PHI 231. Knowing, Being and Doing: Philosophical Method and Its Applications
Prof. Kyoo Lee, Suite 325-4, Dept. of Philosophy, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Office Hours: by appointment (before or after class)
<Some Examples of the "Philosophical" Text>
- Alcoff, "Habits of Hostility on Seeing Race"
- Aquinas, excerpt, "All Things Are Directed to One God," Summa Theologica
- Butler, Judith, "Hannah Arendt's challenge to Adolf Eichmann"
- de Beauvoir, I am a Woman, Introduction to the Second Sex
- Caso, excerpt, "The Human Person and the Totalitarian State," Latin American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century (ed.)
- Fulghum, excerpt, "Moving is a Blow to My Self-Image," All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
- Hegel, excerpt, "Certainty at the Level of Sense Experience,"The Phenomenology of Spirit
- Hurston, "How It Feels To Be Colored Me"
- King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
- LaoTzu, Tao Te Ching
- Linklater, Waking Life (Film)
- Merleau-Ponty, In Praise of Philosophy
- Nozick, "Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?"
- Phillips, excerpt, "Why Ask Why," Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy
- Plato, the Apology
- Plato, excerpt, "Dialogue between Diaotima and Socrates on Love," Symposium
- Russell, "Why I Am Not a Christian"
- Sartre, "New York, the Colonial City"
- Wisdom, "the Meanings and Questions of Life"
I. LOCATING ISSUES AND EXAMPLES
08/31. Administrative Orientation
Advance Planning
09/07. What is Philosophy?
In-class Material: What is Philosophy? (video)
Lecture Note: Branches of Phil, Propositions, Isms
In-class Material: Derrida, A Philosopher on Love (video)
09/12 and 14. Why Ask Why?
Read In Advance: Phillips, Why Ask Why, Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy
Read In Advance: Watson, Socrates' Mistake
Read In Advance: Merleau-Ponty, In Praise of Philosophy
Read in Advance: Judith Butler, Hannah Arendt's challenge to Adolf Eichmann
Supplementary Read: Plato, the Apology (Hyperlinked Synopsis; Read at least a Few Passages by Following the Links that Interest You.)
Supplementary Read: Duban, Contrived Ignorance, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity
Supplementary Read: Bloom, From Socrates' Apology to Heidegger's Rektoratsrede, The Closing of the American Mind
Supplementary Read: King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
In-class Material: Derrida, A Philosopher on Love (video)
09/19 and 21. Writing Workshop
A Sample Analysis of Good/Bad Writings
Lecture Note: Guideline for Philosophical Writing
Lecture Note: EXAMPLE: Suggestive illustration of how one could think and write more clearly, critically and creatively
Lecture Note: EXAMPLE: Suggestive Illustration of Active Reading: Don't just look at words but process and reorganise them in your head.
09/26. Dr. Lee's "Writing Clinic" @ My Office, Pre-scheduled One-on-one conference
Bring Two Hard Copies of Your Drafts and Receive Individualized Feedback.
II. KNOWING
10/03, 12, 17 and 19. Philosopher as a Fallacy Detective
Supplementary Read: Evaluating Moral Arguments
In-class Material: A Debate on The Causes of the U.K. Riots 2011: David Starkey On Newsnight ("Whites Have Become Blacks")
In-class Material: A Debate between Perry and Romney on the Hiring of "Illegals"
10/24. Learning Plato and Platonic Tradition
In-class Material: Plato's Allegory of the Cave - a Unique Interpretation (video)
In-class Material: History of Western Philosophy (about 5 minutes) (video)
In-class Material: History of Western Philosophy (another 5 Minutes) (video)
In-class Material: History of Western Philosophy In a Song (about 3 Minutes) (video)
In-class Material: The Case of Jaycee Dugard: Flourishing After 18 Year Long Kidnapping; Interview (Video)
Lecture Note: Plato on Knowledge: Jusfied True Belief
10/26. Platonic Differences Between Appearance and Reality
Read In Advance: Russell, Appearance and Reality, Problems of Philosophy
Lecture Note: Russell on Appearance and Reality
10/31 and 11/02. Dr. Lee's "Writing Clinic" @ My Office, Pre-scheduled One-on-one conference
Bring Two Hard Copies of Your Drafts and Receive Individualized Feedback.
