PHIL-1-BCC 20555 – Spring 26 – Online Asynchronous

Instructor: Eric Gerlach: egerlach@peralta.edu

Course Description: Introduction to major ideas and thinkers of Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Chinese, Islamic and European philosophy in the history of human thought.

Course Material: A) watch the videos in the playlist as you B) read and follow along with the lecture links, C) read the online readings assigned at the top of each lecture page, if there are any and, most importantly, D) complete the assignments by due dates listed.  There are no separate modules for each week.  Email all assignments and essays to me at egerlach@peralta.edu.

Office Hours: I will begin hosting optional Zoom meetings every Monday from 11 am to 12 noon.  Please email me for that week’s zoom link, as well as to set up additional meetings, online or in person.

Intro Philosophy YouTube Lecture Playlist

Egypt: Hardjedef & Ptahhotep

Babylon: Pessimism & Theodicy

India: Hinduism, the Jains, Buddhism

Greece: Poets & Epics, Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato & The Stoics

China: Confucianism, Daoism, & Zen (Bodhidharma & Huineng)

Islam: Al Farabi, Avicenna & Averroes

Pre-Modern Europe: Ockham & Descartes

Britain: Hume, Locke & Berkeley

Germany: Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein

France: Sartre, Foucault, & Baudrillard.

Assignments: Four essays for the class, typed, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, and emailed to ericgerlach@gmail.com.  Focus on an idea we cover, clearly state and argue for your position with evidence, empathy, and examples from your life, history or fiction.  I am grading you on how you express your own, individual thoughts, such that I can distinguish your thinking from AI generated summary.

Here is a video on how to write a philosophy essay: https://youtu.be/kAfKtWIlPII

1st Essay – Due By Friday, Jan 30th: For the first, 2-page essay (15% of your grade), I want you to try to focus your own philosophical beliefs about how you believe truth and the mind work given your thoughts and life experience into the space as simply as possible.  I want you to express your ideas so you can see what does and doesn’t change as we go.  You are welcome to bring in the material and texts of Egypt and Babylon if you would like.

2nd Essay – Due By Friday, March 6th: For the second, 4-page essay (25% of your grade), I want you to consider the philosophical debates from ancient India and Greece, focusing on one core thinker and idea.  Present the argument for the point, and yours for or against it.  What do you argue, and why?

3rd Essay – Due By Friday, April 10th: For the third, 4-page essay (25% of your grade), I want you to select a philosopher who you think displays a particular insight or idea from China or Islam, presenting the argument for the idea of the thinker as best you can, and yours for or against it.

4th Essay – Due By Friday, May 22nd: For the final 6-page essay (35% of your grade), I want you to select a European philosopher and idea, presenting the argument of the thinker and yours about it.

Grading Rubric: 100 – This is outstanding work, 90 – This is good work that shows you put thought and time in, but more, 80 – This is on the right path, but clearly needs a bit more, 70 – This is somewhat wrong and off, and 0 – 60 – You are clearly phoning it in.

This class is acceptable for credit at UC and CSU. It counts towards GE AA/AS area 3; CSU area C2; and IGETC area 3. It can be used as an elective for the Liberal Arts with an Emphasis in Arts and Humanities, Associate in Arts Degree Program and the Liberal Arts: Intersegmental General Education Transfer (IGETC) Certificate of Achievement and the Global Studies AA Degree.

Student Learning Outcomes:  Upon completion of this class, students will be able to do the following:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of major philosophers.
  2. Analyze & evaluate philosophical positions through argument that displays individual perspective.

General Student Requirements:  All videos, readings and assignments should be completed by the end of the course.  Students are responsible for all class material. It is your responsibility to ask if you missed something; it is not the instructor’s responsibility to remind you. Please read through the syllabus and plan ahead.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarists, intentional or inadvertent, will receive a zero on the assignment in question; repeat offenders will get an F for the course and will be subject to college disciplinary action. Students are encouraged to review plagiarism policies in the current catalog.

Disabled Student Program and Services (DSPS) are provided for any enrolled student who has a verified disability that creates an educational limitation that prevents the student from fully benefiting from classes without additional support services or instruction. Please let the instructor know if you require any support services or would like more information about DSPS.

This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Any changes will be announced in class. Additional handouts of required readings may also be added.