philosophy 1305: philosophy and critical thinking academic

Philosophy 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking Academic Semester/Term: Spring 2021

Course description (from catalog): A study of universal philosophical problems and their solutions with a view toward developing clear thinking about knowledge, belief, and value. Approximately one half of this course will focus on the student’s critical thinking skills. Instructor: Dr. Nevitt D. Reesor Course section number, classroom & meeting time: PHIL 1305.299, UAC 209, MW 12:30 -1:50 pm Course section number, classroom & meeting time: PHIL 1305.313, ED 1007, MW 2:00 - 3:20 pm Instructor’s office number: CMAL 207E (NO IN-PERSON OFFICE HOURS; ZOOM ONLY) Departmental phone: 512.245.9199 Email: [email protected] Office hours: M, W 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and T, Th 11:00 am – 12:00 pm and by appointment General Education Core Curriculum (Code 040) Language, Philosophy and Culture Component Outcomes

Students will explore behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society, and culture.

Core Objectives/Competencies Outcomes: • Critical Thinking

o Students will demonstrate creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.

• Communication o Students will effectively develop, interpret and express ideas through written, oral and

visual communication. • Social Responsibility

o Students will demonstrate intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

• Personal Responsibility o Students will relate choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.

Additional departmental or instructor course outcomes (optional):

Departmental Learning Outcomes for PHIL 1305: 1. After completion of PHIL 1305, students will be able to demonstrate improvement in their critical and moral thinking skills. 2. After completion of PHIL 1305, students will be able to demonstrate the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry.

PHIL 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Spring 2021 1 / 12

COVID-19 Pandemic Classroom Policies and Procedures This semester we are laboring under the extraordinary circumstances forced upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic. These two pages provide a basic overview of course policies and procedures that are in part a response to this situation. Details appear in the remainder of the syllabus below. Self-Evaluation before Every In-person Classroom Meeting

Students should evaluate themselves for possible COVID-19 symptoms before joining any in-person class meeting. They should perform this check before every class meeting. At the very minimum they should confirm that their internal body temperature is less than 100.4° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). This TX State U webpage provides a daily self-assessment procedure: https://www.txstate.edu/coronavirus/road-map/self-assessment.html. This CDC webpage lists symptoms and includes a self-assessment procedure: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. Students who believe they have symptoms of COVID-19 or believe they have been in contact with a person who has symptoms should not attend any in-person class. Instead they should immediately contact the Student Health Center by telephone at 512.245.2161 and ask for their advice. Masks are Required in the Classroom

Every student must wear a mask during in-person class meetings. This TX State U website provides detailed guidance regarding what kinds of masks are effective and what kinds are not effective: https://www.txstate.edu/coronavirus/road-map/face-coverings-masks.html. In particular note that masks must cover the mouth and nose completely. Also note that the following are not effective face coverings: neck gaiters, bandanas, scarves, and masks with exhaust valves. Following is the official statement from University administration. “Civility in the classroom is very important for the educational process and it is everyone’s responsibility. If you have questions about appropriate behavior in a particular class, please address them with your instructor first. Disciplinary procedures may be implemented for refusing to follow an instructor’s directive, refusing to leave the classroom, not following the university’s requirement to wear a cloth face covering, not complying with social distancing or sneeze and cough etiquette, and refusing to implement other health and safety measures as required by the university. Additionally, the instructor, in consultation with the department chair/school director, may refer the student to the Dean of Students Office for further disciplinary review. Such reviews may result in consequences ranging from warnings to sanctions from the university. For more information regarding conduct in the classroom, please review the following policies at https://policies.txstate.edu/division-policies/academic-affairs/02-03-02.html, Section 03: Courteous and Civil Learning Environment, and https://studenthandbook.txstate.edu/rules-and-policies/code-of-student-conduct.html, number II, Responsibilities of Students, Section 02.02: Conduct Prohibited.”


COVID-19 Pandemic Classroom Policies and Procedures Assigned Seating, Low Class Density, Entering and Leaving the Classroom

Seats in each classroom will be tagged either maroon or gold. Students in Monday/Wednesday classes must sit in the maroon seats. Students in Tuesday/Thursday classes must sit in the gold seats. Students should spread themselves out in the classroom so that they are sitting as far apart from one another as possible. Beginning the second or third day of class, students must sit in the same seat every day for the remainder semester. (The purpose of this policy is to support contact tracing.)

