WGU
1. What mixed messages keep us in states of immaturity?
2. The older you get, the more you know what?
3. What does the U-bend tell us about aging?
4. Growing up means realizing what?
5. Philosophy is an attempt to wrestle with what three questions, according to Kant?
6. The young have only vague and erroneous notions of what, according to de Beauvoir?
7. Shakespeare's As You Like It is a gloss on what modern message?
8. Philosophers seek answers to children's questions such as what?
SSHM
1. "Anhedonia" is what?
2. What was Renouvier's definition of free will?
3. Renouvier said an individual's will could break what?
4. What must one frequently do, according to James, to establish reciprocity in a relationship?
5. "Looking on the bright side," though often not objectively warranted, is nonetheless what?
6. Why did James think most of his contemporaries would not have preferred to "expunge" the Civil War?
7. Readiness for war is the essence of what, according to General Lea?
8. James says he devoutly believes in what, and in a future that has outlawed what?
9. Non-military conscription of our "gilded youth" would do what for them, according to James?
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LH
- What sort of childhood did Kieran Setiya have? Can you relate?
- What was KS's response to the pandemic? What was yours?
- What did Aristotle and Hume say about friendship?
- What is the impact of social isolation on health?
- What does KS say about Descartes, Hegel, Sartre, and Wittgenstein?
- KS is unsure about which view of Aristotle's?
- What "dual propensity" did Kant say belongs to human nature?
- What is KS's picture of friendship?
- What is the path to strong relationships?
Discussion Questions
- Is suffering the rule, not the exception, in the human condition? 43
- Can facing death provide an impetus to live? 46
- Why do you think so many who attempt and fail suicide say they experienced immediate regret for the attempt? 47
- What has believing in free will enabled you to do, that you couldn't or wouldn't have done otherwise?
- Are you ever unsettled by a "psychological upturn"? 51
- Do you consider yourself fully "embodied"? 54
- Do you find anything about war "ideal, sacred, spiritual" etc.?
- Can sports function as a moral equivalent of war, at least to the extent of channeling our martial imupulses into benign forms of expression on playing fields, in harmless competition? Or do sports intensify and exacerbate the aggressive side of human nature?
- Are most politicians "pliant" like McKinley, easily "swept away" by war fever?
- Do we glorify war and millitarism excessively, in this culture?
- "Patriotism no one thinks discreditable" (1284). True? Should we sharply distinguish patriotism from nationalism?
- What do you think of James's references to our "feminism" as a mark of weakness or lack of hardihood? 1285-6
- Instead of an army enlisted "against Nature," do you think we can muster an army in defense of nature and against anthropogenic environmental destruction?
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FL
1. What gives Andersen "the heebie-jeebies"?
2. What does Disneyfication denote?
3. A third of people at theme parks are what?
4. Andersen thinks we've become more like what?
5. Andersen argues that Americans are not just exceptionally religious, but that what?
DQ
- Should we be worried or excited (both, neither?) about the future impact of "augmented reality" technologies? 395
- Does the prevalence of adults infatuated with the world of Disney indicate an increasingly infantilized public (in Susan Neiman's sense of the tern)?
- What do you think of Rhonda Byrne's Secret advice? 408
LISTEN (11.9.21). "The war against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party," begins James's "Moral Equivalent of War." This is no idle metaphysical dispute about squirrels and trees, it's ultimately about our collective decision as to what sort of species we intend to become. It's predicated on the very possibility of deciding anything, of choosing and enacting one identity and way of being in the world over another. Can we be more pacifistic and mutually supportive, less belligerent and violent? Can we pull together and work cooperatively in some grand common cause that dwarfs our differences? Go to Mars and beyond with Elon, maybe?
It's Carl Sagan's birthday today, he'd remind us that while Mars is a nice place to visit we wouldn't probably want to live there. Here, on this "mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam," is where we must make our stand. Here, on the PBD. The only home we've ever known.
In light of our long human history of mutual- and self-destruction, the substitution for war of constructive and non-rapacious energies directed to the public good ought to be an easier sell. Those who love the Peace Corps and its cousin public service organizations are legion, and I'm always happy to welcome their representatives to my classroom. Did that just last year... (continues)
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The Moral Equivalent of War
by William JamesThis essay, based on a speech delivered at Stanford University in 1906, is the origin of the idea of organized national service. The line of descent runs directly from this address to the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps to the Peace Corps, VISTA, and AmeriCorps. Though some phrases grate upon modern ears, particularly the assumption that only males can perform such service, several racially-biased comments, and the notion that the main form of service should be viewed as a "warfare against nature," it still sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation.
