SYLLABUS

Philosophy for Social Sciences – JPM399

Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague

Instructor: Dr Janusz Salamon

ETCS: 5 credits
Prerequisites: None

PLACE: Nove Butovice campus, Pekarska street, classroom 312 and at

https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/4572739330

TIME: MONDAY, 9:30-10:50

CONTACTS:

Office hours: Monday, 14.00-15.30 - Pekarska 16, room 206 and at
https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/4572739330

(also at other times ONLINE, after appointment)
Email: janusz.salamon at fsv.cuni.cz

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Since the course is intended primarily for students of social sciences, who are in need of intellectual tools to understand the complexity of our increasingly interconnected and yet also ideologically fragmented world, its main aim is to teach the skills of careful, thoughtful, rigorous, rational analysis of beliefs, problems and questions, which find no answers in natural sciences, because pertain to specifically human, “first person”, perspective of self-conscious subjects. Thus we will treat philosophical questions as “open questions”, which unsurprisingly have no definitive answers and yet have to be confronted by every individual who hopes to live a meaningful life and by every society hopes to create conditions for flourishing life of its members. Philosophy, since its inception in Ancient Greece, China and India, teaches critical engagement with beliefs, convictions, doctrines and dogmas taken for granted by most in an unreflective manner, thus often clearing the path for a social progress (Plato’s philosophical argument in favour of intellectual equality of men and women may serve as an example). On the other hand, philosophers (including the leading thinkers of the Western tradition), like all of us, tended to be blind to their own cultural prejudices and tended to ignore the contribution of other cultures. Living at the threshold of a Global Age, thoughtful human beings need to engage in a critical but constructive way with the wealth of the diverse intellectual and ethical traditions of humanity, therefore this course adopts a “global”, that is cross-cultural perspective in addressing the eternal human questions: “Who am I?”, “What can I know?”, “What should I do?”, “What can I hope for?”

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Philosophy for the Global Age or what follows from the global philosophical pluralism?

Week 2: Philosophy on the sources of human knowledge

Week 3: How our views of reality are shaped by our languages?

Week 4: Epistemic Justification and Scepticism

Week 5: Pragmatism

Week 6: Existentialism

Week 7: Is metaphysics (philosophical theory of reality or what is ‘really real’) relevant to thinking about society?

Week 8: How Immanuel Kant shapes thinking of contemporary (EU)Europeans

Week 9: Utilitarianism as a guide to policy-making

Week 10: Can there be a ‘science of morality’ which could settle social ethical debates? Can moral philosophy help?

Week 11: Social and political consequences of the dilemma of ‘free will’ (whether we free or causally determined or fully free and therefore responsible agents)

Week 12: Do (social) sciences provide us with answers which are certain, probable, plausible?

Week 13: Rationality as a guide to life: But what is rationality?

COURSE READINGS.

All class readings will be uploaded in a PDF format on this webpage (see below).

They will be extracted chiefly from the following anthologies:

Ethics: The Essential Writings (ed. Marino)

Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings (ed. Perry, Bratman, Fischer)

Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida (ed. Baird)

Philosophy and Contemporary Issues (ed. Burr, Goldinger)

Philosophy: The Quest for Truth (ed. Pojman)

The Truth about the World: Basic Readings in Philosophy (ed. Rachels)

COURSE GRADING:

Final Essay (ca. 2000 words) 40%

Final Exam 60%

Total 100%

FINAL EXAM & FINAL ESSAY

The final exam will take a form of a written exam. Students will be provided with a list of 5 topics and will be asked to choose and DISCUSS THREE of them.

The final essay (ca. 2000 words, without footnotes and bibliography) will be devoted to one of these two topics (in accordance with the student's preference):

(a) How are epistemology, philosophy of language, metaphysics and ethics INTERRELATED (how do they depend on each other, how do they influence each other)? Discuss some philosophical issues that highlight their interdependence.

(b) Discuss some important SOCIAL AND POLITICAL implications of philosophical views (from the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and ethics).

DEADLINE: Since at Charles University there are at least THREE DIFFERENT EXAM DATES for each course and it is up to the student to choose an exam date, the final essay will be due "48 hours before the final exam".

GRADING SCALE:

A = 91-100 % – excellent
B = 81-90 % – very good
C = 71-80 % – good
D = 61-70 % – satisfactory
E = 51-60 % – minimal pass
F = 0-50 % – fail