PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Instructor | Course Goals | Prerequisites | Readings | How to Get a Grade| How to Get a
Better Grade| Tests & Test-taking | Course Format | Schedule | FAQs |Dept Ads | NCSU
Policies
For 001: Withers 232A MW 12:25 PM - 1:15 PM and for 001, 601: Vista: http://vista.ncsu.edu
Instructor: Professor David F. Austin (Personal home page) [email protected] Withers
444 (Click here for map; Withers is building #43.)
Office Hours: MW 10:10 AM-11:10 AM, Friday, 10:10 AM -12:10 PM (beginning Jan 20 and
ending on April 30, the last day of classes) & also by appointment. Telephone: 919-515-6333
(not the best way to contact me); email is the best way to contact me.
With one small exception (i.e., about three-fifths of Kitcher’s book Abusing Science), everything
you need for the course is available at or through Vista.
All course work is open-source (“open book”) and online through Vista. All tests are made
available for at least 24 hours.
Course Goals
• to improve your ability to assess criteria for distinguishing science from pseudoscience
• to increase your knowledge and appreciation of the complex relationships between
science and religion, especially as they bear on the US constitutional doctrine of
"separation of church and state"
• to introduce you in a rigorous and systematic way to the roles of purpose-directed
explanation in biology, psychology and religion
• to assist you in investigating the nature of faith and its roles in religion and in science
• to provide you with an appreciation of the depth and difficulty of the mind/body
problem, as it bears on the other objectives listed above
So we will consider some of the best answers to these questions: What is the true nature of
science? How does science differ from religion, if it does? Can science and religion come into
conflict? Do they disagree about the nature of thinking things? Can there be a science of the
mind? Can a machine think? feel? Is your brain just a computer?
The first third of the course will focus on attempts to distinguish science from pseudoscience.
The second third of the course will focus on attempts to distinguish science from religion. The
final third of the course will focus on the question of which conceptual resources are essential
for a science of the mind. But these are not independent matters and the central questions and
objectives are woven throughout the three parts of the course.
Prerequisites: This can be a first course in philosophy and assumes no specialized background
in science. Because of its 300-level, its pace is about one-third faster than that of a standard
introductory philosophy course (PHI 205). [Note to Philosophy Majors: This course can serve as
a corequisite for PHI 496, if you have already completed PHI 496's prerequisites. Consult with
me to make appropriate arrangements for the additional work.]
Readings
• Philip Kitcher, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism, (The MIT Press, 1982),
$22.00 new [ISBN-10: 0-262-61037-X] [ISBN-13: 978-0-262-61037-7] (REQUIRED.
Many used copies are in circulation. Used copy prices range from $0.25 to $16.50.)
About three-fifths of the book is covered by the first exam, after which we are officially
done with it. All printings of this book have the same pagination, so the cheapest
readable copy will do.
• Course Content folder at Vista (see course home page) Religion, Science, Life and Mind
(RSLM), (REQUIRED; web version saves you $25.00 over hard copy) You are required to
follow an embedded link from the Course Content to an external site only if that link is
marked in red "REQUIRED READING." There are very few such links.
Within the Course Content folder there is a 2MB .pdf file RSLMF09.pdf that compiles
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
•
plain text versions of all of the other pages from the web site located within the Course
Content folder. This pdf file was emailed to pre-enrolled students.
Electronic Reserve readings (saves you >$80.00 over hard copies). Some readings on
Electronic Reserve are however not covered on tests but provide supplementary
material. All e-reserve readings covered on tests are linked from this syllabus (and from
the Calendar). For the details, see PHI 340 Guide to Electronic Reserve and COURSE
SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS, below.
How to Get a Grade
All course work consists in open-source, online tests at Vista (“test” = “quiz or Exam” =
"assessment" in Vista jargon). You will have up to twenty four hours to work on each test
(except for the Dualism Quiz which is available for up to 336 hours).
The “required” work consists in two quizzes and three Exams:
• The Syllabus Quiz covers this syllabus, consists in fifteen multiple choice (a.-d.)
questions @ 10 points, and is worth six percent of the course score.
• Each of the three Exams consists in twelve T/F questions and thirteen multiple choice
(a.-d.) questions @ 6 points. Each Exam is worth twenty-eight percent of the course
score and covers about a third of the course content. They are not cumulative, though
there are references to connections among different parts of the material in the second
and third Exams.
• The Dualism Quiz consists in twenty multiple choice (a.-d.) questions @ 7.5 points, and
is worth ten percent of the course score. It covers some more challenging material from
the third part of the course. Dates and further details are given below.
Sample Exams are now available through the Assessments page (left hand side navigation bar at
Vista, clock icon) and in the Tests folder on the home page; Review Guides for each Exam are
linked below in the COURSE SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS. Sample Exams are not timelimited and may be re-submitted as many times as you wish; correct answers with explanations
are provided after each submission. Re-taking Sample Exams is a good idea since alternate
versions of some questions are provided as you re-take them. A mini-spreadsheet is provided
in the Tests folder on the home page to help you in calculating your course score. No particular
Assessment (test) is required for passing the course. The course score determines the letter
grade (so ignore any % that Vista reports). In doing the grade calculations, I use a round-up rule
that says, “Round up if the fractional part is 0.330 or greater.” Letter grades are determined
from course scores using the following modified Hawthorne scale, which research suggests
leads to increased satisfaction:
Grade
Range
Lowest score
A+
150 or over
149.33
A
125-149
124.33
A-
115-124
114.33
B+
105-114
104.33
B
97-104
96.33
B-
89-96
88.33
C+
84-88
83.33
C
80-83
79.33
C-
75-79
74.33
D+
71-74
70.33
D
66-70
65.33
D-
60-65
59.33
F
0-59
0
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
How to Get a Better Grade
If you want to increase your course score, you have three options: a pair of ungraded surveys,
fifteen one-question microQuizzes, and the Optional Final available through the Assessments
page (left hand side navigation bar at Vista, clock icon) and in the Tests folder on the home
page:
• The pair of ungraded surveys is Intuition Inventory 1 near the beginning of the course,
and Intuition Inventory 2 near the end of the course. It’s the same forty-two questions
in each Inventory, about issues that the course addresses. All you need to do is to
respond with your opinion. (Perhaps taking the course will have some effect on your
opinions. We’ll see.) If you respond to both Inventories, you’ll get four (4) points added
to your course score. (If you do not respond to both then you’ll get no points.) Aside
from the submission deadline, there is no time limit on how long you take with either
Inventory.
• The fifteen microQuizzes are spaced throughout the course. Each microQuiz is a single
T/F question about nearby material in the course schedule. For each such question that
you answer correctly (and submit by clicking on the Finish button), you get one point
added to the sum of your three exam scores (before the 0.28 weight - see below). You
will have up to twenty four hours to work on each microQuiz.
• The Optional Final is available for twenty-four hours on the day of the regularly
scheduled Final Exam. Your score on it replaces your lowest Exam score if and only if
that would raise your course score. So taking the Optional Final cannot lower your
course score. The Optional Final contains fifty questions @ 3 points, twenty T/F and
thirty multiple choice (a.-d.). where twenty of those fifty questions will be the most
frequently missed questions on the three Exams. (I provide full statistical analyses of
each test within a few days after it is given; these include information on how often each
question is missed.) The remaining thirty questions are on a narrow range of material
reserved for the Optional Final as specified below in the Course Schedule.
There are no other options for increasing your course score.
To compute your course score without using the mini-spreadsheet, (i) multiply your Syllabus
Quiz score by 0.06, (ii) multiply by 0.28 the sum of your three Exam scores and your total
microQuiz points (that's four numbers), (iii) multiply your Dualism Quiz score by 0.1, (iv) add all
three numbers from the first three steps [(i)-(iii)] and then add 4 more points if and only if you
completed both Inventories. That's your course score unless you took the Optional Final. If you
took the Optional Final, then repeat (i)-(iv), but in step (ii), replace your lowest Exam score by
your Optional Final score. If that replacement gives you a higher score, then that higher score is
your course score instead of the first number that you computed.
Additional Information about Tests and Test-taking
All tests (exams and quizzes) and surveys become available through the "Assessments" link in
the left hand navigation bar at Vista. (You can also find these tests and surveys in the Tests
folder on the home page, and there are links from the Calendar as well.)
Exam Coverage: Exam #1 covers the material indicated below in COURSE SCHEDULE AND
REQUIRED READINGS from the first day of classes until its deadline (close). Each of exams #2
and #3 covers the material indicated below in COURSE SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS
between its deadline ("answers due by") and the preceding exam's deadline. While the exams
are not cumulative in their coverage, there may be occasional references to material for an
earlier exam in a later exam.
Most exam questions are more difficult than microQuiz questions and some are more difficult
than Sample Exam questions.
To avoid the problems that arise most frequently in using Vista, run the Browser check that is
available on the login page. That should alert you to any pop-up blockers that your system may
have turned on. You will need to turn them off since Vista relies heavily on pop-ups. All tests
are displayed in pop-up windows.
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
When taking exams or quizzes, you will be able to open and print the test, close your browser
and work off-line, returning as often as you wish before the time when answers are due to
enter and save whatever answers you have chosen. Until you finally submit all of your answers
by clicking on the Finish button, you can change and re-save answers as many times as you
want.
Saving individual answers and submitting the entire test for scoring are two different steps in
Vista. It is absolutely crucial that you save each and every one of your answers. No saved
answer, no points - no exceptions. To submit answers for scoring, click on the Finish button.
You should also print out and/or save the screen with your answers displayed just before
submitting your answers.
After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it 'thinks' you have left
("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is not authoritative. No matter what that
clock says, you have until the deadline specified ("answers due by") in this syllabus to submit
answers. (You can find the current time here.)
Correct answers, with explanations, will be available to students soon after the deadline for
submission of answers. (You can find your scored test with explanations through the
Assessments page, linked in the Vista left hand side navigation bar. Click on the View All
Submissions button at the top of the Assessments page.) Please wait at least 24 hours after
receiving test answers to ask substantive questions. In the meantime, please review all the
material as well as any explanations provided on your scored test to see if you can first figure
out on your own why an answer was incorrect. If that doesn't yield an explanation, then you are
welcome to contact me.
Course Format and Attendance Policy
For section 001 there will be two Q&A/Deep Thought meetings each week in Withers 232A on
Mondays and Wednesdays. (See also the Calendar linked from the left hand side navigation bar
at Vista.)
For section 601, the Discussion forum can take the place of the class meetings; though 601
students are also welcome in class they are never required to attend class. The Discussion
forum is reserved exclusively for the use of 601 students. If you do post to the Discussion
forum, remember that everyone enrolled in 601 can read your posting.
The classroom sessions and Discussion forum will be devoted to answering student questions
about course material or investigating it more deeply (or both). Neither class attendance nor
participation in the Discussion forum is required AND they are welcome. Students are also
encouraged to use email for asking questions.
If you are a 001 student and miss an in-class discussion, you may wish to find out from
classmates what went on. You are also welcome to ask me questions about a missed
discussion, though I won't repeat the discussion for you. One convenient way to ask me
questions is via email.
To make good use of the Monday and Wednesday discussions and the Discussion forum (open
24/7), here are some suggestions about how you can help me to help you:
• Ask questions about Course Content folder material because you are unclear or
confused about some of it.
• Ask questions about web material or non-required readings because you are curious
about a particular issue, and want to pursue it in greater depth. (If I don't know how to
answer such a question, I'll try to find an answer within a day or two.)
• Formulate exam questions for discussion, using the Sample Exams #1, #2 and #3 as
guides. (If you pose an especially marvelous question, I might even include it, or one
quite similar to it, in the relevant exam. Wouldn't that be exciting?!)
• Ask questions about required readings in Kitcher's Abusing Science or other required
readings from electronic reserve.
The more active you are in asking questions, the more you'll learn. Since many students have
spent twelve or more years in an educational system that encourages passivity instead, not
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
everyone has an easy time being more active. Obviously, if each student waits for others to ask
questions, things may become eerily quiet.
Vague questions, or even vague gestures in the general direction of a blurry question-cluster,
are perfectly acceptable. It will be my job to help you to sharpen the focus.
In my thirty years of teaching experience, "stupid questions" have been genuinely rare. If you
think that your question is a "stupid question," then the likelihood that the question really is
"stupid" is I'd guess less than 1%, and the likelihood that a significant proportion of the other
students either have, or ought to be asking, the same question is over 95%.
A Useful Metaphor for Site Use
Think of the web site as containing a "User's Manual," and the instructor as a
Consultant who can explain what's in the manual as well as help those who are
interested learn about more advanced applications. This means that you need to
find questions to ask so that the Consultant can help you. And you'll have to
read the user's manual to find those questions.
Or, perhaps you might think of the web site as a used car lot, and the instructor
as the Trusted Mechanic you take along with you when you decide which car to
buy. Of course, you're going to be paying for the car and driving it, but the
Trusted Mechanic can help you to make a good decision, or at least to avoid
buying a "lemon," now and in the future.
Use of Email
[email protected]
is the most reliable way to contact me. Over 99% of student inquiries are answered within 24
hours and over 90% within 2 hours. I check my email about every fifteen minutes, eighteen
hours daily, seven days weekly. You are of course welcome to use Vista mail to contact me.
Students are expected to check their Vista email and their Unity email at least once daily. If you
contact me at [email protected] about any matter pertaining to the course, please begin
your subject line with
PHI 340
Even after various SPAM-filters clear the junk, I deal with about a hundred "real" email
messages daily, so please also give a (good) hint about the message's topic in the remainder of
the subject line. Otherwise, given the growing flood of SPAM, responses to your message will be
delayed or, even worse, your message may be filtered into the e-trash can. (A subject line
consisting entirely in "Question" or "Hi" does not give a good hint. Hitting "Reply" to a message
with a subject line that is irrelevant to your question is similarly unhelpful.) If your (non-Vista)
message's subject line is blank, then my SPAM-filters will trash your message and I will never
see it.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
If the score that you earn on the Syllabus Quiz is below the class mean and you receive
zeroes on most of the first seven microQuizzes, then you are probably not reading either
course material or quiz questions with the necessary care. I'll be glad to help you look for
a remedy, but you need to take the initiative and ask me for help by posing specific
questions about the material. If in addition your Exam #1 score is below average, then you
might wish to consider either dropping the course (before 10/16, 11:59PM), OR asking me
for help. (The course grade guesstimator below shows (R2 =0.71), what course grades are likely
to be for students who earn the indicated pairs of Syllabus Quiz and Exam #1 scores. The
guesses are based on multiple regression analysis of the scores of over 1500 PHI 340 students
from the last few years. The guesses thus provide imperfect statistical estimates, not wholly
reliable predictions and are definitely not guarantees.
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
You can equally well use the mini-spreadsheet which generated the chart above to estimate
future performance.)
COURSE SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS
For readings and discussion topics, the schedule is suggested only. Exam, quiz and survey
dates are fixed.
Unless indicated otherwise in this schedule below, all linked material is compiled in RSLM. All
linked material in this schedule below is also linked from the Vista Calendar.
[schedule links not active below; use online syllabus]
January 11 Monday
Student Orientation to WebCT
Study Syllabus
Intuition Inventory 1 available 12:01 AM; responses due by 11:55 PM, February
5. Be sure to Save your responses. You must click on the Finish button to submit
your responses. If you do not click on the Finish button, you cannot receive the
four points.
Jan 13 Wednesday
Preface, The Central Questions of the Course (Introduction)
Student Orientation to WebCT Vista
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Jan 15 Friday
Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience: Some Common Background
Assumptions (Introduction)
Astrology
186 Scientists and Feyerabend on astrology (ill-informed criticisms by 186) - ereserve reading not in RSLM
(today is the only Friday on which class meets)
[Last day to add a course without permission of instructor. MyPack Portal closes
for adds at 11:59 p.m. (After this day, adds processed in 1000 Harris Hall).]
Jan 18 M
Holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day); university closed
Jan 20 W
Phrenology
Jan 22 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
microQuiz One answer due by 11:55PM
(If you do not click on the Finish button, you cannot receive a microQuiz point
even if the Saved answer is correct.)
Jan 25 M
Parapsychology, UFOlogy
microQuiz Two answer due by 11:55PM
[Last day to enroll (register) or to add a course. Last day to drop a course, or
change from credit to audit with tuition adjustment. Last day for undergraduate
students to drop below 12 hours.]
Jan 27 W
Sexology, Chinese Acupuncture, Chaos and Paradigms, Science Misreporting Sexual Orientation and Finger Lengths
microQuiz Three answer due by 11:55PM
Jan 29 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
Syllabus Quiz answers due by 11:55PM (6% of course score) (quiz opens 24
hrs. earlier) After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long
it thinks you have left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is
wrong. No matter what that clock says, you have until the specified deadline
("answers due by") in this syllabus to submit answers.
microQuiz Four answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 1 M
Scientific Creationism in the Courts - McLean v Arkansas
Gilkey, Ruse and Laudan on Scientific Creationism (on McLean v Arkansas) - ereserve readings not in RSLM
Kitzmiller v Dover , highlighted selections
microQuiz Five answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 3 W
Seeking Scientifc Creationism
Kitcher: Ch. I, Ch. II, (pp. 30 - 54); Ch. III, (pp. 55 - 60, 63 - 66); Ch. IV, (pp. 85 89, 100 - 106); Ch. V, (pp. 124 - 164); Ch. VI, (167 - 172, 180 - 181)
- not on e-reserve and not in RSLM
Feb 5 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
Responses to Intuition Inventory 1 due by 11:55PM. Be sure to Save your
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
responses. You must click on the Finish button to submit your responses. If you
do not click on the Finish button, you cannot receive the four points. Results will
be posted on home page.
microQuiz Six answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 8 M
New Age Resonances
Angelic Science - Demonology
Feb 10 W
Lessons about Gatekeeping
Glymour and Stalker - "Winning through Pseudoscience" (how NOT to do good
science) - e-reserve reading not in RSLM
microQuiz Seven answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 12 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
Feb 15 M
Review - Gatekeeper Matrix
Sample Exam 1 (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
Feb 17 W
Review - Gatekeeper Matrix
Sample Exam 1 (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
Feb 19 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
EXAM #1 answers due by 11:55 PM (28% of course score) (opens 24 hrs.
earlier) After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it
thinks you have left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is
wrong. No matter what that clock says, you have until the specified deadline
("answers due by") in this syllabus to submit answers. Be sure to Save each and
every answer, keep an independent record of your answers, and click on the
Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
Feb 22 M
Separation by Cognitive Standards - Hall and Hall - “Is the War between Science
and Religion Over?” (a mass of common confusions) - e-reserve reading not in
RSLM
Separation by Reference
Separation by Attitude - Davies – “Physicist's Conception of Nature” (on aesthetic
merits in theory choice) - e-reserve reading not in RSLM
Separation by Personal Improvement
microQuiz Eight answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 24 W
Separation by Fact and Value
A counterexample to Naive Moral Relativism - Predatory Pedophile Paradise
microQuiz Nine answer due by 11:55PM
Feb 26 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
March 1 M
Separation by Foundation -the most difficult material in the course (esp. the
concept of classically self-evident belief)
Plantinga - “Is Belief in God Properly Basic?” (on the nature of faith) - e-reserve
reading not in RSLM
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Mar 3 W
Separation by Foundation -the most difficult material in the course
microQuiz Ten answer due by 11:55PM
Plantinga - “Is Belief in God Properly Basic?”
Mar 5 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
Mar 8 M
Separation by Foundation - still the most difficult material in the course
Plantinga - “Is Belief in God Properly Basic?”
[Note: March 8, 11:59PM, is the deadline for withdrawing from or dropping a
course without a grade. This is also the deadline for changing to credit only,
which requires a C- or better for credit. The correlation between {the sum of the
scores for the Syllabus Quiz and Exam #1} and {the course score} is over 0.8. You
can use the mini-spreadsheet to estimate future performance.]
Mar 10 W
Separation by Explanation - the last, best hope
Mar 12 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
microQuiz Eleven answer due by 11:55PM
[Daylight savings time begins Mar 14]
Mar 15 M - Mar 19 F Spring Break - no classes
Mar 22 M
The Meaning of "Life" (covered mainly on OPTIONAL final, as well as on Exam #2)
microQuiz Twelve answer due by 11:55PM
Mar 24 W
Review -Separation (Principles) Matrix
Sample Exam 2 (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
Mar 26 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
microQuiz Thirteen answer due by 11:55PM
Mar 29 M
Review -Separation (Principles) Matrix
Sample Exam 2 (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
Mar 31 W
Are You a Computer? Why not? (not covered on Exam #2)
Haugeland “Semantic Engines - Mind Design” - e-reserve reading not in RSLM
(not covered on Exam #2)
April 2 F Spring Holiday - no classes
April 5 M
Dualism and Thinking Things The Rules of the Game Personal Identity URL List
for Dualism Quiz Separation by Immaterial Causation
EXAM #2 answers due by 11:55 PM (28% of course score) (opens 24 hrs.
earlier) After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it
thinks you have left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is
wrong. No matter what that clock says, you have until the specified deadline
("answers due by") in this syllabus to submit answers. Be sure to Save each and
every answer, keep an independent record of your answers, and click on the
Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
Apr 7 W
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Dualism and Thinking Things The Rules of the Game Personal Identity URL List
for Dualism Quiz Separation by Immaterial Causation
Apr 9 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
microQuiz Fourteen answer due by 11:55PM
Apr 12 M
Behaviorism
Apr 14 W
Machine Functionalism
(Haugeland “Semantic Engines - Mind Design” not in RSLM)
Apr 16 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
microQuiz Fifteen answer due by 11:55PM
Dualism Quiz becomes available. (See Assessments.) URL List for Dualism Quiz
Apr 19 M
School Board Problems
Apr 21 W
Review - Mind Matrix
Sample Exam 3 (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
University course-instructor evaluations open at 8:00 AM. Login using Unity ID.
https://classeval.ncsu.edu
Apr 23 F
Expanded office hours; no class meeting
EXAM #3 answers due by 11:55PM (28% of course score) (opens 24 hrs. earlier) After
you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it thinks you have left
("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is wrong. No matter what that
clock says, you have until the specified deadline ("answers due by") in this syllabus to
submit answers. Be sure to Save each and every answer, keep an independent record of
your answers, and click on the Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
Intuition Inventory 2 becomes available (Assessments menu and Tests folder)
Apr 26 M
Material for Optional Final - Problem of Freedom and Determinism; Planck, "The Mystery
of Our Being"; Gardner WAP, SAP, PAP & FAP; Cosmology with a New Purpose; The
Meaning of "Life"; Einstein, “Science and Religion” (Planck, Gardner and Einstein are ereserve reading not in RSLM)
Apr 28 W
Material for Optional Final - Problem of Freedom and Determinism; Planck, "The Mystery
of Our Being"; Gardner WAP, SAP, PAP & FAP; Cosmology with a New Purpose; The
Meaning of "Life"; Einstein, “Science and Religion” (Planck, Gardner and Einstein are ereserve reading not in RSLM)
Apr 30 F
Dualism Quiz answers due by 11:55PM (10% of course score).
After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it thinks you have
left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is wrong. No matter what that
clock says, you have until the specified deadline ("answers due by") in this syllabus to
submit answers. Be sure to Save each and every answer, keep an independent record of
your answers, and click on the Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
URL List for Dualism Quiz
Submit response to Intuition Inventory 2 by 11:55PM; comparative results will be
posted on home page. You must click on the Finish button to submit your responses. If
10
PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
you do not click on the Finish button, you cannot receive the four points.
Expanded office hours; (last pre-scheduled office hours of semester); no class meeting
May 5
University course-instructor evaluations close at 8:00 AM. https://classeval.ncsu.edu
May 12 W
Section 001 OPTIONAL Final Exam answers due by 11:55PM (exam opens 5/11,
11:55PM) (The score replaces your lowest Exam score if and only if that would raise your
course score.)
After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it thinks you have
left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is wrong. No matter what that
clock says, you have until the specified deadline ("answers due by") in this syllabus to
submit answers. Be sure to Save each and every answer, keep an independent record of
your answers, and click on the Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
May 13 Th
Section 601 OPTIONAL Final Exam answers due by 11:55PM (exam opens
5/12, 11:55PM) (The score on the Optional Final score replaces your lowest
Exam score if and only if that would raise your course score.)
After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it thinks you
have left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is wrong. No
matter what that clock says, you have until the specified deadline ("answers due
by") in this syllabus to submit answers.
Be sure to Save each and every answer, keep an independent record of your
answers, and click on the Finish button to submit answers for scoring.
May 13 Th Final exams end. Recovery begins.
FAQs
Q1: The right answer on the test differed from the wrong one by just one or two words!
Aren't you being picky?
A1: One or two words can make a big difference to the meaning of an answer. For example,
contrast "You are brilliant." and "You are not brilliant." as well as "It is possible for minds to
come into contact with bodies." and "It is impossible for minds to come into contact with
bodies." (The first sentence of the last pair is an example from an old student paper.) And
contrast "If you snore during class, then I will throw markers at you." and "I will throw markers
at you." as well as "That's a small mouse." "That's a small elephant." and "The pool balls
collided." vs "The pool balls colluded." (-another example from an old student paper).
Q2: The answer that I chose was approximately right, but it was marked wrong anyway.
Why? Aren't you (still) being picky?
A2: One theme of this course is that the kind of precision that is the rule in the use of
mathematical symbolism can and often should be the rule in verbal communication. Answering
"17" to "What is 4 + 7?" on an arithmetic test may be 'closer' to being right than answering
"194,516," but "17" is still a wrong answer. (Even the Syllabus Quiz helps to reinforce this
point.)
Q3: Is studying this stuff very carefully the only way to get a good grade?
A3: Definitely. I aim to encourage a higher than usual level of verbal precision in thinking,
writing and speaking. If your understanding of the material is a bit shaky (or your grasp of
English is less than good), then you'll very likely not do as well. Indeed, many exam and quiz
questions are designed specifically to distinguish between good understanding and merely
pretty good understanding. The total quantity of reading required for the course is fairly
modest. But, my l o n g past experience tells me, the vast majority of students will need to read
this material far more carefully than they have ever read anything before. (By the way, being a
native English speaker does not guarantee having a good grasp of English in the sense relevant
here.)
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Q4: I knew the correct answer, but I didn't save it online or print it out. Can I get some
more points for having had the correct answer in mind?
A4: ROTFL (This question is asked more than once every time PHI 340 is taught.) You should, of
course, print out and/or save the screen with your answers just before submitting your exam
or quiz answers.
Q5: I worked very hard and read the material carefully, but still didn't get a good grade.
Doesn't that show that there's something wrong with the course or the instructor?
A5: It leaves open the possibility that the deficiency is Elsewhere. Since the class final average
has always been about B, it's more likely that the deficiency is not in the course or instructor.
And even if someone has quite limited talent for or ability in an area, that in itself hardly
constitutes a moral deficiency. After all, not everyone has talent in every area. For example:
despite growing up with and enjoying many visual arts and in some way understanding a fair
amount about them, were I to take the most basic of College of Design courses in that area, I
might with a great deal of effort be able to pass the courses. I wish that I had the requisite
talent, but I don't. I also would not blame an experienced instructor who was well-regarded by
colleagues, or her widely employed methods used and refined by artists for hundreds if not
thousands of years, if she could not teach me or a number of my classmates how to do
competent still-life sketches, make interesting ceramics, or to create passable digital art. [Of
course, many possible reasons for not doing well in a course indicate no deficiency whatever in
the student's ability. I'm sometimes amazed at how much students think I expect them to suffer
in their own lives before they ask for help or accommodation. The most extreme example in my
experience - many years ago - was a student who hesitantly asked permission to make up an exam
because her chemotherapy had made her too nauseous to leave the bathroom that day. She looked very ill,
had trouble standing and had lost all of her hair but offered a doctor's note nevertheless. She also
reported that some of her instructors were giving her a hard time about making up work. (Were they
hoping she'd die first, and then they'd not have to be bothered?!!) Less extreme, but still egregious, cases
are more common than they should be. See the end of the syllabus on Make-ups. The university policy
is widely misunderstood.]
Q6: I used some old tests and some old Course Content folder pages for PHI 340 in
studying for this semester's exams. But I still didn't get a good grade. Why?
A6: You must rely on the current material. Anyway, it's dangerous to assume that exams will be
the same from semester to semester. Twice, many students in PHI 340 made that assumption
about exams, and over 40% of them flunked (-the usual average had been B).
Q7: Why should I study this stuff when it's not going to do any good for my career?
A7: There are two things wrong with this question: First, it's simply not true that studying this
(kind of) stuff won't do any good for your career. The ability to think straight and express one's
thoughts with verbal precision is a highly marketable skill, especially since it is in such short
supply. Many of the billions of dollars of cost overruns I saw when I worked on the design of the
Trident submarine (R/M/A modeling), liquid natural gas storage (hazards analysis), naval
pollution abatement (network topology) and on automated Medicaid fraud detection
(discriminant analysis) were the direct result of a shortage in the supply of these skills.
Although one course can't teach you all that you need of these skills, it can get you started. (PHI
250 also offers excellent training in these skills. In fact, almost every philosophy course does.)
Second, there is a lot that you owe it to yourself to learn besides what will be of immediate
practical utility. Love and religious sentiment do have immediate practical utility, but they also
have value beyond that - intrinsic value. Study of questions in philosophy (or science, etc.) also
has intrinsic value, as well as practical value. Please don't cheat yourself of what's intrinsically
valuable.
Q8: You raise a lot of questions in this course, including some about religious beliefs, and
you don't give us answers to all of them. What do you think the answers are? Do you think
it's right to raise questions and then leave us to find answers later?
A8: This is a complicated and emotionally charged question. I'll give a three part answer. First,
remember that this is an introductory course. Just as you should not expect the ultimate truth
about the material world in your first or second physics course (where one learns about a false
though very useful physical theory), you should not expect the ultimate truth about Everything
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
in the Universe in your first (or second or third) philosophy course. Often, all that can be done
in an introductory course in any subject is to raise questions that must wait until more
advanced courses for answers. Second, the most important part of my job is to alert you to
some important questions, and to give you what help I can during the semester in evaluating a
few of the main answers; the rest is up to you. In the interest of giving a fair presentation of the
issues, it is best for me to adopt a neutral stance on some questions (though not on all). Third,
asking questions about something is not the same as calling it doubtful or wrong; it can instead
be a way of asking why it is true, or why it is believed to be true: we might want to discover the
belief's justification, if one is needed; or we might want to know why no independent
justification is needed, if none is. Certainly, asking questions implies not a shred of disrespect;
on the contrary, it may be based on great respect for and interest in what the questions are
about. (See also: Dangerous Knowledge: A Student Objects, and Dangerous Ignorance: A
Student Vents.)
Q9: Why isn't there more opportunity provided to students for expression of personal
opinions and for the exercise of original thought?
A9: Such a question would rarely (if ever) be asked by students in an introductory math or
science course because it's generally (and correctly!) assumed that students need a great deal
of training before such opinions or thoughts should be subjected to grading. It would be cruel
to require original insights for a good grade at the introductory level. The same holds for
philosophy, which deals with even more difficult and persistent questions (see also A19, below).
(Once, in 1990, in response to their repeated requests, students were given the option of
writing an original essay on a new topic instead of taking the standard exam. Of the 440
students then enrolled, 3 chose the essay option, and 1 of them did passable work. The
experiment has not been repeated. Originality is very risky.)
Q10: I dropped by your office and I couldn't find you. How can I arrange to meet with you
outside of class?
A10: Besides teaching, I also have research and administrative responsibilities, so I'm not
always in my office. I am there during pre-scheduled office hours (no appointment needed
then) and will also gladly make an appointment to see you at a mutually convenient time if you
can't make it during office hours. To make an appointment, see me before or after class,
telephone or email me. Email is the easiest and most reliable way to reach me. I typically reply
within a few hours, and often within minutes.
Q11: A lot of the principles that you tell us about turn out to be false, and a lot of the
arguments turn out to be weak. Why bother with false principles and weak arguments?
A11: When on a complex and difficult journey, it is worth knowing which roads should not be
taken. (-has a kind of 'Zen' ring, eh?) What matters most are the reasons that the principles or
the arguments fail.
Q12: Do you have any general advice on how to study for the exams and quiz?
A12: ||•Pay Attention: In order to have any reasonable hope of doing well on the three Exams
and the Dualism Quiz, it is essential to attend to relevant detail in studying course material.
That requires taking time with the reading and pacing it so that the majority is not crammed
into a few days before a test. It also requires developing a habit of attending to detail and
reading very, very carefully, and that takes practice. "Multi-tasking" is not likely to work here
either.
Some analogies might help to emphasize the very important point about habits
and practice:
••It would be impossible to prepare well for your first guitar performance
just by practicing frantically for 24 hours straight just before it; nor
would it help to have someone else practice half of the piece that you are
supposed to be playing all of, while you practice only the other half.
[Guitar Player Magazine: "What's your relationship with the instrument on
a day-to-day basis?" Eric Johnson: "I try to practice every day, because if I
don't, I get rusty real fast. I guess some players have it all the time at
their fingertips, but I have to stay in touch with it. If I have enough time, I
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
like to practice at least four hours a day. Some days I only get an hour;
some days I do eight or nine hours."]
••It would be impossible to become a good basketball player just by
continuously shooting baskets (or dribbling, etc.) for 24 hours before
playing the first game. Nor would it increase your skill to alternate shots
with someone else during those 24 hours.
••It would be impossible to become good at a video game just by playing
it for 24 hours straight immediately before the first online competition.
Nor would it increase your skill to alternate controller use minute by
minute with someone else.
All such over-compressed activity is likely to result in muscle and/or nerve
damage, at least. While none of the students in the course is starting without any
of the cognitive skills required in the course and all are familiar with the styles of
questions that the first exam will contain (from SAT passage comprehension
questions, even if from no other source), the analogies are still apt. Cramming is
likely to lead to mental cramps, overload and confusion; as explained in FAQ21,
below, shared cramming is not much less damaging. Intensive practice is an
excellent idea, but it cannot usefully be compressed into a short period of time.
Human nervous systems need time to develop good habits.
Experience with thousands of students, reported in FAQ15, below, has shown that the Syllabus
Quiz has a useful training effect and is a helpful diagnostic tool. When a student either does not
take the Syllabus Quiz or does poorly on it, the data have shown that this is typically cause for
concern.
The very strong, positive correlation (0.5) between the sum of the microQuiz scores (as well as
the total number of assessments completed) and the final, grade-determining course score is
extremely strong evidence that paying careful, consistent attention to course material
throughout the course typically makes for higher grades (see FAQ16, below).
The dramatic consequences of inattention are illustrated by a disturbing pattern in Optional
Final exam answers: although twenty of its questions are ones to which students already have
been given correct answers, those twenty questions are answered correctly not 100% but on
average only 82% of the time! (Remember that the Optional Final too is an open-book, 24-hour
test.)
The university makes the working assumption that a student should spend about nine hours
weekly on a three-credit course (including time in class), or about an hour daily outside of
class. Suppose that you were instead to spend twenty minutes daily on this course during the
twenty five to thirty days between Exams. Then you would have spent about ten hours
preparing for each Exam which is at most a bare minimum. If however you wait until the day
before or the day of an Exam, then you will likely not be able to spend more than two to three
hours on the Exam. Two to three hours is not enough time to make it feasible for you to do
well, no matter how many old tests you have or what kind of group you work in. If you are
taking five courses, some with labs, and also have to work many hours weekly to make enough
money to get by, then it’s not easy to give a course the kind of attention that the university
assumes you should. So you might not choose to give this course high priority and might not
make time for intensive practice. That could be a reasonable decision as you and not I am in
charge of your education. But then you should adjust your expectations about your course
score accordingly.
•Use the Review Matrix and Sample Exam: One study method that some students have found
harmful is use of index cards to record pieces of information, since this method effectively
breaks conceptual connections that must be retained. It is better to chart material since this can
make it easier to track connections and to compare and contrast various views under
discussion. So three charts – matrices - are provided to assist you in review for exams 1, 2 and
3. You should of course take all fifteen of the one-question microQuizzes and make use of the
Sample Exams as soon as you read material about which the Sample Exams ask questions. Your
mileage may vary (considerably). I can, however, offer individual help with specific questions,
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
which you can pose in class or Discussion forum, via email and/or during office hours.
•Ask Questions: A good rule of thumb: If you think that you might not fully understand
material, then you should ask me for help with that material. You do not have to think that you
definitely do not understand fully; mere doubt ("might not") should trigger the request. And
you do not have to stop asking questions after you open a test. While I won't give you
answers I can still help you to understand the relevant material as well as what the question
itself is asking, if that's not clear to you.
•Formulate exam questions: Using the Sample Exams #1, #2 and #3 as guides, formulate
exam questions. It's easy to formulate very easy or very difficult questions, but it takes real
understanding to formulate clear questions in between those two extremes. Answer the
questions and explain your answers. Ask me to evaluate the questions.
•Use Search and Find: During tests, use the Vista Search function (left-hand side navigation
bar – magnifying glass icon) and your browser’s Find function to locate material that is relevant
to answering questions. The Search function will find pages in the web site; the Find function
will pinpoint material within those pages. The Adobe Reader Search function will find material in
the 2MB .pdf file RSLM. About a quarter of the point losses on tests could have been avoided by
using Search and Find.
•Keep Other Views in Mind: Every student comes to the course with beliefs about the world,
including beliefs about how courses are run at the university. When students take tests, they
tend often to rely very heavily on the beliefs they had before they began the course, even when
those beliefs are about topics that are central to the course. While I would not expect (or even
want) them to abandon their prior beliefs about course topics, it is a very bad test-taking
strategy to rely so heavily on the prior beliefs that what’s new from the course is just about
ignored in answering test questions. Here are three major examples of this sort of unwise overreliance.
(i) One topic about which the course is very highly authoritative is course policies
and procedures, which are spelled out in this syllabus. So any question about
this course’s policy or procedure should be answered on the basis of what this
course’s syllabus says! Yet one third to one half of the students answer some
Syllabus Quiz questions on the basis of beliefs formed in other courses or on the
basis of misunderstandings of university policies that they have never read (or
never read with care). That’s like driving in another country without learning the
traffic regulations; expect wrecks.
(ii) One of the stated purposes of the course (see the Preface and Introduction) is
to raise questions about some widely held beliefs concerning, science,
pseudoscience, the relationship of science and religion and the nature of the
mind. If you rely so heavily on any prior beliefs you might have about those
issues that you just about ignore the questions raised by the course, you are
going to remain blind to the issues and distinctions on which test questions will
focus. Your scores will likely suffer.
In science, theories that make accurate predictions – that is, theories that are
true – are among the very best. You no doubt value truth very highly. That would
be admirable. You might also believe that only true theories are among the best
theories. And you might even believe that a false theory is bound to be
pseudoscientific and unworthy of investigation. Those last two beliefs would not
be so admirable, however, since they are dead wrong, and strong arguments
against them are presented very early in the course. Yet many or most students
answer test questions about those very issues as if they were unaware of the
arguments presented in test material.
(iii) When students answer incorrectly Optional Final questions to which they
already have the correct answers, they tend to give the same bias-driven,
incorrect answers that they originally gave!
•Answer the Test Question: actually being asked. If it's not dead clear to you what the
question is asking, then you are welcome to contact me for clarification. Another common
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
problem is over-reading of test questions. It tends to afflict brighter, more cautious and
conscientious students. Among other things, over-reading can involve making distinctions that
are not at issue in the question, introducing extra conditions or assumptions that are not stated
or presupposed in the question, or connecting things that are not closely related in a way that
matters to the question. The effect is to introduce a pile of considerations that are best not
considered in the first place, but which, once considered, can be difficult to sort out efficiently.
With more experience, this problem tends to diminish. But again the best short term remedy is
to ask me for clarification of a question if you find yourself weighed down by such a pile.
•Review Test Results: Sometimes, it can be helpful for me to go over earlier exams with a
student to see why s/he answered a question incorrectly. On occasion, an instructive general
pattern of mistakes will emerge during such review, though more often no instructive pattern
emerges.
But you have far more information than I do about why you chose your answers. So you should
still review the scored test with its comments and the relevant material since that review may
have a useful training effect. Before you contact me for help with that review, you should print
out and study your scored test with comments together with the material covered; see if you
can discover where and why you went wrong. (Your scored test with comments is always
available via the Assessments page. Click on the View All Submissions button at the top of the
Assessments page.) If for a particular question you are unable to figure out why the correct
answer is the correct one, then before getting in touch with me, you should write down the
specific questions that you have about the question. (The great advantage of posing questions
by email is that you will receive an individually tailored, detailed written response - you need
not rely on your memory or your note-taking. But students are welcome to come by during
office hours and also to contact me by email.):||
Some students prefer to believe that there are clever, content-independent strategies - tricks that would help them to do better. If there were such strategies, I’d gladly share them, but there
simply aren’t any.
Q13: My average on the first two exams for the course is below the lowest score for a C-.
Is there anything I can do to bring my grade up (aside from what's already specified in
this syllabus)?
A13: I'm very sorry that you've waited so long to ask for help. There almost certainly isn't
anything that can be done to help you now. For a list of available options, however, see How to
Get an Even Better Grade. And no, there aren't any other options.
Q14: Why was the (in)famous dualism paper replaced by a Dualism Quiz?
A14: Between Fall 1997 and Spring 2001, about two-thirds of the students who attempted to
write the paper had serious difficulty completing the assignment adequately. The vast majority
of students did not follow the very detailed directions for writing the paper. The distribution of
scores, with overall means in the 40-60 range, was typically bi-modal. The poor performance
resulted from two sorts of problems: (i) About one-fifth of the students had such serious
difficulties with grammar and reasoning that they were not able to write coherently and instead
wrote as if they had not seen or were incapable of understanding the directions. (ii) About half
of the students - those not beset by such serious difficulties with grammar and reasoning nevertheless had great trouble with reasoning, leading them to make precisely the mistakes
that the paper guidelines and checklists specifically warned them not to make. Group (i)
students seemed to need a kind of help that probably exceeds even what freshman composition
courses can reasonably be expected to offer. These students rarely if ever asked for help.
Perhaps they did not realize that they needed help. Perhaps they were too dispirited to ask. Very
likely, students in group (ii) could have benefited from the additional assistance offered by the
course, but they usually did not avail themselves of it. Assigning a couple of short practice
papers earlier in the semester, with lots of instructor feedback on drafts, would probably have
helped many group (ii) students gain some of the skills that they needed in writing the end-ofsemester dualism paper; similarly, requiring a draft of the dualism paper, providing lots of
feedback and requiring a re-write would also have helped. But in a large course without any
teaching assistants (the course typically enrolls 250-325 students), the latter measures are not
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
feasible. The Dualism Quiz - there is no paper in this course - is meant to simulate some of the
experience obtained by writing a paper and to stimulate some of the same consideration of
deeply held views.
Q15: Why is there a quiz on the syllabus itself?
A15: In the past, many students did not read the syllabus as carefully as they should have. So
they suffered readily avoidable anxiety and deprived themselves of the chance to do as well as
possible on required work. (The chart below [omitted; see online syllabus] helps to highlight the
importance of reading the syllabus carefully; the correlation between the Syllabus Quiz and the
course scores is about 0.4. The average letter grade for students who get a zero for the
Syllabus Quiz is C- instead of the usual B.) The syllabus provides information that is required
by NCSU policy on syllabus content. With very few exceptions, every syllabus in every course at
NCSU must provide this information. The other information offered in the syllabus responds to
many (wholly natural and appropriate) past student questions.
Q16: Why were the microQuizzes added to the course options for a better grade?
A16: Past experience with this course and others suggests that when students do not attend
class regularly, they tend to forget that they are enrolled, or are more likely not to pace their
study of materials appropriately. (In addition, being given open-source tests may lead some
students to become overconfident, believing falsely that they can study all of the material for an
exam for the first time when they are trying to answer the questions.) The microQuizzes remind
students that they need to pay regular attention to the course material, and offer additional
sample test questions. The correlation between the sum of the microQuiz scores and the course
score is about 0.5. The correlation between the number of assessments completed and the
course score is about 0.6.
Q17: How come this isn't a standard lecture course?! Why is it so heavily web-based? Why
isn't there a main text? I signed up for a standard lecture course and I'm not getting my
head filled with standard lectures!! (expletives deleted)
A17: I taught this course for many years as a standard lecture course. After about a dozen
drafts of my lecture notes, I could offer students a textbook based on those notes. And as webbased instruction became feasible, I made this text available on-line: Religion, Science, Life and
Mind (RSLM), in the Course Content folder at Vista, is the main text. This made lecturing less
useful to students, and a substantial majority chose to study the material largely on their own.
To date, about ten thousand students have used various versions of the material.
At the same time, it became clear that there were two subgroups of students who were not well
served by a standard lecture format: students who were struggling with the text and required
readings, and students who were interested in broadening or deepening their study of the
course's central questions. (At different times, a given student might be a member of one or the
other of these subgroups.) To do a better job of helping the students in these subgroups, I've
adopted the present format.
Since I know from past experience that the interests and abilities of a substantial majority of the
students will lead them to study the material largely on their own, the present format makes my
help more available to the minority of students in these two subgroups.
However, since the textbook has been revised many times in response to past student
questions and analyses of past test results, students need to let me know which questions they
have about course material. It seems obviously better for students to ask questions than for me
to try to guess what might be on their minds. (Of course this requires that students read the
material so that they can ask those questions.)
Also, the vast majority of students seem to prefer the present format, and that counts too.
Indeed, the abbreviated class schedule resulted from preferences expressed unambiguously in
student behavior. (If it turns out that there is demand for it in 001, I'll gladly meet with students
in WI 232A on Fridays at 12:25, if my office - WI 444 - isn't big enough to accommodate all
who show up.)
[One version of Q17 adds this odd remark: "If class attendance isn't required, then it can't be of
any value. After all, if it were of any value, it would be required." The response to this upside17
PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
down assertion is contained in the remarks above: class attendance can be valuable to any
student who brings his or her questions to class. Requiring that students master even more
material (from lectures) than is already offered through Vista (and Kitcher's book) would be
unreasonable. No student has ever complained that too little is required in the course.]
Q18: Some of those test questions sure are difficult! So how come you don't use a curve in
the course?
A18: I'm glad to hear that you find some of the test questions challenging and mind-stretching,
as they are designed to be. But your question about grade curving suggests that you have not
seen the grade scale above. Here it is again. Please take a careful look at it. Q19 below may also
be of interest to you. And you can check the grade distributions through MyPack.
Grade
Range
Lowest score
A+
150 or over
149.33
A
125-149
124.33
A-
115-124
114.33
B+
105-114
104.33
B
97-104
96.33
B-
89-96
88.33
C+
84-88
83.33
C
80-83
79.33
C-
75-79
74.33
D+
71-74
70.33
D
66-70
65.33
D-
60-65
59.33
F
0-59
0
Here are two charts [omitted; see online syllabus] that summarize the letter grade distributions
for over two thousand students during the 2003-2008. The grades actually given (pink) are
compared to those that would have been received had a curve not been used (blue).
Q19: The test averages (%) are really low!! Doesn't that show that the questions are
unfair?! WTF?!! (expletives abbreviated)
A19: Here's some relevant data. The average (mean) scores on exams and the Dualism Quiz
during the past five years have been about 62% and the average (mean) score on the Syllabus
Quiz has been about 74%. (The median scores have been very close to the means.) Students
who take the Optional Final raise their course scores by an average of 8% (though only about
one-half to two-thirds of the students take that option). The end result has always been an
average course score in the B- range (see A18, right above), but with the extra credit points
from the microQuizzes and the Intuition Inventories, the mean (and median) is in the B range.
Because a student can average 36% on the exams and still pass the course, failing grades are
infrequent. During the past five years, less than 10% of the course letter grades have been
below C-. So without having a terribly negative effect on GPA's, the test scores nevertheless
provide information about how well a student has understood the material.
Some of the material is difficult because philosophy is a difficult subject. Philosophy addresses
problems that are both deep and subtle. Thus a less than full grasp of a problem or less than
very careful reasoning in dealing with the subtleties can result in a serious deficiency in
understanding. For the many students who have never before been asked to think and read as
carefully as philosophical material demands, this means that especially hard, though very
worthwhile, work will be necessary for the kind of good understanding that is most likely to
yield the highest scores. (See also FAQ5, above.)
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[There are some students - not many - who begin and end the course with the provably false
and utterly baseless but perhaps comforting conviction that the problems are really quite
simple and, "all (most of) this stuff is just a matter of opinion anyway." For these intransigently
ignorant students, the course will pose special challenges, both cognitive and emotional.
Typically what underlies the conviction is fear, and there is nothing more inimical to learning
than fear. Helping a student to overcome such fear requires a teacher/student ratio close to
1.0. See Q22/A22, below.]
There is another phenomenon to take into account: even when students have already been
given the correct answer to a test question, a significant percentage will answer it incorrectly on
an open-book, 24 hour test. The Optional Final contains twenty questions to which students
already have been given the correct answers, yet those very questions - which ought to be
answered correctly 100% of the time - are in fact answered correctly on average only 82% of the
time. And when nearly one out of five students is, in this most obvious way, "not making good
use of the help offered" this can create the impression even among the four out of five better
students that tests are more difficult than they actually are.
Q20: The Vista clock said I had N hours left to complete the test but I didn't get any
points for my answers submitted after the deadline. Can't I use Vista's own clock?!
A20: No. After you first open a test, Vista displays a clock that says how long it thinks you have
left ("Allowed/Remaining") to complete a test. That clock is wrong. No matter what that clock
says, you have until the deadline specified ("answers due by") in this syllabus to submit
answers. [It is one of the great mysteries of 21st century software engineering why Blackboard
Vista is "designed" as it is. The mystery is not likely to be resolved within your lifetime. Perhaps
the originator of the wise remark, "I found the cure for hope" was a Blackboard Vista user. Well
before 2101, however - by 2011! Yay!! - open source systems based on Moodle will replace the
proprietary Blackboard Vista system. So you need not abandon all hopes - just your current
ones. Have a nice day. :))]
Q21: The tests are all open source. What does that mean? Are there any restrictions?
A21: (The university provides tutors to many student-athletes. It was questions from those
tutors that prompted this lengthy clarification of the course policies. The answer provides
information that should be useful to all students but some of the complexity in the answer
results from the need to be as clear as possible in giving guidelines to the university-provided
tutors.) Between the time that a test is first made available and the deadline for submission of
answers, neither tutors nor any other human beings not currently enrolled should be helping
students in any way with the course material covered by the test.* (Except for the Dualism Quiz,
which is open for two weeks, the relevant time period will be a 24-hour period, 11:55 PM one
day - 11:55 PM the following day.)
This is different from and more restrictive than the rule: between the time that a student first
opens a test and the time at which s/he submits answers, tutors should not be helping students
in any way. The latter is not the policy that is described by the first paragraph of A21. Instead,
the policy covers the entire period during which the test is open, even if a student opens the
test after the beginning of that time period. So if an exam opens at 11:55 PM on Thursday,
answers are due by 11:55 PM Friday, and the student does not access the exam in any way until
2:00 PM Friday and last saves answers for submission at 8:15 PM, Friday, then the policy still
applies during the time period 11:55 PM Thursday-2:00 PM Friday (as well as to the time period
8:15 PM Friday-11:55 PM Friday).
More fully: All of the tests (quizzes, exams) in PHI 340 are open-source. The only work in the
course consists in tests, all of which are given online through the course Vista web site. Any of
the course Vista web site material and any assigned hard copy textual material may be used by
students during test-taking. E-reserve readings are counted as part of the web site material.
(Students are welcome to contact me for clarification of test questions during test-taking.)
Some students use old tests in circulation and since such use cannot be prevented new tests are
written with that in mind and use of old tests is not prohibited.
Students sometimes work with other classmates. There is no (unenforceable) policy against it. It
is however a very risky way to take tests since students typically have no way of determining the
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
extent to which those with whom they are working understand the material. And a student may
in addition have to cope with not only her own confusions but those of others as well; the effect
is not likely to be positive. As test results show, even achieving consensus on which answer is
correct is not a good indicator of actual correctness. (There are typically some questions that
are answered correctly by less than 25% of the students.) The same applies to students who
have already taken the course; the policy nominally prohibits reliance on them as well, though
few of them would likely be helpful.
[Here are six examples of the negative effects of group work drawn from just
one recent Exam #1: three multiple choice questions answered correctly by 17%,
26% and 28%; one T/F question answered correctly by 23%; one multiple choice
question answered correctly by 51%, but 35% selecting an incorrect choice
confidently asserted to be correct in one of the groups that worked on the exam;
one multiple choice answered correctly by 43%, with another 43% selecting an
incorrect choice confidently asserted to be correct in one of the groups that
worked on the exam. Although there is a research literature which suggests that
"in general students learn better in groups," these remarks are about what's been
observed in this course rather than "in general."]
Even more likely to backfire would be research using material from outside the course, e.g., an
encyclopedia of philosophy (on- or off-line), videos of lectures by instructors at other schools.
That is virtually guaranteed to cause massive confusion (as many who have tried discovered
very quickly) though it is not forbidden by course policy either.
Working with any human being outside the course would be cheating. So, if a student were to
work with a tutor during a test, that would be cheating. It follows that a university-provided
tutor should not be helping a student with test material while the test is available for any
student to work on.
To put the constraint roughly but perhaps helpfully: a student may use written material and
other students then enrolled in the course, but nothing and no one else. (*One possible but
very rare exception: if a tutor were enrolled in the course at the same time as the student being
tutored then they may work together. In fact, there have been instances in the now-distant past
in which tutors who "took" a test after the fact did below average work, even scoring below the
students they were tutoring.)
What if you need a clarification of a question during an exam? You should contact me and not a
tutor. (Before contacting me, please use the Vista Search function, your browser's Find function
and, for RSLM, the Adobe Acrobat Search function.)
A good rule of thumb that encapsulates both the rules and the advice above: Don't go outside
the course for "live" help with the material covered by a test while the test is available to any
student. Since I as the instructor am not "outside the course," students are welcome to contact
me for help at any time, even during tests.
Q22: This is a philosophy course (in the humanities) and it has only T/F and multiple
choice questions on the tests! Wouldn't it be better if papers or at least essay test
questions were given in the course?
A22: Yes, it would be better. And it has been known for well over 2400 years that the ideal
teacher/student ratio is in the 0.5 - 1.0 range. Since the teacher/student ratio in this course is
about 0.004, and assigning a paper had the results described above, it isn't feasible to provide
useful essay assignments in this course. But there'$ no my$tery about what it would take to
make the $ituation better, and you might like to pre$$ the legi$lature for the requi$ite
additional funding $o that for example a $taff of ten or $o graduate teaching a$$i$tant$ can be
hired for the cour$e. (Please send me a copy of any letters that your write.) I'm confident that
my department is doing the very best it can with the resources it has, and I don't know that the
college or university can do more with what they have.
Departmental Advertising
If the issues in this course interest you then there are other courses in which to continue
exploration of them. To mention just sixteen of the many possibilities:
20
PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
REL 200 Introduction to the Study of Religion (Very New!) (GEP Humanities requirement)
(GEP Global Knowledge co-requisite)
• REL 323 Religious Cults, Sects and Minority Faiths in America (GEP Humanities
requirement)
• REL 327 Issues in Contemporary Religion (GEP Humanities requirement)
• REL(STS) 471 Darwinism and Christianity (Almost New!) (GEP Interdisciplinary
Perspectives requirement)
• PHI 305 Philosophy of Religion (GEP Humanities requirement)
• PHI 330 Metaphysics (GEP Humanities requirement)
• PHI 331 Philosophy of Language (GEP Humanities requirement)
• PHI 332 Philosophy of Psychology
• PHI 333 Theory of Knowledge (GEP Humanities requirement)
• LOG 335 Symbolic Logic (GEP Mathematics requirement)
• PHI/PSY 425/525 Introduction to Cognitive Science
• LOG 435/535 Advanced Logic and Metamathematics (Nearly New!)
• LOG 437/537 Model-Theoretic Semantics (Brand New!)
• PHI 440/540 The Scientific Method (GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives requirement)
• PHI 445/545 Philosophy of Biology (Almost New!) (GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives
requirement)
• PHI 447/547 Philosophy, Evolution and Human Nature (Brand New!) (GEP
Interdisciplinary Perspectives requirement)
There are six minors:
• Cognitive Science
• Ethics
• Health, Medicine, and Human Values
• Logic and Methodology (Brand New!)
• Philosophy
• Religion
and two new major concentrations:
• BA in Philosophy with a Concentration in Ethics (LEL) and
• BS in Philosophy with a Concentration in Logic, Representation and Reasoning (LSR)
The Logic and Cognitive Science Initiative - Internship program (pdf file)
Information on these is available in Withers 340 (where you can also obtain handsome
departmental brochures) and at the department web page.
What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree-1?
What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree-2?
What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree-3?
What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree-4?
What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree-5?
Philosophical Gourmet Report
Philosophical Gourmet Report-Undergraduate Programs
(There seems to be a lot that you can do with a Philosophy degree!)
From CHASS CAREER SERVICES: "Exploring career options with your major, making decisions
about your major or minor, building resumes and cover letters, preparing for interviews,
developing job search strategies, maximizing career fairs, and more. Make an appointment with
your career contact: Sara Concini (A-H) or Woody Catoe (I-Z). Call 515-2396. University Career
Center, 2100 Pullen Hall."
•
Policies and Regulations
What follows is essential information. It is placed at the end of the syllabus only because it
pertains to every university course and typically does not need to be consulted as often as the
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
material that precedes it. You owe it to yourself to become familiar with these policies and
regulations since they can and in many cases already do affect your life as a student.
GERs/GEPs
This course satisfies the 3-hour General Education Requirement (GER) Science, Technology and
Society - Humanities and Social Science Perspective and counts towards the 21 hours required
within Humanities and Social Science - History, Philosophy or Religion. This course also
satisfies 3 hours of the 5-hour GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives requirement.
Disability-Related Student Needs
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to
take advantage of these accommodations, students must register with
Disability Services Office for Students at the Student Health Center, 1900 Student
Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653,
http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dso/.
For more information on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, see the
Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.1.php
On Missing an Exam or Quiz Deadline: Make-ups
Requests for make-ups should if at all possible be made in advance of the deadline for
submission of answers and will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances, in line with NC
State Policy on excused absences; see
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.4.php
Please be prepared to document your requests. Forgetting to take a test simply because you
were busy is not a relevantly extraordinary circumstance. I consider having a sick relative (e.g.,
a child) or partner who requires your care to be a relevantly extraordinary circumstance. Makeups will have the same format and cover the same material as regular exams or quiz, will be
open-source and the questions will be different. (The university policy on excused absences
and make-ups is widely misunderstood; please read it very carefully. Notice that the policy does
not impose the ridiculous requirement that all requests for make-ups be made in advance of
deadlines. Nor must the Optional Final be used as the make-up for any missed exam.)
IN, CR, AU Grades
Students will not be given a temporary grade of IN (incomplete) unless they have completed at
least two of the three exams, they have missed required work as a result of factors beyond their
control, and they submit satisfactory documentary evidence of this. An IN grade not removed by
the end of the next semester in which the student is enrolled or by the end of twelve months,
whichever is earlier, will not be extended unless the student can present a compelling, welldocumented case for the extension; otherwise the IN grade will automatically become an F. For
NC State policy on IN (incomplete) grades, see
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/grades_undergrad/REG02.50.3.php
If a student takes the course on a Credit Only (S/U) basis, then the credit will be given only
when the quality of the student work is determined to be C- or higher. This is required by the
NC State policy on Credit Only grades
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/grades_undergrad/REG02.20.15.php
If the student takes the course on an Audit (AU) basis, then completion of all three exams and
the Dualism Quiz is expected. For the NC Policy on Audits (AU) see
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/grades_undergrad/REG205.00.5.php.
NCSU Honor Code
Avoid even the appearance of cheating.
Cheating is an academic felony and may carry an academic 'death penalty' (expulsion). The least
penalty is "F" on the piece of work involved and Academic Integrity Probation for the remainder
of the student's career.
Every student must abide by the NCSU Honor Pledge ("I HAVE NEITHER GIVEN NOR RECEIVED
UNAUTHORIZED AID ON THIS TEST OR ASSIGNMENT.") for all work in PHI 340. Saving answers at
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
the course web site (or submitting them by any other means) constitutes student agreement to
abide by the NCSU Honor Pledge.
Between the time that a test first opens and the deadline for submission of answers, neither
tutors nor any other human beings not currently enrolled should be helping students in any way
with the course material covered by the test. (Often, the relevant time period will be 11:55 PM
Thursday - 11:55 PM Friday.) See FAQ21, above, for further clarification.
For university policies on academic integrity, see:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php
Vista provides instructors with extremely detailed logs of each student's use of the system,
including during test-taking.
Classroom and Discussion forum Behavior
During discussions, all students are expected to observe the Standards of Classroom Behavior
as specified in the Code of Student Conduct.
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php
In addition, the university community is also governed by NCSU's anti-discrimination policies.
http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op/harassment.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op/harassment/pro_class.html
This chart helps to make it clear how broad the coverage of those policies is. So does this
official university
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT:
NC State University provides equality of opportunity in education and
employment for all students and employees. Accordingly, NC State affirms its
commitment to maintain a work environment for all employees and an academic
environment for all students that is free from all forms of discrimination.
Discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age,
disability, veteran status or sexual orientation is a violation of state and federal
law and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated. Harassment of
any person (either in the form of quid pro quo or creation of a hostile
environment) based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age,
disability, veteran status or sexual orientation also is a violation of state and
federal law and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated.
Retaliation against any person who complains about discrimination is also prohibited. NC
State's policies and regulations covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation may be
accessed at
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/campus_environ or http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op.
Any person who feels that he or she has been the subject of prohibited discrimination,
harassment, or retaliation should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 515-3148.
Student Grievances
The student grievance procedure places time constraints on when grievance actions may be
taken and limits the nature of grade grievances.
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_griev/REG11.40.1.php
On Recording Lectures
Students may not use recording devices in the classroom without explicit prior permission of
the instructor. If permission is granted, there must also be no member of the class who objects.
Instructor and class permission is not required when an accommodation notification from
Disability Services has been received by the instructor, which identifies a student that requires
the use of a recording device. However, the instructor may prohibit the use of any recording
device when it would inhibit free discussion and free exchange of ideas in the classroom.
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.11.php
University Course-Instructor Evaluations
Schedule: Online class evaluations will be available for students to complete during the last 2
weeks of Spring term:
8 a.m. April 21 through 8 a.m. May 5.
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PHI 340-001, 601 Philosophy of Science Spring 2010
Students will receive an email message directing them to a website where they can login using
their Unity ID and complete evaluations. All evaluations are confidential; instructors will never
know how any one student responded to any question, and students will never know the ratings
for any particular instructors.
Evaluation website: https://classeval.ncsu.edu/
Student help desk: [email protected]
More information about ClassEval: http://www.ncsu.edu/UPA/classeval/
Privacy
Students may be required to disclose personally identifiable information to other students in
the course, including via electronic tools like email or web-postings, where relevant to the
course. Examples include online discussions of class topics, and posting of student coursework.
All students are expected to respect one another's privacy by not sharing or using such
information outside the course.
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/informationtechnology/REG08.00.11.php
See also NCSU Honor Code, above, on Vista logs.
©2010 David F. Austin
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