Cowboys, Murder and the Matrix
PHIL 2010: Introduction to Philosophy Through
Film
Professor
Ron Mallon MWF 11:50-12:40 OSH 235
Texts: Introduction
to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, 3rd Edition, Edited by Louis P. Pojman
Films as assigned. *
Other
readings as assigned.
Your
Instructor: Professor Ron Mallon
Contact
Information: rmallon@philosophy.utah.edu
Office: Rm. 341 OSH
801-585-5810
Office
Hours: Wednesday, 2-4 PM, and by appointment
This introductory philosophy course employs
films and philosophical texts as media of philosophical exploration. Topics will include: the existence of
God, the nature of moral obligation, the relationship between mind and body,
and the possibility of artificial intelligence.
*A Note on the Films Assigned: The material to be reviewed in this
course may include films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America
with an R rating. These movies
will include, e.g., The Matrix, Blade Runner, and Alien. Please review the
syllabus to see if this is a course that you are committed to taking. If you have a concern, please discuss
it with me at your earliest convenience.
Course
Assessment: Assessment for the course will be based
on the following:
(1) Two in class exams (20% each). Test #1
Questions Test
#2 Questions
(2) Final (25%) Friday, December 17
(Scheduled for 10:30-12:30 AM) FINAL
CANCELLED. NONCOMPREHENSIVE TEST
DECEMBER
8. Test #3 Questions
(3) One longer paper (due Dec 8th NOW DEC 10th) (3-5 pages) (20%). TOPICS
(4)
Short
Assignments (10%-15%)
(5)
Participation
(up to 5%).
(6) Bonus extra credit assignment (up to
15%). BONUS
ASSIGNMENT
Attendance: in this course is not mandatory, but you
are responsible for the material presented in class. I am not responsible for representing material to you that
you have missed, and I will not do so.
If you are absent, take responsibility for getting notes from a
classmate.
Late policy: Late work will be penalized. If you have a planned absence or a
conflict with another class, make arrangements with me in advance to avoid
penalty. If you have an unexpected
emergency (e.g. the death of a relative or a medical problem), plan to present
me with documentation of it.
Unexcused late work will be penalized at the rate of 1 letter grade per
week.
Policies:
The
University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and
activities for people with disabilities.
If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice
needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union
Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS
will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for
accommodations. All written
information in this course can be made available in alternative format with
prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.
Classes dropped by the 10th calendar
day of the semester are deleted from students' records and no tuition is
charged. Students may withdraw
from a full term course without the instructor or dean's permission until the
midpoint of the semester as published on the academic calendar. To withdraw,
students must log into the Campus Information System. A "W" grade
will be recorded on students' academic record. Following is the link to the
University's Drop/Withdrawal Policy to learn more:
http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/handbook/wddeadlines.htm
Plagiarism
"Plagiarism" means the
intentional unacknowledged use or incorporation of any other person's work in,
or as a basis for, one's own work offered for academic consideration or credit
for public presentation. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to,
representing as one's own, without attribution, any individual's words,
phrasing, ideas, sequence of ideas, information or any other mode or content of
expression (Student Code, p. 3).
NOTE: New Tuition Policy
Beginning Fall 2003, undergraduate
students who do not pay tuition by the due date, September 10, will have
their classes cancelled and will not be able to reinstate them. Students are responsible for paying
tuition for Fall Semester by September 10, 2004. Students who have classes deleted due to non-payment of
tuition may not reinstate cancelled classes or use late add forms to add
classes.
http://www.acs.utah.edu/student/tuitchgs.htm
Important Undergraduate Student
Deadlines
School Starts Wednesday,
August 25
Last Day to Drop
Classes Friday, September 3
Last Day to Add Classes Tuesday,
September 7
Tuition Due
Date Friday, September 10
Friday
August 27th:
Plato
Socratic Wisdom: The Trial of Socrates 11
Outside viewing: The Matrix (1999) (R) the Wachowski Brothers
Monday, August 30-Friday, September 3rd:
Ren Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy 42
Outside viewing: The Truman Show (1998) (PG) Peter Weir
Robert
Nozick, The Experience Machine Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 42-45
James
Pryor, Whats So Bad About Living in the Matrix?
http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_fr_pryor.html
Outside
viewing: The Seventh Seal
(1957) Ingmar Bergman
Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, Why is there Evil? 203
Bruce
Russell, The Problem of Evil, Why Is There So Much Suffering? 207
Richard
Swinburne, A Theistic Response to the Problem of Evil 213
St.
Thomas Aquinas, The Five Ways 167
William
Paley, The Watch and the Watchmaker 178
David
Hume, A Critique of the Teleological Argument 181
Blaise
Pascal, Faith is a Rational Wager 233
W.K.
Clifford, The Ethics of Belief 236
William
James, The Will to Believe 241
Outside
viewing: Crimes and Misdemeanors
(1989) (PG-13) Woody Allen
Plato,
Gyges Ring, or Is the Good Good for You? 515
October
6, FIRST EXAM Test #1 Study Questions
Plato,
The Divine Command Theory of Ethics 539
Aristotle,
The Ethics of Virtue 562
John
Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism 581
Immanuel
Kant, The Moral Law 587
Outside
Movie Viewing: Rope (1948) Alfred Hitchcock
Friedrich
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil 600
Outside
movie viewing: The
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962) John Ford
Peter
French, The Death of Death (on reserve)
Thomas
Nagel, Moral Luck 614
Recommended:
Bernard Williams, Moral Luck (on reserve)
Outside
movie viewing: Unforgiven (1992) (R) Clint Eastwood
VI. Forgiveness and Punishment
Reading: Immanuel Kant, The Right
to Punish: Retributivism 445
Jonathan
Glover, Utilitarianism and Punishment 448
Karl
Menninger, The Crime of Punishment: The Humanitarian Theory 454
C.S.
Lewis, Against the Humanitarian Theory of Rehabilitation 259
Recommended:
Russ Shafer-Laundau, The Failure of Retributivism (on reserve)
Outside
movie viewing: After Life
(1998) Kore-eda Hirokazu
Plato,
Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul 347
Bertrand
Russell, The Illusion of Immortality 351
Outside
movie viewing: Blade
Runner: The Directors Cut
(R) Ridley Scott
VIII. Could
Machines or Martians Have Minds?
Do Humans Have Minds?
U.T.
Place, Is Consciousness a Brain Process (on reserve)
Hilary
Putnam, The Nature of Mental States (on reserve)
A.M.
Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence (on reserve)
Some
other (easier) readings:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/functionalism/
Outside
movie viewing: Alien (1979) (R) Ridley Scott
IX. Thinking about Film: Genre
Reading,
Noel Carroll, readings from The Philosophy of Horror (on reserve)
Recommended:
Cynthia Freeland, Women and Bugs (on reserve)
Outside
movie viewing: Hero (2004) PG-13 Zhang Yimou (In Theaters?)
SCREENING WED NOV 24: Brigham City PG-13 Richard Dutcher
John Rawls, Classic Utilitarianism Excerpt from A Theory of Justice (on reserve)
Robert Nozick, Moral Constraints and The State Excerpt from Anarchy, State, and Utopia (on reserve)
Outside Movie Viewing: Brigham City PG-13 Richard Dutcher
MONDAY DEC. 6. REVIEW
DEC 8 FINAL EXAM Test #3 Questions
FRIDAY DEC 17 MAKEUP MIDTERM SCHEDULED