As required by University policy, students may occupy only 50% of our classroom seats during live, in-person lectures. Our classrooms, however, are large enough to hold all of us while still conforming to this policy. The instructor therefore recommends that every student attend the physical classroom in person every class day, both Mondays and Wednesdays.

When entering the classroom, students must make every effort to remain six feet apart. The instructor may dismiss students by rows or groups, and students must, again, make every effort to remain six feet apart when leaving the classroom. Bobcat Pledge, Health and Safety Measures, Student Roadmap to Return

By stepping onto the Texas State University campus and by attending classes at the University students implicitly take the Bobcat pledge: https://www.txstate.edu/coronavirus/road-map/bobcat-pledge.html. Students are also obligated to follow the principles for health, safety, and wellness specified on this webpage: https://www.txstate.edu/coronavirus/road-map/health-and-safety-measures.html. For additional information, students should consult the Student Roadmap to Return: https://www.txstate.edu/coronavirus/road-map/student-roadmap.html.

PHIL 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Spring 2021 1 / 12 .299 MW 12:30 – 1:50 pm UAC 209 .313 MW 2:00 – 3:20 pm ED 1007

Instructor: Dr. Nevitt Reesor, CMAL 207E, 245-9199, [email protected] Office Hours: M, W 10:00 am – 12:00 pm; T, Th 11:00 am – 12:00 pm and by appointment Schedule for Reading Assignments, Writing Assignments, and Tests (subject to revision):

.299, .313 (T / Th) (January 18) (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday) January 20 January 19, 21 Introduction, Plato: Book I January 25, 27 January 26, 28 Plato: Books I, II, III February 1, 3 February 2, 4 Plato: Books IV, V (Feb. 3, 11.59 pm) (Last day to drop a class with 100% refund) February 8, 10 February 9, 11 Plato: Books VI, VII Feb. 10, 11:59 pm Feb. 11, 11:59 pm Short Essay #1 {Plato} Due February 15, 17 February 16, 18 Descartes: Meditations I, II February 22, 24 February 23, 25 Descartes: Meditations III, IV Feb. 24, 11:59 pm Feb. 25, 11:59 pm Long Essay #1 {Plato} Due Friday, Feb. 26† Friday, Feb. 26† Online Canvas Exam #1 March 1, 3 March 2, 4 Descartes: Meditations V, VI March 8, 10 March 9, 11 Hume: Sections 12.1, 2, 3, 4 Mar. 10, 11:59 pm Mar. 11, 11:59 pm Short Essay #2 Due {Descartes} (March 15, 17) (March 16, 18) (Spring Break) March 22, 24 March 23, 25 Hume: Sections 5, 7, 9 March 29, 31 March 30, April 1 Kant: Preface, Section I (Mar. 30, 11.59 pm) (Last day to drop a class with a “W”) March 31, 11:59 pm April 1, 11:59 pm Long Essay #2 {Hume} Due Friday, April 2† Friday, April 2† Online Canvas Exam #2 April 5, 7 April 6, 8 Kant: Section I, II April 12, 14 April 13, 15 Kant: Section II April 19, 21 April 20, 22 Kant: Section II; Mill: Chapters 1 (April 22, 11:59 am) (Last day to withdraw from all classes) Apr. 21, 11:59 pm Apr. 22, 11:59 pm Short Essay #3 Due {Kant} April 26, 28 April 27, 29 Mill: Chapter 2 May 3 Mill: Chapter 2

.299: May 12, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm Online Exam #3, Long Essay #3 Due {Kant & Mill}

.313: May 10, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm Online Exam #3, Long Essay #3 Due {Kant & Mill} † The first two exams will be open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Even though it does not appear on the above schedule, the instructor will occasionally lecture from the PDF document “Critical Thinking Tools” throughout the semester.

PHIL 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Spring 2021 2 / 12 Required Texts and Subscriptions:

Plato Republic (tr. Grube, 2nd edition, 1992) Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy (tr. Cress, 3rd edition, 1993) Hume An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (ed. Steinberg, 2nd ed, 1993) Kant Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (tr. Ellington, 3rd ed, 1993) Mill Utilitarianism (ed. Sher, 2nd edition, 2002) Reesor “Critical Thinking Tools” (PDF on Canvas) Packback online discussion forum (sign-up invitations delivered to students by email)

All the books are published by the Hackett Publishing Company Inc., Indianapolis, IN. Links to online, public-domain versions of all the textbooks are available on the Canvas

site for this class. The online translations of Plato, Descartes, and Kant are, however, very old and are therefore usually more difficult to understand. Furthermore, the instructor will often read from the Hackett editions of the texts during class lectures, and students who do not have these versions will not be able to follow along. The instructor therefore recommends that students purchase the Hackett editions listed above.

