Author Archives: Caroline Zhang

(Don’t) Bank on It

Posted on March 30, 2015 | 3 comments

Reading Paulo Freire’s two cents on education reminds me a lot of any dystopian novel/movie I’ve ever read/watched. He says that the education nowadays is a type of “banking” education, where the job of the teacher is to deposit information into the student, much like anyone would deposit money into their bank accounts. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education, Knowledge

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Experience This

Posted on March 22, 2015 | 1 comment

In the reading we were assigned for Monday, John Dewey put a lot of emphasis on the importance of experience in education. His connection between personal experience and education remind me of my first blog post, “To Practice or To Preach?”

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Posted in Contemporary Philosophy, Education, Experience

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So Descartes Walks Into a Bar…

Posted on March 15, 2015 | 3 comments

I stumbled upon a philosophy joke a few weeks ago, and I think most people know this one already. The joke goes:

Rene Descartes walks into a bar and orders a drink. When he finishes his drink, the bartender asks him if he would like another. Descartes replies, “No, I think not,” and disappears in a puff of logic.

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Posted in Uncategorized

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Scholars: Made in China?

Posted on March 2, 2015 | 2 comments

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be studying at Emory. I went to an international school in Shanghai where everything was taught in English and we had an American curriculum, so my academic and application experience was probably like most other people here. I was lucky to have been able to grow up surrounded by English speaking people and plentiful opportunities to participate in extra-curriculars, but for many of my Chinese high school counterparts, their journey wasn’t as easy. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education, Experience

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Now You Know

Posted on February 22, 2015 | 2 comments

What are you doing at this moment? Well, of course, you’re reading my blog post. But, what were you doing yesterday at this time? Were you watching Netflix, reading a book? What will you be doing tomorrow at this time? Will you be eating some Easy Mac, doing homework? I’ll go out on a whim here and say your answers to each of these questions will be different. And even if I’m wrong, and you’ll be doing the same thing three days in a row, you’d agree that each of the instances of what you’re doing are different, right? Well, Hegel would sure have some things to say to you.

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Posted in Experience

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Immanuel Kant on Intellectual Property

Posted on February 18, 2015 | 3 comments

I was warned that Kant is difficult to read, but I was skeptical of these claims. Turns out, the warnings were pretty well founded. Here’s what I got from reading the first few pages of his Critique of Pure Reason. Continue reading →

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Posted in Identity

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You’re You

Posted on February 8, 2015 | 1 comment

Fast forward almost two centuries from Aristotle’s time to that of John Locke’s, we approach Locke’s profoundly titled work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (or more like, “Four Books Concerning Human Understanding”). Continue reading →

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Posted in Identity

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Lies to the Eyes

Posted on February 2, 2015 | 7 comments

Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, introduces a thought provoking statement: “We all suppose that what we know is not capable of being otherwise; of things capable of being otherwise we do not know, when they have passed outside our observation, whether they exist or not.” (1139b36-1139b36 p. 1799) Continue reading →

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Posted in Ancient Philosophy, Knowledge

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“Naturally Suited”

Posted on January 26, 2015 | 4 comments

At this time last year, I was struggling to complete my college applications. I was was prompted to ask myself: what was I good at? What should I apply myself to? What would be my role in society? I didn’t know what to respond.

Socrates, on the other hand, has an answer these questions Continue reading →

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Posted in Ancient Philosophy, Experience, Identity

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To Practice or to Preach?

Posted on January 21, 2015 | 1 comment

Would you be able to learn how to ride a bicycle from being told? Or by practice alone? Being taught to ride isn’t the same as practicing riding, but the two supplement each other and are necessary to help the student eventually acquire the real sense and skills to actually maneuver the machine. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education, Experience, Knowledge

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