Heusser Philosophy 100 SG #2

Philosophy Journal: Reason and Experience

Problems may be solved in the study, which have baffled all those who sought a solution by the aid of their senses. (Sherlock Holmes in “The Five Orange Pips” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DoyPips.html )

General Format:

• Journal questions are independent of lecture. We will address many of the issues in class, but the Journal is an opportunity to express your own views.
• Submit your journal on 3 different dates as listed in the syllabus. Each submission should include 2 “Reason” questions and 3 “Experience” reports.
• Your Choice: I do not expect you to type your journal out if you use a small bound book as described in the syllabus. Be neat. Otherwise use a word processor.
• I am not going to be overly concerned with typos or grammar as I will be in the analysis paper; however your responses should be legible and comprehensible.
• Your Choice: You may submit the Reason and Experience sections chronologically or as you do them. Some may choose to write about more than the required number. If so, select which 5 responses you’d like me to focus on.
• Your Choice: There is no word limit to your Journal write-up. Although I will not penalize for longer entries, do not think that you must submit one page for each question. This is a brief and informal assignment. A rough guide is to write one detailed paragraph for each Reason or Experience number. However, be sure to answer all parts of each Reason question (a bullet usually indicates a separate question). In some cases I will use “i.e.” or “in other words” which means I am merely rephrasing essentially the same question. Be sure to number each question as marked.

A. Reason Questions (e.g., What is X?) will ask for your input on a variety of philosophical questions. You are not necessarily being asked for the “Right Answer” as much as you are being asked for “Your Answer”. Just follow guidelines and have fun! Journal Questions will be given in class (typically as group discussion) throughout the semester and are posted and numbered below.

Each time you submit the journal, be sure to address 3 of the reason questions. You can choose which questions to address but please include the number of the question.

This is an opportunity to contribute your own thoughts about questions rather than to merely reiterate some of the philosophical positions we will discuss. Be sure to address each part of the question. Extra consideration is given to journals that include a fellow group member’s response; however this is not a requirement.

“Reason” Example: Think of these as “Socratic Dialogues” or “Brainstorms”. Your answer should be roughly a paragraph long. Recall the Socratic or Dialectical Method begins with a question “What is X?” For example, we might consider “What is Evil?” (Or “bad”)

• One (potential) answer might be “Evil is that which causes pain. Anything that causes a human being or other sentient being to suffer would be evil [definition].
• After answering the philosophical question, you should also draw out implications of your answer. Thus, a person who stabs another person with a knife has done an evil act [an implication].”
• You may want to additionally consider a counterexample (recommended). A first counterexample (if you choose to elaborate on one) is when your definition or answer is not quite right. This happens when you imagine a case which conforms to your definition but fails to be evil. For example, “climbing a mountain” may cause pain or even suffering but it is not clear that this or all things causing pain are evil.
• Another possibility (refining our definition) is that “Evil is when humans intentionally cause pain to others or themselves”. This seems to take care of our first counterexample since “climbing a mountain” does not necessarily involve any ill intention toward someone.
• Even if we have arrived at a more satisfactory definition of evil it still may be inadequate. Consider a second counterexample where “a rock falls off a cliff killing a loving parent and thus leaving a child without a parent”. Many would assume that there is evil involved here (or at least that this is “bad”). But our definition does not satisfy this assumption since no human intention is involved in the rock falling.
• At this point we must either abandon our definition of evil by making more critical adjustments or refinements to it or another strategy is to accept the result (that nothing “bad” occurred in the case of the parent’s death).

B. Experience Reports will ask for your observations about philosophical ideas found in student presentations as well as reflections about audio segments, film clips, and website components that I introduce throughout the semester in class. You are asked to elaborate on some of these experiences for both times you turn in your Philosophy journal.

• Note that some websites require you to download shockwave or flash. If you cannot access a website, try using a campus computer or stop by my office for assistance.
• Contents are listed topically and will be presented and discussed in this order.
• Each of the two times you submit the journal should include 5 experience reports:

1. 1 Student Presentations (a group presentation counts as one but do not report on your own presentation)
2. 1 Video or Audio Film Clips shown in class (see below for list)
3. 1 Interactive Website referred to in Experiences handout (see below for list)
4. 2 Additional Experiences from the above 3 categories (from any on list).

