Class Plan For Tuesday

1.  Write the story of how the arche/ nature of reality  develops from  Thales through Heraclitus.

What do  Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Pythagoras and Heraclitus each add to the story.

2.  Share your stories with your small group.

3. Write a group story.

4.  So what is the state of philosophy when Parmenides comes on the  scene?


Power point on  Parmenides and his Poem. 

Excellent Biography on Aristotle

For those of you thinking about writing on Aristotle,  or  those of you just interested in the life of Aristotle,  here's a link to a review of a book on his  life.  I read it myself over  Christmas  break and very much enjoyed it.


http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/45902-aristotle-his-life-and-school/

New Sappho Poems Found

 Hi All,  Thought you might find this discovery of interest.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/28/scholars-discover-new-poems-from-ancient-greek-poetess-sappho.html

Class Plan for the Week

Hi All,

We'll talk about Heraclitus  Tuesday.

1.  The name game.  Put chairs  in a circle and arrange yourselves alphabetically by first name.
2.  A  bit  about Heraclitus' person and personality.
3. The aphorism and the  history of philosophy.
4.  The Oracle  at Delphi
5.  Small group work.  Looking at the aphorisms  on    about the arche (metaphysics),  human understanding  (epistemology)   relationality   between logos and humans, between humans  (ethics)   Relationship to  philosophical past







No  class on  Thursday.    Your  assignment is to begin work on your presentation.  In that there is not  class and no  assignment,  this means that you have an  extra  2-3 hours in your  schedule.  I suggest that you take advantage of this time. Here's an assignment. 

1.  Decide what you are  presenting on if  you have not  already.
2.  Read the  aphorisms about your philosopher
3.  Read  Stanford Encyclopedia Article on  your philosopher
4.  Write some initial ideas about how you think you might present  

post a blog reporting what you've learned

This will count toward the  twenty points  in your class presentation on evidence of  preparation.  It will also  count as a blog  post.

 

Class Plan for Tuesday and Thursday

Here's what we will do in  class on  Tuesday.

1. Continue with some form of the name game.  Welcome new  class member.
2.  FAQ about class presentations.
3.  A discussion about Greek Religion and Greek religious practices.
4.  Xenophanes.  Be prepared to  share your favorite aphorism and what you like about it.
5.  Xenophanes,  Metaphysics, Epistemology,  Ethics.
6.  Xenophanes' critique of  Homer and  Hesiod.


Here's  what's up for Thursday.

1.  The name  game.
2. Pythagoras  biographical information.  Be prepared to share some thing you found interesting about his life  and or  the school  he developed.
3.  Pythagoras - tossing the ball around  again- just one ball this time....
4.  philosophy as a way of life
5.  Pythagoras and his school. 
6.  Pythagoras,   Metahysics, Epistemology,  Ethics
7.  How Pythagoras  relates to his philosophical past  and the philosophical future.

FAQ on Class presentations.

 Hi Everyone,  Here's a draft of an FAQ for Class Presentations. We will go over them in Class on  Tuesday. 


Some Frequently asked Questions about Class Presentations

1.     Why do you want us to present class material? That seems really scary.

Well, it is part of the seminar style. Students in a seminar share in the responsibility of presenting the material. It can be scary to stand in front of people, but it is also a lot of fun. (I say this as a former extremely shy person. I love teaching!!) Even if you don’t find it fun, you’ll gain valuable practice in oral communication which will help you in a variety of real world experiences. 

2. You are probably right about that. It still sounds daunting. How long does this presentation need to be?

You are responsible for presenting lecture/discussion material for a 15-20 minute section of class. 

3. Wow. That’s a lot of time. How will I know what to present on?

Step One. There is a list of possible presentations at the end of this FAQ. Pick one that you’re your schedule and interests best.

Step Two. Read the assigned material several times before your presentation.

 Step Three. Take notes on what seems important or confusing to you.

 Step Four. Read some secondary literature. 

Wait a minute, what’s secondary literature? Where do I find that?
Secondary literature is a piece of writing that some professional academic wrote about the information that you are presenting. You can find some suggested secondary reading after each section in the Curd reader. You can also use Google Scholar or the Philosopher’s Index to find recent scholarly articles. Remember that Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy I told you about earlier. You should consult it as well. 

