PHIL 202, Modern Philosophy
Spring, 2011


Professor Stern
Phone: (818) 677-4853
Sierra Tower, Room 508
Office hours: Tu Th 7:00 - 7:45 AM and 9:30 - 10:30 AM; Tu 3:30 - 4:00 PM
Email: cindy.stern@csun.edu

Announcements

Newest announcements are always added at the top of the list.
Last modified May 11, 2011.
Syllabus Schedule

Test 2 information (Posted May 11, 2011)

For the test on Thursday, May 12, you will need a Scantron form 815-E or 815-SE for the multiple choice questions. For the remainder of the test, you may either use a greenbook, or type your answers using a word processor on your work station in the classroom and email them to me.

This is not an open-book test. You are not to use the book, your notes, web sites, or any other sources during the test.

Section Number and Options APPROXIMATE length expected Proportion of grade
I. Multiple choice 11 questions
25%
II. Locke Choose 1 of 3 100 to 200 wordss 25%
III. Hume Choose 1 of 3 150 to 225 words 30%
IV. Hume and Kant Choose 1 of 2 100 to 200 wordss 20%
Two comments about the study guide:

Revised schedule changes reading selections (Posted April 19, 2011)

The reading schedule posted today does not merely shift dates of readings, but also includes some changes in the selections of readings from both Hume and Kant.

Test information (Posted April 13, 2011)

Your test on Thursday, April 14 will have 4 questions. You may answer in a greenbook, or use the your work station in the classroom to write your answers using a word processor, and email them to me. (I suspect the word processor on the work stations is MS Word.)

This is not an open-book test. You are not to use the book, your notes, web sites, or any other sources during the test.

As you might expect, the test will be weighted heavily toward Descartes and Locke, with less emphasis on Bacon and Pascal. The test will have 4 questions. Relative weights, options, and suggested lengths and time budgets are as follows (where you will need to limit yourself to less than the maximum time for at least one question):

Qsn # Weight Options Approximate length Time estimate
#1 10% Choose 2 of 3 25 to 50 words 5 to 10 minutes
#2 15% Choose 1 of 2 75 to 125 words 5 to 15 minutes
#3 35% Choose 1 of 2 150 to 225 words 20 to 25 minutes
#2 40% Choose 1 of 2 175 to 275 words 20 to 35 minutes

As noted in class yesterday, study questions were posted on moodle before Spring Break. Although some questions there ask you to evaluate arguments or claims, the questions on the test ask only for your descriptions of the arguments and claims in the assigned readings.


Changes in readings for late March (Posted March 22, 2011)

After our discussion of Book II Chapter xxvii (II.xxvii) on personal identity, which we began today, our readings from Locke will be reduced from those shown in the schedule as it was revised on March 6. After II.xxvii, the only selections from Locke we will cover are the following:
Book III Chapter iii # 6, 7, and 11 - 15 pp. 377 - 380
Book III Chapter vi # 2 - 4, 9, 26, and 28 pp. 381 - 384
Book IV Chapter i - Chapter ii #3 pp. 386 - 390
Book IV Chapter xi # 1 - 10 pp. 411 - 414
Since these selections do not fill the pages listed, there is less material here than the page numbers would suggest. So we might be able to cover most or all of them this Thursday, March 24.

If we complete our discussion of these selections this Thursday, you should plan to discuss Sections II - IV in Hume's Enquiry (pp. 538 -548) on Tuesday, March 29. Otherwise, we will finish our discussion of Locke on March 29, and get as far in these sections of Hume's Enquiry as we can.

Book I Part iii Section 12 of Hume'sTreatise will be deleted from the schedule.

Further modifications will be made and shown in an updated schedule, but no sooner than this Friday (and probably later).


Test after Spring Break (Posted March 22, 2011)

In case you missed the announcements in class today: A test is now scheduled for Thursday, April 14. Study questions to help you prepare are posted on moodle under the heading for this week.

Schedule revised again (Posed March 6, 2011)

The schedule as of March 6 takes into account cancellation of class on February 24. It also reflects the fact that our next few discussions ran a bit longer than originally scheduled:

Adjustment date

In light of the likelihood of extended discussion requiring further modification in the schedule, the schedule now includes an adjustment day. If we fall behind by a single day again, this will allow us to change the dates of assignments without deleting any readings or compressing discussion of later readings into fewer days. Of course, further delays would require furthadditional adjustments.

If we are still on schedule by the adjustment date, we can move our later assignments forward. That would allow us a little leeway for extra time on subsequent readings.


Modifications in the schedule (Posted February 19, 2011)

The revised schedule posted today has several differences from the previous modified schedule.

Please take not of the changes for Tuesday, February 22. We will begin our discussion of Locke, as well as discussing the selection from Pascal previously scheduled for Thursday,February 17. We will omit the selection from Leibniz that was scheduled on that date.

The schedule now reflects the fact that we devoted two full sessions to Descartes’ Meditation III, and completed our discussion of Meditations V and VI on Thursday, February 17.


Watch for schedule changes (Posted January 21, 2011)

If schedule changes are required, they will be announced by email to the class, on this announcements page, and in class. For practical reasons, the order in which these are done may vary. Modifications to the schedule web page will generally take longer than any of these other types of notification.
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