11/02. Midterm Draft Due (11:59pm): 5 Journal Entries and a Paper Outline, All in One File: Turnitin.com
Make sure to consolidate all the entries into one file and submit it, as you can make only one submission.
Class ID: 4265137
Password: madness
III. BEING
11/07 and 09. Being Alive/Towards Death
Read In Advance: Donne, Death be not proud, though some have called thee and Dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death
Read In Advance: Wisdom, the Meanings and Questions of Life
Supplementary Read: Aristotle, "Happiness makes life choiceworthy..." Nicomachean Ethics
Supplementary Read: Augustine, "I Saw Only Death..." Confessions
Supplementary Read: Jobs, "Death ... an Invention of Life," 2005 Stanford Commencement Address (video)
Supplementary Read: Saramago, Blindness
Supplementary Read: Sartre, "Although I did not ask to be born...," Being and Nothingness
Supplementary Read: the Bardo, Note On
Supplementary Read: Tibetan Book of the Dead
Supplementary Read: Tibetan Book of the Dead (video)
11/14 and 16. Being in Time: LaoTzu, Aristotle, the Stoics and St. Agustine
Read In Advance: excerpts, Being in Time
Supplementary Read: Saramago, Blindness
optional read: lightman, einstein's dreams (copies available at the college library)
11/21 and 23. Thanksgiving Week Homework (No Class): Watch Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (video)
Read In Advance: Brannigan, Buddhist Ethics, Ethics Across Cultures
11/28. Being Repeated: Buddhist Philosophy of Time and Karmic Circle
Read In Advance: Brannigan, Buddhist Ethics, Ethics Across Cultures
In-class Material: the Dhammapada
In-class Material: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (video)
Lecture Note: Buddhism
Supplementary Read: Hoy, Buddhism and Money: the Repression of Emptiness Today
Supplementary Read: Pope, "Is there a difference?": Iconic Images of Suffering in Buddhism and Christianity
optional read: lightman, einstein's dreams (copies available at the college library)
11/30. Dr. Lee's "Writing Clinic" @ My Office, Pre-scheduled One-on-one conference
Bring Two Hard Copies of Your Drafts and Receive Individualized Feedback.
IV. DOING
12/05. Living As
Read In Advance: de Beauvoir, I am a Woman, Introduction to the Second Sex
Lecture Note: de Beauvoir - A Few Guiding Questions
In-class Material: de Beauvoir: An Overview (video)
In-class Material: Sexism, Strength and Dominance: Masculinity in Disney Films (video)
In-class Material: Existentialism: An Overview (video)
In-class Material: Does Masculinity Need To be Redefined? (video)
Supplementary Read: Barackroll and Rickroll (video)
Supplementary Read: Butler, Before Sexual Difference: the Art and Science of Genital Embryogenesis
Supplementary Read: Strathern, Gender: Division or Comparison?
Supplementary Read: Male Pregnancy
Supplementary Read: Wilson, The Ties that Do Not Bind: The Decline of Marriage and Loyalty
Supplementary Read: Who Are You Calling a Lesbian?; People of Lesbos Take Gay Group to Court; Islanders From Lesbos Sue Gay Group
Supplementary Read: Walker, Womanist (excerpt), In Search of My Mothers' Gardens
Supplementary Read: Kimmel, Who's Afraid of Men Doing Feminism?
Supplementary Read: Transgeneration (video)
12/07. Doing or Not Doing What Exactly?
Read In Advance: Luban, Contrived Ignorance, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity
In-class Material: PBS, the Frontline, the Torture Question
Supplementary Read: In Defense of Torture
Supplementary Read: Redefining Torture
Supplementary Read: Regarding the Torture of Others
12/12. Dr. Lee's "Writing Clinic" @ My Office, Pre-scheduled One-on-one conference
Bring Two Hard Copies of Your Drafts and Receive Individualized Feedback.
12/14. Portfolio Due (11:59pm), All in One File: Turnitin.com
Make sure to consolidate all the entries into one file and submit it, as you can make only one submission.
Class ID: 4265137
Password: madness