“Critical Thinking Tools” is a PDF document available on the course Canvas site at no cost to students.

Packback is an online discussion forum. Using Packback is a required part of this course. All students must purchase a subscription. (See details below.)

Course Overview:

Course Description: We will explore basic philosophical topics, including metaphysics, epistemology, theory of the self, and ethics, by examining several classical texts. We will emphasize understanding and evaluating texts on their own merits, comparing various philosophical approaches, using these ideas to think about our own views of the world, and articulating our insights in discussion and in writing. In addition, we will develop our critical thinking skills by focusing on the reasoning processes which support sound philosophical arguments.

Course Objectives: Ideally, the student will gain an overall grasp of the basic questions

lying at the foundations of all human understanding. The student will have the opportunity to assemble a “toolbox” of ideas and to develop the critical skills needed for effectively evaluating the competing viewpoints which vie for allegiance in the contemporary world.

General Education Learning Outcomes: After completion of PHIL 1305, students will be

able to demonstrate the following: critical thinking skills, basic knowledge of the nature of philosophical inquiry, communication skills, understanding of personal responsibility, and understanding of social responsibility.

PHIL 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Spring 2021 3 / 12 Student Preparedness:

Students should be aware of the basic knowledge, skills, and technologies they need in order to be successful in this course. There are no prerequisite courses for PHIL 1305, that is, the University does not require students to complete any other courses prior to taking this one. Nevertheless, students will be reading intellectually challenging material and writing essays dealing with complex ideas, so they should be prepared for these tasks.

Students will need regular access to a desktop computer with a web browser installed in order to access Canvas, the University’s learning management system. The most reliable free browsers for use with Canvas are Google Chrome (https://www.google.com/chrome/) and Mozilla Firefox (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/exp/firefox/new/). (Students have reported serious problems using Canvas on Safari.) Students can write essays using the online version of Microsoft Word, to which students have free access as part of the University’s subscription to Microsoft Office 365 (https://doit.txstate.edu/services/office365). Students must upload their essays to Canvas in one of only three formats: doc, docx, or pdf. So, whatever word processor students use, it must be capable of exporting documents in one of these formats.

The instructor will broadcast live lectures and conduct office hours using the teleconferencing tool, Zoom. Students can participate in live lectures and conferences through Zoom using only a web browser, but users report a better experience using the Zoom application. The first time students join a Zoom meeting they will have the opportunity to download the app.

While students can access all these services using mobile applications, most are easier to use on a desktop computer, and not all Canvas functions are available on the mobile app.

In-Person, Synchronous Online, and Asynchronous Online Lectures:

The instructor will deliver in-person lectures in the classroom every scheduled class day. The instructor will also broadcast each lecture in real time through the teleconferencing application, Zoom. The instructor will also make recordings of each lecture available on the course Canvas site. Those students unable to attend the live in-person classes may watch online in real time via Zoom or watch the recorded lectures. In general, students who watch live lectures seem to perform better than those who watch recorded lectures.

The instructor will provide permanent weblinks to class Zoom meetings on the course Canvas site. Each section will have its own Zoom weblink. Selecting the website link will offer the student a choice between downloading the Zoom computer application or joining the meeting immediately through a web browser. If the student downloads the application, they can then join the meeting through the app rather than through a web browser. Some users report that the computer app functions better the web version. Both Zoom and Canvas are available as iOS and Android applications, though some Zoom features are more difficult to use on the mobile apps, and not all Canvas functions are available on the mobile apps. Students who do not have access to the internet may connect to the Zoom classroom meeting by dialing the telephone number listed with the Zoom link on Canvas.

PHIL 1305: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Spring 2021 4 / 12 Online Office Hours Only:

Due to social distancing protocols required by the COVID-19 pandemic, the instructor will not be available for in-person office hours. The instructor will conduct remote office hours exclusively through Zoom, an online teleconferencing service. Students must reserve 20-minute time slots using the following procedure. First, select the Calendar on Canvas. Second, select the “Week” view in the upper right-hand corner. Use the arrows in the upper left-hand corner to navigate to the particular week you want to see. Third, select the “Find Appointment” button on the right side of the Calendar page. A dialog box will open; select “Philosophy & Critical Thinking, spring 2021,” and select the “Submit” button. Fourth, small icons will appear for all the office-hour time slots that are available for that week. (The icons are small boxes with ‘+’ signs inside them.) Select the icon for the slot you prefer. Fifth, a reservation box will appear. Select the “Reserve” link in the bottom left corner of the box. Doing so will reserve this time slot.