Okay. How much secondary literature should I read?
Five sources should be sufficient. By the way, construct a bibliography for your presentation. You’ll have to turn that into me on the day of your presentation. 

 Step Five.  Write down how the secondary literature changed your understanding.  

Step Six. Think about how you want to present the material. Presenting well isn’t just about knowing the material well. That’s the first step.  You also have to give some thought to how you want to present it. Think about what kinds of presentations you like best.  What engages you in the learning process? 
 Step Seven. At that point, schedule a meeting with me to go over what you plan to present. 

Wait a minute… Really, I have to come talk to you privately. That sounds scary.
Don’t worry. I am a very nice person. However, you can just email me your ideas also and we can have a discussion electronically. 

Okay, that’s a relief. 

What else to do I need to know about presentations?
Well, that brings us to Step 8. Your presentation should include some basic information about the particular topic you’ve been assigned. You should create a handout for your classmates so they can follow the presentation. You should have some questions to ask your classmates to help generate discussion and thoughtful reflection. You should discuss how your topic relates to other things we have studied in class, this is where you class notes or your previous blogs or the blogs of your classmates might come in handy. You should also mention how this topic relates to topics in your major field of study. You are welcome to make a PowerPoint or a Prezi as well. 

Okay, I feel like the expectations are clear. Except where do I sign up again?
I’m glad you asked. Here’s the sign up sheet. Email me your first second and third options. I’ll fill them in first come, first serve. I’ll email you back with your assignment. 

Presentation Sign UP  sheet.  
 

Week Five Feb 11 Zeno Reading: Curd, 66-72.

Student presentation on the motion/ dichotomy paradox.

Student presentation on paradox on the Achilles paradox

Student presentation on the arrow paradox

Student presentation on the stadium paradox

Week Five Feb 13 Empedocles Reading: Curd, 73-100.

Student presentation Biographical Information on Empedocles.

Student presentation Empedocles -Metaphysics

Student Presentation on Empedocles – Epistemology

Student presentation Empedocles –Ethics.

Student presentation on the recent discoveries of new Empedocles fragments and how that changes our understanding of his work.

Week Six Feb 18 Anaxagoras Reading, Curd, 101-108. Plato’s Phaedo. 96a-102a. I will provide a handout. Also the Phaedo is online at http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html

Student Presentation Biographical Information on Anaxagoras.

Student Presentation on Anaxagoras - Metaphysics.

Student Presentation on Anaxagoras- Epistemology

Student Presentation on Anaxagoras- Ethics.

Dr. Schultz will present on Plato’s Phaedo 96a-102a.

Feb 20 The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus Reading: Curd, 109-126.

Dr. Schultz will talk briefly about Leucippus. About whom almost nothing is known.

Student Presentation on Democritus- Metaphysics

Student Presentation on Democritus – Epistemology

Student Presentation on Democritus- Ethics.

Week Seven

Feb 25 The Sophists Reading: Curd, 144-161.

 Dr. Schultz will give general overview.

 Student presentations on Prodicus,

Student presentation on Protagoras

Student presentation on Hippias

Student presentation on Gorgias.

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

Some  quotes about Socrates from Dr. King's  Letter from Birmingham  Jail. 

Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.


He  quotes  Tillich, Buber,  and Aquinas  also.

See you Tuesday.

UCSD Summer Program for Women

 Here is a great  opportunity for  female philosophy majors.  It is a fellowship for summer study at USCD.  They pay you to study philosophy.  How cool is that?


http://spwp.ucsd.edu/

Good morning everyone. Here's the class plan for today.

First,  let me say how impressed I am that  12 of you have already created a blog and about half of you have made at least one post.

Second,   here is the class  plan for  today.


1.  Playing the name  game.
2.   Looking at the class  blog
3.  More logistics on  class blog requirements.
4.  A word about taking notes.
5. Homer, Hesiod and the mythopoetic tradition.
6.  Learning about  Thales, Anaximander,  Anaximenes.



 Questions to  ask and  answer  about each philosopher we  study.   Any time you are blocked about what to blog about, you can always answer some of these questions.  


