Things to do List: (Philosophy)
*** Ontario-wide contest: write an essay due May 25th *** see this writing guide
- check out this on if brains are like computers
Thursday. April 26* - Part B of the Pop Philosophy Essay Assignment
START NOW!! Read essays by and about your philosopher and connect them to your media in the outline, with quotes from both.
Hints on crafting an argument, Sample Essay #1, Sample Essay #2, Essay Rubric
*I said Friday was the new due date in class, because I'm away Thursday, but then I realized I can still mark them Friday morning if any come in on Thursday night!
- check out this on if brains are like computers
Thursday. April 26* - Part B of the Pop Philosophy Essay Assignment
START NOW!! Read essays by and about your philosopher and connect them to your media in the outline, with quotes from both.
Hints on crafting an argument, Sample Essay #1, Sample Essay #2, Essay Rubric
*I said Friday was the new due date in class, because I'm away Thursday, but then I realized I can still mark them Friday morning if any come in on Thursday night!
What We Did Today:
Wed. April 25 - Fri. April 27
- choose political philosophies to study - work on Politics Group Seminars
Read from the package AND see more readings here (scroll down under each name)
- Hobbes (7) - Gabe & Ben
- Locke (9) - Cody
- Rousseau (13) - Sophia & Alex
- Mill (15) - Yousif & Sam
- Marx (19) - Jacob & Sava
- Anarchy/Goldman (25) - Zack
Tues. April 24
- Plato's political philosophy
Mon. April 23
- political compass test
- some basic ideas around politics to get us all on the same page
- a cartoon on far left and right political thinkers
Fri. April 20
- discuss the midterm questions
Thurs. April 19
- example of pop philosophy seminar, Hedwig's Symposium
(scroll down here to see the bare bones PPT)
Wed. April 18
- midterm! Links to help with the first half of the course:
1. deon/teleos comparison,
2. ethics debates,
3. more compare and contrast (note: ignore Freud, Jung, or Confucius), and
4. What's on the midterm? - an editable doc where everyone can share their notes!
Jeopardy Game 1,
Jeopardy Game 2
ANSWERS to some discussion questions
Thurs. April 12 - Tues. April 17 (because Mon. is a snow day)
- jeopardy to review for the MIDTERM! (see the links above)
- FYI - Russell is sort of on the fence with rationalism and empiricism
- From here: "the whole bent of Russell’s mind in philosophy was an attempt to eliminate the a priori and to accentuate the empirical" but then here and here he wrote about the role rationalism also plays in our understanding of the world.
Wed. April 11
- quiz on the virtuous life and ethics
Mon. April 9
- go over all virtuous life and ethics philosophies
Wed. April 4 - Fri. April 6
- debating issues
Wed. March 28 - Tues. April 3
- start working on prepping for the debates - your philosopher determines your group
You'll have two days in class to...
* make a poster that clearly yet briefly gives a sense of the ethical theory
* make sure you're solid on the theory
* try to incorporate a couple very short quotations in your explanation
* make sure you can apply the theory to EACH of these issues: abortion, euthanasia, prostitution, capital punishment, animal welfare, censorship, drug use, exploitation of workers/prisoners, population control...
* If you have a group, you'll be graded as a group, but not everybody has to debate.
Tues. March 27
- timed writing
Mon. March 26
- overview and posters for each theory of the virtuous life - Which is best?
Fri. March 23
- existentialism
- Robert Solomon on existentialism
- existentialism in Rick and Morty (also see season 3 episodes 3 and 4)
Thurs. March. 22
- Taoism
- deontological vs teleological ethics
Wed. March 21
- Taoism
Tues. March 20
- Stoicism (Epictetus, mainly) - Here are more fun quotes!
- on Justice: Justice is subdivided into piety, honesty, equity, and fair dealing.
