Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Nameless Honors Group 3

I believe I have despaired of our ever coming up with a name other than "Nameless." Oh, the irony. At any rate, here's the quick version of what we did:

We decided on our topic for our midterm report.










Thought I'd leave you hangin' there. We're planning on using the Harry Potter and Philosophy book for our presentation. I, for one, know virtually nothing about Harry Potter, so I have some catching up to do. I suppose I'll accomplish that through reading our decided-upon book. We haven't yet divided up the essays, which we'll accomplish on Thursday. Back to Augustine...

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:03 PM CDT

    Factual: Where was Augustine born? (Tagaste, in what is now Algeria; at the time it was part of the Roman Empire. [LH])

    Discussion: I find the summary of Augustine's views interesting as a Christian. Little History mentions evil a lot, but never really deals with what evil is. What is evil? How do we reconcile that with the idea of a good God? (CS Lewis would be useful for this discussion, as he deals with a part of this issue in "The Problem of Pain.")

    Another discussion idea: Do we have free will?

    Comment: Since we didn't have any actual discussion today, I can't exactly comment on what we said, other than to echo what I said earlier about needing to catch up on Harry Potter. And to move that we adopt next class some of our stuff we were supposed to discuss today.

    Link: I could refer to CS Lewis on happiness again, but that seems superfluous and a-productive. Therefore, I'm going to refer everyone to the Google Books snippet of his book The Problem of Pain: http://books.google.com/books?id=qGxZkKdB-68C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false This is only a sample, but it's something.

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    1. Chelsea 16-111:50 AM CDT

      I think it is interesting to read the thoughts of Augustine and Boethius question why there is evil/ or how god allows evil. I think on the side of the that we have free will.

      Here's Wikipedia's page defining evil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil

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  2. Anonymous7:23 PM CDT

    Okay, back again with another discussion idea: What might have turned off George Santayana to America, to the point that he, as Romano puts it, "flailed Protestantism"? What was so distasteful to him that he not only turned his back on America but criticized it viciously?

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  3. I wanted to do the harry potter one jealous! group1(17)

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  4. FACT: What was Augustine's philosophy? Christianity

    DICUSS: Do you think God's sovereignty contradicts our free will? (assuming there is a God)

    COMMENT: I'm so excited about our Harry Potter philosophy presentation!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Fact: What was one problem St. Augustine agonized over? (Why God allowed evil in the world.)

    Discussion: The above question is actually a major source of doubt for me. I'd love to hear the group's opinions on the reason.

    Comment: HARRY FREAKIN' POTTER YUSSSSSSSSSSS.

    Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LYdgb0RwY Sour Grapes Snape. You're welcome.

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  6. Fact: Who wrote a medieval bestseller named The Consolation of Philosophy? - Boethius

    Discussion: Are you glad we have free will or would you rather someone telling us when to do something and how to do it?

    Comment: I am sooooo excited to do our mid term project on Harry Potter!

    Link: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Boethius.html
    This is a link to a biography on Boethius

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  7. Hahah, Harry Potter - very nice. Have you guys given any thought to focusing in any way on Harry Potter and the PHILOSOPHER'S Stone?

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  8. Comment: I'm super excited about our decision to do Harry potter. And I love that Leigh pointed out the Philosopher's Stone.

    Fact: Who believed that goodness came from the soul and evil came from the body? (The Manichaeans)

    Discussion: This chapter in LH talks about God and how he is supreme and controls everything. How do you explain any evil if God is supposed to be an all good supreme being? Why do bad things happen to good people?
    Discussion: I'm curious. If you believe we have a set path in life and God has a specific plan for us, how do we still have free will? There are some things about Christianity that I still don't understand, so I hope this class and group discussions can clear them up.

    Link: This is a link where CS Lewis talks about free will and evil.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH2DEOxvaWk
    I also thought this Link was VERY interesting. I am an Atheist, but here is the reason CS Lewis is not one. He poses some very interesting points. Definitely something for Atheists to think about.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzaLp3aL_f8

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  9. I can't wait to hear your Harry Potter Report! It is going to be awesome!!!

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  10. Factual: What language did Boethius translate the works of Plato and Aristotle into? Latin.

    Discuss: The chapter on Boethius talks about God having absolute knowledge of the future and what that means from a philosophical standpoint. Do you think that because God knows everything that's going to happen there is only one set path we can take, or do you think that each choice has a separate outcome and God knows all of these possible outcomes?

    Comment: Harry Potter definitely seems like an interesting pop-culture phenomenon to do our report on. It seems we have more than a few fans in the group.

    Link: Boethius Quotes
    http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5589950.Boethius

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  11. Anonymous12:15 PM CDT

    I feel a theological discussion coming on...

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  12. Harry potter sounds like it is going to be a very fun project

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  13. Harry Potter and Philosophy? Harry Potter is filled with lots of good stuff. I am sure that you guys will have no problems with getting enough material. Have fun.

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