About This Course
Philosophy 190 is a course for senior philosophy majors. The centerpiece of this course is a literature review on a topic of your choosing. A literature review summarizes and evaluates the scholarly literature on a topic. The summary should identify what the major ideas in the literature are and how they are related to one another. A literature review involves evaluation in two ways. First, you have to exercise judgment in deciding which works are important enough to be included in the review. Second, you should seek to identify significant limitations in the works under review. At the end of the term, you should be able to explain both the major positions taken by scholars writing on your topic and also the chief strengths and weaknesses of those positions.
Having completed the literature review, you will have done the senior project required to graduate as a philosophy major. You will also be in a position to write a senior thesis in the spring; having done a critical review of the scholarly literature, you will be able to forge ahead with a contribution of your own.
The syllabus (PDF) has a schedule of topics for discussion, readings, and assignments; it also describes the standards for grades and other policies for the class. Registered students can find all other materials on Sakai.
Philosophy Majors, Class of 2018
Will, Octave, Peter, Michael Green
Next time, I will remember that glasses reflect light.