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INQS  125-­‐28  (UQ)  Fall  2015  MWF  2:00  PM  –  3:05  PM  

 

Professor  Leonard  Finkelman  dinosaurphilosophy@linfield.edu  

Office:  T.J.  Day  Hall  room  308  

Course  information  Do  you  think  that  Plato  and  Aristotle  couldn't  have  anything  to  say  about  dinosaurs  because  they  lived  thousands  of  years  before  dinosaurs  were  first  described?  Think  again!  This  course  introduces  students  to  the  basic  philosophical  concepts  that  are  necessary  to  study  and  understand  dinosaurs.  

Learning  outcomes  The  overarching  goal  of  the  Inquiry  Seminar  is  to  introduce  students  to  the  practices  of  inquiry,  which  form  the  foundation  for  the  intellectual  communities  of  the  academy  and  the  larger  society.  We  believe  this  introduction  is  best  accomplished  by  creating  opportunities  to  conduct  real  inquiry  within  the  classroom.  We  also  recognize  that  the  Inquiry  Seminar  is  a  beginning  and  that  students  will  continue  to  develop  and  refine  the  skills  and  habits  of  inquiry  across  courses  and  disciplines  during  their  four  years  of  study.  Specifically,  the  following  list  summarizes  the  learning  outcomes  for  all  Inquiry  Seminars.    

• Students  frame  key  questions  important  to  their  own  inquiry  and  to  the  understanding  of  a  particular  area  of  knowledge  about  which  there  is  room  for  interpretation,  ambiguity,  and/or  debate.  

• Students  discuss,  draft,  compose,  and  reconsider  answers  to  such  questions  in  ways  appropriate  to  the  field  and  compelling  to  an  intended  audience.  

• Students  engage  and  incorporate  the  voices  of  others  to  support  their  own  learning  and  argumentation.  In  doing  so,  they  will  conduct  research  using  library  resources  cited  according  to  the  ethical  expectations  of  their  academic  community.  

• Students  self-­‐consciously  and  self-­‐critically  reflect  on  their  own  ways  of  thinking.  • Students  will  undertake  all  these  tasks,  both  as  speakers  and  writers,  using  standard  American  

English.  

Textbooks  The following textbooks are required. Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard. Students should bring texts to class since we will have extensive discussions about the texts’ contents.

• Bakker, Robert. 1986. The Dinosaur Heresies. • Conway, John. 2012. All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric

Animals. ($8.99 digital; $35.29 print) • Crichton, Michael. 1991. Jurassic Park. ($8.00)

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Grading  Students may score up to 175 points through completion of the following tasks: Ongoing assignments

• Advice to Oakie 20 points • Reading journal 20 points • Vocabulary builders 20 points

Occasional assignments • Diagnostic essay 5 points • Diagnostic essay conference 5 points • Argumentative essay #1 20 points • Argumentative essay #-1 20 points • Argumentative essay #2 20 points • Argumentative essay #-2 20 points • Reflective essay 20 points • Oak tree portfolio 5 points

Students must earn at least 90 points to pass. If the average overall score in the class is below 110 points then final grades will be determined by a statistical curve. Assignment descriptions, as well as samples of some assignments, can be found at the end of this document.

Policies  

Office  hours  Students are (more or less) guaranteed to find me in my office during scheduled office hours. I offer these hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 AM – 5:00 PM. All changes to my office hours will be announced both via e-mail and in class at the earliest opportunity. Students who visit during office hours may use the notepad outside my door to write down their thoughts before coming in. If I am out of the office, students may use the dry-erase board to leave a message.

Disability  services  statement  Students with disabilities are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are a student with a disability and feel you may require academic accommodations please contact Learning Support Services (LSS), as early as possible to request accommodation for your disability. The timeliness of your request will allow LSS to promptly arrange the details of your support. LSS is located in Melrose Hall 020 (503-883-2562). We also encourage students to communicate with faculty about their accommodations.

