This course has the
following information available online:
 Course syllabus
Summer 2 2008 Course Overview and schedule
of assignments (class handout)
Assignments and Class Handouts:
Introduction to Human Nature (Internet
handout)
Introduction to
Philosophy (internet handout)
Russell:
The Value of
Philosophy
Reading 1 (required
reading)
Reading Philosophy Handout with questions
on "The Value of Philosophy" by Russell
(Homework#1)
 For more information about
Russell and his ideas:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell/
 Another good site with
some of Russell's more famous quotes:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2528/russell.htm
 Julian Bond's Essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading 2 (required reading)
Discussion Questions on Bond's essay (Homework #2)
King: I have a dream Reading 3 (required reading)
King : Letter from Birmingham Jail Reading 4 (required reading)
More information on Martin Luther King, Jr. - Seattle Times
more King resources
The Stanford University Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
Ancient Greece: Choose
one of the following two activities
Watch "Greece: A Moment of
Excellence" (Copies are on reserve in the library)
 Study Guide for the film "Greece: A Moment of Excellence" (Homework
#3)
or
Visit the website for the film “The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization” at
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/htmlver/index.html
Questions for
“The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization” (Homework 3 Alternative)
Ancient Greece website ( good for other Ancient
Greek Information)
"Allegory of the Cave" Reading 5 (required reading)
Study Guide for "Allegory of the
Cave" (Homework #4)
 Links to some sites to help
you with the assignment:
http://personal.ecu.edu/mccartyr/great/projects/Wilhelm.htm
 Plato and classical Greece
To find out more about
Greek mythology, and the mythology and
folklore of other cultures visit http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
 Directions for outlining the argument in the Apology
(Homework #5)
Plato: "Apology"
Reading 6 (required reading)
Plato's Republic
Plato's Forms
(required reading)
Plato Euthyhro (Handout)
Plato Euthyhro (Required Reading)
Plato Euthyro (Homework #6)
Directions for Socratic dialogue (class
handout) (Major Assignment)
For a better insight into Plato's dialogues, with some background information
and links to some of the dialogues on the web, visit http://crystalinks.com/plato2.html
For another good site to help you understand Socrates and his style, visit
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8740/Socrates.htm
 Sample
dialogue on Knowledge
Sample
dialogue on Beauty
Grading Criteria for Socratic
Dialogue
 Midterm study guide
 Lecture notes - Beginnings of
Christianity (class handout)
Great
site on early Christianity: PBS Frontline series on Christianity
Click here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/
Lecture notes - St. Augustine (class
handout)
 For more information on
Augustine
Click here: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html
 St.
Augustine's account of his conversion from The Confessions
(optional reading)
Go to Book Eight and read 8.12.25 through 8.12.30
St. Augustine: "City of God" see
handout (required reading)
 Study Questions on The City of
God (Homework #7)
Augustine Video "Late have I loved thee"
St. Basil "Letter 5"
Basil Homework (Homework # 8)
The transition from the Medieval World to the early
Modern World (class handout)
 Study Guide on Thomas Hobbes and The
Leviathan (Homework # 9)
Hobbes Leviathan
 For more information on Hobbes
Click here: http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Hobbes.htm
Click here: Thomas Hobbes (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
 Study Guide on John Locke's The Second Treatise of
Government (Homework # 10)
Locke :The Second Treatise of
Government
 For more information on John Locke
Click here: John Locke [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
Other
Locke sites: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/locke/index.htm
 To read The Declaration of
Independence
Click here:
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration.htmll
 Collaborative Learning to
Critically Evaluate Hobbes and Locke (Homework 11)
Study Guide on Karl Marx ())
 For more information on
Karl Marx and the death of Karl Marx
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/marx.html
The Communist Manifesto:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/61/61.txt
 Study Questions on The Communist
Manifesto (Homework 12)
Links
for Vaclav Havel BIO:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/vhavel.htm
The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World.htm (required reading)
End of the Modern Era.htm
(required reading)
 Peter Salwen's Mark Twain page
(optional information)
Twain the Damned Human Race "The Lowest Animal (required
reading)
Video: “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” (American capitalism in the
21st century) (required)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
Study Guide on Modern Science and Human Nature (class
handout)
Jacob Brownowski: The Reach of
Imagination (required reading)
For more information on themes from
Modern Science lecture
Stephen Hawking on "The Simpsons", Click here: http://www.hawking.org.uk/about/gindex.html
Stephen Hawking: "A Brief History of TIme" (required reading)
Desmond Morris, click here: The Desmond Morris Information Page
Morris: "Territorial Behavior" (required reading)
Walt Whitman, click here: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/works/
Whitman: "The Learned Astronomer" (required reading)
 Internet Research Assignment- due August 6, 2008
 Sample Bibliography to use as model - Thanks to April Fox:)
Additional
sites to help you with research for your annotated bibliography:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill26.htm
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/
http://www.crk.umn.edu/library/links/annotate.htm
 Concluding Remarks (class handout)
 Final Exam Review
E-mail Frank Farrell at ffarrell@manor.edu
 The
Guide to Philosophy on the Internet is a wonderfully complete site that has links to just
about everything on the Internet about philosophy.
To connect to Neosis and the Guide to
Philosophy on the Internet , click below:
http://noesis.evansville.edu/
An important
theme in philosophy is the social aspect of our human nature. Many philosophers
argue that we have a responsibility to do what we can to make things better for
ourselves and others. Of course, as Marx often noted, words without action are
meaningless. So, think about the following suggestion.
Socrates (and all of the other thinkers we've
studied,) would encourage you to keep democracy alive in
the United States by being active in the political process. Let your voice be heard by writing,
e-mailing, phoning your Congressional representative(s) and give your opinion about the
election and other important issues. To contact your Congressional Representative(s)
and to keep informed, check out The League of Women Voters website at http://www.lwv.org/
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