1.  Where is the  philosopher from?
2.  What are some biographical  facts and  stories about him ?
3. What is the arche ?
4.   What are the characteristics of the arche?
5.   What  are the metaphysical views that the philosopher has?
6.  What are the epistemological views that the philosopher has?
7. What are the ethical  views that the philosopher has?
8.  What are the  aesthetic views that the philosopher has?
9.  How does the philosopher relate to his predecessors?
10. How does the philosopher influence the future?
11.  How would you apply  these insights to your own experience in the world?


See you in class,

AMS

Readings for the first two weeks

I'll have the  page  numbers  for the semester  done by class  on thursday,  but here's the first two weeks.

Week One

Jan 14  Introductions:   Philosophy and the Mythopoetic tradition and an overview of class.

Reading: Curd, 1-12.

Jan 16 Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes  and a bit more on class logistics.

Reading: Curd, 13-22.

Week Two

Jan 21 Xenophanes  and a philosophical critique of  Greek Religion.

Reading:  Curd,  31-38.

Jan 23 Pythagoras  and  Philosophy as a Way of Life. 

Curd, 23-30.

Link to article on effective learning

Here is a link to the article I mentioned in class  about  effective methods for students to retain information.  


 Dunlosky, J. (2013). Strengthening the student toolbox. American Educator, 37(3), 12-21

It is available  at :https://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/fall2013/Dunlosky.pdf or https://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/fall2013/dunlosky.cfm

I also have a blog

Hi Everyone,

I also have a blog that I'll add to the blogroll.  A lot of times it deals more with my experience as a yoga teacher than a philosophy teacher.  But today, I wrote a post on my post class process.  It is a good example of  what I want in a blog  post  that deals with class reflection issues.

Progress in Philosophy

"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change  

and to preserve change amid order."

   

Alfred North Whitehead   

(1861 - 1947)

English mathematician and philosopher

Here's one story I love to  tell about  my early fascination with philosophy.  I was in a class with Larry Kimmel  and  one student  said  something like this,  " I just think that if  Plato and Socrates and those guys were sitting with us at the table today, they really wouldn't have much to say because society has progressed so much since  then."     Kimmel, like all great teachers can be,  was silent for a few moments.   He then said,  "I don't think you understand.  Philosophy hasn't made any progress in  2500 years."  

After class, I  was walking to band practice with Anne and David.    Anne and David were also two fellow philosophy majors. Both later became lawyers.   I reported the  story and   they both said, "Don't you think that is kind of  depressing... no  progress?"   I thought about it  and said,  "No. I find it comforting.  It makes me think that we are asking the right sorts of questions."  

Whitehead, is also the philosopher who said,  "the safest generalization we can make about the history of western Philosophy is that it is all a series of  footnotes to  Plato."   

One reason I love teaching  classical philosophy is that we get to look at philosophy before the existence of  the great text that  is Plato.

 

I've changed the structure of this  class to a seminar format  and  was struck by the order and change  dynamic  in  Whitehead's quote.  How to preserve some order  in change.  For  example,  one student came up to be after class   and  asked  what  he should take notes on  with no  tests. Interesting question,  what is the purpose of note taking... I had not even thought about how the  change in overall expectation and overall structure  would manifest on that level..   Anyway,  I'll talk about that dynamic in  class and in a later blog post.

Great Class Everyone and Reading for Thursday

I really enjoyed our first meeting.

Here is the reader assignment for  Thursday.   Curd, A Presocratic Readers.  p.  13-22.

You can also read the introduction.  It is filled with  useful information!

Cheers,

AMS

Welcome to the Classical Philosophy Seminar Blog for 2014

Welcome Everyone.

You will find  everyone's  blog  listed on the blog roll.
Please check the main blog  for my observations about class, class handouts and the like.
Looking forward to the  semester.  


Here's  what we'll do today

1.  Introductions
2. Syllabus- overview of the course
3. Philosophy and the mytho-poetic tradition

What is  philosophy?
How do we start studying philosophy?
Who were Homer and Hesiod? 


What might make  philosophy different from   myth, religion, and  poetry?