Cowboys, Murder and the Matrix

PHIL 2010: Introduction to Philosophy Through Film

Professor Ron Mallon                                                                                                 T Th  10:45-12:05             BEH 114

 

Texts:                                                                                          Films as assigned. *

                                                                                                                Other readings as assigned.

                                                                                                                There is no course textbook to purchase.

 

Your Instructor:                                                       Ron Mallon

 

Contact Information:                                       rmallon@philosophy.utah.edu

                                                                                                               

!!You should contact me at this address rather than through WEBCT!!

 

Office:                                                                                        Rm. 341 OSH

                                                                                                                801-585-5810

 

Office Hours:                                                                 Tuesday, 1:30-2:30 PM, and by appointment

 

Online Syllabus: http://www.hum.utah.edu/philosophy/faculty/mallon/Materials/Course%20Webpages/Spring07/PhilFilm.htm

 

Or on WebCT

 

This introductory philosophy course employs films and philosophical texts as media of philosophical exploration.

 

A Note on the Films Assigned:  The material to be reviewed in this course includes films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America with a PG-13 and an R rating.  This list includes:

The Matrix (1999, R), the Wachowski Brothers

The Blade Runner: the Director's Cut (1982, R),  Ridley Scott

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989, PG-13), Woody Allen

TheUnforgiven (1992, R) Clint Eastwood

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), John Ford

Hero (2004, PG-13), Zhang Yimou

Brigham City (2001, PG-13), Richard Dutcher

Groundhog Day (1994) Harold Ramis

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Charlie Kaufman

Alien (1979, R) Ridley Scott

After Life (1998)  Kore-eda Hirokazu 

 

Course Assessment:  Assessment for the course will be based on the following:

(1)     Two exams (25% each):

á             MID-TERM: Tuesday, February 27

á             FINAL: 10:30-12:30 AM, Monday, April 30th Friday, April 27   STUDY QUESTIONS

á             No make-up exams will be given without advance approval.

(2)    On-line Quizzes for Each Movie/Reading (30%)

á             Frequent, short quizzes will be given through webct.  These are due by the start of class on the day we will start discussion, and they are designed primarily to check to see if you have watched the movie/done the reading by the class period in which it will be discussed.

á             You will be allowed to skip 3 of these without comment or excuse (or I will throw out your 3 low scores at the end of the semester).

á             No make-up quizzes will be given.

(3)    One longer paper (due May 1st) (3-5 pages) (20%).  SAMPLE TOPICS

á             Sample topics will be announced, but you may write on a topic of your choosing (though I suggest you clear it with me first).

      (4)  Bonus extra credit assignment SECRET MISSION

 

 

 

 

 

I.  Introduction

 

Tuesday, January 9

Topics: Introduction

á     Course Expectations

á     What is Philosophy?

 

Assignments:

(due by class 1/16)

Film:

The Matrix (1999, R),

the Wachowski Brothers

 

Readings:

i.  Robert Nozick,

"The Experience Machine"

(library reserve)

ii.  James Pryor,

"What's So Bad About Living in the

Matrix?"

(on the web here)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 1

The Matrix, Nozick, Pryor

 

 

 

Thursday, January 11

Topics: What is An Argument?

á     Deductive

á     Inductive

á     Fallacies

 

 

 

 

 

II.  Metaphysics, Minds, Machines

 

 

Topics: Reality and Value

 

Tuesday, January 16

Discussion:

The Matrix, Nozick, Pryor

 

 

 

Thursday, January 18

 

 

 

Discussion:

The Matrix, Nozick, Pryor

Assignments:

(due by class 1/23)

Film:

The Blade Runner: the Director's Cut

(1982, R),  Ridley Scott

 

Readings:

i.  John Searle, "Can Computer's Think?"

(library reserve)

CHANGE:

WEGNER READING IS

NOT REQUIRED

 ii.  Daniel Wegner,

"The Illusion," (library reserve)

Recommended:

iii.  Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

 

WEBCT QUIZ 2

The Blade Runner, Searle, Wegner

 

 

 

 

Topics: Could Machines

Have Minds?

