Every Monday during the semester unless there is no class or an exam or major paper is scheduled for that week, a 1-page paper on the reading for that week will be due. Your principal objective in these essays should be to get clear about what is going on in the reading. This could involve explaining someone's argument, trying to figure out what he or she is arguing for, comparing one philosopher's views with those of another we have read, considering how the author might respond to possible questions, etc. These short essays must be turned in on time in order to receive credit. Attendance and participation will be taken into account in determining the final grade.
Excessive absence is grounds for an F in the course.
The reason for this is that it's bad for the course to have people who drop in only now and then. I'd like the course to be discussion-oriented, and that's difficult to do when some people are involved in the discussion only on an occasional basis.