HS301 Philosophy (Autumn 2017-18)
Instructor Name: Amrita Banerjee
Course Type: Humanities Elective
Course Content: Introduction to philosophy; its origin, history and classifications: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic
Topics were taught from selections of many famous texts
Plato's ""Apology"" and epistemology
Laozi's ""Daodejing"" and ethics
Indian philosophy: ""Katha Upanishad""
Buddhist philosophy: ""Life in the world is full of suffering"" and all that
Descartes' ""Meditations"": Rationalism
David Hume's ""An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding"": Empiricism
Bentham's Utilitarianism
Immanuel Kant's ""Critique of Pure Reason"" and ""Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals"": epistemology and moral philosophy
Simone de Beauvoir's ""The Ethics of Ambiguity"": Existentialism and Ethics
Judith Butler's ""Violence, Mourning, Politics"": Ethics
Other Topics: These topics were only slightly touched upon, generally to show contrast with the main topics:
Confucius and Confucianism
Vedic Philosophy
The Social Contract: Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
Lectures: Lectures were conducted mostly using slides and discussion about any given topic was always encouraged
The instructor allotted 10 marks for attendance; 0-1 absences=10 marks, 2-3 absences=9 marks and so on; 0 marks for more than 9 absences; manual attendance
Almost all of the concepts were clearly explained
Assignments: One graded assignment, worth 10%: writing an analytical essay in which we had to analyze a moral dilemma presented to us using one of the many moral philosophies and determine what the course of action should be according to the said philosophy.
Exams and Grading:
No quizzes!
Mid sem: 35%, End sem:45%
Both mid-semester and end semester exams consisted of MCQs, True/False, Fill in the Blanks, Define the Following and similar types of questions.
Exams had questions from texts, in-class lectures, and lecture power-points on all topics
Follow-up Courses: Almost any course with the word "Philosophy" in it
Pro-Tips: Definitely take this course if you're interested in philosophy!
Attend all the lectures you can, preferably after reading through the text that is being discussed
Exams will be multiple choice based (if the course is being taken by Amrita Banerjee), reading through the texts once when they are being discussed will go a long way
Personal Comments: This review is for the course taken by Amrita Banerjee. Different professors will probably choose different topics to teach with different policies. I found the way professor Banerjee took the course to be quite chill. You may have a very different experience based on the professor.
Respondent: Archit Negi
Note: This is a review to help you make a more informed choice about how to study for this course and/or choosing this course. While we've tried to keep it objective and complete, one must keep in mind that students have varying interests, methods of study, and the course itself changes from year to year.
Course Type: Humanities Elective
Course Content: Introduction to philosophy; its origin, history and classifications: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic
Topics were taught from selections of many famous texts
Plato's ""Apology"" and epistemology
Laozi's ""Daodejing"" and ethics
Indian philosophy: ""Katha Upanishad""
Buddhist philosophy: ""Life in the world is full of suffering"" and all that
Descartes' ""Meditations"": Rationalism
David Hume's ""An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding"": Empiricism
Bentham's Utilitarianism
Immanuel Kant's ""Critique of Pure Reason"" and ""Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals"": epistemology and moral philosophy
Simone de Beauvoir's ""The Ethics of Ambiguity"": Existentialism and Ethics
Judith Butler's ""Violence, Mourning, Politics"": Ethics
Other Topics: These topics were only slightly touched upon, generally to show contrast with the main topics:
Confucius and Confucianism
Vedic Philosophy
The Social Contract: Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
Lectures: Lectures were conducted mostly using slides and discussion about any given topic was always encouraged
The instructor allotted 10 marks for attendance; 0-1 absences=10 marks, 2-3 absences=9 marks and so on; 0 marks for more than 9 absences; manual attendance
Almost all of the concepts were clearly explained
Assignments: One graded assignment, worth 10%: writing an analytical essay in which we had to analyze a moral dilemma presented to us using one of the many moral philosophies and determine what the course of action should be according to the said philosophy.
Exams and Grading:
No quizzes!
Mid sem: 35%, End sem:45%
Both mid-semester and end semester exams consisted of MCQs, True/False, Fill in the Blanks, Define the Following and similar types of questions.
Exams had questions from texts, in-class lectures, and lecture power-points on all topics
Follow-up Courses: Almost any course with the word "Philosophy" in it
Pro-Tips: Definitely take this course if you're interested in philosophy!
Attend all the lectures you can, preferably after reading through the text that is being discussed
Exams will be multiple choice based (if the course is being taken by Amrita Banerjee), reading through the texts once when they are being discussed will go a long way
Personal Comments: This review is for the course taken by Amrita Banerjee. Different professors will probably choose different topics to teach with different policies. I found the way professor Banerjee took the course to be quite chill. You may have a very different experience based on the professor.
Respondent: Archit Negi
Note: This is a review to help you make a more informed choice about how to study for this course and/or choosing this course. While we've tried to keep it objective and complete, one must keep in mind that students have varying interests, methods of study, and the course itself changes from year to year.
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