Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy 1111
Professor, Janusz A. Polanowski, PhD
(Nashville State Community College)
How to do library research
By Sally Robertson, Librarian
- Search everything the library has by using the first box on the library home page. (Discovery tool or "Quick search") .
- "Search more options" -- (Advanced Quick Search)
- Find articles and databases (A-Z list of the library's databases)
- One of the best databases for scholarly/peer reviewed articles is JSTOR (Completely full text, except the current 3 - 5 years)
- For more current scholarly articles try Academic OneFile or Academic Search databases.
- Find research guides (There is a Philosophy and Religion Guide)
- JSTOR Philosophy. This will search just the philosophy journals and books in the JSTOR database.
- JSTOR Religion . Searches just the religion journals and books in the JSTOR database.
When searching make sure you use "keywords" or short phrases.
In library databases subject searching can sometimes give you more accurate results.
Example from Academic Onefile:
(Subject search) Dualism (Philosophy) -- 390 results
(Keyword or Basic search) Dualism -- over 12,000 results
Advanced Quick Search
Search using more than one keyword, helping you to limit your search.
Philosophy and Religion LibGuide
A library guide designed to help beginning philosophy students find good scholarly articles and books.
Keyword searching
How to get better results when doing academic research.
Doing Research
An animated, interactive tutorial that introduces undergraduate students to some basic concepts of online searching.
Philosophy in MERLOT
MERLOT is an OER (Open Educational Resource)Browse under Humanities--then Philosophy.
Elements of a research article
A 15 minute lesson that teaching what a scholarly research article is, and how it is different from a popular magazine article. Includes a quiz.
Is this Article Scholarly?
Provides a brief, three question quiz that helps you determine if an article is scholarly.
Anatomy of a scholarly article
Describes what a scholarly article is.
This tutorial will help you successfully navigate search filters, construct effective searches, and download the full texts of your articles!
A What is Plargiarism activity
Includes a quiz
Assignment
1. Dualism presents a view of the world according to which at least two fundamental, incompatible types of things comprise the entirety of the universe. Monists reject this picture of the world, claiming that the universe is fundamentally comprised of one substance. Critically discuss dualism in comparison with one monist view (either materialism or idealistic monism), and argue for the superiority of one view over the other. Your paper should address the following questions:
(1) Why do dualists think that there are two types of fundamental substance? Are their arguments legitimate?
(2) Why does the monist view think there is one type of “stuff” in the universe?
(3) Which of the two views do you think is more plausible? Why?
2. In Cold Souls, Paul Giamatti portrays a fictionalized version of himself who is troubled by a role he is preparing to perform from the play Uncle Vanya. In order to efface his anxiety associated with his theatrical preparations, Giamatti resorts to the unusual solution of disposing of his soul. Does the movie embrace or reject Descartes’ view of human nature? Your essay should
(1) provide a detailed explication of the philosopher’s position on human nature and the arguments supporting his position;
(2) reveal whether the movie is a cinematographic reflection of his philosophy; and
(3) explain, if it is, how it is or if it is not, why not?
3. Socrates teaches us that “nothing is preferred before justice.” Yet it can be argued that Socrates’ refusal to leave Athens was in direct contravention of the aforesaid teaching by his participation in fulfilling the unjust verdict by permitting himself to be executed. In other words, in Plato’s Apology, Socrates finds himself on trial, being prosecuted by his accusers Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon on the charges of impiety and youth corruption. Ultimately, Socrates is found guilty of the aforementioned charges and is sentenced to death. He is sent to prison, where for about a month he is awaiting his execution while no one is guarding his prison cell. Despite the fact that Socrates deems the verdict unjust, he refuses to flee the city of Athens to spare his own life. How does Socrates justify his refusal to flee the city in order to spare his own life? How would you counter his arguments supporting his refusal to flee the city? Are his arguments convincing? Why or why not?
4. In the history of epistemology, one of the most seminal debates revolves around Rationalism vs. Empiricism. Provide as clear as possible explications of both epistemological theories and their respective arguments that you find the most cogent. Once you have delineated the two theories and their respective arguments, explain which theory makes more sense and why. (Most of the paper should consist of your explanation of why you think what you think.)
5. One of the most fundamental debates in the study of metaphysics pertains to the notion of “free will” and whether human beings exercise it. There are those philosophers who embrace what is often referred to as Nomological Determinism, which maintains that all events in the universe occur in virtue of some necessity and are therefore inevitable—consequently providing challenge to the idea that the past choices of seemingly rational agents like ourselves could have unfolded differently or that their future decisions are predetermined by their past circumstances governed by the natural conditions of the universe—whereas there are other philosophers, however, who reject the notion of the world in which there is no room for free choice and argue that Nomological Determinism must be rejected in favor of a metaphysical theory that could be inclusive of human freedom without dispensing with natural causality. Hence, please clearly explain:
1) what Nomological Determinism is;
2) the strongest arguments that underlie this theory; and
3) the counterarguments that challenge the veracity of this theory and whether its criticisms necessitate its abandonment.
***(Please note that this topic does not refer to political freedom. Don't make the mistake of asserting that free will exists because the Constitution of the United States guarantees it. The question is not about political freedom; it is about the metaphysical nature of freedom.)
6. In the history of the philosophy of religion, Pascal’s Wager is one of the most famous sets of arguments in apologetic philosophy—offered by a French philosopher, physicist, and mathematician—designed to advance his claim that despite the fact that there is no empirical evidence for the existence of God, it still makes rational sense to believe in Him. What are his arguments in support of embracing faith in God, and what are the counterarguments that the critics of Pascal raise against his arguments? Do the critics of Pascal’s arguments make a convincing case against his position? Why or Why not?