End of the semester

Another year, gone. And now it is time for me to award the House Cup....oops. No. Wrong movie. Instead I just turn in grades. They are done. If they are not what you were expecting email me to find out what gives. For the most part, grades were lowered because of missing words or missing work. Hopefully, you will be happy with the way things worked out. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. I plan on seeing many of you next semester - perhaps even all of you! It is a small world.

Tuesday classes

Okay, so for both classes now is the time to actually pick the movie we will watch for the final session. So please vote for a movie. Specify which class it is for! Plus today in History of Philosophy I, we are finishing the movie Luther.

Monday Logic

Notice that the syllabus has been updated and the Final is posted. Today's question was do you think modern media - TV and computer games - may skew young people's minds as they learn from cause and effect relationships?

History of Philosophy I from Tuesday

One student and I watched the first half of Luther. I don't think I came up with a question..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmcKlPyRxSM​

Holiday week

Because both the weather has been bad and half of the week is dedicated to a holiday celebration class attendance has been lower than usual (it almost always is this time of year!) But I was pleased we had so many at class this morning for Introduction to Philosophy! Terrific. We discussed Dewey and Wittgenstein. There were quite a few video clips that come in handy presenting these: Dewey on the Laboratory School (notice he speaks at the end of the short video.) For Wittgenstein we looked at several clips from the movie. The quiz question was what did Wittgenstein mean by Language Game? At the time that I am writing this I have no idea how many will make it to History of Philosophy I, but quite a few have emailed saying because of the roads they will not be here, but the topics I plan to cover are the same as listed for December 1: PCV2 to page 473. Lecture 26. Late Medieval Philosophy. John Duns Scotus William of Ockham Meister Eckhart since we have already "finished" with Aquinas. But it depends on who comes and how much we will do. But a quick quiz question is how did the Dunce Cap originate? Why is that ironic?

FMOOWMP

Very interesting video from ASU

Logic Wednesday

I do not recall asking a question today!

Tuesday classes

The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy today was compare the art represented by Existentialist Continental Europe (I showed some of Salome with American art - perhaps this? FOr History of Philosophy I, today the question was what do you think of the use made of Aquinas in this letter.

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was in chapter 10 page 495 question 3.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was What would be a good quiz question today? (Ha! On Existentialism - so you have to pick your own meaningful question! Get it?) For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today was Besides Philosophy is any other doctrine required?

Logic Wednesday

The quiz question for Logic today was to do problems 2, 3, and 4 on page 449 exercise I. (Change of Quantifier Rule.) Remember to turn in test 3 next week if you have not turned it in already. Once I have it I can grade it and you can see if you need to do more exercises for it. Meanwhile we are now going to try to catch up with the rest of the chapters.

Tuesday classes

The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy today was a complete the phrase question: Mill said It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. Better to be a dissatisfied Socrates than a satisfied ...... (I have actually had students disagree with the first part of this! Imagine!) What do you think of the main concern regarding the Guide to the Perplexed?

Test 3 for Logic

For Logic test 3 use all the rules of inference and replacement rules to complete the proofs from exercise IV starting on page 407 of the text. Do problems 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 32, 34, and 38. Bring them in on Wednesday on paper (the white flat stuff). Don't forget to put your name on each page!

Regarding tomorrow for Logic

The plan is that we go over exercises for test 3 for part of the class but leave a good hour for test 3. Since the weather is predicted to be snow, if we need to we can postpone the test again until Wednesday but we really should get it done! See you tomorrow. Drive or ride safely.

Thursday Classes

The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy today was do you think God is self-conscious? What would that mean? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today was how do you think a Muslim would live in a modern country yet still be true to their beliefs?

Wednesday Logic

There was no quiz question today but we continued doing exercises from the section that the questions for test 3 will be from on Monday. Doing exercises from page 407 through 411 will prepare you for the test. We will start on Monday doing a few more problems but then spend 60 minutes doing test 3.

Tuesday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was what do you think the man in the picture Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is thinking about? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today is What would a comparable life of contemplation be like today in contrast with those of Abelard, Hildegard, and John of Salisbury? Also, today because some students couldn't come because of the weather and road conditions I have attempted to post the videos of the lectures on my youtube account which you can reach from my main web page.

