Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

First Group Discussion

Section 17, Group 3.

Hello, CoPhilosophers!

Today in Group 3 we discussed our various roles in the group, such as who would be the authors, who would be the floaters, and which text each person would focus on over the course of the class. After clearing up that bit of general housekeeping, we moved on to a more philosophy-centered discussion. We talked about our favorite philosophers, and some of the names that were brought up included Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and Aquinas. The discussion then moved on to what we thought philosophy truly was in its essence. We came to a consensus that philosophy was the pursuit of man to answer those big questions of life that have been left unanswered since the Dawn of Time such as: "What is the meaning of life?' and "What is our purpose in this life?" We also decided that these question have been so difficult to answer because the actually answers to these questions might be different for different people. We also talked about how philosophy could be seen as a science because you start out with an observation about the world, you make a hypothesis based on your observations, and then you test your hypothesis by discussing and implementing your theories. Based on this conclusion, we decided that philosophy must be based in some sort of logic, and that logic and philosophy go hand in hand. Seeing as that was pretty much everything we discussed today, feel free to comment away and share any thoughts or ideas of your own that you have about our discussion!

See you next Wednesday!


23 comments:

  1. Well done, John. That's the idea. Now it's up to everybody else in Group 3 (do you have a team nickname yet?) to post questions, comments, and links: questions looking ahead to the next discussion, comments looking back at the last one, and links about either. C'mon everybody, you can do it!

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  2. I'm confused, how do I create a discussion? The e-mail invitation isn't working.

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  3. Open the invitation. Then you should be able to post by clicking on "New Post" on the top right. If you can't, please describe what happened when you opened your invitation.

    Meanwhile, send your post to me or another author to post for you.

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    1. It's saying my invitation has expired. Could you send me another?

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    2. "Expired"? That's odd. Send me your email, & I'll re-send the invitation.

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    3. Ate2g@mtmail.mtsu.edu

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  4. Also remember to post from the same email you signed up with.

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  5. I don’t recall all of the group ever agreeing that philosophy is so scientific, John. However, that is definitely one way to approach it. In regards to our discussion on favorite philosophers, I had to take some time to think about it and I've come to the conclusion that I don't have one. Some entertain me more than others, and some make absolutely no sense to me; though at one point in my life I had a phase where I was quite taken with existentialism. I loved the literature produced from it: Franz Kafka's The Trial, Albert Camus’s The Stranger, and Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s Journey to the End of the Night (all of which infuriated me, and subsequently influenced my progression deeper into their philosophy before I emerged from Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism and Humanism realizing I really didn’t have enough angst at my freedom and responsibility to appreciate the ideas.) Yet, I've recently been drawn into the existentialist (again) works of Soren Kierkegaard, who believed in its progression from the aesthetic, to the ethical, and finally to the religious.
    “If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.” --Soren Kierkegaard

    Factual question (LH): In Plato’s The Republic, who did he believe should be the highest tier in the society? Philosophers, because they are not ruled by emotions and opinion, but by knowledge and truth.

    Discussion question: Are you more in favor of the Socratic Method in teaching, or do you prefer when there is a right or wrong answer?

    And for the link I found a little comic strip on The Republic. http://get.unshelved.com/strips/20120127.gif

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    1. I put that we all agreed because I didn't remember anyone saying that they disagreed with that aspect of how philosophy could be perceived. Sorry!

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  6. How do I italicize??? Book titles not italicized is going to drive me crazy.

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    1. In order to italicize, use html tags. So America The Philosophical becomes America the Philosophical by typing (without periods) <.i.>.America the Philosophical<./.i.>
      You can learn some basic html commands here to make your posts a little neater. Keep in mind not all tags are supported in the comments. Apparently the pre and code tags are not allowed, or I would've been able to type <.i.> without periods and have it show up by itself.
      Let me know if you have any questions.

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    2. Thank you! That was very helpful.

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    3. Thank you! That was very helpful.

