Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

Introduction to Philosophy (Face-to-Face)

PHIL 1000-05

Course: PHIL 1000-05
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: FLPH
CRN: 12593

Course Description

This course will introduce some of the themes, works, figures, and topics in the Western philosophical tradition. It will explore questions involving value, human nature, knowledge, and rationality. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Humanities

Required Texts

Kind, Amy. 2015. Persons and Personal Identity. Polity.

*All other readings for this course will be available electronically on our course Canvas page under ‘Files’



Learning Outcomes

As a Humanities Gen Ed. course at SUU, students who take this course will attain the following learning outcomes (https://www.suu.edu/academics/ge/):  

·       Derive evidence from primary sources regarding the complexities and changes in human experience through analytical reading and critical thought

·       Describe how human experience is shaped by social, cultural, linguistic, and/or historical circumstances

·       Demonstrate attentiveness to linguistic, visual, and/or audio texts when communicating meaning

·       Use appropriate verbal, perceptual, or imaginative skills when organizing meanings, developing a sense of self, and balancing potentially disparate values.

In addition, this course will help you cultivate the follow skills and capacities:

·       Critical Reading: Develop the critical reading, textual analysis, and interpretive skills necessary to understand difficult texts 

·       Real Application: Apply your understanding of philosophical theory to your life, your values, and your vision for your future 

·       Intellectual Virtues: Cultivate the set of intellectual virtues that are inherent to civil discourse, intellectual maturity, problem-solving, and self-knowledge. These might include: intellectual autonomy; intellectual curiosity; creative thinking; respectful discourse; rational argumentation; and more 

·       The Love of Learning: MOST IMPORTANTLY, come to love intellectual exploration, curiosity, and hanging out in that exhilarating space between confusion and rational conviction which is where philosophy makes its home 



Course Requirements

Assignments and Assessment 

Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism (15%)
In this class you are held to a standard of professional conduct relative to your position as students. You will come to class having done the relevant preparatory work (usually reading the assigned texts), which will allow you to be an engaged and active member of the learning experience. This might involve participating directly in discussion, either whole-class or small group Where this is something you are not comfortable with, being active might involve demonstrating that you are an engaged listener. It is also expected that you will turn in work on the day that it is due; complete short in-class assignments; and communicate with me about any problems you might be having with the course so that we can work together towards a satisfactory solution that will help you get back on track (I try to be quite responsive over email, so please do not hesitate to reach out). Meeting these standards of professionalism will help the class run smoothly and will promise that we will get a lot out of our time together. 


Engaged Viewing (15%) 
A central element of our course is engaging with the TV series Severance. As such, you are expected to be a philosophically and critically engaged viewer of each episode. What’s each episode about? How is the narrative developing? What are the important motives and values for each character? To be so engaged, you must stay off of your phone during the viewing experience; take notes; and generally be actively invested in what you are watching.
 

Five Reading Quizzes (15%)
These will be 12-15 question quizzes – consisting of multiple choice and true/false questions assessing for reading completion and comprehension. I will post the quizzes on Wednesdays at 5pm, and you will have until the following Monday to complete them.


Episode Reflections (20%)
For each episode of Severance we watch I will ask you to complete an Episode Reflection. These will consist of a set of standard questions we will ask about the philosophical content of each episode, as well as more open-ended reflection questions where you will get a chance to practice analyzing episodes in preparation for the Focused Episode Analysis Paper. 

 

Personal Identity Exam (15%)
This will be an in-class exam consisting of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions pertaining exclusively to Module 2 on Persons and Personal Identity. 


Final (not an exam) (20%) 
There are two options for the final: 

·       You can write a mini (~2-page) argumentative essay about one of the readings from the semester consisting of a brief introduction with thesis statement; brief explanation of the reading you will discuss; and then your critical argument about some aspect of the reading 

You can conduct a philosophical interview with a friend, family member, roommate, co-worker, and so on in which you (a) ask them a set of philosophical questions and record their answers (in your own words) and then (b) write a ~300-word reflection on the experience 


Course Outline

Provisional Reading Schedule & Assignment Dates 

Week 1 (Jan 7 – 9)   | Introduction to Introduction to Philosophy: Wonder, Reasons, and Value   
W: No reading, first day of class F: Mohr Lone, ‘Philosophical Inquiry in Childhood’;   

Week 2 (Jan 12 – 16)  | Introduction to Introduction to Philosophy: Wonder, Reasons, and Value 
M: Morrow, Chapters 2 & 3 of Giving Reasons W: Morrow cont. F: Russell, ‘The Value of Philosophy’ 

