Reading and Viewing Assignments

Readings are listed by author, selection title, and pages numbers (in parentheses). Readings from What Does It All Mean? by Nagel are listed by author and chapter number. Online readings are listed by author and title and labled "online". They are either available through WebCampus-Canvas, in the Readings and Viewings module (accessible via the side-menu Modules link) or they are linked here directly. [When thinking about what works to focus on in your ROMs, check the Syllabus on which works are Science Fiction and which are Philosophy.]

• For Jan. 26: Read Nagel, Chapter 1 (also available online), Perry and Bratman, "On the Study of Philosophy" (online), and Russell, "The Value of Philosophy" (Chapter XV). Then read Kukla, "Philosophy, Comedy, and the Need for Good Material" (online) and watch the video with Kwame Anthony Appiah, "What Does a Philosopher Do?". (You might also watch "The Personal Philosophy of Kwame Anthony Appiah", and "Kwame Anthony Appiah on Cosmopolitanism".)
• For Jan. 28: Read Plato, Apology (pp. 1-22 in the Plato book). These Reading Questions can help you focus on some of the main points. (They are just for you, not to hand in--but for discussion everyone should be able to answer at least these questions.) Then read Perry, Bratman, and Fischer, "Logical Toolkit" (online) and Dove, "Critical Thinking: A Very Short Introduction" (online). Finally, read Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments, Chs. I-III, V-VI, and Appendix I. Check out my Logic Poem to help you keep track of some of the basic logical notions.
• For Feb. 2: Re-read (catch up on) the material assigned for 1/28. Then read Plato, The Republic, Book VII ("Allegory of the Cave", pp. 360-365, also online on WebCampus) and Dick, "The Electric Ant" (online). Get ready to (hand-)write your first in-class ROM at the beginning of class on Monday (so, don't miss class), describing parallels and similarities between Plato's allegory and Dick's short story. Finally, also read Russell, "Appearance and Reality" (Chapter I) before class.
• For Feb. 4: Read Pollock, "A Brain in a Vat" (online) and Nagel, Ch. 2. Then watch The Matrix and read Nozick, "The Experience Machine" (online).
• For Feb. 9: Watch Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), "The Cage" [S1:Ep0/1] (linked on WebCampus and also available for viewing on Paramount+). Then read Descartes, "Meditation One" and "Meditation Two" from Meditations on First Philosophy.
• For Feb. 11: Read Descartes, "Meditation Three" from Meditations on First Philosophy. Then read Russell, "The Existence of Matter" (Chapter II). Be ready to write ROM #2 (discussing why knowledge may be impossible) at the beginning of class.
• For Feb. 16: No class! [for Presidents Day] But re-read Descartes, "Meditation One," "Meditation Two," and "Meditation Three" from Meditations on First Philosophy.
• For Feb. 18: Re-read Russell, "The Existence of Matter" (Chapter II).
• For Feb. 23: Read Nagel, Ch. 4 and Churchland, "The Ontological Problem (The Mind-Body Problem)" (pp. 7-21 on Dualism) from Matter and Consciousness (online). Then read Descartes, "Meditation VI" from Meditations on First Philosophy (in particular, pp. 53-58 in the book or pp. 29-31 in the online PDF) and "Correspondence between Descartes and Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia" (online).
• For Feb. 25: Read Nagel, Chapter 9 and Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, "The First Night". Then watch Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), "Turnabout Intruder" [S3:Ep24] (online). Be ready to do ROM #3 at the beginning of class.
• For Mar. 2: Read "The Second Night" and "The Third Night" from Perry's, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. Watch Star Trek: TNG, "Second Chances" [S6:Ep24] (online) and read "The Meeting" by Pohl and Kornbluth (online). If you are doing the Extra Credit ROM that involves Star Trek: TOS, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" [S1:Ep7/8] and Perry's Dialogue, turn that in at the beginning of class on Monday. ROM #4 in class?
• For Mar. 4: Read Egan, "Learning to Be Me" (online) and Anderson, "Functionalism: An Introduction. Next read Churchland, "The Ontological Problem (The Mind-Body Problem)" (pp. 36-42 on Functionalism). Finally, watch Star Trek: TNG, "The Measure of a Man" [S2:Ep9]. ROM #4 in class?
• For Mar. 9: Watch Ex Machina. Read the Wikipedia entry on the Turing test (through the section titled "Weaknesses"). Next, read Anderson, "Searle and the Chinese Room Argument: Parts I and II" (online). Finally, read Nagel, Ch. 3. If you did Extra Credit ROM #2, turn it in at the beginning of class.
