Written Assignments

Philosophy 103: Introduction to Philosophy
Autumn 1999

You are responsible for passing in two of the following five assigments. Note that you may choose to write on the knowledge and rational belief assignment no matter whether or not we complete discussion of this material in class. However, choosing this assignment may require you to do more work on your own. Also, please note that the last two assignments will probably involve more technical material than the others. Some people find technical work easier than non-technical work; others quite emphatically do not. Realize, then, that deciding to write the later assignments instead of the earlier ones may commit you to a kind of work which you'll find more difficult and unpleasant than what you would have had if you had chosen the earlier assignments. Depending on your preferences, this might be a strong reason for not putting off your work until later in the semester. Choose wisely.

Remember that on the days when assignments are due, I will collect them at the beginning of class. Anything handed in after the beginning of the class -- be it 5 minutes or 5 days after the beginning of the relevant class -- is late. I don't accept late assignments unless I have given an extension. I only give extensions in advance and only in cases of real need. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding these assignments (or anything else related to the course). If you fail to contact me before things are due, you have no right to complain later!

Descartes assignment

Answer one of the following in a 5-10 page paper, due on 28 September.
1. Give (in detail) two of Descartes's arguments for the existence of God. Evaluate these arguments.
2. Descartes wants to hold onto the following claims: (i) God is benevolent, (ii) God gave me my intellectual powers, and (iii) I make mistakes when I use my intellectual powers. Descartes sees these claims as leading to a difficulty, which he then attempts to resolve. What is the problem he sees, and how does he try to defuse it? Does he succeed?

Hume assignment

Answer one of the following in a 5-10 page paper, due on 15 October.
1. What is Hume's distinction between relations of ideas and matters of fact, and how is it related to his sceptical evaluation of the powers of human reason?
2. We've seen that both Descartes and Hume can be thought of as sceptical philosophers. How is their scepticism similar? How is it different? Be specific, and support your claims about what they say by citing the relevant works. WARNING: Do not answer this question by padding your paper with vague, loose, unsupported, or sweeping claims about the philosophers discussed. I shall not look favorably on padding or BS.
3. Although Hume argues that his own analyses of liberty and necessity are required to maintain our ordinary conception of morality, he acknowledges that his doctrines threaten the idea of a benevolent God. What are the objections Hume is concerned about here, and how does he respond to them?

Ayer and logical empiricism assignment

Answer one of the following in a 5-10 page paper, due on 5 November.
1. What is Ayer's meaningfulness criterion? How does it work? Be sure to discuss what it includes and excludes as meaningful, the distinction between verifiability in principle and verifiability in practice, and the difference between strong and weak verifiability.
2. According to Ayer, what is the nature of the propositions of philosophy? What does he think is the business of philosophers? What does he mean when he says that philosophy is "critical"?
3. According to Carnap (in "Quine on Analyticity"), the notion of analyticity survives Quine's attack in "Two Dogmas of Empiricism". What are Carnap's replies to Quine's arguments? Do they succeed in blocking Quine's assault?

Heap assignment

This assignment is due on 19 November.
Answer Sainsbury's questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15, and 18 in the footnotes of his chapter 2 (Vagueness: the paradox of the heap). NB: Answer all of these, not just one of them.

Belief and Knowledge assignment

Choose one of the following. This assignment is due on 3 December.
1. Answer Sainsbury's questions 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 in the footnotes of his chapter 4 (Believing rationally). NB: Answer all of these, not just one of them.
2. Answer Sainsbury's questions 1 and 4 in the footnotes of his chapter 4 (Believing rationally) AND also, using Gettier's ideas, give an original case (not one given by Gettier) that shows that justified true belief is not sufficient for knowledge (i.e., a case where someone has a justified true belief in some proposition, but lacks knowledge of that proposition).