Tuesday Classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was in two parts: Who is the fool Anselm mentions? And two, how convincing do you think the Ontological argument is? In History of Philosophy the question concerns how reading Aristotle strikes you? Is this your first experience reading a text of this nature? (Probably not) but do you find it difficult? Boring? Easy to follow?

Thursday's classes

Have you ever been saved? That is the quiz question for my Introduction to Philosophy class. Keep in mind by "saved" I mean the religious sense. And you might describe what being saved means as part of your answer. By the way, my favorite explanation of that is in The Sources of Religious Inspiration by Josiah Royce EIO-3 is a syllogism Is it valid or invalid? That is the quiz question for my History of Philosophy class today.

Tuesday's classes

The question for History of Philosophy is "What is your favorite paradox?" For Introduction to Philosophy my question concerns your opinion of who Jesus was.

Friday's Logic class

I gave two syllogisms to evaluate by first writing them out, then diagramming them using Venn diagrams to see if they were valid or not, and then if they were invalid (and as I recall I selected two that would be invalid) describing what rules they break. I don't remember which ones I selected so I will have to wait and see what everyone starts sending in! If you find this a difficult task, even following the book as you work on them, realize we still have half of next class to go over these some more before the test. The test will be the last 40 minutes of next Friday's class. Things have settled down and as I count I have a total of 110 students in my four classes this semester. As usual this means I will have a hard time getting to know everyone on a name basis but I will try. Those who ask the most questions are usually the ones I get to know so please feel free to ask questions.

Thursday's classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today the quiz question was scenario based: you are a platoon leader and have been ordered to shoot anyone approaching the platoon while on patrol, even children. Do you follow your orders or do you refuse to shoot the children? In History of Philosophy the question was what would you do with your wealth if you had all you needed = how would you use it to live a life of happiness?

Tuesday's classes

For Introduction to Philosophy today I asked who Nicomachus was. In History of Philosophy I asked if there is such a thing as a good lie. I have already been receiving good responses to both. What do you think of my method of asking quiz questions in class?

Snappy

Interesting pictorial dictionary

Logic on Friday

Since this was a double session there were two quiz questions. The first session I asked does the sun go around the earth or does the earth go around the sun? I tried to explain the model interpretation of these theories. If you are curious see Stephen Hawking for how he explains that in The Grand Design. The second half the quiz question was send me a link to a youtube skit of your favorite comic and explain why you think it is funny.

Thursday classes

For the Introduction to Philosophy classes the quiz question is: give a true statement. Keep the Traditional Square of Opposition in mind when doing this and indicate which type of statement your true statement is. For History of Philosophy I the quiz question is: Are some people better than others? For class discussions we seem to be following along with the syllabi fairly well. Keep in mind that the more you read of the selections the more the discussions will interest you and bring up aspects to talk about.

Tuesday classes

Today for Introduction to Philosophy we moved into the Republic and started looking at the implications of Plato's theory of knowledge as it applies to Justice and the State. The quiz question is: do you think some people are better than others? For History of Philosophy I we discussed the Apology, the Oracle, interpretation theory applied to Greek Philosophy including interpretations of the Gospels (briefly). See Hyam Maccoby for an interpretation of Jesus as a revolutionary. I didn't mention this in class but HM also wrote Paul and the Invention of Christianity which also in a way came up. The question was poorly constructed but basically was name something the government does that is against your will. Do you resist - civil disobedience - or cooperate for the best interest of the community?

Thursday and Friday class notes

As usual the pace we set in class is slower than the syllabus, but we do have to keep up, so please keep reading the text according to the syllabus directions. If the pages do not match the edition of the text you have, you can go by the titles of the articles as well. For Introduction to Philosophy on Thursday the quiz question was Do you have a Soul, and how would you describe what you mean by Soul? For History of Philosophy I we went over the Euthyphro and the question I pose is a hypothetical where you imagine Jesus comes to your door, asks that you sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and then follow Him. Would you go or would you argue or ask questions? Is the pious pious because the Gods love it or do the Gods love the pious because it is so pious? For Friday in Logic I asked two questions from the same set of exercises: on page 102 question 6 and on page 104 question 14. Remember for quiz questions email me your responses. By the way, feel free to email me regarding other things, questions about your readings, or whatever.