Philosophy 325—Philosophy of Sex and Love

Schedule # 10078
Tues., Weds., Thurs., & Fri., 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton, Intersession 2011

Instructor: Dr. Amy Coplan

Telephone: 657.278.5598 (office)
657.278.3611 (philosophy department)
Email: acoplan@fullerton.edu
Office: Humanities 311B
Office Hours: Weds.11:00 – 12:30, Thurs. 5:00 – 6:30, and by appt.

Course Description:
This topic-based course in philosophy of sex and love will examine a variety of
philosophical and psychological accounts of love, as well as depictions of romantic love
in poetry and film. The first part of the course will concentrate on historically important
discussions and depictions of love and lust, including those of Plato, Augustine, Freud,
and Shakespeare. The second part will focus on theories of love and desire developed in
contemporary psychology, contemporary philosophy, and 20th century existentialist
philosophy. In the third part of the course, we will closely examine the love relationship
that is depicted in Michel Gondry’s 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
paying special attention to the ways in which the film’s depiction challenges and revises
standard Western ideas of love.

The course will be run as a combination of lecture and discussion and will incorporate
multiple in-class activities. Students will be expected to attend class having carefully
read through the assigned readings and to participate in class discussion and activities.
Learning Goals:
This course meets the General Education learning goals of category III. B. 2—
Introduction to the Humanities—in the following ways:
1) By developing understanding of philosophical thought and methodologies,
which represent an important example of the humanistic perspective.

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 2) By developing understanding of why and how philosophical thought and
methodologies originated and evolved as they have.
3) By exploring differences and similarities between how philosophy makes
sense of the world and our experience and how other perspectives make
sense of the world and our experience.
4) By developing understanding and appreciation of how philosophy
contributes to the political and cultural institutions of contemporary
society.
5) By familiarizing students with key theories and methodologies in Western
philosophy.
6) By requiring the application of philosophical ideas and arguments to
values, experiences, and meanings in one’s own life and using that
application to help understand what it means to be human today.
7) By cultivating and assessing writing skills in the following ways:
a. Essay assignments
b. Essay exams
c. In-class writing assignments
d. Discussion of strategies for successful writing
e. Analyzing students’ writing strengths and weaknesses on a-c above
f. Promoting critical thinking and reading skills, which play an essential
role in good writing
g. Providing multiple opportunities for writing improvement
Texts:

• The Philosophy of Erotic Love (PEL), edited by Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen
Higgins. University Press of Kansas, 1991. ISBN = 0700604804

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (ESSM), edited by Christopher Grau.

Routledge, 2009. ISBN = 9780415774666.

• Additional Readings—available on Blackboard (BB)

Both texts are available at Little Professor Book Center, 725 N. Placentia Ave. Fullerton,
CA Phone—714.996.3133.
Films:
This list is subject to change:

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

• The Little Mermaid ( Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989)

• Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996)

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Students will be responsible for viewing the assigned films at home on their own. The
instructor will be happy to loan any of the assigned films to students who do not wish to
rent the films or have no way to rent them. If students would like to borrow any of the
films, they must make arrangements with the instructor in advance.

.Assessment Procedures:
Assessment of student performance will be based on quizzes, essays, exams, and class
participation, as follows:

• Quizzes 20%
• Essay #1 10%
• Essay #2 10%
• Essay #3 10%
• Exam #1 15%
• Exam #2 15%
• Class Participation (in class & blackboard) 20%

Quizzes (20%)—There will six unannounced quizzes covering the daily reading and film
assignments. Quizzes will cover major arguments or ideas from the readings and major
plot points from the films. Students who read and view carefully should have no problem
doing extremely well. The purpose of these quizzes is to motivate students to do the
reading and film assignments on time. Quizzes will be graded on a scale of 1-10. Failure
to attend class on quiz days will result in a score of “0” for that day’s quiz. There will be
no make-ups for missed quizzes. At the end of the semester, each student’s two lowest
quiz grades will be dropped.

Essay #1 (10%)—Students will be required to write an essay of 2-4 pages on an assigned

topic on Plato, Augustine, Freud, or some combination of the these thinkers that will be
due in class on Friday, January 7th. Essays must be double-spaced with a font size of no
greater than 12 point and margins no greater than 1 inch. All essays should have a title
and page numbers and should be free from grammatical and spelling errors. Essays will
be graded on the basis of both form and content. Essays topics and additional guidelines
will be distributed in class. If a paper is handed in late, 5 points will be deducted from
the grade for each day the paper is late (1 day = 5 points off of grade, 2 days = 10
points off, etc). If a student fails to hand in a paper within a week of the due date,
he or she will receive a “0” for the assignment.

Essay #2 (10%)—Students will be required to write an essay of 2-4 pages on an assigned

topic on Shakespeare, Hatfield, Jung, Horney, Sartre, Beauvoir, or some combination of

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these thinkers that will be due in class on Friday, January 14th. Essays must be double-
spaced with a font size of no greater than 12 point and margins no greater than 1 inch.
All essays should have a title and page numbers and should be free from grammatical and
spelling errors. Essays will be graded on the basis of both form and content. Essays topics
and additional guidelines will be distributed in class. If a paper is handed in late, 5
points will be deducted from the grade for each day the paper is late (1 day = 5
points off of grade, 2 days = 10 points off, etc). If a student fails to hand in a paper
within a week of the due date, he or she will receive a “0” for the assignment.

