Introduction to Philosophy lectures 9 and 10 evening

This evening we went over Nietzsche for the first portion of class and the definition of God for the second half. The class opted to skip break and so there was only one video covering a portion of the first half. It is here. Please have a look at the Tuesday and Thursday classes for the videos from those days if you missed. The quiz questions were what do you think about being an Uber Mensch? And what positive things resulted from the Middle Ages?

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 10

Today we discussed the definition of God starting with the Ontological Argument of Anselm. The quiz question was What positive things do we have from the medieval ages? The video is here.

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 9

Today we discussed Nietzsche's article from Beyond Good and Evil. The lecture video is here. The quiz question was what do you think of being an Uber Mensch?

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 7 and 8 evening

This evening we went over the Schopenhauer article and this enabled me to discuss the Hume - Kant - Hegel sequence so we could see what Schopenhauer was critiquing. The quiz question for this part of the evening was what do you think is the most beautiful art? Next we talked about abortion and relatively new issues in medicine and science and their impacts on society. The quiz question was do you think pheromones should be sold in colognes and perfumes or should it be illegal? Two videos from this evening are on my youtube page they are here and here.

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 8

Today we discussed A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson, a famous article that may have influenced the Roe v. Wade decision two years later. The quiz question was do you think it should be legal for people to use pheromones in their colognes and perfumes? I forgot to turn on the camera for class! I will try to make sure I get the video of the same lecture for my Friday night session and post that.

Introduction to Philososphy lecture 7

Today we discussed the philosophy of art looking at an article by Schopenhauer who thinks that art clears the mist. We looked at several videos and compared them. Some from Sleeping Beauty, and others from Beauty and the Beast. In contrast there was Roger Scruton who critiques faking it, and we discussed kitsch in art including Odd Nerdrum who sat on a panel discussion with Sir Roger. The quiz question was what do you think is the most beautiful art. I did video the class though the batteries needed changing midway, so there are two. Here and here.

Introduction to Philosophy lectures 5 and 6

This evening we covered lectures five and six. I did make videos of most of this evening with a break in the middle while the camera uploaded the first video. Lecture five is here and lecture six is here. The quiz questions are the same as the previous two blog posts but the first was how can you know that someone is a witch and the second is what is your happiest memory.

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 6

Today we discussed Richard Rorty's Love and Money including along the way a summary of the Four Loves by C. S. Lewis, and a summary of Leibniz'view of the universe as the Best of all Possible Worlds. (This included a bit regarding Voltaire's Candide - we watched a bit of Kristen Chenowith singing the aria Glitter and be Gay from Bernstein's American musical based on Candide - and note that Dr Pangloss is - everyone knows - meant as Leibniz.) In defense of Leibniz' argument I suggest the position of Brian Greene describing this universe as the only one in the multiverse that can support planets, suns, and life, as essentially what Leibniz would mean as well. So God loves the world and us making everything possible but not in the sense that everyone has everything they would like = which is impossible even for God. Going back to Rorty the amazing point he makes which he admits is depressing but none the less what we have to get used to, is the realization that technology is not going to overcome the Malthusian theory that plague, famine, war, and so on, are all part of God's nature and so we should give up on "The South" by which Rorty means the southern hemisphere - but including places like India where families follow the Weberian argument that they need at least eight children to have at least two boys to carry on the family. Depressing. So what about happiness and love? Does love require money? My quiz question is what is your happiest memory? And others I mentioned along the way to depression included Thomas Piketty, Thomas Malthus, and who else? Malcolm Gladwell, the Beatles, and someone mentioned The News. Oh, and I totally forgot to turn on the camera today. Hence my attempt at a more encompassing summary of what I brought up in class.

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 5

Today we discussed how we know we know. The Meno, Aristotle's tablet metaphor, Augustine's reply to the skeptic, and Descartes. Added to this, A. C. Grayling was the philosopher whose video discussing China today, the nature of the mind, and the importance of reading, all were mentioned. The quiz question today in homage to the Monty Python was how can you tell someone is a witch? Well, for some if they weigh as much as a duck then they are made of wood. The video is here.

Introduction to Philosophy Friday evening session

This evening we discussed Susan Wolf's The Meaning of Lives and then Thomas Nagel's What is it like to be a bat? The first session video is here and the second here. The quiz question for the first part was what is your metanarrative, or the narrative you use for your life. The second question was does the earth go around the sun or does the sun go around the earth? Or what other way do you explain it?

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 4

Today we talked about the nature of consciousness using the text by Thomas Nagel - What is it like to be a bat? I did video the class though I started a few minutes late. The video is posted here. The quiz question for today was with regard to model dependent reality. I mentioned Stephen Hawking's relatively new book The Great Design. I asked does the earth go around the sun or does the sun go around the earth?

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 3

Today we discussed Susan Wolf's article The Meaning of Lives which led to a discussion of Jesus' request from the previous quiz question and various interpretations of what makes a life full of meaning or not. I did start a video recording of the class but the batteries died after 13 minutes so I will try again Friday night when I repeat the lecture for my other section. But for the first 13 minutes the video is here. But heck, it ends even before we got into the main point of the discussion...

Why Roger Scruton?

When asked which contemporary philosopher I most thought thought along the same lines that I do, the first philosopher that occurred to me was Sir Roger Scruton. This little video of a discussion with him regarding his book How to be a Conservative strikes me as answering my own question why I do think this way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eD9RDTl6tM In short, I think he is a rebel. He naturally rebelled as a youth (and so did I) but what we rebelled against was the wave of rebellion in our youth against the status quo. But we learned what the values are that we thought important and identified with the status quo as a result. So to rebel we had to rebel against those who where rebelling against what made our civilization so great. Well, heck, that is me right there.

Introduction to Philosophy lecture 1 and 2 Friday evening

This evening we covered lecture 1 and lecture 2 which I have posted on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. Please see those two earlier posts for the quiz questions for part 1 and part 2 and notice I have links to the videos I made in each of those classes as well in case you missed class this evening. I tried to stick pretty close to the same things in those two classes as the two halves this evening.