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Privacy  statement  Under the Federal Educational Rights and Protection Act (FERPA), all students have the right to inspect and review their educational records and to prevent the release of those records to other individuals, except where permitted by law. Students who wish to share their records with a third party must submit a signed release form. For more information, please visit the Registrar in Melrose Hall 012.

Class  policies  The following policies will be enforced throughout the semester.

• Syllabus agreement. All students must complete a syllabus agreement in order to receive a grade at the end of the semester. The agreement is posted on the "Assignments" page of the class Blackboard site.

• Office hours. In addition to the office hours listed on page 2, students may make appointments for office meetings. All special appointments must be made with 48 hours’ notice and, if necessary, cancelled no later than six hours prior to the appointment. Any student absent from a special appointment may not be allowed to make another.

• E-mail. All communication between instructors and students should be conducted with the appropriate professionalism and courtesy. Appropriate e-mails will receive responses from the instructor within 24 hours on weekend and within 48 hours on weekends (exceptions will be discussed ahead of time). E-mails may be deemed inappropriate if they contain disrespectful language and content or text/net speak.

• Mobile devices. Each class meeting (excluding exam days) will include designated internet access time. When not in use, devices must be turned off and kept on the student’s desk. Students who use their mobile devices (including phones, tablets, and laptops) inappropriately may be considered absent for the day. Inappropriate use of mobile devices includes messaging, social media access, or other uses deemed unacceptable by the instructor.

• Recording devices. Students must obtain the instructor’s permission before recording any part of a class meeting. Exceptions may be made at the request of LSS. Recordings may be protected under FERPA and can only be released with permission from all other students enrolled in the class (see Privacy statement above).

• Extra credit. Use your Vocabulary Builders wisely.

Calendar  

Important  dates  Students should make special note of events on the following dates.

• Tuesday, September 8 Diagnostic essay due • Friday, September 18 Last  day  to  DROP  without  penalty • Sunday, October 18 Jurassic Park essays due • Friday,  November  6     Last  day  to  DROP  a  course  and  receive  a  'W’ • Sunday, November 29 Dinosaur Heresies essays due • Wednesday,  December  9   Last  day  of  class • Wednesday,  December  16   Oak  tree  portfolio  due  

     

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Course  outline  Month Date Topic/Reading due RQ CA

August 31 Introduction

September

2 “Brontosaurus and the nature of philosophy” by L. Finkelman 1, 2 4 Library session/diagnostic essay 9 Enthymemes and arguments 11 “Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Learning” by D. Dennett 1, 2 14 “What is knowledge?” by A.J. Ayer 1, 2 16 Jurassic Park (Introduction & Prologue) 1 2 18 Jurassic Park (First iteration) 2 1 21 “Appearance and reality” by B. Russell 1, 2 23 Jurassic Park (Second iteration) 1 2 25 Jurassic Park (Third iteration) 2 1 28 “Of miracles” by D. Hume 1, 2 30 Jurassic Park (Fourth iteration) 1 2

October

2 Jurassic Park (Fifth iteration) 2 1 5 “Meditations on first philosophy” by R. Descartes 1, 2 7 Jurassic Park (Sixth iteration) 1 2 9 Jurassic Park (Seventh iteration) 2 1 12 Jurassic Park Thesis workshop 14 Jurassic Park Essay #1, -1 Argument workshop 16 Library session 19 “On What There Is” by W.V.O. Quine 1, 2 21 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 1) 1 2 23 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 2) 2 1 26 “Numbers and Other Immaterial Objects” by G. Rosen 1, 2 28 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 3) 1 2 30 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 4) 2 1

November

2 “Causation and Correlation” by N. Hall 1, 2 4 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 20) 1 2 6 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 21) 2 1 9 “A Thing and Its Matter” by S. Yablo 1, 2 11 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 14) 1 2 13 Dinosaur Heresies (Chapter 22) 2 1 16 Dinosaur Heresies Thesis workshop 18 Library session 20 Dinosaur Heresies Essay #1, -1 Argument workshop 30 “The Secondary Qualities” by D.M. Armstrong 1, 2

