Thursday, September 27, 2012

Day 18: Text Work

1.  Chapter 8: Notes

Day 17: My absence and questions

1.  Discussion questions regarding Hitchens on Studio Q.
2.  Number 4 from day 15.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Day 16: Hitchens

1.  Numbers 2- 4 from yesterday.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Day 15: Supreme Being

1.  3 corners: I believe in a Supreme Being, I question the existence of a Supreme Being, I do not believe in a Supreme Being.  Think, move, pair, share.
2.  10 Commandments ... other sacred documents.  How do religious/spiritual texts shape our lives?
3.  Are you free to believe:  two sides YES vs. NO
4.  Hitchens in Studio Q
His thoughts on a Supreme Being

Your thoughts?  What part of Hitchens' writings do you believe/agree with?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Day 12: Personhood, Animals as Persons and Metaphysics CTQ

1.  Complete text work from yesterday. Personhood Theories

2.  Today is an in-class work period to complete your first Metaphysics Critical Thinking Question (it's due next Tuesday).
Evaluation

A few thoughts about CTQs:

What your work should address:

Clarity: Could you elaborate further on that point? Could you express that point in another way? Could you give an illustration? Could you give me an example? (From our point of view, if a statement of yours is unclear we cannot determine whether it is accurate or relevant. In fact we cannot tell anything about it because we don't yet know what it is saying).

Accuracy: Is that really true? How could we check that? How could we find out if that is true?

Precision:
Could you give me more details? Could you be more specific?

Relevance: How is that connected to the question? How does that bear on the issue?

Depth:
How well does your answer address the complexities in the question? How are you taking into account the problems in the question? Is that dealing with the most significant factors?

Breadth: Do you need to consider another point of view? Do you need to question your own assumptions? Is there another way to look at this question? What would this look like from a conservative standpoint? What would this look like from a more liberal standpoint?  What would it look like from the point of view of someone who’s opinion on the matter is the polar opposite of yours?

Logic and Reasoning
: Does this really make sense? Does it follow logically from what you are saying? If yes, can you explain how it follows logically?  (When we think, we bring a variety of thoughts together into some order. When the combinations of thoughts are mutually supporting and make sense in combination, the thinking is considered to be "logical".

Comprehension and Understanding:
Is your work in your own words?  Are you also relying on your own ideas? Do you demonstrate that you know what you are talking about? Can you discuss what you are talking about with some degree of authority? Have you covered all the bases?



The issue of dolphins and other cetaceans being given the status of "persons" and thus being granted human rights that we (people) all enjoy is highlighted in the BBC article.  The issue is, of course, also raised in the textbook and we have discussed it in class often - also, have another look at the Bonobo Monkey video of a couple of days ago.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Day 11: Personhood Notes

1.  Complete yesterday's work.
2.  Text reading:
Read pp. 133 - 139. Takes notes on the THEORIES and CRITERIA that each of these philosophers sets out.

John Locke
Daniel Dennett
Mary Anne Warren
Annette Baier
(Personal Identity)
Derek Parfit

Monday, September 17, 2012

Day 10: Personhood in Virginia

1. Numbers 5-8 from Day 9.
2.  Peter Singer: on personhood .....  do you agree with him?  What criteria that he provides to you agree with?
3.  The other point of view.  Do you more fully agree with this point of view?  What criteria provided to you agree with when designating a person?
4.  Text of Virginia Personhood Bill:  Think, Pair, Share
5.  Conclusion:  What did Virginia ultimately decide?

Friday, September 14, 2012

Day 9: Theories of Reality and Self

1.  Review theories of reality from yesterday's text work.
2.  Theories of self: groups to present and explain.
3.  What is a person?  Define and present.
4.  Continuum of personhood: where do these animals fit on the continuum?
5.  Video: Orangutan  Redefine a person?
6.  Video: Susan Savage-Rumbaugh Redefine a person?
7.  What is more important to personhood; mind (consciousness) or matter (brain and body)?  Discuss and respond.
8.  List your 5 criteria for personhood.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Day 8: Metaphysics

1.  Questions
2.  Text work from yesterday.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Day 7: Metaphysics

1.  Big Questions review.
2.  See yesterday.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Day 6: Videos and Meta intro

1.  Complete the video presentations from yesterday.

2.  Intro to metaphysics: Dr. Frances Gray      Descartes

3.  Watch this Survivor video .  What is reality and what is perception in this television show?

4.  Read Plato's Allegory of the Cave (pp. 8-9 of the text).  Write one question a captive may ask and one question the escapee may ask.  Put your post it note on the appropriate chart paper.

5. Text reading: chap. 6 pg. 112-119, and pg. 122 & 125.  Take notes on the following:

  • idealism
  • realism
  • materialism
  • monoism
  • dualism
  • determinism
  • ontology
  • subtance theory
  • bundle theory
  • narrative structure
  • project theory

Monday, September 10, 2012

Day 5: Your videos

1.  Let's watch the following videos and hear from your peers as they explain under which discipline (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics) their video applies.

Barbara
Caitlin
Ashlynne
Amelia   (watch 1:43 - 4:16)
Blake
Teri
Connor
Neil
Brandi
Rachel
Christian
Shannon
Nick
Fabiola
Megan
Katie
Morgan
Dayna
Carrie
Carolyn
Bree
Nathaniel

Friday, September 7, 2012

Day 4: Room 211

1.  Work on assignments from Day 3.

Philosophy is Pictures is due on Tuesday.

Closure date (with - 5% a day) is Friday.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Day 3: Your videos

1.  In the comm tech lab, room 211, find a YouTube video and explain it's connection to one of the three Philosophy disciplines above.  Paste the url and write your explanation using this link.

2.  Read the textbook pp. 2-9 (in Chapter 1) and take notes on the following
•    Descartes
•    Aristotle
•    Plato
•    Jaspers
•    Materialists
•    Autonomy

A note about notes: it is in your very best interest to take thorough and organized notes for all aspects of this course.  It's a 12U course and it's challenging - you will need to continually refer to your notes to get ideas, theories and quotes from different philosophers for all of your marked work and for the exam.  Start good notes now and you will thank yourself later, honest!


3.  Please read pp. 18-19 of the text (the sections on Metaphysics, Epistemology and Ethics only).  To demonstrate your understanding of these three topics complete your first marked assignment, "Philosophy in Pictures." 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Day 2: Questions asked and Answered

1.  Big Ideas in Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics; share your ideas and thoughts from the videos yesterday.  Watch videos.
2.  A-Z's of Philosophy ... your guide.
3.  Your questions ... think, pair, share. Under which of the three units do they fall?

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Day 1: Welcome!

1.  Why study philosophy?  Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, explain.
2.  You will need to think outside of the box
3.  Ideas, people, events, etc ... the A-Z guide to philosophy.
4.  Your big questions.

For tonight and tomorrow at school . . . first of all you will NEED a Gmail account for this course - go and make one for yourself if you don't already have one.  Please make it as close to your first and last name as possible - mine is amykovich@gmail.com.

Assignments will be completed using googledocs (presentation, forms etc).

HOMEWORK:

1.  Complete this form .

2.  Watch these three videos (you can see the text of these talks (subtitles) by clicking the button directly below the video indicating "27 Languages"):

Metaphysics
Epistemology
Ethics

Write your impressions of each video; what you agreed with, what you question, how the main idea(s) fit in your life.  Be prepared to share and hand in your ideas tomorrow.