Objectives and Readings for Week 1

*The abbreviation JR means the text by James Rachels. SS means the text edited by Sommers and Sommers. For more information on textbooks for this class, please see the Syllabus.

Objectives for Week 1

By the end of your studying this week, you should be able to:

• Give rough definitions of the following terms: philosophy, ethics, normative ethics, descriptive ethics, and metaethics.

• Explain the difference between normative ethics and metaethics.

• Identify errors in use of the apostrophe.

• Identify active and passive voice, and correctly convert passive voice to active.

• Correctly distinguish between "accept" and "except".

• Know when to use "amount" versus "number", and "among" versus "between".

• Know where to go for further information on philosophical concepts and terminology (see here).

Suggestion for In-class Discussion or WebCT Discussion Postings

James Stockdale makes what seems a startling claim: he says philosophy and history are the most useful subjects you can study! Stockdale is a smart guy. Furthermore, he is not a philosopher, so he doesn't use a lot of jargon.

How does Stockdale support his startling claim? Once you consider his reasons, do you agree with him?

If You're New to Philosophy

Prior philosophical training is not required to pass this class. However, if you haven't had any philosophy before (and even if you have), you may find it hard to understand how philosophers talk!

Philosophical terminology is often bizarre to beginning students. Standard English dictionaries do not contain good definitions of philosophical terms. If you want to look up a philosophical term, use a philosophical encyclopedia or specialized philosophical dictionary.

See here for philosophy resources online.