Monday Logic

The quiz question for today is to do problem 4 on page 395.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was the Detroit scenario This is a two part question. Part one, if you were observing this take place would your moral obligation be to interfere or not to interfere? Part two, what do you think you may have actually done? For History of Philosophy I, today the question is what has to come first, faith or understanding?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today is from page 373 problem 8. Also, since we are behind in the syllabus the next test will be postponed for one week. Instead of November 2nd it will be on November 9th.

Monday and Tuesday classes

Sorry I did not get to post anything for Logic yesterday but the quiz for Logic on Monday was complete the two exercise questions 3 and 4 on page 366 in section IV. For Tuesday Introduction to Logic the quiz question was how would you program a computer to insure it treated humans safely? To wit: here is a real problem for programmers today: smart cars programed to kill? Here is another article on this. And another. For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today should be who defines what true Christianity is?

Thursday classes

THe quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy this morning regarded the apparently greater success in English speaking countries of woman's equality and the possibility that what has helped enable this is the relative neutrality of the English language - literally in English most nouns are neuter. This is unlike many other languages - French for example. Notice this book by Pierre Bourdieu (it is translated here in English but he is referring to French and Kabyle society where nouns are all sexed.) So the question for you is, do you think this is a reasonable thesis? That the gender neutrality of English has helped the equality of the sexes in English speaking society? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today is concerned with Book XI Chapter 26 of Augustine's The City of God. Do you find his description of the Trinity convincing?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question for today was to do examples 2 - 4 on page 331. Simply indicate whether each is valid or invalid as the case may be. There is no need to send the whole truth table for each.

Tuesday classes

Today's quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy was if there was a teleporter that could take you where ever you wanted to go, would you use it to teleport yourself? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today concerns free will. If God created you to be free is it fair for God to punish you when you choose to do evil things? What if God knew all along what you were going to choose to do?

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was do examples 10 - 15 on page 297 - 298 exercise 7B.1. As an aside, what do you think the two examples of funny videos have in common in the way they are funny? Herding Cats and Jack Jack Attack

Thursday classes

The quiz question today for Introduction to Philosophy is the very famous question you must have in your philosophy class or you will feel cheated: If a tree falls in the forest and there is no body there to hear it does it make a sound? (If you want an interesting answer read the section introducing Berkeley in the text.) By the way, if you found the video of Amy Schumer - weird - notice she won the Emmy for her show just recently and she is today more famous than ever: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/arts/television/in-amy-schumer-live-at-the-apollo-tart-words-on-men-women-sex-and-herself.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0 For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today was who is your favorite Saint? On Tuesday please ask me about my favorite Saint when I was a kid. Hint, he was in the movie Agora!

Wednesday Logic

Today I returned test 2 to those who took it Monday. For those yet to take it please arrange with me a time to take the make up test. For those that took it but want to add points to their score please do make up work of the sort where you lost points and come show me the work along with your test paper so I can add the appropriate amount of points as you show me you have figured out what you did wrong. Easy! Meanwhile we moved on into the next chapter and have started the symbolic system. So please read on into chapter 7. No quiz question today! But if you like you can send me comments on what you think of this article.

Tuesday classes

Today's quiz in Introduction to Philosophy was do you think Einstein's Theory of Relativity is part of today's Bible? This is in agreement with Spinoza's argument that God is all of Nature and science is the way to find out God's true nature. In History of Philosophy I, today the quiz question is what do you think of Epictetus' Chapter 44 (page 528). Would his statements be more politically correct today? Or are both problematic?

Monday Logic

Today we did the practice test and then the test for Aristotelian Syllogisms. So there was no separate quiz question. For those that missed the test a makeup should be scheduled when you can take it.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question today was what rights do you think people naturally have? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today was do you think the variety of choices among the post-Aristotelians is similar to the choices we have today as Americans?

Wednesday Logic

Did I forget to give a quiz question today? But you might find this web page interesting: on Venn diagrams

Tuesday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question today was how is the earth like a clock? For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question is what kind of government do you think we have in the US today?

Monday Logic

Today's quiz question was give an example of an invalid syllogism that breaks rule 4 on page 252. Notice that breaking the rules of valid syllogisms are examples of what you should not do. Someone pointed out how odd it was that so much of the chapter concerns bad arguments that it seems we don't spend enough time constructing valid arguments.

