Monday evening Logic

We met for our first class for Introduction to Logic this evening for a marathon from 5:30 to 9:55. I introduced the class, the syllabus, the tests, quizzes, the first quiz of which was does the earth go around the sun or does the sun go around the earth? One of my favorites! This was to introduce the concept of Model Dependent Realism which was explained by Stephen Hawking and Mlodinow in their book The Grand Design. The second quiz question was what are the ten commandments, another favorite. Here the question concerned how we remember or forget things. My argument was that we remember narration but have a hard time with techinical information. There were other videos we watched: a part of a discussion between Francis Fukuyama and Charles Murray, a short by George Carlin on the ten commandments, and there is my version of the tc, and even a short by Eddie Izzard with regard to the Dutch. We ended the evening with a TED talk by James Flynn. I made two class videos and they are posted here and here. Next week we do not have class for the holiday. We meet again in two weeks.

Grades shoukd be on UAA online

All course grades for Spring 18 should be posted online now. If you have any questions about your grade calculations please email me.

Final session for Friday

For our final session we watched and discussed the movie Luther which depicts the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. I asked everyone what they would recommend I do to make the class harder for the next group but the vote was not to change a thing! Please remember to have all work sent in by Tuesday of next week at the absolute oatest or it will not go towards your grade. Have a great summer!

Final session for Introduction to Philosophy

Today we had our final session for Introduction to Philosophy and a pretty large group came to watch and discuss The Circle. Remember to send in all work by this evening! Have a great summer and thanks for taking the class with me.

Finals Week Tuesday

Today was the final session for Early Modern Philosophy and we met and watched the movie The Circle which we discussed while we watched. A very philosophical and thought provoking movie! Remember that all materials are due this evening for this course. Thursday will be a repeat at 1 PM for the last session of Introduction to Philosophy.

Last class before finals

On Thursday for the last class before finals for Early Modern Philosophy we discussed trends in European Philosophy from Heidegger thru Alain Badiou and others. The goal was to familiarize everyone with who is who - like Zizek for instance. Some like Bernard Henri-Levy have much political influence. I did not get to Peter Sloterdijk but I should have. The video is posted here. The quiz question was ? For Introduction to Philosophy the quiz question was which French singer do you like? The topic was the Social Constructor and what did you think of the course... The video is posted here. Remember next week for both of these courses there is only one meeting - not two, but that meeting begins at 1 for both. Since I am going to show the movie The Circle and discuss it in both sessions you are welcome to come to either Tuesday or Thursday if one meets your schedule better than the other. For the last class for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy the first half we discussed Dun Scotus and William of Occam (notice there are at least three different spellings of his name Ockham. Also famous for his "razor". The video is posted here. For the second half of the session we began watching the movie Luther which we will watch the rest of the way next week on Fricay evening when we meet for the last time. Quiz question was do you think Trump has read Machiavelli's THe Prince?

Early Modern Philosophy and Introduction to Philosophy lecture 27

Today in early Modern Philosophy we discussed Daniel Dennett. The video is posted here and the quiz question was what kind of conception of God do you use to either affirm or deny? In Introduction to Philosophy today we discussed which culture had more impact on US more, Greece or Rome? We watched a portion of the Intelligence Squared debate posted on the syllabus up to about half way through Mary Beard's presentation. Following that the video is posted here. The quiz question was which side do you vote for? Greece or Rome?