Course Requirements
Participation in discussion sections (good participation will be possible grounds
for raising course grade, especially if it is on a borderline).
“Metaphysics exercises” (kind of a short take-home multiple choice quiz), due
most class days (all exercises together are worth 35% of the final grade; graded
heavily on a curve). These will be made available on-line via the “Tests &
Quizzes” tool on Canvas. qqq
Two short papers (2–3 pages), due Friday, January 30 and Friday,
February 20 (each worth 15% of the final grade).
One longer paper (6–8 pages) (worth 35% of the final grade). The paper is due
Tuesday, March 17, but you must hand in an introductory paragraph and brief
outline (approximately one sentence per paragraph of the proposed complete
paper) at some time on or before Tuesday, March 10. There will be special
discussion sections to get feedback on this first paragraph and outline from your
TA and fellow students. This preliminary assignment will not be separately
graded, but if you do not hand it in at all or if it is wholly unsatisfactory,
your grade on the final paper will be reduced by one half step (e.g. A to
A-).
All paper assignments are available on-line, and there are links to them from
this syllabus as well as from my main course page. I will discuss the assignments
in class when the due date draws near.
Papers are to be handed in, as attachments, via the “Assignments” tool on
Canvas. Please submit in MSWord format , or in a format easily convertible to
MSWord. The system will accept late submissions, but late papers may not
receive full credit. The system is
not set up to allow resubmissions: once you press
the “submit” button, it will not let you change your response. If, however, you
mistakenly submit something and want to change it, please contact me and I can
make an exception.
Please do not plagiarize. If you do and I catch you, you will receive no credit
for the assignment and may fail the course, and you will also be subject to
“disciplinary sanctions” from the University. (In contrast: if you hand in a paper
consisting mostly of quotes from or paraphrases of other sources you have
consulted, properly cited, you will not get a good grade — a good paper will
contain your own interpretations and thoughts — but you will not fail,
either.) If you have any questions about what plagiarism is or how to
avoid it, you can ask me, or consult the resources listed on the Library
website. For possible consequences of plagiarism, see the Academic Integrity
Policy.
As noted above, the ME’s will be accessed and submitted on-line via Canvas.
(The system will accept late submissions, but credit — possibly reduced — will
only be given up until the time that the correct answers are available, usually one
week after the due date.)
AI policy: I encourage the use of AI assistance with proper caution
(i.e., keeping in mind that current AI is often wrong). You may use AI
assistance basically in any way that would not constitute cheating if you
used a human for the same thing. Similarly, you should cite the AI in
cases where you would cite a human. If in doubt, feel free to ask me for
clarification.
All assignments are due by 11:55pm on the due date.
Attendance at lecture is
strongly encouraged, but it is not a course
requirement and I will not be taking attendance.
You can find answers to some commonly asked questions about my
assignments and grading in my FAQ.
