Philosophical-Method-And-Applications-Schedule

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EXAMPLE: Suggestive illustration of how one could think and write more clearly, critically and creatively

EXAMPLE: Suggestive Illustration of Active Reading: Don't just look at words but process and reorganise them in your head.

0. STARTING

08/28 Administrative Orientation

Greetings; Advance Planning

08/30 What is Philosophy?

Bring to Class a Text of Your Choice, and be Prepared to Discuss Key Points You've Discovered.

In-class Material: What is Philosophy? (Video from Australasian Association of Philosophy)

09/04 Some Examples? Pick At least Three from the Following Thirteen Samples Below And Enjoy the Taste.

01 Read: Aquinas, excerpt, "All Things Are Directed to One God," from Summa Theologica

02 Read: Fulghum, excerpt, "Moving is a Blow to My Self-Image," from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

03 Read: Hegel, excerpt, "Certainty at the Level of Sense Experience,"from The Phenomenology of Spirit

04 Read: Hurston, "How It Feels To Be Colored Me"

05 Read: King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

06 Read: LaoTzu, Tao Te Ching

07 Read/Watch: Linklater, Waking Life (Film)

08 Read: Nozick, "Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?"

09 Read: Phillips, excerpt, "Why Ask Why," from Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy

10 Read: Plato, excerpt, "Dialogue between Diaotima and Socrates on Love," from Symposium

11 Read: Russell, "Why I Am Not a Christian"

12 Read: Sartre, "New York, the Colonial City"

13 Read: Wisdom, "the Meanings and Questions of Life"

09/06 So, What Does it Mean to Think, Read and Write Philosophically? And What Could be My Style?

Class Discussion Based on the Readings So Far.

09/11 Writing Workshop

A Sample Analysis of Good/Bad Writings

Lecture Note: Guideline for Philosophical Writing

09/13 Holiday. No Class

09/18 Holiday. No Class

I. KNOWING

09/20 What is Logically Fishy: Philosopher as a Fallacy Detective I

Lecture Note: Fallacies - Overviews and Examples (Material From UCC Writing Center)

09/25 What is Logically Fishy: Philosopher as a Fallacy Detective II

Lecture Note: 25 Key Fallacies - List with Examples

09/27 Exam #1

10/02 Appearance and Reality

Read: Russell, excerpt, "Appearance and Reality," from Problems of Philosophy

Lecture Note: Branches of Phil, Propositions, Isms

Lecture Note: Russell on Appearance and Reality

10/04 Plato's Theory of "Form" or Logos: of Truth, Belief and Knowledge

Read: Plato, excerpt, Theaetetus 200-201 and Meno 97-99

Optional Read: Watch Maya Angelou talk about her inspirational uncle and his enthusiasm for mathematics. (Video, 7 mins)

Lecture Note: Plato on Knowledge: Jusfied True Belief

In-class Material: Plato's Allegory of the Cave - a Unique Interpretation

10/09 Plato's Theory of Form and the Question of Justice

Read: Plato, excerpt, Bk4-7 of the Republic Or You can read any other versions of The Republic that are widely available on-line or in print.

Lecture Note: Platonic Puzzle - One and Many - Justice in Republic

10/11 Language and Perception

Read: Swift, "Getting Rid of Words"

Read: Lakoff and Johnson, excerpt, "Metaphors We Live By," from Metaphors We Live By

10/16 (En)gendering Knowledge

Read: Code, excerpt, "The Sex of the Knower," from What Can She Know

10/18 Exam #2 AND 1st Paper Due

cf. Writing Samples: Five Examples: Scores 1-5, bad to good.

II. BEING

10/23 Being: Parmenides

Read: Parmenides' Poems, Fragments

Lecture Note: Parmenides vs. Heraclitus: Two Different Ontological World-Views

In-class Material: Jacques Derrida on the Ontology of Love: What Does it Mean to "Be in Love"?

In-class Material: Philosophy of Being

10/25 Being in Flux: Heraclitus

Read: Fragments

Lecture Note: Parmenides vs. Heraclitus: Two Different Ontological World-Views

10/30 Being in Time: LaoTzu, Aristotle, the Stoics and St. Agustine I

Read: excerpts, Being in Time

Lecture Note: Time Across time: LaoTzu, Aristotle, the Stoics and Augustine

Supplementary: Alan Lightman on "Absolute Time," Excerpt from Einstein's Dreams

11/01 Being in Time: LaoTzu, Aristotle, the Stoics and St. Agustine II

Read: excerpts, Being in Time

Lecture Note: Time Across time: LaoTzu, Aristotle, the Stoics and Augustine

Supplementary: Alan Lightman on "Absolute Time," Excerpt from Einstein's Dreams

11/06 Being Repeated: Buddhist Philosophy of Time and Karmic Circle I

In-Class Film: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring

Optional: Read Lightman, Einstein's Dreams (copies available at the College Library)

11/08 Being Repeated: Buddhist Philosophy of Time and Karmic Circle II

In-Class Film: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring

Optional: Read Lightman, Einstein's Dreams (copies available at the College Library)

Lecture Note: Buddhism

11/13 Discussion of Buddhist Philosophy (and the Film)

Lecture Note: Buddhism

11/15 Being "Me" or Otherwise: Who Am I?

Read: Locke, excerpt, "Of Identity and Diversity," from Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Lecture Note: Locke on Personal Identity - Key Passages

Read: de Beauvoir, excerpt, "I am a Woman," Introduction to the Second Sex

Lecture Note: de Beauvoir - A Few Guiding Questions

11/20 Exam #3: Submit a hard copy to 325T, 9am-5pm

Readjusted Assignments: Exams and Papers

11/22 Thanksgiving Holiday. No Class

III. DOING

11/27 Taoist Insight into the Art of Inaction and "Being in the Flow"

Read: and look for relevant passages in LaoTzu, Tao Te Ching

11/29 Being and Doing Good: Aristotle's Ethics

Read: Aristotle, excerpt, "Being and Doing Good," from Nicomachean Ethics

12/04 Doing a Presentation

Student Presentations

12/06 Doing a Presentation

Student Presentations

12/11 2nd Paper Due: Submit a hard copy to 325T, 9am-5pm

cf. Writing Samples: Five Examples: Scores 1-5, bad to good.

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