Thursday classes

The quiz question today for Introduction to Philosophy concerns my suggestion that what contemporary science calls the forces in the universe are essentially what Aquinas was trying to describe with a much different vocabulary as angels. For History of Philosophy I, the quiz question today concerns the nature of Aristotle's Eudaimonia. For example, which would be a better example of this kind of happiness, enjoying this youtube clip, or finding out that there is water on Mars?

Wednesday Logic

Sorry this post is late but the web was down at CERC today. The quiz for today was to send me an example of a syllogism that breaks the rule illicit minor. Hope you are enjoying the snow.

Tuesday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was what movie would you like to see for the last class of the semester? (We watched the trailer from The Name of the Rose for example.) For History of Philosophy I the quiz question today was what experience would you say is more Eudaimonistic - watching the scene from Phantom of the Opera or finding out that there is water on Mars?

Monday Logic

Today the quiz question is what do you think of David Brooks opinion piece in the paper today? (We read this in class but here is the link.) We discussed Converse, Obverse and Contrapositive today and just began talking about how Existential Import will impact the modern interpretation of the Square of Opposition. Next class we should finish this and move on to syllogisms in the next chapter (6).

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question is what does it mean to be saved? As an explanation by one of my favorites I mentioned Josiah Royce and his book The Sources of Religious Insight Someone brought up another possible question too but I forget what it was. Anyone remember? In History of Philosophy we began our work on Aristotle. Quiz question: give me an example of a true categorical proposition / statement. Do you see how anything we say that could be either true or false would have to fit his description of categorical statements?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was what is your answer to Yali's question? (If you go to 2:20 on the video clip you will hit the question.) Meanwhile, notice we are moving ahead of the syllabus somewhat and already in chapter 5. Test 1 is due no later than midnight on the 28th.

Tuesday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was who do you think Jesus is? We begin looking at Saint Augustine's view Thursday. Also note that on the 29th of September you should bring colored pencils, or crayons, or something you could color with since we will spend some time listening to Gregorian Chant and coloring pages of scriptural illustrations to have a Medieval Experience! For History of Philosophy the quiz question concerns the conception of God - the craftsman - in the Timaeus. How do you view the conflict between science and religion concerning the definition of God? Some think Plato uses this book to give his version of Creation in the Bible. He claims it comes from the Egyptian wise men.

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was what are your thoughts regarding the selection of Inside Amy Schumer winning the Emmy for best writing in a variety show.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy this morning the quiz question is a scenario problem. You are a platoon leader taking your men on patrol in Vietnam. You have been giving out candy to children on your patrols in order to make friends. But the VC have discovered this and thought it a weakness. They have begun putting bombs on children and blowing them up when they mix with the platoons. You have been given orders to keep the children away from your platoon even if it means shooting them if they insist on coming too close. Your problem: will you order your men to shoot children or not? Children as suicide bombers? For History of Philosophy we should be discussing part two of the Republic. How do you insure the society you build is just? What would you like to be? Would you like to work for Amazon?

Wednesday class

For Logic the quiz question today was what fallacy do you think Steve Wright uses in his jokes? I think it would be called amphiboly. (I lost a button hole.) (I have a map of the US that is actual size. I live at E5.) I also mentioned Daniel Dennett's book Inside Jokes.

Tuesday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the question was who is Nichomachus? Since that is a really light question, how about saying what you think of Sam Harris' TED talk so far? We will pick up with that next class. For History of Philosophy the question concerns the ring of power. What would you do if you had such a ring?

Monday Logic

The quiz question for today is in preparation for our discussion of fallacies that I hope to start next class once we finish chapter 3. It is: who is your favorite comedian? I will make the comparison between jokes and fallacies since jokes seem to follow particular fallacy formats. The example I used quickly today was equivocation (what we call puns.)

