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 eCommons.
Two short papers (2–3 pages), due Thursday, April 21 and Tuesday,
May 17.
One longer paper (6–8 pages) (worth 35% of the final grade). The paper is due
Tuesday, June 7, but you an introductory paragraph and brief outline
(approximately one sentence per paragraph of the proposed complete paper) are
due at some time on or before Tuesday, May 31. There will then be special
section meetings, including perhaps extra meetings, at which you can get feedback
on these plans 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. You can find answers to
some commonly asked questions about my assignments and grading in my
FAQ.
Papers are to be handed in, as attachments, via the “Assignments” tool on
eCommons. Please submit in MSWord format (
.doc or
.docx), or in a format
easily convertible to MSWord (e.g., plain text or RTF). 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.
As noted above, the ME’s will be accessed and submitted on-line via
eCommons. (The system will accept late submissions, but credit — possibly
reduced — will only be given up until the time that the correct answers are
announced, either in section or on-line.)
All assignments are due by 11:55pm on the due date.