Mon. March 19
- Jesus
Fri. March 9
- random conversations about what will happen if cops try to stop St. Patrick's Day parties, a former student advocating for safe injection sites, the rise of addictions, suicide, and mental illness, and a new book, Lost Connections, which some took to task for its controversial anti-meds stance on depression
Thurs. March 8
- Jesus
- paradoxical commandments found on Mother Theresa's wall, Tolstoy's "The Godson" in full, and Peace Pilgrim
Wed. March 7
- Diogenes and the Cynics
- Aristippus and the Hedonists
- Epicurus (some of my thoughts on Epicurus are here)
Tues. March 6
- Socrates
- Plato
- check out this article on the Hamilton anarchist protest
Mon. March 5
- residual discussion on the ETHICS SURVEY
- how we do ethics in general - brainstorming
Thurs. March 1 - Fri. March 2
- ethics survey results --> The point of going over these is to practise argumentation skills so you're better prepared for Part C of the essay.
Wed. Feb. 28
- QUIZ
- then start ETHICS
Tues. Feb. 27
- Timed Writing: In a brief essay, tell me your epistemological position. What are your views on skepticism, rationalism, and empiricism; on universalism and relativism; and on free will (hard determinism, indeterminism and soft-determinism).
Mon. Feb. 26
- free will and determinism - three theories
Fri. Feb. 23
- discussion of the questions from the Ontario-wide contest (see above) and an off-topic discussion of philosophers who support slavery
- more universal/relativism
Thurs. Feb. 22
- Hume's arguments against rationalism
- universalism vs relativism/pragmatism
Wed. Feb. 21
- Descartes and Rationalism
- empiricism (finished the chart)
Tues. Feb. 20
- agreeing / arguing with Plato's allegory of the cave
Fri. Feb. 16
- more skepticism
- rationalism - Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"
- a cartoon about Socrates being wisest in all the land, and about Plato's cave
Thurs. Feb. 15
- choose philosophers for the ethics essay
- start Epistemology: skepticism
Wed. Feb. 14
- quiz on logic
- Plato's "Last Days of Socrates"
Tues. Feb. 13
- discuss found/created arguments
- take up find the fallacies handout
- look at a real argument for fallacies
- make posters on fallacies to help us with the quiz
Mon. Feb. 12
- introduce the first essay
- find fallacies in Lorna's argument
Fri. Feb. 9
- look at fallacious arguments
- find the fallacies (handout)
Thurs. Feb. 8
- finding premises and conclusions in 'real' arguments (Lorna's argument)
Wed. Feb. 7
- formal logic (answers)
- exercises just for fun: here, and here, and this gets into 'all' and 'some'
Tues. Feb. 6
- seating plan - on happiness discussion
- start logic - note and handout
Mon. Feb. 5
- find out about the course (handout)
- look at critical thinking (handout)
- HMWK: answer the questions above
- choose political philosophies to study - work on Politics Group Seminars
Read from the package AND see more readings here (scroll down under each name)
- Hobbes (7) - Gabe & Ben
- Locke (9) - Cody
- Rousseau (13) - Sophia & Alex
- Mill (15) - Yousif & Sam
- Marx (19) - Jacob & Sava
- Anarchy/Goldman (25) - Zack
Tues. April 24
- Plato's political philosophy
Mon. April 23
- political compass test
- some basic ideas around politics to get us all on the same page
- a cartoon on far left and right political thinkers
Fri. April 20
- discuss the midterm questions
Thurs. April 19
- example of pop philosophy seminar, Hedwig's Symposium
(scroll down here to see the bare bones PPT)
Wed. April 18
- midterm! Links to help with the first half of the course:
1. deon/teleos comparison,
2. ethics debates,
3. more compare and contrast (note: ignore Freud, Jung, or Confucius), and
4. What's on the midterm? - an editable doc where everyone can share their notes!
Jeopardy Game 1,
Jeopardy Game 2
ANSWERS to some discussion questions
Thurs. April 12 - Tues. April 17 (because Mon. is a snow day)
- jeopardy to review for the MIDTERM! (see the links above)
- FYI - Russell is sort of on the fence with rationalism and empiricism
- From here: "the whole bent of Russell’s mind in philosophy was an attempt to eliminate the a priori and to accentuate the empirical" but then here and here he wrote about the role rationalism also plays in our understanding of the world.
