Philosophy 205 Syllabus

---

Readings, Discussion Questions, and Response Papers

The course will revolve around the reading and discussion of the six most important philosophic texts from early China. It is vital that you come to class having read the day's assignment, ready to discuss or ask questions about its key points. The reading assignments you receive will include discussion questions keyed to each reading selection. I will expect each of you to have thought about possible answers to the questions, which may include looking back at a previous reading in order to draw comparisons or contrasts. I understand that you may not have a full answer to every question: answers like "I don't understand this point because...," or "I got lost at this point..." are acceptable, even helpful. The only answer to a discussion question that reflects poorly on you is "I haven't given it any thought."

In addition to the general requirement to have thought about each day's discussion questions, you are required to turn in brief, written answers and/or reactions to one class's discussion questions every two weeks, according to a schedule worked out at the first class meeting. In these "response papers" you do not have to address every question, if you feel you have enough to say about one or two of the questions. Your answers should average between 250 and 500 words. Response papers are due by 10 a.m. the day of the class. Answers should be turned in via email--either in the body of an email message, or as an email attachment.

Readings will be from the books that I have ordered through Broad Street Books (347-1194), and a brief coursepack that will be available later in the term. The books are:

• Confucius. The Original Analects. Brooks & Brooks, trans. (Columbia, 1998)
• Mozi. Basic Writings. Burton Watson, trans. (Columbia, 2003)
• Mencius. Mencius. D. C. Lau, trans. (Penguin, 2004)
• Lao Tzu. Te Tao Ching. Robert Henricks, trans. (Penguin, 1989)
• Chuang Tzu. Inner Chapters. A. C. Graham, trans. (Hackett, 2001)

Some of these texts are available in different editions with different translators. You must use the editions that I have indicated, so if you decide to buy a used copy or to use a library book, make sure that it is the correct version.

On-Line Discussion, Including Class Comments

In addition to in-class discussion, we will all take part in further discussions viathe discussion forum on BlackBoard, a web-based discussion forum. This should provide opportunities to float ideas, ask questions about difficult passages, and pursue issues in more depth than we have time for in class. I will respond to questions when appropriate, but I hope that you all will strive to help one another out by offering your own answers whenever possible.

Three postings to BlackBoard over the semester are required. One of these is a comment on the day's class, and must be posted by the end of the day following the class. You can raise questions about the day's discussion, clarify points from the day’s class, or whatever seems appropriate. Comments should average around 150-200 words.

The second and third required postings can cover anything, including your reactions to a classmate's comment. I naturally expect that many of you post more than the minimum three messages!

Papers

Three 5-7 page papers, and three short, graded writing assignments ("mini-papers"), are required for the course. The paper topics will be assigned and papers due--in each case, by 5 p.m. in a box in the second-floor lobby of Russell House--as follows:

We will spend part of class on September 24, the day the first longer papers are assigned, discussing specific issues related to paper writing for this course. For all papers I strongly encourage you to meet with me individually to discuss ideas or to go over what went right and what went wrong in papers that I have returned to you.

Your grade on each of the papers will count toward one-fifth of your final grade. The three mini-papers will contribute an additional fifth. The remaining fifth of the final grade will be based on my assessment of your performance. Performance in this class will come in several ways: in-class discussion, BlackBoard discussion, and response papers. In arriving at an over-all assessment of your performance, I will weigh both quantity and quality, and allow outstanding performace in one aspect (e.g., WebBoard discussion) to make up for a lack of performance in another (e.g., in-class discussion).

Late papers will be penalized one step (e.g., B+ to B) for each day late, with the exception that papers due on a Friday and turned in by the following Monday will be penalized only one step.

In summary, the requirements for the course are:

• daily preparation of discussion questions;
• bi-weekly handing in of response papers (250-500 words);
• one BlackBoard comment on a class (150-200 words);
• at least two further WebBoard postings;
• three papers;
• Three mini-papers.