PH1030

Dr. Wesley L. Henry, Professor
Office :		DN230
e-mail:		WHENRY@TNTECH.EDU
webpage:		http://www.tntech.edu/sociology/faculty/Henry.html

Textbooks:
Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (4 th ed.)
Manuel Velasquez, Philosophy (10th ed.)

We shall read and discuss the following topics in the order in which they are listed.

Introduction
(The nature of Greek life, the Greek city-state) Read Philosophy , chapter 1, including the preface to chapter 1. Video-tapes --"Athens" "Plato's Apology" "The Minds of Men"

Nature of Humanity
Read Philosophy , chapter 2 and pp. 185-193, 323-328, 545-555, 566-593, 613-619

Other reading assignments will be handed out during the course of the term. The textual readings will be supplemented with classroom handouts.

• To give the student an introduction to the primary philosophies which have influenced the cultures of the Western world in the areas of the nature of humanity, the nature of value decision, and the nature of religious experience.

• To give to the student the ability to analyze and synthesize these primary philosophies.

• To help the student attain a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual activity such as the discipline of philosophy encourages.

• To encourage the student to discover the implications of the course for self-understanding and understanding of the culture in which one lives.

Outcome 1: "Analyze significant primary texts and works of art, ancient, pre-modern, and modern, as forms of cultural and creative expression."

Outcome 2: "Explain the ways in which humanistic and/or artistic expression throughout the ages expresses the culture and values of its time and place."

Outcome 4: "Frame a comparative context through which they can critically assess the ideas, forces, and values that have created the modern world."

Outcome 6: "Practice the critical and analytical methodologies of the Humanities/or Fine Arts."

There will be three major exams during the term. The first will come at the end of the introductory matter and the section on the nature of humanity. The second will come at the end of our study of the nature of ethics. The third will be the final exam which will cover the section on the nature of religion. You are expected to write the exams at the announced time. No makeup exams will be given except under extenuating circumstances. Also during the term, there will be several short unannounced exams (10 minutes or so) which are designed to evaluate your weekly preparation for class. Although they will not count significantly in the final grade and are given mostly to let you know how well you are reading, they will be entered in the grade book and figured into your final grade. All exams are for keeps; none may be eliminated except at the discretion of the instructor.

There are three written assignments due during the course of the semester. All are three-to-five page typed essays and are to be written on the following topics: "Who Am I?" "My Moral Code Is. . . ." "For Me being Spiritual Means. . . ." The first is due at the time of the first exam, the second at the time of the second exam, and the third at the time of the final exam.

There may be an occasion or two during the term when the instructor needs to be away from the campus. If so, please use those days to read the assigned materials or to work on your essays.

The attendance policy of the class shall be that of the University stated in the catalog. You are allowed two cuts at your discretion. Each unexcused class absence beyond the two may result in a two percent loss of the total points earned at the end of the term. If you have no absences, you will receive a ten percent addition to your total of earned points; one absence gives you a five percent bonus. More importantly, philosophy is learned not only by reading carefully the selected readings but by engaging in dialogue with others. If you are required to confront your fellow students and discuss with them or your instructor philosophical issues, you will find that you more easily grasp the materials you are being asked to master.

The final grade for the course will be based on the three major exams and the unannounced quizzes that will count for three-fourths of the final grade, and on the required essays that will count for one-fourth of the final grade. No final grade will be assigned unless all required materials are submitted.

If you are unable to meet the requirements of this class because of physical disability, please contact the Office of Disability Services in the University Center.

This humanities course will meet the TTU minimum general education requirement of three semester hours in the humanities and is designed to develop the cognitive process of reasoning essential for effective functioning and self-directed learning.

"I hate to be introduced as a teacher. I want to be an educator. A teacher tries to bang dull and uninteresting facts into thick and unwilling skulls. An educator can evoke a synergetic response and get the kids so excited they teach themselves."

A. Bartlett Giamatti, in giving his farewell address upon leaving the office of President of Yale University (to become baseball commissioner), referred to those "who lust for simple answers of doctrine or decree. They are of the left and the right. They are terrorists of the mind." He noted that "doctrine closes the mind and kills the spirit whenever it requires exclusivity of adherence or application or both and whenever it claims to explain all that has happened to humanity or will happen."

"Know that wisdom is like honey to your soul; if you find it, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off." -Proverbs