December

2 All Yesterdays 1 2 4 All Yesterdays 2 1 7 Reflective essay workshop/conferences 9 Reflective essay workshop/conferences

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Regular  assignments  

Advice  to  Oakie  (1  point  each  up  to  20  points  total)  At  the  start  of  each  lecture  (i.e.,  any  class  meeting  that  is  not  a  workshop  or  essay  conference),  students  will  receive  a  handout  that  describes  a  situation  in  which  Oakie  has  found  itself.  Students  will  provide  Oakie  with  advice  for  these  situations  and  justification  for  the  advice.  Handouts  will  be  collected  five  minutes  after  the  start  of  class  and  returned  during  the  next  class  meeting.    Advice  to  Oakie  handouts  will  be  assessed  on  a  ✓,  ✓+,  or  ✓–  scale.  Criteria  for  each  assessment  are  as  follows:    

• ✓+:  Advice  is  justified  by  logical  argument;  connection  between  advice  and  justification  for  advice  is  clearly  stated  

• ✓:  Advice  is  justified  by  enthymeme;  connection  between  advice  and  justification  for  advice  is  not  clearly  stated  

• ✓–:  Advice  is  not  justified

Reading  journal    (1  point  each  up  to  20  points  total)    For  each  reading  assignment,  students  must  submit  either  a  reading  question  or  reading  application.  Directions  for  these  submissions  are  as  follows:    

• Reading  questions:  students  assigned  reading  questions  for  a  given  reading  assignment  must  submit  at  least  one  (1)  open-­‐ended  philosophical  question  raised  within  the  reading  assignment.  A  student  may  include  multiple  questions  in  one  submission.  The  submission  must  include  a  statement  of  the  question(s)  and  quoted  passages  from  the  text  that  raise  those  questions.  (We  will  discuss  what  qualifies  as  a  “philosophical”  question  in  class.)  Submissions  will  be  graded  pass/fail.  

• Concept  applications:  students  assigned  concept  applications  for  a  given  reading  assignment  must  show  how  a  given  philosophical  concept  has  been  applied  within  the  assigned  reading.  The  submission  must  include  a  quote  of  the  passage  from  the  text  where  the  concept  has  been  applied  and  a  short  (150-­‐200  word)  summary  of  how  the  concept  applies  to  that  quote.  Submissions  will  be  graded  pass/fail.  

 Assignment  of  reading  questions  or  concept  applications  will  depend  on  the  student’s  reading  group.  Reading  groups  are  broken  up  as  follows:    

• Reading  Group  1  includes  all  students  with  last  names  beginning  with  letters  A-­‐M  • Reading  Group  2  includes  all  students  with  last  names  beginning  with  letters  N-­‐Z  

 Each  reading  assignment  on  the  course  outline  includes  information  about  which  written  assignment  is  due  from  each  reading  group.      

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Vocabulary  builders    (1  point  each  up  to  20  points  total)  Students  may  earn  additional  points  by  looking  up  and  defining  unfamiliar  terms  that  occur  in  assigned  reading.      Submissions  must  include  the  following  components:    

• The  term  in  question  • Quotation  of  assigned  text  passage  in  which  the  term  occurs  • The  term’s  definition  • APA  style  citation  for  the  source  of  the  term’s  definition  • “Translation”  of  the  quoted  assigned  text  passage  that  correctly  applies  the  given  definition  

 In  order  to  qualify  for  credit,  student  submissions  must  meet  the  following  criteria:    

• The  student  must  have  submitted  her  assigned  reading  question  or  concept  application  for  the  reading  assignment  in  which  the  term  appears.  

• The  student  may  not  have  already  missed  more  than  a  combined  eight  (8)  reading  question  or  concept  application  submissions.  

• The  term  must  be  one  that  is  of  significant  importance  to  the  text  (per  the  professor’s  discretion).  • The  term  must  be  one  that  has  not  already  been  defined  in  class.  • The  term  must  be  one  that  is  not  defined  elsewhere  in  the  text.  • The  submission  must  be  uploaded  to  Blackboard  before  the  text  is  discussed  in  class.  

 Students  may  not  submit  multiple  Vocabulary  Builders  for  a  single  reading  assignment  and  may  not  submit  more  than  twenty  (20)  over  the  course  of  the  semester.  

     

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Regular  assignment  samples  

Advice  to  Oakie  sample    

   While  listening  to  a  lecture  Oakie  notices  that  Prof.  Finkelman  has  mistakenly  quoted  a  line  from  The  Empire  Strikes  Back.  The  line  from  the  movie  was  Darth  Vader’s,  “No,  I  am  your  father,”  but  Prof.  Finkelman  misquoted  it  as,  “Luke,  I  am  your  father.”  There  will  be  no  effect  at  all  on  the  lecture  if  Prof.  Finkelman  is  not  corrected,  but  the  movie  is  Oakie’s  favorite  and  so  she  thinks  she  should  say  something.    What  should  Oakie  do?   Oakie should raise her hand and correct Prof.

Finkelman.  Why  should  Oakie  do  that?   It is a person’s responsibility to prevent bad things

from happening. What Prof. Finkelman said was false and it is bad for professors to spread falsehoods.  

Reading  question  sample    Quote  Gennaro  saw  only  mud.  Puddles  catching  the  lights  from  the  flashlights.    “You  can  see,”  Muldoon  continued,  “the  adult  prints  come  to  here,  where  they’re  joined  by  other  prints.  Small,  and  medium-­‐size  …  moving  around  in  circles,  overlapping  …  almost  as  if  they’re  standing  together,  talking.  …  But  now  here  they  are,  they  seem  to  be  running  …”  He  pointed  off.  “There.  Into  the  park.”    Gennaro  shook  his  head.  “You  can  see  whatever  you  want  in  this  mud.”    “Jurassic  Park”  p.  263    Reading  question  Are  the  footprints  that  Muldoon  sees  really  good  evidence  that  an  adult  and  a  child  stood  together  and  talked?      

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Concept  application  sample    Quote  Gennaro  saw  only  mud.  Puddles  catching  the  lights  from  the  flashlights.    “You  can  see,”  Muldoon  continued,  “the  adult  prints  come  to  here,  where  they’re  joined  by  other  prints.  Small,  and  medium-­‐size  …  moving  around  in  circles,  overlapping  …  almost  as  if  they’re  standing  together,  talking.  …  But  now  here  they  are,  they  seem  to  be  running  …”  He  pointed  off.  “There.  Into  the  park.”    Gennaro  shook  his  head.  “You  can  see  whatever  you  want  in  this  mud.”    “Jurassic  Park”  p.  263    Concept  application  In  Karl  Popper’s  essay,  “Conjectures  and  Refutations,”  Popper  says  that  science  is  different  from  other  studies  because  scientific  theories  make  risky  predictions.  Risky  predictions  are  predictions  that  support  a  theory  if  they  are  true,  but  disprove  the  theory  if  they  are  false.  In  this  passage  Muldoon  is  predicting  that  an  adult  and  a  child  survived  the  T.  rex  attack,  which  would  support  his  theory  that  the  footprints  were  made  by  an  adult  and  a  child  who  stood  together  and  talked.  The  prediction  is  risky  because  Muldoon  doesn’t  know  yet  whether  or  not  anybody  survived  and  he  could  be  proved  wrong.  If  he  were  proved  wrong  about  people  surviving  the  T.  rex  attack  then  his  theory  about  who  made  the  footprints  would  also  be  wrong.  If  we  use  Popper’s  definition  of  what  counts  as  science,  then  that  would  have  to  mean  that  Muldoon  is  testing  a  scientific  theory  when  he  goes  looking  for  survivors  of  the  T.  rex  attack.    