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question today was tell me what your favorite song is (send me a link if you have one). My favorite song is this one as sung by Francois Hardy. How do we determine what defines a category? Is rap music or poetry? All horses are animals. Some terms are easier to define than others. The list of philosophers for term papers includes all of these: Living Philosophers Charles Murray Thomas Metzinger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Metzinger Owen Flanagan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Flanagan Joseph Margolis http://www.cla.temple.edu/philosophy/faculty/joseph-margolis/ Peter Sloterdijk http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113387/peter-sloterdijks-philosophy-gives-reasons-living Jurgen Habermas http://www.egs.edu/library/juergen-habermas/biography/ Sam Harris http://www.samharris.org/ Charles Taylor http://www.thenation.com/article/162667/sentimentality-or-honesty-charles-taylor# Alister McGrath http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mcgrath/ Daniel Dennett http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/index.html Martha Nussbaum http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/nussbaum/ Hilary Putnam http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~phildept/putnam.html Slavoj Zizek http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavoj-zizek/biography/ Alain Badiou http://www.egs.edu/faculty/alain-badiou/biography/ Peter Singer https://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/ David Chalmers http://consc.net/chalmers/ Judith Butler http://www.egs.edu/faculty/judith-butler/biography/ Fredric Jameson http://literature.duke.edu/people?Gurl=&Uil=812&subpage=profile A.C. Grayling http://www.acgrayling.com/ Anthony Kenny http://www.europaeum.org/europaeum/?q=node/1239 Philip Kitcher http://philosophy.columbia.edu/directories/faculty/philip-kitcher Frances Fukuyama http://fukuyama.stanford.edu/ Steven Pinker http://stevenpinker.com/ Mary Warnock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Warnock,_Baroness_Warnock Cornel West http://www.cornelwest.com/ Douglas Hofstadter http://www.soic.indiana.edu/people/profiles/hofstadter-douglas.shtml Susan Haack Tariq Ramadan Reza Aslan Bernard-Henri Levy Umberto Eco Patricia Churchland Paul Churchland Richard Dawkins Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Alvin Carl Plantinga Hans Kung Alasdair MacIntyre Completely Dead but still relatively recent philosophers Michel Foucault Edward Said Vine Deloria Jr. C. S. Lewis Richard Rorty John Rawls Robert Nozick Ronald Dworkin Hans-Georg Gadamer

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question for today (as I used earlier in Introduction to Philosophy) is an exciting one I think. Jesus comes to your home and knocks at the door. You know it is Him and you know He is God. He says that you should sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and then follow him. What do you do? Does this situation deal with facts? Values? Could we scientifically determine whether following Jesus would be the best choice?

Thursday classes

Talking about Platonic Idealism today using the approach of Stephen Hawking that is that we can create models or conceptions of the universe but they are limited and do not give us a true understanding of reality in itself. In much the same way I ask the quiz question does the earth go around the sun or does the sun go around the earth? Usually everyone has been raised to think of the heliocentric model as the way reality is and the geocentric model as false, but treating these as models we can understand them as both true in the context of their usefulness for us.

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was please give me a word you consider improper using in polite company, and why that is the case. We used the example of "Ginger" in class with Tim

Tuesday quiz questions

For Introduction to Philosophy today we began discussing the nature of the Soul and I referred to Stuart Hameroff who thinks consciousness is found in the microtubules in our neurons and means we have a quantum computer instead of a Turing machine as the seat of our soul. But my question to you is what do you think the soul is? Do you have one? Or like Steven Pinker do you think it is a side effect of brain activity?

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was what is your favorite example of the Monomyth?

Thursday classes

The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy is an exciting one I think. Jesus comes to your home and knocks at the door. You know it is Him and you know He is God. He says that you should sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and then follow him. What do you do? Do you go with him or do you argue with him? For History of Philosophy I the quiz question today should be the same as above since we are still overlapping at the beginning of these two courses.

Logic Wednesday

Regarding errors in the syllabus that I still cannot fix: Someone pointed out that there is no September 31. That is correct! It should read 30 instead. But in general we should progress through the book from front to back in sequence. Some places may bog us down and make us go slower but we should keep to that pace so we finish everything by the end of the course. I realize I forgot to ask a quiz question today but I can ask you to send me an example of a true statement - in sentence form of course. In general it would be great if someone reminds me to do a quiz question before we leave. Unless of course you are not present, so if you are not there don't remind me since it would mean you lose points.

Tuesday classes

Our first classes met today for Introduction to Philosophy and History of Philosophy I. As promised, the quiz question today was what are the ten commandments - for Introduction to Philosophy. For History of Philosophy I the quiz question is: what do you think about the thesis that there is moral progress? Here is the David Foster Wallace address to Kenyon College in 2005.