Experience Format: You should follow the following format for ALL reports (including presentations, websites, or film clips):

1. Presentation Title and date: For student presentations include their name and their Philosopher, for films include the film name, and for websites include URL.
2. Summary: List two main points of the presentation or experience. This may be 2 philosophical things you learned or 2 philosophical points covered. Explain.
3. 1 Reason Question: Write one question that is raised by the presentation or experience. Is there any question in our reason section the experience ties in with? Write your own Socratic Question that fits the point of the experience. Why is this question important? (The right question is oftentimes better than the right answer)
4. Optional: Rate the presentation or experience. Was it 5 Excellent, 4 Above Average, 3 Average, 2 Below Average, 1 Poor, or No Opinion. Was your experience useful or irrelevant? Note: I will not be grading student presentations based on student responses. Do not fret!

· Note: For presentations, attempt to interpret the presenter’s main points. However, in the case of film clips and websites, it may be easier to detail what you learned or what questions you think are important.

· This is an informal exercise so there are not word limits or anything along those lines. However, for those wanting a guideline, one paragraph is sufficient for the main part of your summary and Socratic question.

· 2 points extra credit is possible if you email me a site that has specifically interactive components and has to do with philosophy in a relevant way (up to 4 points). Interactive means that there are elements to the site that allow you to provide input and receive custom output. A search engine or Philosophy dictionary does not count. Click on “Bending Beams I” for a physics example at http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl?Type=TOC

· Every effort will be made to present each Film and Audio clip, but several will not be shown because of time constraints. If a clip is not shown, then do not include it in your journal as I may want us to focus on a specific portion of a clip instead of the entire film. Thus, you should not wait until the last moment to finish your journals hoping that all posted clips will be shown near the end.

· Note: Even if you address all of the “Questions for Consideration” that I have listed by each film clip, you must still follow the format listed on page 1 as well (e.g., Summary and Socratic Questions).

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I. 1^st Journal Submission: Please note that “Reason” Questions are alphabetized (A-R) while “Experience” Reports are numbered (1-36)

Introduction

1. What is “Philosophy”?

· What is “being Religious”? Explain.

· Do you consider yourself religious, spiritual, or neither? Explain.

Philosophical Method: Logic

1. Saturday Night Live: Steve Martin Theodoric of York: Medieval Barber (6m)

• What is a problem with blindly following the traditions of the past? Can we do better? Can we do worse? How so, in either case? When Theodoric’s test did not work, what was suggested? What are proper testing procedures?

2. Monty Python: Argument Clinic (3m)

• Explain the difference between an argument as depicted by Monty Python and an argument as depicted in philosophy. What parts overlap? What parts are distinct?
• Sound file at: http://www.montypythonpages.com/sounds/ Name: arguskit.wav and script at: http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/sn-python.html

Websites: 3. www.martinlutherking.org What are your expectations? What did you discover? How can we tell whether a resource is credible or not?

4. http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/esp.html Pickover's ESP site says it is "psychic." Follow directions and explain if your mind was read correctly or not.

5. TPM: Philosophical Health Check: Tension Quotient: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/check.htm Include and discuss results

6. TPM: Induction and Prediction: Include and discuss results:

http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/dealing_with_induction/dws1.php

Epistemology

2. What is “Known”?

· Name three important ways you get information about the world.

· Do any of your three sources give certain knowledge?

· If these sources do not give us certainty, will anything do so? Give reasons or examples for your view.

· Expanding on your three important ways, do we also have innate ideas? (i.e. Are all of our ideas from experience?)

· How do we account for the nearly universal agreement about logical laws and mathematical principles?

7. The Matrix: We may have time for 3 distinct parts. See Study Guide on the Matrix.

• I. “Down the Rabbit Hole” (Track: 8-12: 19m): When did Neo leave the Matrix? In what 4 ways is Neo connected to the Matrix? Why did the computers unplug him?