Vocabulary  builder  sample    Term:  maxim    Quotation:  “It  being  a  general  maxim,  that  no  objects  have  any  discoverable  connexion  together,  and  that  all  the  inferences,  which  we  draw  from  one  to  another,  are  founded  merely  on  our  experience  of  their  constant  and  regular  conjunction;  it  is  evident,  that  we  ought  not  to  make  an  exception  to  this  maxim  in  favour  of  human  testimony,  whose  connexion  with  any  event  seems,  in  itself,  as  little  necessary  as  any  other.”  David  Hume,  Of  Miracles,  p.  111    Definition:  “a  short,  pithy  statement  expressing  a  general  truth  or  rule  of  conduct.”  "Maxim."  The  Oxford  American  College  Dictionary,  through  Google.com.  2001.    Translation:  “Since  it  is  generally  true  that  we  can’t  see  any  direct  connection  between  events,  and  that  any  inference  that  one  event  follows  from  the  other  is  founded  only  on  past  experience  of  the  events  happening  together,  it  is  clear  that  we  shouldn’t  believe  otherwise  just  because  another  person  said  so.”    

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Occasional  assignments  

Diagnostic  Essay  (10  points  total)    During  the  first  two  weeks  of  class  students  will  develop  a  short  (500-­‐750  word)  essay  in  response  to  the  question  given  below.  This  essay  will  be  used  to  identify  the  student’s  strengths  and  weaknesses  before  preparing  more  extensive  argumentative  essays.    Students  will  receive  5  points  for  completing  the  essay.  All  students  are  also  expected  to  make  an  appointment  for  a  short  conference  during  the  office  hours  designated  below.  All  feedback  on  the  diagnostic  essay  will  be  given  during  these  conferences.  Students  will  receive  an  additional  5  points  for  attending  a  diagnostic  essay  conference.    The  question  to  be  answered  in  the  diagnostic  essay  is:    

• Carol  says  all  paleontologists  should  study  philosophy.  Richard  disagrees  with  her.  Does  one  of  them  have  to  be  wrong?  

 A  full  diagnostic  essay  includes  a  thesis  that  answers  the  question  given  above  and  an  argument  supporting  that  thesis.  The  argument  should  include  at  least  one  reason  to  believe  the  thesis,  development  of  a  clear  chain  of  reasoning  that  connects  the  thesis  to  the  reason(s)  to  believe  it,  and  defenses  from  possible  objections  against  the  thesis.    Diagnostic  essay  due  date:   11:59  PM  Tuesday,  September  8    Conference  Office  Hours:   Thursday,  September  10     11:30am  –  5:00pm           Sunday,  September  13     1:00pm  –  4:00pm  

Monday,  September  14     3:15pm  –  5:00pm    

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Argumentative  Essays  (20  points  each)    Students  must  complete  a  set  of  two  essays  for  each  “anchor”  text  assigned.  Our  anchor  texts  for  the  Fall  2015  semester  are  Jurassic  Park  and  Dinosaur  Heresies.    Each  set  of  essays  will  be  structured  around  a  single  reading  question.  The  reading  question  must  be  either  (1)  a  reading  question  that  the  student  has  submitted  as  part  of  the  student’s  Reading  Journal  or  (2)  a  reading  question  that  we  have  discussed  in  class.    In  response  to  the  student’s  chosen  reading  question,  the  student  must  develop  two  opposing  theses.  These  will  be  designated  theses  #1  and  #-­‐1.  Each  thesis  will  serve  as  the  basis  for  one  essay  in  the  set.  Each  essay  must  be  750-­‐1000  words  long  (a  complete  essay  set  must  be  1500-­‐2000  words  long).  Each  essay  should  include  a  statement  of  the  thesis,  reason(s)  to  believe  the  thesis,  and  development  of  a  clear  chain  of  reasoning  connecting  the  reason(s)  to  the  thesis  itself.    For  example,  consider  the  following  sample  reading  question:    

• Are  the  footprints  that  Muldoon  sees  really  good  evidence  that  an  adult  and  a  child  stood  together  and  talked?  