Logic

The quiz question today was what are the ten commandments? Please email me the ones you remembered as well as any thoughts you have regarding that discussion. If you are curious, notice I have further comments on the subject posted here: Favorite Commandments and here. I am also interested in any thoughts you may have had on the introduction. I checked with the Bookstore yesterday and the order for the text was not completely sent by the publisher but the remaining texts should arrive either today or tomorrow.

The End of the Tour

So I am seriously steamed with David Foster Wallace. Kat and I watched The End of the Tour today at the Century 16 and it was just like his book The Infinite Jest. Smart, witty, and profoundly in need of my help. Weren't there any philosophy professors in his life that could have gotten him over the unhappy consciousness stage of development? Hegel described this back in 1807 for goodness sake. Kierkegaard famously got trapped in it. It must feel so good to some people to be so depressed. Heck, I remember that period in my own life. It really was exhilarating in its own despair. But thanks to good teachers they guided me through it. What is depressing me now, and making me angry with Wallace, is why we know how to do this but fail for so many young people. Grrr.

We're baaaaaack!

So summer is still here but we are back in school anyway. If you live in or near Anchorage we also have the State Fair in Palmer coming soon which always seems to have the same fall/ windy / rainy weather each year. But so far I got to go on a walking tour of the main UAA campus with a group of students getting their official welcome to UAA tour. Then today I got to meet a room full - mostly returning students who know me - to give a presentation on professionalism. Yes! Moi! But so if you are interested some links I used included my page on plagiarism with a focus on two sites - the dialectizer - and the postmodern generator. My main point included realizing we have different vocabularies that are appropriate in different contexts and professionalism entails recognizing the context and speaking fluently in the vocabulary of that context without using vocabulary that is not considered appropriate to that context. And the most important skill we pick up is how to use the correct process and apply it to the database of information relevant to that context. So, learn how to do research papers and use the appropriate tools the correct ways - and voila - you have success! Notice from one context to another these tools may change. A second source I used to make these points included Robing Williams explaining the invention of golf. We talked about why his use of power words was obviously appropriate in that context but why the same expressions and style would be inappropriate in others. The second example of this was George Carlin talking about the seven words you can't use on TV. What an incredibly appropriate resource for talking about professionalism! Thanks George. Well, welcome back everyone.

And we are in to summer...

I have one more function for Spring 2015 which will be tomorrow - that is the AMCS graduation which I really enjoyed last year and look forward to tomorrow. But meanwhile I already have at least two people active on my summer web course and so I have already sent out the welcome letter to the course and posted the dialog and the suggested list of philosophers for the term paper. I also have a collection of books I plan on working on myself this summer. Some are huge tomes - like Stephen Jay Gould's The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Others are smaller but also difficult - so Into the Cool is going to be a challenge. So far the only trouble has been the early onset of the mosquitoes!

Last classes

My classes have all met for their last sessions and except for grading work, and attending graduation, this semester is complete. Vertig, Finit, Zdellano. But we have the debate Thursday evening. Graduations are always fun. And there is always yard work.

Tuesday Classes

The quiz question for both Introduction to Philosophy and History of Philosophy today was what movie should we watch for the final session? Please let me know what you would like to watch and discuss if you are going to attend. If you are not planning on being there you could let me know that. Remember the final session is mandatory for me but not for you if you have a conflict with one of your other finals.

Logic Monday

The quiz question today was can science determine if there is a best religion?

Thursday Classes

For History of Philosophy the quiz question today was what example of the Monomyth is your favorite? For Introduction to Philosophy the question was what do you think Wittgenstein learned from the experience with the bike riders?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was critique the analogical arguments in the Monty Python Witch trial scene.

Tuesday classes

For both classes today the quiz question was what do you think of the quote comparing scientists to philosophers?

Logic Monday

Is a two dimensional world possible? See Flat Land the movie, or Flat Land the book.

Thursday classes

Have you ever seen the Gutenberg Bible? Quiz question for History of Philosophy. For Introduction to Philosophy my question was what do you think of how philosophy, art, culture, politics, are all interrelated?

Logic class

There was no quiz today instead we spent the session going over test 3. Monday we move on to the next chapters in the text.

Tuesday classes

For History of Philosophy I asked what do you think of Frances Fukuyama. For Introduction to Philosophy I asked what do you think of Slavoj Zizek.

