Warning: Imported from old college This post was moved from an older website hosted on a college server. These have been unedited and contain many mistakes. But, whatever.
The Gov80- Introduction to Philosophy courses at CMC generally cover the same material: Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Ethics andPolitics, Aquinas’ Treatise on Law, Hobbes’ Leviathan, Machiavelli’sThe Prince, Rousseau’s First and Second Discourses, and Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil. Some classes may substitute Locke, or other writings of Rousseau.
In particular, the course with Professor Nichols was entertaining. His grading style is primarily argument-based, but tends to be lenient. It is important to be critical of the arguments made in the text, rather than critical of the text itself. If you present a cogent argument, the lowest you will receive is a B, and the highest grade will be an A/A-.
The class is pretty straightforward in its approach. My recommendations would be to write the essays like philosophy essays, but don’t go out on a limb without having checked it first with him (e.g. do not write about gay marriage if the question is to analyze current society, he would say that gay marriage only looks at a portion of the current climate). If you are considering taking this class, I would suggest that you take the intro. To philosophy class before you take this class. It will prepare you in the art of philosophical criticism.
However, since most of the tests for Gov80 are essay-based. I would suggest knowing the material, so that you can pull relevant evidence from the texts in order to present your argument. Nichols split his mid-term and final between Aristotle/Plato and everybody else.
Below is a graded Spring 2004 Midterm on Plato’s Republic.
After the jump, specific study guides…
Study Guides and Lecture Notes
Thomas Aquinas’ Treatise on Law Study Guide
Treatise on Law Lecture Notes
Hobbes’ Leviathan Study Guide
Hobbes’ Leviathan Lecture Notes
Machiavelli’s The Prince Study Guide
Machiavelli’s The Prince Lecture Notes
Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil Lecture Notes
Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil Study Guide
Aristotle’s (Politics and Ethics) Lecture Notes
Plato’s Republic Lecture Notes
Rousseau’s First and Second Discourses Study Guide
Rousseau’s First and Second Discourses Lecture Notes
Final Study Guide (w/o Aristotle and Plato)
This should be a substantial portion of the study guides and lecture notes for any Gov80 class. Enjoy.