Department
of Philosophy
Coordinator: Dr Alexandra Cook
Room:
MB 308
Ph:
2219 4335
Lectures: Tuesdays & Thursdays, MB 121, 10:40-11:30am
Office hours:
Dr Cook’s office hour will
be 3:30-5 pm Wednesdays, and by appointment.
She will schedule special office hours and/or tutorials for discussion
of essays (depending on class size).
Tutorials: Arrangements
will be made in class as needed.
Cellphones: Use of cellphones in class is not permitted.
Course Introduction:
This
course introduces you to some of the ways that Western philosophers have
answered questions such as: what is morality? Can we expect virtue to make us
happy? What is the best way to organise society? Texts by ancient, modern, and contemporary
philosophers explore philosophical questions about the way we relate to other
people.
Course texts:
WARNING:
E-book
links for some texts are provided in the course outline, and on the course web
page. However, these are NOT the most
up-to-date editions/ translations, so please be advised that you use them at
your own risk.
Assessment (3 components):
(1)
Coursework and class participation (25%):
(a) Class participation, including mandatory
participation in the essay tutorial.
(b) Google group questions: at least TWO questions (for
two different lectures) about the
reading to be posted on the class Google group 48 hours before the lecture in
which the reading is to be discussed. A
sign-up sheet (by lecture date) will be distributed in lecture. Try to link questions about course readings
to current events.
(c) one written question or comment in response to
the reading for the day and/or the lecture, submitted at the end of that lecture (for any 5 lectures).
(2)
Quiz: Thursday, 8 October (30%): short answers and/or essays; prepare in lecture, 2 October.
(3)
Essay: Friday, 11 December (45%):
an instruction handout will be distributed well in advance, and will be posted
on the course web page.
Google group:
Pre-lecture
questions are to be posted here. The
group is private and access is by invitation only; a sign-up will be circulated
in class. Please provide your email
address so that we can invite you to join the group.
Plagiarism:
Unacknowledged use of others’
work constitutes plagiarism. There are
serious penalties for this serious academic offense. You must therefore reference your work
correctly. See guidelines posted on the
course web page and at this link: http://www3.hku.hk/philodep/ugrad/citation.php.
Penalty for late submissions: 1% of original mark per late day, including
weekends.
Course website:
The
course website will provide you with information, lecture notes and course
handouts: http://www3.hku.hk/philodep/ugrad/courses.php.
Lecture
Outline:
Lecture 1: 1 September
Course
Introduction
Lecture 2: 3 September
What
is morality, and should we be moral?
Recommended:
348a-350c (Virtue/Knowledge), 357a-376c (is morality natural? desirable?)
E-book: http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B3142059x
Lecture 3: 8 September
Community-Individual
Analogy, Principle of Specialization, Harmonious Soul
Lectures 4 & 5: 10 & 15 September
What
is virtue?
E-book: http://eproxy.lib.hku.hk/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/hkulibrary/Doc?id=2000816
Lectures 6 & 7: 17 & 22 September
Aristotle’s Polis
E-book: http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B33650585
Lecture 8: 24 September
No
e-book available
Lecture 9: 29 September
Machiavelli—should
leaders/states be moral?
E-book: http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B31447351
Public
Lecture 10: 6 October
Quiz
preparation in class: prepare questions ahead of time; please email them in
advance to Dr Cook.
Mid-term Quiz: 8 October
Reading Week:
12 – 16 October
Lectures 11 & 12: 20 & 22 October (Dr Cook away; lecturer TBA)
State
of
Ebook: http://eproxy.lib.hku.hk/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/hkulibrary/Doc?id=2001977
Lecture 13 & 14: 27
& 29 October
Slavery: can a slave-owning
society be moral?
Aristotle,
Politics, 1.6, 1.13
Locke,
Second Treatise, ch. 4
Rousseau,
On the Social Contract, chs. 1.1, 1.4
E-book: http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B31407377
Recommended: Kevin Bales, Disposable People, chs. TBA
Lectures 15, 16 & 17: 3,
5 & 10 November
Rousseau’s
theory of the social contract
Rousseau,
On the Social Contract, I.6, II.1-5,
II.11, III.3-5 (
E-book: http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B31407377
Lecture 18: 12 November
The
Mandatory
essay tutorials: week of 16 November
(details TBA)
Lectures 19 & 20: 17
& 19 November
The
Marxist vision of a just society
http://eproxy.lib.hku.hk/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/hkulibrary/Doc?id=10015107
Lectures 21 & 22: 24
& 26 November
Environmental
Ethics
Michel
Serres, The Natural Contract, pp.
27-50 (photocopy)
Film:
Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth” (A-V Library reserve)