Summer 1-  2006 Semester 

PL 100 A -  Philosophy and the Human Condition

Instructor:  Frank Farrell, Senior Associate Professor of Religion,

 Manor College

 

This course has the following information available online:

  Course syllabus

     Summer 1 2006 Course Overview and schedule of assignments (class handout) 

       Tutorials on-line

  Assignments and Class Handouts:

       Introduction to Human Nature (Internet handout)

       Introduction to Philosophy (internet handout)

      Russell: The Value of Philosophy     Reading  1

       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
           Discussion Questions on Bond's essay  (Homework #2)
 King: I have a dream     Reading 3
 King : Letter from Birmingham Jail  Reading 4
 
    More information on Martin Luther King, Jr. - Seattle Times
      more King resources
      The Stanford University Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

  Study Guide for the film "Greece:  A Moment of Excellence" (Homework #3)

       Ancient Greece website

"Allegory of the Cave"  Reading 5

       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 (homework #5)

             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 #6)

        Plato: "Apology"          Reading 6

         Plato's Republic

           Plato's Forms

       Directions for Socratic dialogue (class handout)

          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  

        Go  to Book Eight and read  8.12.25 through 8.12.30

      St. Augustine:  "City of God" see handout

       Study Questions on The City of God  (Homework #7)

        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.nara.gov/exhall/charters/declaration/decmain.html

        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/works/1883deat/index.htm      

            http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/marx.html       

       Study Questions on The Communist Manifesto (Homework 12)  

            Links for Vaclav Havel

                                   The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World.htm

                                   The Philadelphia Liberty Medal.htm 

                                   End of the Modern Era.htm

       Peter Salwen's Mark Twain page

          Twain the Damned Human Race "The Lowest Animal    

   Study Guide on Modern Science and Human Nature (class handout)

     Jacob Brownowski: The Reach of Imagination

          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" 
	Desmond Morris, click here:  The Desmond Morris Information Page
         Morris: "Territorial Behavior"   
         Walt Whitman, click here: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/works/
	   Whitman: "The Learned Astronomer"
  
      Concluding Remarks (class handout)
     Internet Research Assignment- due June 28, 2006     
    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  

  Final Exam Review

A reminder: These six weeks go fast. Keep up with the reading!!!!

   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.  Hippias is a powerful search engine for finding more information on philosophical topics.  

  To connect to Hippias and the Guide to Philosophy on the Internet , click below:

   http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/philinks.htm


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/
                  

              "The unexamined life is not worth living."

                 Socrates in The Apology by Plato

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

To read one of the most inspirational pieces of philosophical literature ever written, The Apology, go here:  http://socrates.clarke.edu/aplg0100.htm.  Another good essay on the value of philosophy is Bertrand Russell's "Philosophy for the Laymen."  To read this essay , go here: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2528/br_ph4laymen.htm

 

(c) 2000, 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Anne Knop & Frank Farrell.  Only students in Manor College's PL 100 course have permission to make unlimited copies of this page. Others may request permission by e-mail: ffarrell@manor.edu

 

Site last updated May 19, 2006

 

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