 A  student  might  develop  the  following  two  theses:    

• Thesis  #1:  By  examining  the  footprints  in  the  mud,  Muldoon  had  good  evidence  to  support  his  belief  that  an  adult  and  a  child  stood  together  and  talked.  

• Thesis  #-­‐1:  Footprints  alone  cannot  be  good  evidence  to  show  that  two  people  talked  to  each  other.  

 The  student  would  then  develop  each  thesis  in  a  separate  essay.  Essays  may  be  submitted  separately,  but  both  essays  in  each  set  are  due  on  the  same  date.    Jurassic  Park  essays  due:     11:59pm  Sunday,  October  18    Dinosaur  Heresies  essays  due:   11:59pm  Sunday,  November  29      

  11  

Reflective  essay  (20  points)    A  good  philosopher  determines  her  point  of  view  on  strength  of  argument  rather  than  on  the  basis  of  personal  preference.  “Reflection”  in  philosophy  is  the  act  of  weighing  different  arguments  for  and  against  a  thesis  in  order  to  determine  the  viability  of  that  thesis.  To  that  end,  students  will  use  feedback  received  on  their  essay  sets  to  develop  a  longer  (1000-­‐1500  word)  reflective  essay  at  the  end  of  the  semester.  This  essay  will  elaborate  upon  the  one  thesis  from  the  two  essay  sets  for  which  the  student  has  the  best  argument.    As  a  fully  developed  piece  of  philosophical  writing,  the  reflective  essay  must  include  the  following  components:  (1)  a  thesis,  (2)  reasons  for  believing  the  thesis,  (3)  a  clear  line  of  reasoning  that  connects  those  reasons  to  the  thesis  itself,  and  (4)  responses  to  possible  objections  to  the  thesis.    While  the  reflective  essay  is  a  revision  of  one  of  the  student’s  argumentative  essays,  it  should  be  substantially  different  from  the  original  essay.  Students  should  take  into  account  feedback  received  on  previous  essays  in  order  to  strengthen  the  argument  for  the  reflective  essay.  This  includes  consideration  of  feedback  received  on  the  opposing  thesis,  since  that  feedback  should  determine  the  student’s  replies  to  possible  objections.    Students  may  modify  their  original  thesis  for  the  reflective  essay,  but  they  may  not  develop  an  entirely  new  one.    The  reflective  essay  must  be  included  in  the  Oak  tree  portfolio.  

Oak  tree  portfolio    (5  points)    At  the  end  of  the  semester  students  will  collect  their  work  into  a  single  portfolio.  In  addition  to  work  already  submitted,  the  portfolio  must  include  the  following  new  elements:    

• Cover  letter  • Table  of  contents  • Essay  revisions  (optional)  • Reflective  essay  (see  above)  

 The  cover  letter  should  take  the  form  of  a  biography  of  Oakie  the  Inquisitive  Acorn.  What  has  Oakie  learned  this  semester?  In  what  ways  has  Oakie  changed  her  mind?  Which  questions  would  Oakie  like  to  think  about  more  in  the  future?    Students  may  revise  their  argumentative  essays  and  include  the  revisions  with  their  originals.  If  the  revisions  improve  upon  the  originals  then  the  essays’  original  grades  will  be  replaced.  Essay  revisions  differ  from  the  reflective  essay  in  that  revisions  should  not  incorporate  new  information  or  additional  research.    Oak  tree  portfolio  due  date:     5:00  PM  Wednesday,  December  16