Exam and Final Report

The final exam is optional, not required, and will be treated as extra credit worth up to 5 runs (if you need them to boost your final course grade), UNLESS you choose to expand your exam essay and substitute it for the Final Report blog post. (See below *)



Post your response to the following by 6 pm on Tuesday, April 28:

Imagine you are joined by Kurt Andersen, John Kaag, Rene Descartes, William James, and Peter Singer at your favorite coffeehouse (or other public establishment). Transcribe the conversation you imagine you might have with them, beginning with the question "Why do truth, facts, and reality matter?" and also including your and their responses to "the really vital question for us all," according to James: "What is this world going to be? What is life eventually going to make of itself?" Base their statements on our texts: Fantasyland, American Philosophy: A Love Story, The Little History of Philosophy, and your own documented research. Indicate sources parenthetically (see examples below). Have fun with the format, but be as faithful to their actual views as possible.

For instance:

ANDERSEN: Our history in America has been one of fantasy: too many of us have supposed ourselves entitled not merely to our own opinions, but to our own facts. We've played fast and loose with reality, and the truth. We've even made fun of "the reality-based community" (FL 3), which might be another name for philosophy.

KAAG: Indeed, but America has also been the birthplace of the philosophical tradition known as Pragmatism which attempts to judge truth "on the basis of its practical consequences, on its ability to negotiate and enrich human experience." (AP 17)

JAMES: Precisely. We must use words, concepts, and ideas as tools to help us answer "the really vital question for us all: What is this world going to be? What is life eventually going to make of itself?" (James, Pragmatism III)

DESCARTES: That all sounds a little vague to me, a little too uncertain. My view as a rationalist philosopher is that philosophy is more than a tool, it is a mirror of reality that allows us to know the truth with absolute "indubitable" certainty. Unlike Pyrrho and his followers, I aimed "to show that some beliefs are immune from even the strongest forms of scepticism." (LH 64)

SINGER: Be careful, Rene. The quest for certainty all too often reinforces people's worst instincts and behaviors. You yourself claimed to know for certain that non-human animals could not feel pain in the same way that humans do. Such "certainty" can lead to what I call speciesism, which is like racism or sexism." (LH 243)

[YOU]: ... ... ...

etc.
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Have the philosophers interact with one another and with you. Feel free to mention other philosophers (for instance, you could ask Descartes what he thinks of Montaigne). Again, cite sources parenthetically. If you do additional research, include relevant footnotes.

Minimum 800 words (roughly 3 pages).
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FINAL REPORT BLOG POST

NOTE: A final report blog post needs more than words alone.

The optional exam is separate from the Final Report blog post (which should include bloggish elements such as hyperlinks, images, video embeds (copy and paste the YouTube embed code, make sure the formatting stays within margins) and can either continue the subject of your midterm report OR take on a new subject such as a post-Descartes philosopher); the final draft is due May 5 (post an earlier draft if you'd like constructive feedback). For examples of what a final report blog post should look like, roughly, check out some of mine...

But...

* If you wish to expand your exam dialogue to 2,000+ words (8+ pages) you may substitute it for the Final Report...

and you can forget about adding "bloggish" content.
Include your section # with your exam and/or Final Report blog post, AND the grand total of daily participation runs you believe you've earned since we resumed the semester remotely in March (maximum possible 2 per week, 1 per scheduled class based on 4 bases -- comments etc. -- per run. If you know your total prior to Fall Break, include that figure as well (and indicate that you have done so).

Also in your last post, include links to at least two classmates' final reports (or exam dialogue essays) that you have commented on.

To be clear, once more: The April 28 exam essay (dialogue) IS optional, for extra credit, UNLESS you choose to expand it and substitute it for the blog post due on May 5. Your choice.

Again, have fun with this AND be as accurate as you can.
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P.S. Other Final Report options (thanks for the reminder, Jordan), as noted in the sidebar:

StoryCorps

Here's another final report option: go to the StoryCorps website and read about StoryCorps. Get the StoryCorps app. Use it to record an interview with an older person (grandparent, maybe) you consider wise. Ask them the sorts of questions we've been asking ourselves this semester in CoPhi. Share the result with us, in your final report blog posts, and with posterity.

"This I Believe"

Another final report option: Read and listen to others' "This I Believe" essays, and post your own (as I did-see below), at their website and on ours. I did. (May be time to update this...)

(I believe in) the next 40 years Phil - Nashville, Tennessee Entered on July 20, 2009

I believe that humans have a bright future among the stars. A 12-year old boy might have been excused, on July 20, 1969, for picturing the world of 2009 as far closer to Captain Kirk’s than this. The “space race” had been run and won in a few focused frenetic years, from Sputnik in the […]