• For Mar. 11: Read Nagel, Ch. 6. Then read Chiang, "What's Expected of Us" (online) and Davis, "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" (online). Midterm Exam postponed until after Spring Break! ROM #5 in class?
• For Mar. 23: Read Taylor, "Freedom and Determinism" (online). Answer Reading Questions 1-4 at the beginning of the Taylor article. Read Chiang, "Story of Your Life" (online) and Federman, "What Kind of Free Will Did the Buddha Teach?" (online). ROM #5 in class?
• For Mar. 25: Midterm Exam now on Mon 3/30! Catch up on all the readings assigned for 3/11 and 3/23.
• For Mar. 30: Study for the Midterm Exam, which will be in-person in our classroom during our regularly scheduled meeting time (10am-11:15am). Everything that has been assigned here through 3/25 is relevant. Bring an Exambook to write your essay answers in. You may use hardcopies of any of the readings assigned and any handwritten/printed notes you have while taking the exam, but you will not be allowed to access a computer/any electronic device, or the course Canvas page or anything else online.
• For Apr. 1: Watch H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man (from 1933). Then read Plato, "Selections from Book II and Book IV" from The Republic (online or pp. 212-216 and pp. 292[bottom]-298 in the hardcopy Plato book). Next, read Nagel, Ch. 7 and Antony, "Good Minus God" (online). Also, email me about which format you want to do the Research Project in: Group Presentation or Individual Essay. [Note: you do not have to have a group lined up already to indicate you want to do a Group Presentation.]
• For Apr. 6: Re-read Nagel, Ch. 7, pp. 62-63 and Antony, "Good Minus God" (online). Then read Sheckley, "The Monsters" (online) and Rachels, "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" (online). ROM #6 in class?
• For Apr. 8: Re-read the argument on pp. 64-67 in Nagel, Ch. 7. Watch Star Trek: TOS, "Journey to Babel" [S2:Ep10] (online). Then read Kant, "Preface" and "First Section" from Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Sections 387-405 by the margin numbers, which turns out to be pp. 1-18 in the hardcopy or pp. 3-21 in the online PDF version). ROM #6 in class?
• For Apr. 13: Re-read/watch the material assigned for 4/8. Then read Kant, "Second Section" from Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Sections 406-440 by the margin numbers, pp. 19-45 in the hardcopy, pp. 22-58 in the online PDF version) and Godwin, "The Cold Equations" (online). ROM #7 in class?
• For Apr. 15: Read Mill, Utilitarianism, Chapters I and II. Then read LeGuin, "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas" (online) and watch Star Trek: SNW, "Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach" [S1:Ep6] (online). ROM #7 in class?
• For Apr. 20: Re-read/watch the material assigned for 4/15. Then read Nagel, Chapter 8, and Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron" (online). Finally, read Nozick, selections from Anarchy, State, and Utopia (online). ROM #8 in class?
• For Apr. 22: Submit your (group's) complete (to-be-graded) Research Project Outline via the assignment posting in WebCampus/Canvas. Watch Elysium. Then read Okin, "Libertarianism: Matriachry, Slavery, and Dystopia" (online). ROM #8 in class?
• For Apr. 27: Read "Rawls Rules: Three Post-War Liberals Strove to Establish the Meaning of Freedom" from The Economist (online) and Rawls, "A Theory of Justice" (online). Then watch Doctor Who, "The Day of the Doctor" [50th Anniversary Special from 2013] (online). ROM #9 in class?
• For Apr. 29: Read Russ, "When it Changed" (online) and hooks, "Understanding Patriarchy" (online). ROM #9 in class?
• For May 3: Sunday! Submit your Research Project Individual Essay to Turnitin.com via the Assignment link on WebCampus-Canvas by 11:59pm. Groups must email me their presentation slides, or at least the 600ish-word summary of their presentation by 11:59pm.
• For May 4: Watch Star Trek: TOS, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" [S3:Ep15] and then read Kress, "Out of All Them Bright Stars" (online). Next, read Mills, The Racial Contract, Intro and Ch. 1 (online) and Bell, "The Space Traders" (online). Hand in Extra Credit ROM #4, if you are doing it. ROM 10 in class?
• For May 6: Read Forster, "The Machine Stops" (online) and Bostrom, "The Future of Humanity" (online). Then read Asimov, "The Last Question" (online) and Nagel, Chapter 10. ROM 10 in class?
• For May 11: Final Exam at 10:10am-12:10pm in our regular classroom. Bring an Exambook!

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Last updated April 29, 2026

This site is maintained by James A. Woodbridge.

This document was created on January 21, 2026.