Shortly before the reserved time, the instructor will send an email message to the student, which will include a Zoom weblink and a telephone number. Review the guidance at the end of the section above, Student Preparedness, for connecting to a Zoom meeting.

Students who wish to talk with the instructor outside office hours should request an appointment by email.

Assignments and Grading Policies:

Plato Online Test . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 % of final grade 250 – 300 word Essay. . . . 8 % of final grade 500 – 600 word Essay. . . . 12 % of final grade Descartes & Hume Online Test . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 % of final grade 250 – 300 word Essay. . . . 8 % of final grade 500 – 600 word Essay. . . . 12 % of final grade Kant & Mill Online Test . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 % of final grade 250 – 300 word Essay. . . . 8 % of final grade 500 – 600 word Essay. . . . 12 % of final grade Packback Discussions 10 posts minimum. . . . . . . 10 % of final grade + extra

In-class tests will consist of 5-answer multiple choice questions covering both the authors listed above and topics related to critical thinking.

Students’ grades will be calculated on the following scale: A 90 – 100 B 80 – 89.9999 C 70 – 79.9999 D 60 – 69.9999 F < 60


Packback Discussion Forum: Participating in online conversations is a requirement for this course, and students will use the Packback Questions platform to manage these conversations. A complete Packback post consists of one question and responses to two other students’ questions and must be submitted each week by Friday at 11:59 pm. Incomplete posts will not earn full credit. Only one post each week will count toward a student’s grade. Each question must address an idea from class lecture or from the course textbooks or from the class notes on Canvas. The purpose of this weekly assignment is to encourage students to discuss course material with one another in a meaningful way and to consider how these ideas might apply to their lives. Packback also includes real-time feedback on students’ writing as they post questions and responses, thereby giving students the opportunity to improve their writing skills through this activity.

As noted above, only one post each week will count toward a student’s grade. (This means that students cannot make up missing posts later in the semester by posting more than once per week.) The first 10 posts will each count 1% of a student’s final grade. Thus, in order to earn the full 10% Packback discussion portion of the final grade, students must successfully complete at least 10 of these assignments over the course of the semester. Each additional post over the minimum 10 will add 0.5 point to the final course grade. Since there are 14 weeks in the semester, this can add up to 2 extra points to a student’s final grade. If the instructor judges particular posts or questions to be of poor quality, the instructor may deny them credit.

During the first week of class, Packback will send a sign-up invitation by email to every registered student. Students in this course must accept this invitation. (If you lose the invitation email, you can register at https://questions.packback.co/) with your University email address by entering the following lookup key: b415f573-f51e-44ec-9ff0-2d4d7fa1546e.) A first-time subscription costs $25 per semester. (Packback may offer discounts to students who are using Packback in other courses or have used Packback in previous courses.) When students register, Packback will require them to complete a tutorial before posting or commenting. Before posting, students should also read the Community Guidelines (https://www.packback.co/resources/packback-questions-community-guidelines/), found in the Packback tutorial. Posts that do not follow the Packback Community Guidelines may be removed by the system, in which case the student will not receive credit for that post.

Packback operates independently from the instructor and from TX State U and provides its own support resources. If you have questions about Packback and how to use it, you should email your questions to their customer support team at [email protected] before consulting the instructor. It takes up to 24 hours for the Packback team to moderate a post and send a coaching email. In order to get credit for a moderated post, you must edit and re-publish by the deadline. This is why it is important that you complete your Packback questions and responses well before the deadline in case your post is moderated.


Short and Long Essays: The instructor will provide students with a prompt for each of the six essay assignments. Students may also propose their own topics, but every such topic must be explicitly approved by the instructor. The instructor will provide basic guidelines for writing philosophy papers, and students will be held accountable for conforming their essays to these guidelines. This and a few additional resources will be available on the course Canvas website. Students are also encouraged to consult the Writing Center in the College of Liberal Art and the Student Learning Assistance Center when developing their essays. (If there are any differences between information from these sources and information provided by the instructor, the latter takes precedence over the former.) Both the Writing Center (https://www.writingcenter.txstate.edu) and SLAC (https://www.txstate.edu/slac/) offer virtual tutoring through online services. Students may ask the instructor to review in-progress drafts of their essays. The instructor will, however, require students to provide an actual draft for review, or at the very least to demonstrate that they have read the essay prompt, read all the material referred to in the prompt, and made a sincere effort to understand all parts of the prompt.