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  7. I think it is cool how you related philosophy to a science and broke it down into steps. It makes since with the Observing and hypothesis to discussing it.
    Group1 (17) Molly Brown

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  8. Kind of going off what the intro to AP says, do you think we could also blame the fact that America is far less philosophical than other regions as to why we have a hard time answering that question?

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  9. (17.1...i think) Unfortunately, my group authors haven't posted anything yet, so I'm going to have to intrude on your interesting discussion.. again.

    I'm not sure how serious our factual questions are supposed to be, but this caught my eye: In October 2011, the University of Chicago held a conference on philosopher Bernard Williams. What other conference was held that weekend in the same building that stole all of the attention? Answer: a convention for Jersey Shore.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/arts/television/jersey-shore-has-its-day-at-university-of-chicago.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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  10. I agree with your groups discussion in that philosophy is mans way of trying to come to a conclusion of questions such as "What is the meaning of life."

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  11. LaShunda Simmons6:39 PM CDT

    When our group first started to discuss philosophy I had no idea what it even was or any philosophers. I kind of just listened to what everyone else had to say about their view on the subject and went from there. Someone had made the comment that philosophy is alot like logic and after reading the text, I would have to agree. In my opinion, philosophy is a belief or view that someone has and being able to back that belief up with an agrument. And someone must use logic to have a valid agrument. So the two definitely go hand in hand.

    Factual Question (PB) Why was Socrates put to dead by the Athenians?

    Discussion Question (PB) Socrates, Aristophones and Diotima all have different positions on love. Which do you agree with and why?

    Here is a short video that I found about Socrates
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2KzymrmNa0

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  12. Anthony 17-311:03 AM CDT

    I enjoyed our brief discussion on what defines philosophy, even if we came to no strong conclusion or agreement. The most important thing I think is that we showed that we were able to have a civil discussion, and I believe that everyone that wanted to participate got an opportunity to do so.
    Factual question:
    What Greek rhetorician, discredited by Plato as a Sophist, does the author of America The Philosophical propose is the "father" of American philosophy?
    Discussion question:
    Is it better that most Americans get their dose of Philosophy from pop-philosophers such as O'Reilly, Stewart, and Colbert than none at all?
    Link:
    As some people have an issue visualizing what is describe in the allegory of the cave, here is a link that describes it, (with pictures).

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    1. Anthony 17-39:17 PM CDT

      Oops, apparently we were supposed to write the answer as well.

      What Greek rhetorician, discredited by Plato as a Sophist, does the author of America The Philosophical propose is the "father" of American philosophy?
      Isocrates.

      And yes, as the author suggests in the text, I thought that was a typo on my Kindle edition of the book the first time I read it.
      I was interested in what the differences in these names were, and why they would be so similar, so I looked up their origins

      Isocrates: Latinized form of the Greek name Ισοκρατης (Isokrates) which meant "equal power", derived from ισος (isos) "equal" and κρατος (kratos) "power".

      Socrates: From the Greek name Σωκρατης (Sokrates), which was derived from σως (sos) "whole, unwounded, safe" and κρατος (kratos) "power".

      Delving a little further into this, Kratos was also the name of a Greek demigod, and was the personification of (physical) power. He was basically Zeus's bodyguard. He is also the namesake for the protagonist for the popular video game series God of War.

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  13. Our group seems to know a little about what Philosophy and that is great. I still don't completely understand it, although, I am trying to understand it better. What was posted about it, like the questions we all ask ourselves and wonder, is what I consider to be Philosophy.

    Factual Question (PB) Why didn't Socrates write anything?

    Discussion Question (PB) Do you think you can have a conversation with no holds barred, like Socrates?

    A short video about the ideas of Socrates
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvY3VWe4O4k

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  14. Great discussion. i read the pbb and this is very strange that they really discuss the same person. I think that plato was Scraties living through Plato. do you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumLZQkofgY

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