Phil 120 : 001 -- Introduction to Philosophy

NOTE: This paper is optional. You may do it and have it count as one of four assignments, according to the original syllabus. Or, you may do it and have it replace your first paper. In the latter case, and also if you choose not to do the paper at all, your grade will be based on three writing assignments instead of four. Since this means a change in the relative point allocation for the three remaining assignments, I have posted an altered conversion chart (for three papers only) on the website and in BB.

DETAILS : 4-5 pp. length (typed, in 1.5 spacing*) value: 25 points. Submit in hard copy, not as an email attachment. Use in-text citations, especially for quotations (e.g., Hume, p. 27), and also formal Bibliography listing (not part of the 5-page length) at the end. Consult the Writings Tips handout provided, following its suggestions and avoiding the common errors listed there. / (* To get 1.5 spacing, select-all the entire text, hold down Ctrl, and type ‘5’.)

DUE : Friday, April 20, by 4 p.m. Deliver papers to my mailbox in CH 300.

INSTRUCTIONS: Write a letter to a friend telling them about Hume's ideas. What kind of thinker is he? What topics does he discuss, and what does he say about them? How are his views or opinions different from those he criticizes or rejects? Is Hume a philosopher you could "get into" or does he "rub you in the wrong way"? Why? Would you recommend that your friend read Hume him/herself? Is this a "find" that you would like to share with them, so that you can talk about it together? Explain.

Start by picking several topics or themes (four or five, possibly more) from the Humean essays we have read, and develop them, using quotations to give a flavor of Hume's style and attitude. Make sure that the topics you pick hang together, and that they support your overall impression and assessment of Hume, helping your friend get a proper impression of the man and his thought. Your goal is to give someone who has not read or heard about Hume an introduction to him, through your own encounter and reflection on several of Hume's essays. Be fair to Hume, of course, but also try to develop a philosophical response to his thought, and then communicate both of these to someone whose only access is your own letter. I.e., your letter is a vehicle for philosophical pedagogy.

Needless to say, you must have read Hume's essays carefully, and followed the class presentation of them, in order even to begin this exercise. Impressions and attitudes are formed by familiarity, and one has to reach a certain comfort zone in terms of one's knowledge in order to have the sort of control over the texts and ideas needed to form a coherent reaction and assessment.

Though the assignment is not a formal essay, and should not read quite that way, it does require planning, structure, organization, sequence, coherence, and so forth. I.e., you need to plan it like any other written assignment, write drafts, and then review and revise as needed. Since it is formally a letter, you may also personalize it in certain ways, by relating Hume's ideas to your own, and your (imaginary?) friend's character, interests, experiences, etc. Be creative and imaginative in your approach; Hume would certainly like that.