Wed. April 11
- quiz on the virtuous life and ethics
Mon. April 9
- go over all virtuous life and ethics philosophies
Wed. April 4 - Fri. April 6
- debating issues
Wed. March 28 - Tues. April 3
- start working on prepping for the debates - your philosopher determines your group
You'll have two days in class to...
* make a poster that clearly yet briefly gives a sense of the ethical theory
* make sure you're solid on the theory
* try to incorporate a couple very short quotations in your explanation
* make sure you can apply the theory to EACH of these issues: abortion, euthanasia, prostitution, capital punishment, animal welfare, censorship, drug use, exploitation of workers/prisoners, population control...
* If you have a group, you'll be graded as a group, but not everybody has to debate.
Tues. March 27
- timed writing
Mon. March 26
- overview and posters for each theory of the virtuous life - Which is best?
Fri. March 23
- existentialism
- Robert Solomon on existentialism
- existentialism in Rick and Morty (also see season 3 episodes 3 and 4)
Thurs. March. 22
- Taoism
- deontological vs teleological ethics
Wed. March 21
- Taoism
Tues. March 20
- Stoicism (Epictetus, mainly) - Here are more fun quotes!
- on Justice: Justice is subdivided into piety, honesty, equity, and fair dealing.
Mon. March 19
- Jesus
Fri. March 9
- random conversations about what will happen if cops try to stop St. Patrick's Day parties, a former student advocating for safe injection sites, the rise of addictions, suicide, and mental illness, and a new book, Lost Connections, which some took to task for its controversial anti-meds stance on depression
Thurs. March 8
- Jesus
- paradoxical commandments found on Mother Theresa's wall, Tolstoy's "The Godson" in full, and Peace Pilgrim
Wed. March 7
- Diogenes and the Cynics
- Aristippus and the Hedonists
- Epicurus (some of my thoughts on Epicurus are here)
Tues. March 6
- Socrates
- Plato
- check out this article on the Hamilton anarchist protest
Mon. March 5
- residual discussion on the ETHICS SURVEY
- how we do ethics in general - brainstorming
Thurs. March 1 - Fri. March 2
- ethics survey results --> The point of going over these is to practise argumentation skills so you're better prepared for Part C of the essay.
Wed. Feb. 28
- QUIZ
- then start ETHICS
Tues. Feb. 27
- Timed Writing: In a brief essay, tell me your epistemological position. What are your views on skepticism, rationalism, and empiricism; on universalism and relativism; and on free will (hard determinism, indeterminism and soft-determinism).
Mon. Feb. 26
- free will and determinism - three theories
Fri. Feb. 23
- discussion of the questions from the Ontario-wide contest (see above) and an off-topic discussion of philosophers who support slavery
- more universal/relativism
Thurs. Feb. 22
- Hume's arguments against rationalism
- universalism vs relativism/pragmatism
Wed. Feb. 21
- Descartes and Rationalism
- empiricism (finished the chart)
Tues. Feb. 20
- agreeing / arguing with Plato's allegory of the cave
Fri. Feb. 16
- more skepticism
- rationalism - Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"
- a cartoon about Socrates being wisest in all the land, and about Plato's cave
Thurs. Feb. 15
- choose philosophers for the ethics essay
- start Epistemology: skepticism
Wed. Feb. 14
- quiz on logic
- Plato's "Last Days of Socrates"
Tues. Feb. 13
- discuss found/created arguments
- take up find the fallacies handout
- look at a real argument for fallacies
- make posters on fallacies to help us with the quiz
Mon. Feb. 12
- introduce the first essay
- find fallacies in Lorna's argument
Fri. Feb. 9
- look at fallacious arguments
- find the fallacies (handout)
Thurs. Feb. 8
- finding premises and conclusions in 'real' arguments (Lorna's argument)
Wed. Feb. 7
- formal logic (answers)
- exercises just for fun: here, and here, and this gets into 'all' and 'some'
Tues. Feb. 6
- seating plan - on happiness discussion
- start logic - note and handout
Mon. Feb. 5
- find out about the course (handout)
- look at critical thinking (handout)
- HMWK: answer the questions above
