dé Jing (selections as noted on cover page)
2. WORKSHEET: PM004, Reading Laozi

WEEK 5: Heraclitus and the Word (Logos)
1. READ: Callicott, van Buren, & Brown, Heraclitus
2. WORKSHEET: PM0005, Reading along with the Logos

WEEK 6: Socrates and philosophy as mission
1. READ: Plato, Apologia of Socrates
2. RESPONSE ESSAY: PM006, Responding to Socrates Apology

WEEK 7: Plato and friendship
1. READ: Plato, Lysis
2. WORKSHEET: PM007, Reading along with Plato

§3: Some French Existentialism

WEEK 8: Ambiguity and Freedom
1. READ: de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, Part I
2. WORKSHEET: PM008A Reading along with de Beauvoir

WEEK 9: Ambiguity and Freedom (Cont)
1. READ: de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, Part II (See above for link)
2. RESPONSE ESSAY: PM008B, Responding to de Beauvoir

WEEK 10: Ambiguity and Freedom (Cont)
1. READ: de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, Part III-IV (See week 8 for link although you should have already downloaded it by now.)
2. WORKSHEET: PM008C, Interpreting Freedom and Ambiguity

§4: A Bit of Critical Pedagogy

WEEK 11: Practice needs theory
1. READ: hooks, “Theory as a liberatory praxis”
2, WORKSHEET: PM009, Reading along with hooks
3. Recommended: King, “Letter from a Birmingham jail”
4. Recommended: Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the bullet”

WEEK 12: Critical Consciousness
1. READ: hooks, On Paulo Freire
2. READ: Freire, Educating for Critical Consciousness: Ch. 1–Society in Transition, pp. 3-18.
3. RESPONSE ESSAY: PM010A, Responding to Freire

WEEK 13: Critical Consciousness (Cont)
1. READ: Freire, Educating for Critical Consciousness (see link above)
Ch. 2–Closed Society & Democratic Inexperience, pp. 19-28
Ch. 3–Education vs. Massification, pp. 29-35
2. WORKSHEET: PM010B, Situating authentic education

§5: Looking at our Situation

WEEK 14: Workism and failure
1. WATCH: Vaid-Menon, We are nothing and that is beautiful
2. READ: Cioran, Degradation through work
3. READ: Thompson, Workism is making Americans miserable
4. WORKSHEET: PM012, Situating ourselves between work and failure
5. Recommended: Halberstam, The Queer art of failure
6. Recommended: A. Margen, Fifteen drawings that are an incredible reflection on what is wrong with society.
7. Recommended: Dalio, Re-engineering Capitalism

WEEK 15: Being conditioned by social media
1. WATCH: Kat Blaque, Fake outrage and wokeness are cancelled in 2018
2. WATCH: Peter Coffin, The Outrage
3. RESPONSE ESSAY: PM011, Responding to Outrage Culture
4. Recommended: Peter Coffin, The College Admission Scandal

§6: FINAL EXAMINATIONS

WEEK 16: Check your schedule of classes for our exam time
1.Self Examination (50 points): PM0023. In this exercise, you have an opportunity to use what you have learned from this course to accomplish a rigorous assessment of where you have been and where you now find yourself.
2. Vision/Mission Collage (50 points): PM0032. In this exercise, use your thinking from this semester to help chart out a path for where you see yourself later in life. You can create the collage digitally and print a copy to go with the final. Or, you can make a hard copy which you photograph in order to turn that pic in with the final.
3. To help those creating a digital collage,you might try this online photo collage maker.

Disclaimer
The instructor reserves the right
to amend this syllabus as necessary