For Monday, 3/16:
Emile, Book I (General Principles and Infancy)
Pg. 37 — through last paragraph on pg. 42
Last paragraph on pg. 50 — to end of first paragraph on pg. 54
Second full paragraph on pg. 59 — through the paragraph on pg. 68 beginning “The spirit of these rules…”
(~19 pgs)
For Wednesday, 3/18:
Emile, Book II (Emile aged 5 – 12)
Pg. 77 — through the bottom of pg. 87
The paragraph beginning “In thus taking away…” on pg. 116 — through the paragraph beginning “You raise as an objection…” on pg. 121
(~15 pgs)
For Friday, 3/20:
Emile, Book III (Emile aged 12 – 15)
Pg. 165 — through the last full paragraph on pg. 175
First full paragraph on pg. 203 — end of pg. 208
(~17 pgs)
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For Monday, 3/2:
Reading: We will continue discussing Hegel’s “Lordship and Bondage” today. There is no new reading for this week.
Blog Post: Your blog post this week must draw on a resource external to class. Examples of this are news article relating to education or personal identity, works of literature, texts or concepts you are looking at in other classes, a film or television show that deals with our themes, etc. Additionally, your post must include at least one picture and at least one link to another website.
For Wednesday, 3/4:
Response: Your reading response for this week will be a little unusual. I want you to come up with three questions that fall into the following categories: broad, thematic questions that get us thinking about our themes and allow us to draw on the philosophers we’ve read so far; explicitly comparative questions that point to connections between our readings; and lingering questions about ideas in our texts that are still opaque to you. This response will be due Wednesday, and we will spend that day discussing your questions.
Examples: 1) Personal identity for Kant seems much more stable than it is as a result of Locke’s conception, since Locke’s identity depends on memory. What are the benefits (or drawbacks) of thinking about identity as something stable rather than shifting? 2) Kant and Hegel both seem to valorize conceptual knowledge (knowledge of universals), though Kant at least emphasizes the importance of sensible experience (“intuition,” in his terms). How does this compare to the different types of knowledge Aristotle laid out in his Nicomachean Ethics? 3) In the ancient authors, individual identity doesn’t seem to be stressed. The only place it seems to fit in is in determining one’s place in society based in a set character. In the Enlightenment-era thinkers, individual identity is regarded as the basis of knowledge. Discuss this contrast.
For Friday, 3/6:
Writing Workshop: On Monday I will provide some general prompts for our short paper #2. On Friday you will need to bring in a specific thesis and a general outline of your paper. (More detail is fine, but at least have a thesis and some ideas on how you will support it.)
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For 2/9:
Paper specifications can be found here, and under course documents. Reading selections from Locke to be announced Friday.
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For 2/2 – 2/6: Aristotle readings are available online via the Past Masters collection at: http://web.library.emory.edu/library-materials/databases-ebooks-ejournals/databases/p/past-masters.php
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READINGS FROM THE REPUBLIC, 1/26 – 1/30:
For Monday, 1/26:
the problem, the experiment, and education of the guardians (~15pgs):
357 – 358c
368c – 379a
389c – 392c
For Wednesday, 1/28:
myth of metals, philosopher-kings, the forms, and knowledge vs. opinion (~11pgs):
412c – end of book III
472b – end of book V
509d – end of book VI
For Friday, 1/30:
allegory of the cave (~6 pgs):
514 – 521d
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1. Reading: All of the Meno, and the sections of the Protagoras indicated on your syllabus. We will be discussing these Wednesday and Friday of next week.
2. Reading Response: You are limited to only doing seminar questions for this response. Please come up with three thoughtful seminar questions based on the text, with page numbers to indicate where your questions are drawing from (use the numbers on the side of the text, such as 87b). This is due either Wednesday or Friday, but remember to email me your questions by 5pm Tuesday or Thursday and bring 2 copies to class when you turn it in.
3. Blog Post: This week your first blog post will be due by 8am Wednesday. Only one comment will be due next week, by Friday morning at 8am. Please write on one of the following:
a. From the very first lines of the Meno (70a), teaching (and knowledge) is positioned in contrast to practice or experience. What do you think of this dichotomy? Are the two distinct? What makes them different, if so?
b. Write on what is known as “Meno’s paradox” (80e): that one cannot look for either what one knows or what one does not know. Describe the paradox and interpret how this paradox is overcome in our daily lives.
c. Write about the role of “perplexity” in learning or knowing (80a-d, 84a-c).
Have a great long weekend!