Monday Logic

We worked on the test today for this section. The problems are from page 408 #18, from page 409 #s 20, 22, 24, 28 and from page 410 #s 32, 34 and 38. You can turn them in on Wednesday.

Thursday classes

The quiz question for today for History of Philosophy was which philosopher we covered today did you find most interesting? We finished Wittgenstein and then covered Isaiah Berlin, Charles Taylor, and Michael Ignatieff. For Introduction to Philosophy we covered Kierkegaard and the question was What would you die for? Or is there anything you can imagine being willing to die for? (Does that point the way to what is most meaningful in your life?)

Logic Wednesday

Please note that the third test will be on Monday. The quiz question / homework problem for today was problem 31 page 409.

Tuesday Classes

Do you have a private language? That is the quiz question for History of Philosophy - following Wittgenstein. You may need to take the link to see what it is about since we didn't discuss it much. For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was would you push the fat man off the bridge? Here is a questionnaire you could take to participate I guess.

Logic Monday

Note that the next test will not be on Wednesday since we are not ready for it yet. Perhaps Monday. The homework / quiz this evening is problem 2 page 408.

Thursday Classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was do you think God has a consciousness? In History of Philosophy the quiz question was describe your phenomenal experience while watching a movie or reading a book.

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question / homework for today was to do problem number 8 on page 373. This is a word problem that you translate into symbols and then use the four rules to prove valid.

Tuesday Classes

The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy concerned the death of a young woman in Detroit and your hypothetical reaction to it had you been there 1: what do you think your categorical imperative would have been? 2: what do you think you might actually have done? For History of Philosophy the quiz question was can you invent new grammar? (Was that the right question?) No! While we discussed that question and your responses would be interesting, I framed another question that would be the quiz question: Florescent lights operate on the same frequencies as the human brain. Do you think this correlation has anything to do with the migraines we sometimes get when bright lights are shown on us for long periods of time?

Monday Logic

The quiz question / homework this evening was to do problem 7 on page 367.

Lera Boroditsky

This video interview with Lera is from 2010 but I find it exciting none the less because she emphasizes that the current thinking on the Sapir Whorf hypothesis has swung back to the pro side. But a recent discussion led me to wonder if Aristotelian Categorical Statements are the Western requirement for true / false statements being identifiable as true or false (That is the A, E, I, O statement forms) and those categorical statements require the linguistic copula for their structure, but then if a language like Chinese does not have a copula, how do languages like Chinese interpret true and false? A second issue I think similar to the first concerns the human universality of music as a language. Would Beethoven being almost universally appreciated - except perhaps in countries were music is illegal - haram!, does that mean .... what regarding Sapir-Whorf?

Thursday classes

The quiz question for History of Philosophy was what is your favorite Mel Brooks movie scene? The quiz question for Introduction to Philosophy was which performance played the piece correctly? Rostropovich or Yo Yo Ma?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was to answer number 6 on page 363.

Tuesday classes

For History of Philosophy the quiz question was what do you think of this art http://www.dennis-oppenheim.com/web/artwork/content/images/img_59.jpg - what does it mean? How do you interpret it? For Introduction to Philosophy there were two questions today. The first was have you ever been saved (in the religious sense of the word) and what does that mean to you? A second question is the famous - if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it does it make a sound? Heck, you have to have a chance to answer that question!

Monday Logic - welcome back after Spring Break!

The quiz question today was to give an example of a true statement of the form "if and only if".

Thursday classes - now Spring Break

For both classes today I asked the quiz question what are your plans for spring break? I think that is a happy question! I plan on reading 15 books and posting my reviews on Amazon!

Logic Wednesday

Since we started off today discussing the symbolic system there was no specific quiz question but I would be interested in thoughts you might have regarding the differences in ways of knowing, such as comparing Native ways of knowing and what we might call Western Science.

Logic test 2

Test 2 is posted here.

Tuesday Classes

History of Philosophy discussed Utilitarianism today and the quiz question was a fill in the blank - Better to be a dissatisfied human than a happy pig, better to be a dissatisfied Socrates than a happy what? But what do you think of the idea that some people deserve more than others because of their quality? For Introduction to Philosophy today the question was on the issue of the mind as a blank slate.