II. “They’re coming for you” (Track: 5-7: 13m): What does “the bug is real” mean?

III. “Training begins” (13-17: 15m +8 Cypher/Mouse): “Some rules can be bent”?

8. Waking Life: “Dreams” (6m).

• What is lucid dreaming? What marks distinguish dreaming from being awake? If dreams are only real as long as they last, then how is this different than life?
• Other films about appearance/reality: Dark City, Existenz, Jacob’s Ladder, The Truman Show, Vanilla Sky, Ghost in the Shell, The 13^th Floor

Websites: 9. TPM: Matrix: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/matrix_start.htm (Include only if you skipped the ESP Pickover site earlier).

3. What is being “Awake”?

· Provide two fairly reliable ways that we distinguish between dreaming and being awake. Give reasons or examples which provide evidence for your view. 

· Are these ways always reliable? (i.e. Can we be certain we are not dreaming at this very moment?) Why or why not? Note: You should view the "Proof that we cannot be certain of our senses" as listed in the Descartes Study Guide. Your answer will either agree or disagree with Descartes' premise 7.

The Problem of Sensation

10. At First Sight: Val Kilmer “Visual Agnosia” (7m)

• Had Virgil ever read before? If so, why couldn’t he read now?
• Other Films about the role of the mind in sensation: Memento (a personal favorite)

Websites:

11. http://www.yorku.ca/eye/thejoy.htm Click #3 “Fun things in Vision” and “Blind spot”

4. What is “Sensation”? (i.e., What is Sound and Color, etc.?)

· If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise or have a color? Explain your answer. Note that noise is a secondary quality according to Locke.

· If you disagree with Locke, how can it be shown that he is mistaken?

· If you agree with Locke, what other things might also depend on us for their existence?

Matter, Time, and Space

5. What is “Matter”? (i.e. What is matter besides the qualities that it has?)

· Do some physical things require a perceiver to exist?

· If not, how could you show this to be true?

· Is there a world independent of thought? If mind is construed as a function of matter, can matter be construed as a function of mind instead?

12. Donnie Darko: “Time Storm” What is time travel?

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2^nd Journal Submission: Submit the following the day of the 2^nd Exam

The Problem of Free Will

6. What is “Free”?

· Do human beings have free will? (In your answer you may want to consider a “criminally insane” individual or another relevant example). Keep in mind that free will is not necessarily "doing what you want" since your "wants" could themselves be determined.

· Do all or some animals have free will? (Which?) What about Data (or Rachel)?

· If you claim we are free, then explain how it is that everything seems to subscribe to physical laws that mandate certain actions but that somehow we are able to “bypass” such laws. (i.e. How do we account for the regularity of all things observed?) (i.e. How can scientific predictions be reconciled with human freedom?)

· If you claim we are not free, then explain how it is that we feel we can act in a free manner and how we came to even think about this free will problem in the first place.

13. Jurassic Park: “Start the Tour!” (9m)

• What is Jurassic Park? What point is made about 65 million years of instinct? What is Chaos Theory? What is the Butterfly effect?

14. Waking Life:

• Part I. “Free Will and Physics” (8m). What does quantum mechanics offer to the free will dialogue? Why is Professor Sosa unsatisfied with Quantum Mechanics as an example of free will? Part II. Do you think the angry man is happy? If he was happy, would he have been like he was?

Other films about Will: Minority Report, Sliding Doors, Butterfly Effect, Run Lola Run

Websites: 15. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/brain/probe.html PBS Brain Probe (may need shockwave: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/brain/ )

The Mind-Body Problem

7. What is the “Mind”?

· Can the mind exist independently of the body? (i.e. Is it reducible to matter or is it completely immaterial?)

· If the mind is independent, then how does it relate to the body?

· If the mind is strictly physical (material), then how do thoughts arise out of matter? What evidence or reasons do you have for your views?

16. The Fly: The Telepods

• What does a molecular analyzer do? For what purpose does this serve? What does Goldblum mean by “That’s the real one.” Is any of this possible for kittens?