All six essays must be submitted electronically on the Assignments page of the course Canvas site by 11:59 pm on the due date (except for the third long essay). The instructor will not accept printed essays. Uploaded files must be formatted as either PDF (.pdf), old Microsoft Word (.doc), or current Microsoft Word (.docx). Every other file format must be converted to one of these. (Every student has free access to online versions of all the Microsoft applications (https://doit.txstate.edu/services/office365) including the most recent version of Word. Do not submit essays through Microsoft Sharepoint.) Most word processors—including Google Docs, Apple Pages, Open Office, and Libre Office—allow exporting to at least one of these three formats.

The instructor will use the tools available on Canvas to comment on and grade student essays. Student will be able to read these comments and view their grades through the Assignments page on Canvas once the instructor has published them. (Select “Submission Details” then “View Feedback.”). The instructor will complete grading of each essay before the next one is due.

Essay Topics and Grading: Each essay will require students either to explain the meaning of some portion of a class text or to compare ideas found in the texts. (Any student who finds an assigned topic too restrictive is invited to propose an independent topic, which may offer a critical analysis and/or evaluation of authors’ ideas. As noted above, every such topic must be explicitly approved by the instructor.) Student essays will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Accuracy: the degree to which the student captures (in his or her own terms) an author’s philosophical position and, if required, the arguments used to defend it

Cogency: the degree to which the student’s explanation and support of the textual positions (and of his or her own position) are reasonable and well-made

Execution: the degree to which the essay is well-written (including factors such as structure, grammar, and spelling)


Tardy Essays: Students who fail to turn in one of the first five essays, either short or long, by the due date will receive a 5-point penalty (on a 100-point scale) for every day the essay is late (M-F, Saturday, Sunday). (“Day” means “the 24-hour period beginning at the time the paper is due and each subsequent 24-hour period.”) The Canvas Assignments page will allow late submissions for the first five essays and will record the date and time when they are actually submitted. If a student is absent on the day an essay is due and the absence is documented as excused (see attendance policy below), the student must make arrangements with the instructor to turn in the paper early in order to avoid a late penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make such arrangements. Students must turn in the last long essay by the due date. If a student fails to turn in the last long essay by the due date, the student will receive a zero on this assignment.

Exams: The three exams will take the form of online Quizzes through Canvas. They will

consist of multiple-choice and multiple-answer questions, where every answer is a checkbox. (Multiple-choice questions have only one correct answer. Multiple-answer questions may have more than one correct answer.) There will be no written answers of any kind. The exams will all be timed; students will have 80 minutes to complete each of them. Students can take each exam during any 80-minute period on the day and during the hours scheduled for the exams. (See the above schedule.) Students who cannot take the first or second exam on the day it is scheduled are responsible for notifying the instructor of this fact at least one week before the scheduled date. Students must take the third and final exam on its scheduled date and time.

WARNING: Canvas Quizzes include a number of mechanisms intended to detect various forms of cheating, such as searching the internet for answers, collaborating with other students, taking too long to answer a question (which might indicate looking up answers in notes or in a book), and so on. If the instructor believes he has sufficient evidence of cheating, he reserves the right to give an exam a zero grade.

The instructor will post exam grades within three days after the exams take place.

Extra Credit: No extra credit assignments of any kind will be offered in this class (other than those associated with Packback as explained above). It is therefore particularly important that students do their best on every essay and every exam.

Attendance: The instructor will take attendance at the beginning of every in-person

class meeting. He will count the attendance only of those who are present in the physical classroom, not those who are streaming the lecture through Zoom. While attendance does not explicitly count toward a student’s final grade, it may have an impact. Specifically, if a student’s final numerical score is on the borderline between two letter grades, regular attendance may, at the instructor’s discretion, “bump” the student’s grade up.

Late essays and missing exams are the only situations where absences might affect a student’s grade, as specified by the policies above. Legitimate grounds for an excused absence are University-sponsored activities (with advance notice and documentation from the appropriate campus organization), religious observances (with advance notice), illness or serious injury (with appropriate documentation), or a death in the family. An excused absence has no effect on a student’s grade. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain notes from other students for any missed classes.


Preparation and In-class Discussion: Class discussions should remain respectful, orderly, constructive, and on-topic. Within this framework, students are free to ask questions and to share insights of any sort. There are no pre-determined answers to most of the questions we will engage, so everyone’s genuine and honest participation is valuable. Every student should feel free to share their thoughts openly in order to help the class deepen its understanding.

