Just for fun, and to illustrate how we'll track participation in the course. Good participation will be the difference-maker for you, if your final grade straddles (say) B+ and A-. Good participation will then get you an A. But it's not just about the grade. It's about having fun and learning.
First person to give us a correct answer (in the comments section below) to each of these questions gets an extra "base" (a participation point) on our daily scorecard, which I'll explain in class (just one question to a customer, this time):
- What does "philosophy" mean, broken into its etymological components philo- and -sophia?
- After Socrates, who are the two most famous ancient Greek philosophers?
- Which of those two famous ancient Greeks began as a student of the other, before breaking away to found his own school?
- What were those schools called?
- Can you name a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher?
- Can you name another?
- Can you name the French philosopher who said Cogito, ergo sum? What does that mean?
- Can you name the 20th century French Existentialist philosopher who wrote The Second Sex?
- Can you name the 19th century German philosopher who wrote Thus Spake Zarathustra?
- Can you name the 20th century German philosopher who wrote about the Nazi war crimes trial, totalitarianism, and natality?
- What did the author of Thus Spake Zarathustra say he came to proclaim?
- Can you name the American philosopher who wrote Self-reliance?
- Can you name the American philosopher who lived in the same town as the author of Self-reliance? What was that town? Where did he go so that he'd not forget to live before he died?
- Can you name the American philosopher who wrote Principles of Psychology, Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism?
- What kind of philosophy did the author of Pragmatism say takes the strongest hold on reality? (Look to the top of this page.)
- Can you name the Indian philosopher of non-violent resistance who inspired MLK Jr.? Can you name another philosopher Dr. King said was an inspiration to him?
- Can you identify the lake and mountain at the top of Dr. Oliver's personal blog?
- Can you name the contemporary American philosopher who spoke at MTSU in the James Union Building last February, and who is currently running for President of the United States?
The day before each class, look for my posted Questions for that date. Post your thoughts (not simply the answers you find in the text) about as many of them as you like, and take a "base" for each posted comment. But NOTE: you have to get to first base before you can claim extra bases, and the only way to do that is to come to class. Your goal should be to "score a run" in every class: show up, and claim 2d base, 3d base, and then come home to score. (If you haven't guessed, your professor is a fan of the game that calls itself our national pastime.)
Again: don't forget to scroll down to Introductions and tell us who you are and why you're here.
1. Philo- means loving and -sophia means wisdom.
ReplyDeleteWait, by "just one question to a customer, this time", do you mean we should only answer one question?
DeleteYes, this time. We want to give others a chance to impress with their erudition too, right?
DeleteHaha, yes, of course.
Delete• After Socrates, who are the two most famous ancient Greek philosophers?
ReplyDeletePlato and Aristotle
Right. Who are you, Anon?
Delete• Can you name a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher?
ReplyDeletePythagoras
• Can you name the American philosopher who lived in the same town as the author of Self-reliance? What was that town? Where did he go so that he'd not forget to live before he died?
Henry David Thoreau was from Concord Massachusetts. He wrote his immensely popular book Walden based on the Walden Pond where he would go to not forget to live before death.
• Can you identify the lake and mountain at the top of Dr. Oliver's personal blog?
Radnor lake and the Appalachian ???
Right about Pythagoras and Thoreau (etc.), wrong about the lake and mountain.
DeleteFor number 18, the philosopher that came to MTSU and is running for Presidency is Cornel West. While I think it's very cool he's running for president, I don't see him getting far given he's running as a third party but who knows anymore. He's got some interesting ideas for sure and he's already widely known aside from the political world
ReplyDeleteOur system is not well-designed to support 3d-party (etc.) candidacies, unfortunately.
Delete(Question 6) Can you name another?
ReplyDelete- Thales
8. Can you name the 20th century French Existentialist philosopher who wrote The Second Sex?
ReplyDeleteSimone de Beauvoir
Can you name the French philosopher who said Cogito, ergo sum? What does that mean?
ReplyDeleteRené Descartes said Cogito, ergo sum, which translates to "I think, therefore I am." In my limited knowledge of this philosopher, I believe that he is saying that when even our senses cannot confirm our existence, our ability to think and create original thoughts does.
(Question 12) Can you name the American philosopher who wrote Self-Reliance?
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson
9.) Can you name the 19th century German philosopher who wrote Thus Spake Zarathustra?
ReplyDeleteFriedrich Nietzsche
Y'all are knocking it out of the park. I'm impressed.
ReplyDelete14) Can you name the American philosopher who wrote Principles of Psychology, Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism? William James
ReplyDelete16. Gandhi's commitment to nonviolence inspired MLK Jr., another philosophy that Dr. King said was an inspiration to him was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, proponent of German idealism.
ReplyDeleteReally? I was fishing for Socrates, mentioned in "Letter from Birmingham Jail"--the essay I linked to.
Delete11. What did the author of Thus Spake Zarathustra say he came to proclaim?
ReplyDeleteThe author of Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche, proclaimed that "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed Him."
And: "I TEACH YOU THE SUPERMAN [Ubermensch]. Man is something that is to be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass man?" ... https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1998/pg1998-images.html
Delete10. Hannah Arendt
ReplyDeleteRight. She said “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” And, “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” And, “Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it, and by the same token save it from that ruin which except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. And education, too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their chance of undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us, but to prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world.”
DeleteHey! Sorry I'm a little late to the party!
ReplyDeleteFor number five, a pre-socratic Greek philosopher is Anaximenes, who believed air was the basic principle of life and formed all things.
Air is indispensable, no doubt. Where would we be without it? But no one thing is likely to be THE basic principle, is my hunch.
Delete3.) Which of those two famous ancient Greeks began as a student of the other, before breaking away to found his own school?
ReplyDeleteSocrates was the first in line, who taught Plato. It was then Plato who taught Aristotle. It was working as Alexander the Great's tutor when he set up the Lyceum in Athens.
Aristotle was peeved when they didn't select him to succeed Plato as head of the Academy. Also, he had significant philosophical differences with his former teacher. It's always a tribute to a mentor, to disagree with them. Respectfully, and reasonably.
Delete