17. The 6^th Day: (“Repet”: 20m + Infomercial 2m)

• What is Syncording? Are clones identical? Can intelligence be created by humans? Can we distinguish between Simpal Cindy, a cloned Arnold, and a boy with a cloned brain?
• Other films on Mind/A.I.: TRON: “Group 6 Access”, MindWalk: Systems Theory, Probability Patterns, and Atom Size, A.I., Nova: Mysteries of the Brain. What point is made about phantom pains? I, Robot. If time: StereoScopic Glasses

8. What are “You”? (i.e. What is it to be “One of Us”?) Note: this is your answer to the Analysis Paper.

· What makes us different (if anything) from robots or rocks or plants or other animals? (i.e. What sorts of things share this condition with us?) For example, you might want to (but need not) consider fish, insects, amoebas, bacteria, viruses, dogs, venus fly traps, grass, rocks, robots, chimpanzees, computers, thermometers, fungus, frogs, or anything else that comes to mind. If you think something is different from us, then explain on what basis that thing is different.

A.I.

18. Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Measure of a Man” 2^nd Season (45m).

• Enjoy, but toward the end: What are the 3 criteria of sentience? See Study Guides.

19. Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance: “The Grid” (Track 10: 44-50 6m OR 61-68)

• What is suggested about civilization and circuits? Do you find this convincing?

20. Blade Runner: The Voigt-Kampff Test (10 or 12m if time)

• What is the Voight-Kampf test? What is Rachel’s point about retiring humans?

Websites: 21. www.Alicebot.org Click on “A.L.I.C.E.” and ask several questions.

• Do you think ALICE can pass the Turing test? Can an infant? You can also get more info on A.L.I.C.E. at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1601054.stm

• If you cannot access A.L.I.C.E., then try one of these: http://www.ellaz.com/AI/Talk.aspx (Loebner Version) or http://www.abenteuermedien.de/jabberwock/ or http://maximbot.cjb.net

Personal Identity

9. Who are “You”? (i.e. What is your essence?) Ok, I know you are “Maria” or “Joey”. But if your parents called you “Nameless” would that be who YOU now are? What makes you… you? This question is similar to an earlier question but instead of conceptualizing human beings you are trying to conceptualize YOU.

· What is always part of your nature that could not be taken away without losing YOU?

22. Nova: Life’s Greatest Miracle (3m)

• What answer does this give you to the question “Who are you?” Where were you before you were born? What would be a philosophical objection to this answer?
• Other films on Identity: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Maharaji: About Life What claims are made by Maharaji?

Websites: 23. TPM: Identity: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/identity.htm Include and discuss specific results

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3^rd Journal Submission: Submit the following the class BEFORE the 3^rd Exam

God

10. What is “God”? (i.e. What are the properties of a perfect being if one were to exist?)

· What evidence do we have (if any) that a perfect being (e.g. God, Jehovah, Allah) exists?

11. What is “Omnipotence”?

· This question perhaps includes determining what being “unstoppable” amounts to. What would happen if an unstoppable object met an immoveable object? This is about the nature of omnipotence. Assuming an omnipotent being can do anything, could an omnipotent being make such items? If so, what would happen? If not, why not? (Special Note: This question is not about "would" an omnipotent do this, but "could" it do this. Also, consider that "unstoppable" might mean "cannot be turned toward a different direction" and "immoveable" means "cannot be moved or passed through.")

12. What is Space? What is Time? Is space finite or infinite? Explain. Is time finite or infinite? Explain. What is Space? Does space require a perceiver to exist? What is Time? Does time require a perceiver to exist? Note: These questions ask about the relativity of space and time. You may want to compare your answers here to later responses about the relativity of moral truths.

24. Men in Black: (1m) Infinity. What happened? Could the process go on forever?

25. Love and Death: (6m) How is the leaf an example of the best possible world? How must the world be, according to Sonia (Diane Keaton), if created by God? What results if there is no God? What must Boris (Woody Allen) see in order to believe?

Websites: 26. TPM: God: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.htm Include and discuss specific results

27. http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/ Can this go on?

Order and Chance

13. What is “Order”?

· Does order (regularity) or chaos (arbitrariness) structure the universe? Explain.