 

Tuesday, January 23

Discussion:

The Blade Runner, Searle, Wegner

 

 

 

Thursday, January 25

Discussion:

The Blade Runner, Searle, Wegner

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 30

Discussion:

The Blade Runner, Searle, Wegner

Assignments:

(due by class 2/1)

Film:

Crimes and Misdemeanors

(1989, PG-13),

Woody Allen

 

Readings:

Plato, "Why Be Good," from Book II of

The Republic (translated by B. Jowett).

Read from the beginning through the text:

"prove to us that justice is better than injustice, but show what they either of them do to the possessor of them, which makes the one to be a good and the other an evil, whether seen or unseen by gods and men."

(about 2/3rds of the way through the book)

Available at the "Internet Classics Archive" at MIT:

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.3.ii.html

(on the web)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 3

Crimes and Misdemeanors, Plato

 

 

 

 

III.  Morality

 

 

 

 

 

Topics: Why Be Moral?

Why Does It Matter?

 

Thursday, February 1

Discussion

Crimes and Misdemeanors, Plato

Assignments:

(due Tuesday,

February 6th)

Readings:

i. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Chps. 1-2

[available at Utilitarianism.com]

Chapter 1 here

Chapter 2 here

 

ii.  Immanuel Kant, "The Good Will" from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, First Section, translated by Thomas Kingsmill Abbott.

Read about 5/6ths the way down up to the end of the line:

"it is the condition of a will being good in itself, and the worth of such a will is above everything."

Available at the University of Adelaide's etext library here (on the web).

 

A .txt copy is here [begin with First

Section].

 

WEBCT QUIZ 4

Mill, Kant

 

 

 

 

Topics: What is the Good?

 

Tuesday, February 6

Discussion:

Crimes and Misdemeanors, Plato,

+Mill and Kant

Assignments:

(due February 13th)

Film:

TheUnforgiven (1992, R) Clint Eastwood

 

Readings:

i. Immanual Kant, "The Right of Punishing" from The Science of Right

Read from the beginning to:

Ébloodguiltiness may not remain upon the people; for otherwise they might all be regarded as participators in the murder as a public violation of Justice.

Available from the "Online Library of Liberty" here

ii. John Doris, "Person's, Situations, and

Virtue Ethics"

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 5

The Unforgiven, Kant, Doris

 

 

 

Thursday, February 8

Discussion:

Crimes and Misdemeanors, Plato,

+Mill and Kant

 

 

 

 

Topics: Revenge,

Punishment, and Character

 

Tuesday, February 13

Discussion:

The Unforgiven, Kant on punishment

Assignments:

(due February 20 22nd)

 

Film:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

(1962),

John Ford

 

Readings:

i. Peter French, "The Death of Death,"

(library reserve)

ii.  Thomas Nagel, "Moral Luck,"

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 6

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,

French, Nagel

 

 

 

Thursday, February 15

Discussion:

The Unforgiven, Kant on punishment,

John Doris on character

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 20

 

CLASS CANCELLED

Discussion:

 

CLASS CANCELLED

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,

French, Nagel

CLASS CANCELLED

 

 

 

Thursday, February 22

Discussion:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,

French, Nagel

THIS MATERIAL WILL NOT BE ON MIDTERM

Assignments:

(due March 1 6)

 

Film:

Hero (2004, PG-13), Zhang Yimou

 

Readings:

i. John Rawls, "Classic Utilitarianism"

from A Theory of Justice

(library reserve)

ii.  Robert Nozick, "Moral Constraints
and the State"

from Anarchy, State, and Utopia

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 7

Hero, Rawls, Nozick

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 27

MIDTERM

 

In class exam.

