| Course Name | Fundamentals of Philosophy |
| Code | Semester | Theory (hour/week) | Application/Lab (hour/week) | Local Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEHU 204 | Fall/Spring | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Prerequisites | None | |||||
| Course Language | English | |||||
| Course Type | Service Course | |||||
| Course Level | First Cycle | |||||
| Mode of Delivery | - | |||||
| Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course | ||||||
| Course Coordinator | - | |||||
| Course Lecturer(s) | ||||||
| Assistant(s) | - | |||||
| Course Objectives | To provide an introduction to the fundamental concepts and argumentative strategies of philosophy through an investigation of the question “What is a rational animal?” in relation to logic, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy. |
| Learning Outcomes | The students who succeeded in this course;
|
| Course Description | |
| Related Sustainable Development Goals |    |
|
| Core Courses | |
| Major Area Courses | ||
| Supportive Courses | ||
| Media and Managment Skills Courses | ||
| Transferable Skill Courses |
| Week | Subjects | Required Materials |
| 1 | Presentation and overview of the course; discussion of how to begin philosophy by acknowledging that we have already begun. | Overview and discussion of a number of dilemmas and paradoxes. |
| 2 | Plato | Apology |
| 3 | What is an argument? The concepts of validity, truth and soundness. Types of justification; types of refutation: by parallel reasoning, counter-examples, reductio ad absurdum. | R. Fogelin, Understanding Arguments, pp 45-53 and pp. 405-433. |
| 4 | Fallacies of vacuity: circular reasoning, question-begging; fallacies of relevance: ad hominem, straw man, false cause, appeals to authority | Fogelin, pp. 477-405 |
| 5 | The Chinese Room Argument: Can Computers think? Discussion of artificial intelligence. | Turing, A., 1948, ‘Intelligent Machinery: A Report’, London: National Physical Laboratory; Searle, J., 1980, ‘Minds, Brains and Programs’, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3: 417–57 |
| 6 | MIDTERM | |
| 7 | Introduction to epistemology | Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Meditation 1 and 2 |
| 8 | Skepticism, sources of knowledge, methodic doubt, certainty as epistemic criterion, the cogito as first principle and model of | Descartes, Meditations 2 (contn’d) and 3 |
| 9 | Philosophy and science: the thinking subject as embodied being subject to the laws of nature. FIRST PAPER DUE | Janet Richards, Human Nature After Darwin, pp. 4-25 FIRST PAPER DUE |
| 10 | Evolutionary biology as philosophical challenge and answer to the question “What is a rational animal?” | Richards, pp. 25-51 |
| 11 | Determinism, freedom of the will, morality as a scientific problem and science as a moral problem | Richards, pp. 126-154 |
| 12 | Consequentialism (Utilitarianism) and Deontology: arguments and criticisms | Kant, pp. 274-281; Bennett, pp. 294-306; Bentham, pp. 306-312; Williams pp. 339-345; M. L. K. Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail. |
| 13 | Moral Psychology and Perspectivism. | Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, essays I and II. |
| 14 | The responsibilities and the problems of rational thought; the rational animal and the polis. | Aristotle, Politics, Bk. 1 1986-2000; Locke, 249-253; Bentham and Mill, 270-274 Levi, If This is a Man. |
| 15 | Week 14 cont’d. SECOND PAPER DUE. | Levi, Contn’d. |
| 16 | Final |
| Course Notes/Textbooks | |
| Suggested Readings/Materials |
| Semester Activities | Number | Weigthing |
| Participation | ||
| Laboratory / Application | ||
| Field Work | ||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | 1 | 35 |
| Portfolio | ||
| Homework / Assignments | 1 | 30 |
| Presentation / Jury | ||
| Project | ||
| Seminar / Workshop | ||
| Oral Exam | ||
| Midterm | 1 | 35 |
| Final Exam | ||
| Total |
| Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 3 | 100 |
| Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade | ||
| Total |
| Semester Activities | Number | Duration (Hours) | Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | ||
| Study Hours Out of Class | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Field Work | |||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | 1 | ||
| Portfolio | |||
| Homework / Assignments | 1 | ||
| Presentation / Jury | |||
| Project | |||
| Seminar / Workshop | |||
| Oral Exam | |||
| Midterms | 1 | 20 | |
| Final Exams | 22 | ||
| Total | 116 |
| # | Program Competencies/Outcomes | * Contribution Level | ||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | To be able to perform, execute and manage the various responsibilities and duties of an interior architecture and environmental design professional | |||||
| 2 | To be able to recognize, analyze and integrate within their practice the particular local and regional needs and developments of their profession | |||||
| 3 | To be able to communicate and collaborate with other individuals and groups on a national and international level within their profession | |||||
| 4 | To be able to develop, integrate and promote independent critical approaches for their professional practice | |||||
| 5 | To be able to understand the social and environmental issues and responsibilities of their profession | |||||
| 6 | To be able identify, assess and utilize the most up to date research, innovations, trends and technologies | |||||
| 7 | To be able to consider the national and international standards and regulations of their field | |||||
| 8 | To be able to develop the abilities to communicate and present design ideas within visual, oral and textual formats | |||||
| 9 | To be able to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to design on a national and international level | |||||
| 10 | To be able to recognize their own strengths, and develop them within an environment | |||||
| 11 | To be able to collect data in the areas of interior architecture and environmental design and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language | |||||
| 12 | To be able to speak a second foreign at a medium level of fluency efficiently | |||||
| 13 | To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout the human history to their field of expertise | |||||
*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest
