Notes for 8/25/2026

Introduction to Philosophy
with
Eric Sotnak




No devices in class (notes blog)

Grades:
50% Weekly reflections/responses 
(Assignments page) 
Roughly 3 paragraphs (2/3 page)


20% Essay (mid-term)
(Assignments page)
 (Value of writing))

20% Exam (final)
(Quizzes and Exams page)
(Reinforcement)

AI policy: 
Don’t copy-paste AI output.
You may use AI in whatever ways you want in the course with the following restriction: You may never misrepresent the output of any AI tools as your own work, and you may not paste in any AI outputs as the main content for any assignment. This includes scripts for your video responses.

If you use any AI tools in completing any assignment, you must briefly state at the end of the assignment which tools you used and how you used them.
 

10% Attendance 
    Maximum of 12 absences before failing course
    You get 1.5 points for each day you come to class. There are 29 class meetings (= 43.5 points). 
If you attend 24 class meetings, you will get 100% on your attendance grade (36 points). If you attend more than 24 class meetings (up to 29) you can earn 121% on your attendance grade.
In addition, extra credit points will be earnable at the end of the semester depending on how many people complete the course evaluation.

Attendance question for 8/25/2026:

Is love something that happens to you or is it something you make happen?
 
What is philosophy?

Etymology: 
Philo = love/lover
Sophia = wisdom

Example-based

“The unusually stubborn effort to think clearly.” (William James)

 

(God, Free will, personal identity, ethics, nothingness, etc.)

Main traditional areas:
Epistemology 
Metaphysics
Ethics

But there are also lots of “philosophy of” examples

    Philosophy of Science
    Philosophy of Mind
    Philosophy of Food
    … 
Core Philosophical Methodology

(1)    “Exactly,” questions

What, exactly, does that mean?
How, exactly, does that work?
Why, exactly, does that happen?

(Clarification, detail, and precision in thinking)

Augustine: “If no one asks me what time is, then I know what time is. But if someone asks me, then I don’t know.”


“I like you.”


(2)    Reasons (arguments)

“Why should anyone believe that rather than something else?”

“Is there better evidence for this than for any alternative viewpoints?”

(3)    Pragmatics 

“What difference might it make if we believe that rather than something else?”

“What’s at stake?”

“Philosophy aims at truth.”

Beliefs are action-guiding.
 

What, exactly, is Love?