Welcome to Introduction to Philosophy! This course provides an introduction to philosophy through exploration of the theme of philosophy as/and diet.  Throughout the semester we'll explore the nature of diet not only in the ordinary sense of an eating regimen but also in its original sense: a course of life, and we shall consider ancient, modern, and contemporary views. 

     Our first course is one of the most famous (and extensive) philosophical "diets"—Plato's Republic.  Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy will afford another perspective on the relationship between the shape of one's mind and the shape of one's body and its desires.  An introduction to the many ways in which our bodies take on and transform meanings, The Body for Beginners will aid our digestion of Plato and Descartes.  And to top it all off, we'll savor a few morsels from the eclectic work Cooking, Eating, Thinking, which will afford us opportunities to examine the connections between our diet and our relations to other beings, to consider the relation between theory and practice through the example of food preparation and consumption, and to explore how what we put into our bodies is related to what we put into our mind.

Throughout the course you will be asked to do philosophy by engaging in philosophical discussions with me, your classmates, and others in the community. You will be asked to examine the beliefs that inform your actions and thoughts, to think through the consequences of those beliefs, and to answer the questions: are those beliefs true?  Weekly quizzes, two tests, and participation in class activities and discussion will form the basis of the final grades for the course.

 Texts (listed in order of use)

Plato, Republic (Hackett)

Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett)

Additional course materials drawn from The Body for Beginners and Cooking, Eating, Thinking, along with selections from various other texts will be provided on BlackBoard.

Books are available at Shakespeare & Co. (69^th and Lex.). Shakespeare accepts book vouchers. Book prices vary according to bookseller and condition. Please utilize the translations available from the designated publisher Hackett. New, each book is less than $10.00; total for the course is less than $20.00.