Essay #3 (10%)—Students will be required to write an essay of 2-4 pages on an assigned

topic on de Sousa, Nozick, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that will be due in
class on Friday, January 21st. Essays must be double-spaced with a font size of no greater
than 12 point and margins no greater than 1 inch. All essays should have a title and page
numbers and should be free from grammatical and spelling errors. Essays will be graded
on the basis of both form and content. Essays topics and additional guidelines will be
distributed in class. If a paper is handed in late, 5 points will be deducted from the
grade for each day the paper is late (1 day = 5 points off of grade, 2 days = 10 points
off, etc). If a student fails to hand in a paper within 3 days of the due date, he or she
will receive a “0” for the assignment.

Exam #1 (15%)—An exam comprised of short and long essay questions covering the
assigned readings and films and class lectures and discussions will be given in class on
Wednesday, January 12th. Students will need a blue book. There will be no make up
exams unless special arrangements have been made with the instructor prior to the
scheduled exam date. If an unforeseen emergency arises on the day of the exam, the
student must discuss the situation with the instructor within three days of the exam date.
Proof documenting the emergency will be required. If a student does not take the exam
and fails to follow these guidelines, he or she will receive a “0” for the exam.

Exam #2 (15%) A cumulative exam covering all the material from the course except
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (and the readings covering it) will be given in class
on Wednesday, January 19th. Students will need a blue book. There will be no make
up exams unless special arrangements have been made with the instructor prior to
the scheduled exam date. If an unforeseen emergency arises on the day of the exam, the
student must discuss the situation with the instructor within three days of the exam date.
Proof documenting the emergency will be required. If a student does not take the exam
and fails to follow these guidelines, he or she will receive a “0” for the exam.

Class Participation (20%)—Since classes will be a mixture of lecture and discussion and
since there will be a number of in class assignments, regular attendance and participation
are required.. Although there is no official attendance policy, failure to attend class

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regularly will affect a student’s participation grade (and most likely his or her quiz grade
as well). Each student will earn a participation grade between 1-100%. Participation
includes performance on in class assignments such as mini-presentations and fish bowls,
attention to the instructor and other students, asking questions, making observations and
comments, and participating in discussion more generally. Blackboard participation will
also count toward students’ participation grades.

Grading Scale:

A 94-100 C 72-76
A- 91-93 C- 69-71
B+ 88-90 D+ 66-68
B 83-87 D 60-65
A- 80-82 F 0-59
C+ 77-79

Academic Integrity and Classroom Behavior:

Students need to be familiar with the academic integrity guidelines found in the current
student handbook. Students who violate university standards of academic integrity are
subject to disciplinary sanctions. Policies on academic integrity will be strictly
enforced.

Academic Dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty refers to obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for work by the
use of any dishonest, deceptive, fraudulent, or unauthorized means. Academic
dishonesty also includes helping someone commit an act of academic dishonesty.
Students who commit acts of academic dishonesty will fail the course. Students with
questions about how to cite others’ work should see the teaching assistant or instructor.

Academic Accommodations:
Students with a documented disability who wish to discuss academic accommodations
should contact the instructor and the Disabled Student Services Office (278.3117)
immediately.

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 Students whose religious obligations will require them to miss class any time this
semester should inform the instructor as soon as possible.
Schedule:

• The following assignments are subject to change. Any changes will be announced in
advance.

Date Topic Readings & Assignments

Tues. Jan. 4 Introduction to

the Course

• Excerpt from Plato’s Symposium—189a-223d

Weds. Jan. 5 Platonic Eros (BB)

Thurs. Jan. 6 Augustine on • Excerpt from Augustine’s City of God PEL pp.
Lust 44-48
&
Freud on Love • Freud’s “On the Universal Tendency…,” “On
Narcissism,” “Civilized Sexual Morality…”
PEL pp. 153-176
• Writing Philosophy Essays

Fri. Jan. 7 Passion vs. • 13 of Shakespeare’s Sonnets PEL pp. 72-78

Companionship • Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996)
• Hatfield’s “Passionate & Companionate Love”
(BB)
• Essay #1 Due

Tues. Jan. 11 Psychoanalytic • Jung’s “Marriage as a Psychological

Accounts of Love Relationship” PEL pp. 177-189
& Marriage • Horney “Love & Marriage” PEL 190-201
• The Little Mermaid

The Science of • Reading from either Helen Fisher or David Buss

Weds. Jan. 12 Love (to be announced)—(BB)
• Exam #1

Thurs. Jan. 13 Existentialist • Excerpt from Sartre’s Being and Nothingness

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 Accounts of Love PEL pp. 227-232
and Desire • Excerpt from Beauvoir’s The Second Sex PEL
pp. 233-240

Fri. Jan 14 Contemporary • de Sousa’s “Love as Theater” PEL pp.477-491

Philosophers on • Essay #2 Due
Love

Tues. Jan. 18 Contemporary • Nozick’s “Love’s Bonds” PEL pp. 417-432

Philosophers on
Love

Weds. Jan. 19 Eternal Sunshine • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel
of the Spotless Gondry, 2004)
Mind
• Exam #2

Thurs. Jan 20 Eternal Sunshine • Reeve’s “Two Blue Ruins” ESSM pp. 15-30
of the Spotless • Jollimore’s “Miserably Ever After” pp. 31-61
Mind

Eternal Sunshine • Toles’s “Trying to Remember Clementine”

Fri. Jan. 21 of the Spotless ESSM pp. 111-157
Mind
• Essay #3 Due

****Because this is an intersession course, its pace will be very fast. Students should
plan to devote 2-4 hours of time for each regular daily assignment and additional time on
top of this to complete essay assignments and to study for exams.