Philosophy 123: Philosophy of Human Nature Philosophy 123: Philosophy of Human Nature 
Of all the things in the world that human beings wonder about, from whether world is composed out of air, earth, fire and water or the Periodic Table of Elements to the questions of morality and justice, perhaps no question has so occupied and perplexed thinkers as the question of human beings themselves. What are we? Are we fundamentally animals or rational beings? Spiritual beings? Do women and men share one nature, or are there separate natures or parts of nature for each? Is it possible for us to change who and how we are, or is our nature fixed in the laws of nature, in the design of God? Are humans fundamentally evil or good? Does human life have a meaning or is "meaning" simply an illusion we've created to comfort ourselves? We will look at these question through readings from the Bible, from literature and philosophy, spanning the gamut from the ancient Greeks and Hebrews to 20th century existentialism.
 | The book of Genesis (chapters 1-3) |
| Plato, Phaedrus |
| Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning |
| Martin Buber, The Way of Man: According to the Teachings of Hasidism |
| William Golding, Lord of the Flies |
| Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor (from the novel, The Brothers Karamazov) |
| Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism (abridged; web-access) |
| Simone de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity. |
*Note: Reading for philosophy classes generally makes up in density for what it lacks in length. That means that an adequate job of reading the assignments will perhaps require a slower, more thoughtful and questioning pace.
To be able to think the thoughts of the major philosophers we will study. This is not the same as knowing what the conclusions of the philosopher are, nor even simply knowing the major arguments they use to support his or her conclusions. Thinking is an active and transitive verb here, and it involves being able to think the philosopher's thoughts from the inside, so to speak.
A misconception about learning and critical thinking is that it primarily involves reading a variety of texts critically, that is, with an eye to discovering what is wrong or weak or erroneous in them. Rarely does one learn anything this way; instead one is encouraged to inflate the ego of one's own preconceptions and prefer these to the insight and truths that may take some hard work to uncover and wrestle from the work at hand. True critical thinking is directed as much at one's own naiveté and habits of unthought as it is at the expressed thoughts of others.
Such study requires that we practice a spirit of generosity, both towards the writer and towards ourselves as readers-one has to assume that the thinker saw deeply into a problem and tried to illuminate it, and one has to assume that this insight is accessible to a reader with an active and open mind, even if the reader also glimpses new problems and pursues new solutions.
To pursue our own thoughts in extension of or as a challenge to the issues and the thinkers in question. Note that this does not mean offering summary opinions or judgments, but thinking our way from the inside out beyond the texts we are studying.
In sum, we'll try to learn to become careful, generous and thoughtful readers and philosophers in our own right.
Philosophy is a participatory exercise of thought. That means that you can’t do well in the course unless you participate actively in the reading and discussion. I will sometimes give daily assignments to prompt reflection on our reading, such as outlining the arguments in a section of the text, etc. One resource we will use frequently is public folders, located on your CSBSJU email account. Instructions for public folders will be given on the web-schedule. Assignments will be announced in class and posted on the class web-schedule. It is your responsibility to check this schedule as well as your e-mail between classes, as I will frequently clarify questions and assignments through these electronic resources. The questions and tasks will vary as to whether they simply require thoughtful preparation for discussion, written notes, or a post to the public folder discussion. These daily assignments, including active participation, will form 20% of your grade. Because such daily assignments will be used in class on the day they are due, they cannot be made up if missed.
Regular and active class attendance is expected. If you have to miss class because of illness or some other valid reason, I expect you to contact me about it before the absence. Voice-mail and e-mail make it fairly easy to leave a message. Missing class because you are leaving early for the long weekend or Spring Break or for an interview or non-emergency doctor’s appointment are not considered excused. Absences will affect your participation grade; more than one unexcused absence will occasion a meeting to discuss your continued enrollment in the class, and further unexcused absences will result in the lowering of grade one level (A to AB, AB to B, B to BC, etc.) for each unexcused absence.
In addition to the daily work, there will be three exams and several short papers. Each exam and the papers all together will count 20% of the final grade. Dates of exams:
Monday, February 14
Friday, March 18
Final exam: Wednesday, May 4, 8:00-10:00 AM
Missing an exam results in an automatic grade of Failure. Note that the middle exam is the day before Easter break starts. If you choose to leave early for break, you’ll receive an “F” on this exam.
Your participation grade will act as a “ceiling” for your overall grade. In other words, it will determine the highest grade you can receive for the course, no matter what grades you may have received on tests and papers. If you earn an “A” on both tests and both papers but do no more than sit like a desk potato in class, your final grade will be a “C.” If your participation is strong, I may raise your grade one-half grade level (e.g., BC to B, B to AB) especially if your test and paper average is just below the borderline for the next grade level.
The Reading Schedule, including daily and longer-term assignments are to be found on our course web pages: http://employees.csbsju.edu/dbeach/phil123/. Click on the Schedule link.