 

 

 

 

IV.  The State and

the Individual

 

 

Topics: The Good of the State

and the Good of the Individual

 

Thursday, March 1

Continuing Discussion:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,

French, Nagel

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 6

Discussion:

Hero, Rawls, Nozick

Assignments:

(due March 13)

 

Film:

Brigham City (2001, PG-13),

Richard Dutcher

 

Readings:

Charles Taylor "Atomism"

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 8

Brigham City, Taylor

 

 

 

 

Topics: Individual and

Community

 

Thursday, March 8

Discussion:

Hero, Rawls, Nozick

Tuesday, March 13

Discussion:

Brigham City, Taylor

Thursday, March 15

Discussion:

Brigham City, Taylor

Assignments:

(due March 27)

 

Film:

Groundhog Day (1994) Harold Ramis

 

Readings:

Joseph Kupfer, "Virtue and Happiness in Groundhog Day" from his Visions of

Virtue in Popular Culture.

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 9

Groundhog Day, Kupfer

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 20

SPRING BREAK

Thursday, March 22

 

 

 

 

V.  Making a Life

 

 

Topics: The Meaning of Life

 

Tuesday, March 27

Discussion:

Groundhog Day, Kupfer

Assignments:

(due April 3)

 

Film:

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless

Mind (2004), Charlie Kaufman

 

Readings:

 Christopher Grau, "Eternal Sunshine of

The Spotless Mind and the Morality of Memory"

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 10

Eternal Sunshine, Grau

 

 

 

Thursday, March 29

Discussion:

Groundhog Day, Kupfer

 

 

 

 

Topics: Memory and Value

 

Tuesday, April 3

Discussion:

Eternal Sunshine, Grau

 

 

 

Thursday, April 5

CLASS CANCELLED TODAY!  SEE A MOVIE!!!

Assignments:

(due April 12)

 

Film:

Alien (1979, R) Ridley Scott

 

Readings:

i.  Noel Carroll, "The Nature of

Horror,"

(library reserve)
ii.  Recommended: Cynthia Freeland,

"Women and Bugs,"

(library reserve)

 

WEBCT QUIZ 11

Alien, Carroll

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 10

Discussion:

Eternal Sunshine, Grau

 

 

 

 

VI.  Monsters

 

 

Topics: Why Horror?  What are the features of Horror?

 

Thursday, April 12

Discussion:

Alien, Carroll

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 17

Discussion:

Alien, Carroll

Assignments:

(due April 19)

 

Film:

After Life (1998)  Kore-eda Hirokazu

 

Readings:

i.  Daniel Dennett, "Where Am I"

(library reserve)
ii.  John Searle, "The Self"

(library reserve)

FINAL QUIZ CANCELLED

[Optional:

Students may

summarize film and readings in under

200 words for a quiz grade).] 

WEBCT QUIZ 12

After Life, Dennett, Searle

 

 

 

 

VII.  Identity

 

 

Topics:

á     What makes us distinctive individuals?

á     What would it mean to        survive death?

 

Thursday, April 19

Discussion:

After Life, Dennett, Searle

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 24

Discussion:

After Life, Dennett, Searle

FINAL QUESTIONS

DISTRIBUTED

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, April 26

Discussion:

After Life, Dennett, Searle

 

 

 

Friday, April 27

Final Exam

Friday, April 27, 2007

10:30 am – 12:30 pm

As per University Schedule here

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 1

FINAL PAPER DUE!!!

 

 

 

 

 Other Policies

Attendance

Attendance 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 loved one 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, up to a maximum of two full letter grades.

 

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).

http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html#SECTION V.

 

The American with Disabilities Act 

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.

 

Policy concerning accommodation of religious beliefs:

There will be no accommodation for religious beliefs. 

 

University policy can be found here:

http://www.admin.utah.edu/facdev/accommodations-policy.pdf

 

Official policy governing grade appeals:

 

http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html#SECTION IV 

 

Drop/Withdrawal Policy

http://www.sa.utah.edu/regist/registration/withdrawal/withdrawal1.htm