· If there is order, what does that imply, if anything about the existence of god?

28. 2001: “The Dawn of Man” (18m).

• Did humans develop naturally or supernaturally? What does the water represent? The obelisk? The Bone? The Ship? What did you think about the fight?

Websites: 29. http://evolution.berkeley.edu Click on “Misconceptions”

The Problem of Evil

14. What is “Evil”?

· How can there be evil in the universe, when a perfect being who is omni-benevolent (in the sense that it would eliminate evil as best it could) and all-powerful (in the sense that it can do anything) created the universe? (i.e. How can evil or something imperfect come from a perfect being?)

30. Joe Frank: (Audiotape) “Bad Karma” What do you think is evil for Joe Frank?

31. PBS Frontline: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero.

• Part II. The Face of God (Track 3: 22-46: 24m) This clip presents some who lost loved ones on 9/11. How did Praimnath and Clark react differently? What point did the Rabbi make about God’s plan? What is meant by “Our toy, our game”? Why relate Sisyphus to this topic? (For more on Sisyphus by Camus see: http://stripe.colorado.edu/~morristo/sisyphus.html) Part V. The Face of Religion/Ground Zero (6: 136-143: 7m) What did the Priest think of religion?
• Other films on Evil: Parenthood: The Roller Coaster; The Devil’s Advocate

Aesthetics

15. What is “Beauty”?

· Is Beauty dependent on human opinion or is it independent? (i.e. Is Beauty relative) (i.e. Is Beauty in the eye of the beholder?) Special Note: Aesthetic statements include “The Sunset is beautiful tonight” or “The bathroom smells bad” (and can, of course, be coupled with the imperative: “Don’t go in there!”)

· List one pleasant and one unpleasant sensation for each of the 5 senses.

· Does the dependency or independency hypothesis better explain these 10 sensations? Explain.

32. Audio: Radiohead’s “Subterranean Homesick Alien” vs. Aphex Twin’s “Jynweythek Ylow”. Feel free to bring a CD of your favorite or least-liked music. We’ll vote on it! See http://socialscience.cypresscollege.edu/~wheusser/100/aphex_reviews.htm for reviews on Amazon.com. Does disparity in opinion show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

Websites: 33.TPM: Brittany Spears vs. Shakespeare: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/britney_spears.htm Include and discuss results

Ethics

16. What is “Good”?

· Where is “Good”? Is good dependent on human opinion or is it independent? (i.e. Are moral truths defined by culture and relative to people or is it absolute?) (i.e. Are ethical truths objective or subjective?) Special Note: A moral statement might be “Stealing is wrong?”, “Murder is morally impermissible”, or “Helping your landlord carry out her groceries is a good deed”. As long as there exists at least one moral proposition independent of human opinion then morality can be considered independent of human opinion.

· If you claim that moral truths depend on the individual (or on people and their opinions generally), then explain what happens if people become extinct (e.g. do the truths still exist?). Also, explain the basis for criticizing Hitler and his actions (or pick your favorite "bad guy") given that morality is dependent on a person's opinion.

· If you claim that moral truths do not depend on people for their existence, then explain where they are. How do they exist?

17. What is “Justice”? What is the Ideal State? Since we will not cover Social and Political Philosophy directly in this class (very regrettable but time beckons) I would suggest skipping this question unless you have some background on this topic. Notably, Plato thought this question is similar to the previous two.

34. Rage against the Machine Mini-Documentary:

• “The Battle of Mexico City”: Documentary V (Track 16: 2m). What is the IMF? What is the WTO? What is the big issue according to Zach?

35. Joe Frank: “Red Sea” (audiotape)

• Do you think it is possible the Rabbi and the Rabbi’s wife both state the truth? Are their views contradictory? Must one be lying?
• Other films on Ethics: The Examined Life: Do the ends justify the means? Do you think that nature has intrinsic value? Why? Is it a “relative truth” that the expansion of the city would benefit the villagers? What does “relative” mean?

Websites: 36. TPM: Morality: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/morality_play.htm

• Include and discuss specific results