Monday Logic

No quiz question today since we mostly worked on the practice test for test 2. Some also did test 2, and others are continuing to work on test 2. (Notice the test is actually labeled test 1 since they were previously printed before the first test this semester.)

Thursday Classes

For History of Philosophy the quiz question was what is your favorite leitmotiv written by John Williams? For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question today was what do you think of pantheism?

Wednesday Logic

The question posed today in Logic was do you feel ready for the second test? If so please let me know and depending on the vote we will have the second test a day ahead of plan - that is we will do test 2 on Monday instead of Wednesday next week.

Tuesday classes

How do you combat an unhappy consciousness? That was the quiz question for History of Philosophy. For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was what rights do you think should be considered inalienable? (Notice this question is similar to question four in test two.)

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was diagram AAO-1 and explain what rule it breaks.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was does the earth go around the sun or does the sun go around the earth? For History of Philosophy today the question was which kind of life do you think is better - life here in Anchorage or life in an Islamist state like ISIS? (Notice this seems to suggest either belief in moral progress (relativity) or moral absolutism.

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was to diagram an argument given on the board.

Tuesday classes

The quiz question for History of Philosophy today concerned Max Weber's thesis that Protestantism and (industrial) Capitalism were linked. In Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was what do you think angels are?

Monday Logic - Presidents Day

The quiz question today was to do two problems from the exercise on page 200: numbers 8 and 14. Notice the directions for this exercise follow the explanation of section H. Venn Diagrams and the Traditional Square. By the way, the music I mentioned is from the Faroe Islands which strikes me as having a relationship to the music in other arctic groups. To see Eivor go really wild have a listen here.

On bullshit

This is a link to remember: http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/ Or Bullshit

Thursday classes

For History of Philosophy the question was do you agree with Sam Harris or disagree? For Introduction to Philosophy the question was do you find the Ontological Argument of Anselm persuasive?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question for today was: give a true (or false) statement you hear someone make and explain which type of categorical statement it is, A, E, I, or O.

Tuesday classes

History of Philosophy the quiz question was how do you know you have a persistent self? For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was do you think studying the history of religion undercuts faith in religion?

Monday Logic

The quiz question today was who do you think is the most beautiful woman in the world?

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was do you meditate? And if so, do you ever feel connected to the universe? This goes with Plotinus who reported he succeeded in doing that four times. Lots of folks mention using his techniques still today. For History of Philosophy the quiz question today was to examine the relationship between Leibniz and Lady Conway - where letters between them seem to show that Lady Conway came up with his idea of the Monad but yet she received no recognition for it. This seems to be a pretty regular pattern. Why do women seldom get recognized for their scientific achievements? See this page and read the last line for the connection.

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today was based on the short TED talk by Sam Harris and is related to question five in the posted test for test 1: do you think Sam Harris is right?

Tuesday classes

For History of Philosophy the question today was how do you reconcile the conclusion of Leibniz that this is the Best of All Possible Worlds with your own experience? In Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question today was pretty close to question 5 on the first test - but meant to be a focus on which of those philosophers we read today that you may find a good guide to a happy life. It seems a particularly important question to me today since teaching values as part of a religious narrative is discouraged in our public school system, yet values are embedded in historically traditional religion, leaving young people with no formal training in ethics and values unless they receive it somewhere else. Some of those philosophers in the post Aristotelian period are often interpreted as presenting values that may be viewed as secular.

Monday Logic

Today the question in logic was name your favorite commercial (it does not have to be from the superbowl) and explain what the commercial argues for.

Thursday classes

For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was what is your favorite joke? (For fun you might look up logical fallacies and try to figure out which fallacy is the form your joke takes.) For History of Philosophy the quiz question today was a scenario question. Do you think the young man was guilty?

Wednesday Logic

Quiz question for today had to do with the difference between what we might call the emotional versus rational - give a statement you think represents a rational thought, and then give a statement that you think expresses an emotional feeling or thought. How would you describe the difference between them?

Tuesday classes

In History of Philosophy the quiz question today concerned Spinoza and the question was if you were a pantheist how would that change your morality? (Hint, this is essentially the basis for separation of church and state.) For Introduction to Philosophy the question was what would you consider Eudaimonia?

Logic Monday

The quiz question today was what is your favorite music? Please send me a link along with your explanation.