While discussion participation does not explicitly count toward a student’s final grade, it may have an impact. Specifically, if a student’s final numerical score is on the borderline between two letter grades, regular participation in discussions may, at the instructor’s discretion, “bump” the student’s grade up.

Other Policies:

Electronic Devices in Class: Using any kind of electronic device during in-person classes is strictly forbidden. There are only two exceptions to this policy: students may use electronic devices for taking notes or for recording the class discussion. The instructor reserves the rights to examine any electronic device during class and to require the student to turn the device off if, in the instructor’s judgment, the student is not using the device for a legitimate purpose. The instructor also reserves the right to subtract one point off any student’s final course grade for every instance in which a student uses an electronic device improperly in class, according to the instructor’s judgment. The instructor may do so without notifying the student.

Using the TX State Canvas Learning Management System: This class will make

extensive use of Canvas. Essay assignments, grades, and class notes will all be posted on Canvas. Furthermore, the instructor will use Canvas to broadcast important announcements. The instructor strongly recommends that students alter their settings so that Canvas automatically sends Announcements to their TX State U email addresses. (Account > Notifications > “Notify me right away”) The instructor also strongly recommends that students who do not regularly use their official Texas State University email addresses add the email addresses they most often use to the Canvas communication settings. (Account > Settings > “+ Email Address”)

Religious Holy Days: Students must notify the instructor of each class prior to their

absence for a religious holy day. Students may obtain notification forms from the Dean of Students’ Office. The student should personally deliver completed forms to the instructor for each class. The instructor will sign and date the form, thus acknowledging notification. If the student cannot personally deliver the form to an instructor, the student should mail the form to the instructor by certified mail, return receipt requested. Ideally students should make every attempt to contact the faculty member at least two weeks in advance of the anticipated absence. A student whose absence is excused under this subsection may not be penalized for that absence and shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment from which the student is excused within a reasonable time after the absence. The instructor may respond appropriately if the student fails to complete any missed assignments or examinations within a reasonable time. The full statement of university policy is available online: http://uweb.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-02-06-01.html.


Academic Integrity: Texas State University at San Marcos operates under an Honor Code. This means students are expected to conform to the highest standards of academic integrity in all their work. In this course, academic dishonesty signifies primarily cheating on exams and plagiarism, that is, borrowing ideas from others—whether those of your classmates or those found in a book or any other source whatsoever—and claiming them as your own. Credit for ideas you find elsewhere must be given in your work and the source cited. Any confusion or uncertainty concerning this matter should be discussed with the instructor. Cheating on exams includes but is not limited to giving exam questions and/or answers to students in other sections of this class. The instructor will punish academic dishonesty to the fullest extent allowed by University policy. For additional information refer to Code of Student Conduct (https://studenthandbook.txstate.edu/rules-and-policies.html) and the Honor Code (https://www.txstate.edu/honorcodecouncil/Academic-Integrity.html).

Accessibility: Texas State University and this instructor are committed to making all

reasonable accommodations necessary to ensure the success of every motivated student, including those with documented disabilities. The instructor strongly encourages any students with learning difficulties to visit him during office hours or at a mutually agreeable time, so that we can together develop strategies to maximize every student’s success.

The Office of Disability Services (Suite 5-5.1, LBJ Student Center; 512.245.3451; http://www.ods.txstate.edu/) provides a wide range of services for students with various kinds of needs. Access to some of these services, for example, extended time on exams, requires the student to present official documentation confirming a specific kind of need. The University does not provide instructors with information regarding special student needs, and thus it is important that such students make their needs known at the beginning of the semester.

Emergency Management: In the event of an emergency, students, faculty, and staff

should monitor the Safety and Emergency Communications web page (https://safety.txstate.edu). This page will be updated with the latest information available to the university, in addition to providing links to information concerning safety resources and emergency procedures. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to sign up for the TX State U Alert system (https://www.police.txstate.edu/campus-safety/sign-up-for-txstate-alerts.html).

Sexual Misconduct Reporting (SB 212): Effective January 2, 2020, state law (SB 212)

requires all university employees, acting in the course and scope of employment, who witness or receive information concerning an incident of sexual misconduct involving an enrolled student or employee to report all relevant information known about the incident to the university's Title IX Coordinator or Deputy Title IX coordinator. According to SB 212, employees who knowingly fail to report or knowingly file a false report shall be terminated in accordance with university policy and The Texas State University System Rules and Regulations.

philosophy 1305: philosophy and critical thinking academic

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