Charles H. Pence

Introduction to Philosophy

posted on 01 Aug 2008

Welcome! The prime source of material (including all the readings) for the course is Professor Speaks’ course website. I’ll put some supplemental material here as it’s needed.

First, let me strongly recommend that you read, in detail, Professor Jim Pryor’s guidelines on how to write a philosophy paper. We’ll spend at least one session this semester going over this material in closer detail, but if you can manage to write something resembling what’s described here as a good paper, I can assure you you’ll receive a good grade.
As regards the grading, I’ll be using the standard numerical grading system you probably grew up with, because it’s easier to understand. A papers score between 90 and 100, B papers between 80 and 89, C papers between 70 and 79, and D papers between 60 and 69. Anything below 60 is an F. Plus and minus grades are carved up exactly how you’d expect (0-3: -, 4-6:, 7-9: +).

In general, however, the numerical grades are mostly an aid for averaging, determining percentages, and computing midterm and final grades. To emphasize this point in a different way: you will not notice the difference between an 84 and an 86 in your final grade. So don’t sweat the small stuff. I’ll report both a numerical grade and a letter grade on each of your papers, in case you forget this scale.
Naturally, the next question you might have is what I think constitutes an A paper, a B paper, and so on. My grading scheme isn’t set in stone, but here’s a rubric that will give you a very good idea of the sorts of things I expect. Combine this rubric with a knowledge of the Pryor page above, and you’ll have a handle on my expectations.
Finally, a word about participation grade. As you know from the first day of our discussion section (or as you now know if you missed the first day of our discussion section), you should come to class every Friday with one well-thought-out question about the material for the week. It’s a good bet that at least once in the semester, you’ll be called upon to present that question to the class.

Other than that, however, there’s no specific hoops you have to jump through to make a good participation grade. You don’t have to come to my office hour, you don’t have to get me gifts, you don’t have to always take my side in an argument (in fact, your odds are better if you disagree with me!). All I ask is that you do your best to contribute fruitfully to the discussion. If you’ve done that, you’ll do just fine on your participation score. Remember how I said above that the numerical grades are mostly only used for averages? Well, if you’re (numerically) on the fence as regards letter grades, there’s nothing like a good participation grade to ensure that you get the round-up to the next highest letter. If you’ve been doing your best for the whole semester, I can promise you I’ll be doing all I can to give you the best possible grade your work deserves.