Thursday Classes

Today in History of Philosophy the quiz question was what rights do you think should be considered inalienable? In Introduction to Philosophy the question today was what was the name of Aristotle's father (and son)? So who do you think the Ethics book was named in honor of?

Wednesday Logic

The quiz question today is meant to highlight the difference between arguments that logic can help and those disagreements that are more verbal disagreements - do you think abortion is murder?

Tuesday classes

UAA had no classes for Monday because of the holiday. Today my History of Philosophy class we discussed Descartes and the mechanistic view of the world. Thursday we will continue this with a look at Hobbes. So my question for the quiz today was if we are mechanical bodies what motivates us to do things? That is, if we are machines, what drives us to behave the way we do? In Introduction to Philosophy we talked about Socrates and Plato and the quiz question was Do you have a soul? And if so, what is it? Easy questions!

Copernicus meets Sophie

In Sophie's World at 1:44:12 Sophie is briefly introduced to Copernicus.

Thursday classes

In History of Philosophy today the quiz question was do you have a soul? If you discussed this in History of Philosophy I, notice now in History of Philosophy II we are looking at things following Galileo and are seeing the beginnings of the mechanistic view of the universe. How is Descartes going to explain the interaction of the mind and body? For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question for today was the scenario where Jesus comes to your door, tells you to sell all you have and give the money to the poor, then follow Him. Do you go? Or do you argue with Jesus? (Hypothetically, you know this is really Jesus and you know He is God.) If you are interested in Sophie's World here is an apparently free on line link to it with English subtitles

Logic quiz

The quiz question for today was another one of my favorites: Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth? To see an interesting explanation of why both can be considered true visit this page

Philosophers for term paper assignments

Living Philosophers Charles Murray Thomas Metzinger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Metzinger Owen Flanagan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Flanagan Joseph Margolis http://www.cla.temple.edu/philosophy/faculty/joseph-margolis/ Peter Sloterdijk http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113387/peter-sloterdijks-philosophy-gives-reasons-living Jurgen Habermas http://www.egs.edu/library/juergen-habermas/biography/ Sam Harris http://www.samharris.org/ Charles Taylor http://www.thenation.com/article/162667/sentimentality-or-honesty-charles-taylor# Alister McGrath http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mcgrath/ Daniel Dennett http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/index.html Martha Nussbaum http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/nussbaum/ Hilary Putnam http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~phildept/putnam.html Slavoj Zizek http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavoj-zizek/biography/ Alain Badiou http://www.egs.edu/faculty/alain-badiou/biography/ Peter Singer https://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/ David Chalmers http://consc.net/chalmers/ Judith Butler http://www.egs.edu/faculty/judith-butler/biography/ Fredric Jameson http://literature.duke.edu/people?Gurl=&Uil=812&subpage=profile A.C. Grayling http://www.acgrayling.com/ Anthony Kenny http://www.europaeum.org/europaeum/?q=node/1239 Philip Kitcher http://philosophy.columbia.edu/directories/faculty/philip-kitcher Frances Fukuyama http://fukuyama.stanford.edu/ Steven Pinker http://stevenpinker.com/ Mary Warnock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Warnock,_Baroness_Warnock Cornel West http://www.cornelwest.com/ Douglas Hofstadter http://www.soic.indiana.edu/people/profiles/hofstadter-douglas.shtml Susan Haack Tariq Ramadan Reza Aslan Bernard-Henri Levy Umberto Eco Patricia Churchland Paul Churchland Richard Dawkins Mostly dead but not completely dead philosophers Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Alvin Carl Plantinga Hans Kung Alasdair MacIntyre Completely Dead but still relatively recent philosophers Michel Foucault Edward Said Vine Deloria Jr. C. S. Lewis Richard Rorty John Rawls Robert Nozick Ronald Dworkin Hans-Georg Gadamer

Spring 2015 start

I have now met all my classes for the first time and things look great for a wonderful semester! I said I would post quiz questions here. The first question in two classes is my favorite: what are the ten commandments? (How many can you remember?) For my History of Philosophy class the question was another one of my favorites: Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth? I think both are fun questions. Usually, in previous semesters since I have started using the blog to post thins, others have not used it to respond. I am not sure if it is difficult to do or if it just doesn't seem an interesting place to add comments. But remember if you wish, it should be set up for you to click comment and type your thoughts if you like.