Week 3 (Jan 19 – 23) | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: Kind, Ch. 1 W: Severance, Ep 1 F: No reading, discussion day 

Week 4 (Jan 26 – 30)   | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: Kind, Ch. 2 W: Severance, Ep 2 F: No reading, discussion day

Week 5 (Feb 2 – 6)   | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: Kind, Ch. 4 W: Severance, Ep 3 F: No reading, discussion day 

Week 6 (Feb 9 – 13)  | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: Kind, Ch. 5 W: Severance, Ep 4 F: No reading, discussion day 

Week 7 (Feb 16 – 20)   | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: No class, Presidents Day W: No class, Sean is away F: No class, Sean is away 

Week 8 (Feb 23 – 27)  | Persons and Personal Identity   
M: Kind, Ch. 6 W: Severance, Ep 5 F: No reading, discussion day

Week 9 (Mar 2 – 6)  | Mind & Consciousness 
M: Berger, ‘The Mind-Body Problem: What are Minds?’ W: Severance, Ep 6 F: No reading, discussion day   

Week 10 (Mar 9 – 13)  | SPRING BREAKSPRING BREAK 

Week 11 (Mar 16 – 20) | Mind & Consciousness 
M: Nagel, ‘What is it like to be a bat?’ W: Severance, Ep 7 F: No reading, discussion day 

Week 12 (Mar 23 – 27)  | Meaningfulness 
M: Wolf, ‘The Meanings of Lives’ W: Severance, Ep 8 F: No reading, discussion day   

Week 13 (Mar 30 – Apr 3) | Meaningfulness 
M: Wolf, ‘The Meanings of Lives’ W: Severance, Ep 9 F: No reading, discussion day 
 
Week 14 (Apr 6 – 10)  | Love 
M: Stump, ‘Love by All Accounts’ W: Stump cont. F: No reading, discussion day 
 
Week 15 (Apr 13 – 17)  | Love 
M: Nyholm & Frank, ‘From Sex Robots to Love Robots’ W: Nyholm & Frank cont. F: No reading, discussion day  


Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work


Late work 

Life happens. It is fine to turn in work late provided you communicate with me in a timely fashion about your situation and whatever predicament kept you from completing your work on time. This is a bit of professional conduct that I expect from you. Though of course exceptions can be made in certain emergency situations, in general I ask that you keep an open line of communication with me regarding any matters that are interfering with your ability to complete the work for our course. If you have not communicated with me about what is going on with you, and then work comes in late, it will be graded accordingly. 

Late writing assignments: I have no hard and fast policy on how much your grade on a writing assignment will suffer if it is late, though the longer you go without turning it in, the more likely I am to penalize the assignment in some respect. The key is that you communicate with me in a timely fashion about any problems you might have with turning your work in on time. 

Attendance Policy

Attending and being absent from class 

Philosophical thinking blossoms and thrives in conversation, and the classroom is where this happens. Thus, I expect you to come to class; this is part of your professionalism grade. That said, here’s my full attendance policy. 

You can miss four classes without it having any technical negative impact on your grade (I say ‘technical’ because of course missing classes may put you behind in other ways, like understanding the material based on discussion, rather than merely reading the text). As far as these four absences are concerned, it does not matter to me whether you are missing class with a documented illness/injury, a family emergency, or simply because you feel like sleeping in. Because of the equivalency of these four acceptable absences (meaning, they have no technical negative impact on your grade), you do not need to communicate with me about them. In fact, I will take communication of this kind as you trying to make an exception for yourself, as if you are hoping to save an acceptable absence for later by sending me a message about an absence that would count as one of your acceptable four. After you have missed four classes, you lose a full letter grade on your full-semester professionalism grade until that grade reaches an F. Say you miss four classes, but at the time of your 4th absence your professionalism grade is an A. The next class you miss, it goes down to a B; the next class, a C; etc.

The rationale for this policy is this: It is unprofessional to sign-up for a class which you intend to miss more than four meetings of; and it makes even less sense to sign-up for a class which you plan to miss eight meetings of (that’s nearly 20% of the course!). 

‘But I missed four classes and now I am sick/have a family emergency’! Right! This happens! And because it happens, you should think carefully about using your 4 acceptable absences. Now of course, things happen, and so exceptions may be granted to this policy in certain situations. If you find yourself in that situation, please do not hesitate to communicate with me. But, for example, ‘work scheduled me for class time’ is not an excuse after your 4th absence; neither is ‘I didn’t hear my alarm go off’ or ‘I was up late studying’. 

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.