Intro. to Philosophy
Mr. Weaver
Home phone: 918-557-8852
Email: kweaver@casciahall.org or herrweaver@email.com
http://teacherweb.com/OK/CasciaHall/KevinWeaver/index.html
This class will cover some of the major thinkers in western philosophy. We will begin by discussing some
major philosophical topics and questions. We will also begin by clarifying some terminology. Then we will
move on to the philosophers themselves. Thales, Pythagoras, Zeno, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Protagoras, Aristotle, Aurelius, St. Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Sartre.
The bulk of the class will be lecture but discussion is always welcome as long as it directly pertains to our subject. Students will need only a spiral or notebook with a section dedicated to philosophy. They will need only two books: “The Trial and Death of Socrates” and “Does the Center Hold?”. Students will be expected to take notes and be prepared for quizzes and tests. There will be a reading schedule for “Does the Center Hold?”.
Tests and quizzes will all be worth 100pts each. The average of all of your test grades will be worth 2/3 of
your grade and the average of all your quizzes will be worth 1/3 of your final grade.
Example: Let’s say your test average is 88% and your quiz average if 75%.
88
88
+75
251
Then I would divide 251 by 3 to get your average. Here it would be about 83%.
100-90 A, 89-80 B, 79-70 C, 69-60 D, 59-0 F
This course is part of the Senior Seminar. After the first quarter of this semester you will move on to another
class. In the third quarter you will have another class. In the fourth quarter you will not have a first period
class but will be expected to be working on a Senior Thesis. This thesis is to incorporate a topic from one or
more of the three courses you took as part of the Senior Seminar. Your third quarter class grade and your
paper written in the fourth quarter will be averaged together to make your final second semester grade.
There will be more information given out later about the Senior Thesis but it should be an academic, well
researched, focused paper. All of the normal documentation and style rules from the English department are
to be used on the Senior Thesis. It’s not too early to be thinking about a topic…