The war against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party. The military feelings are too deeply grounded to abdicate their place among our ideals until better substitutes are offered than the glory and shame that come to nations as well as to individuals from the ups and downs of politics and the vicissitudes of trade. There is something highly paradoxical in the modern man's relation to war. Ask all our millions, north and south, whether they would vote now (were such a thing possible) to have our war for the Union expunged from history, and the record of a peaceful transition to the present time substituted for that of its marches and battles, and probably hardly a handful of eccentrics would say yes. Those ancestors, those efforts, those memories and legends, are the most ideal part of what we now own together, a sacred spiritual possession worth more than all the blood poured out. Yet ask those same people whether they would be willing, in cold blood, to start another civil war now to gain another similar possession, and not one man or woman would vote for the proposition. In modern eyes, precious though wars may be they must not be waged solely for the sake of the ideal harvest. Only when forced upon one, is a war now thought permissible... (continues)
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War
Some reject the very idea of the “morality of war”.[1] Of those, some deny that morality applies at all once the guns strike up; for others, no plausible moral theory could license the exceptional horrors of war. The first group are sometimes called realists. The second group are pacifists. The task of just war theory is to seek a middle path between them: to justify at least some wars, but also to limit them (Ramsey 1961). Although realism undoubtedly has its adherents, few philosophers find it compelling.[2] The real challenge to just war theory comes from pacifism. And we should remember, from the outset, that this challenge is real. The justified war might well be a chimera.
However, this entry explores the middle path between realism and pacifism. It begins by outlining the central substantive divide in contemporary just war theory, before introducing the methodological schisms underpinning that debate. It then discusses the moral evaluation of wars as a whole, and of individual acts within war (traditionally, though somewhat misleadingly, called jus ad bellum and jus in bello respectively)... (continues)
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...war poetry... Top 10 War Poems... Poems Against War... Teddy Roosevelt on "The Strenuous Life"...
1. "Anhedonia" is what?
ReplyDeleteThe inability to feel pleasure.
2. What was Renouvier's definition of free will?
The sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts
3. Renouvier said an individual's will could break what?
“The logical continuity of a mechanical series and be the initial cause of another series of phenomena”
WGU 1
ReplyDeleteThe mixed messages that keep us in states of immaturity are that we need to get serious and stop dreaming but also stay young. Adulthood is painted in a way that makes it seem unappealing, but acting more like a child is also seen as a negative thing.
These are some of the most annoying messages to receive! It makes growing up so much more stressful and makes adulthood so much more boring.
DeleteWGU 2
ReplyDeleteThe older you get, the more you realize that you won’t stay in the same place forever and that failure isn’t as awful as it seems. You learn that life is a journey of ups and downs, and while certain situations seem like they will last forever, they do not.
I feel ike college has been what has taught me this. Not all classes are the standard "lesson, homework, quiz" structure, and some are much more difficult than others and it's almost impossible to make an A. As Buchanan's we tend to be over achievers, but I've had to come to terms with the fact that I may make a B or two here and there and that it's OKAY!
DeleteWGU 3
ReplyDeleteThe U-bend tells us that aging is not as bad as we make it to be. It shows that many people are happier after middle age. Cynics interpret this as meaning that the older you get the more you learn to be happier with less, while scientists found that the aging amygdala responds less to emotionally negative stimuli while responding the same amount to emotionally positive stimuli.
I know many older people and this seems to be true. As they've gotten older, they've come to care less about what others' think about them. They find joy in the small things and don't get too overwhelmed when things are not going the best.
DeleteLH ch 2 - this is a great book so far! Very relevant topics
ReplyDelete1. What sort of childhood did Kieran Setiya have? Can you relate? KS can recall a childhood in which he had few friends, though he did not experience loneliness. The elementary school I went to was very small and tight knit. Even if you didn’t hang out outside of school with them, you still knew everyone. I was surrounded by a lot of kind people and was never bullied. I was very happy and not lonely at all until middle school when I changed schools and lost some friends.
2. What was KS's response to the pandemic? What was yours? KS’s response to the pandemic was to start a philosophy podcast. My response to the pandemic was gradually and involved a lot of positive change. It’s a bit personal so I won’t share more than that, but I changed for the better as a result of it.
3. What did Aristotle and Hume say about friendship? Aristotle and Hume spoke of the pain of loneliness, both saying in their own words that loneliness would result in death/suicide because life is not worth living without people/friends.
4. What is the impact of social isolation on health? Social isolation and chronic feelings of isolation/loneliness have very negative health impacts, similar to those of smoking, obesity, hypertension and a sedentary lifestyle.
this is Adriana Ramirez Speis H03
DeleteAdriana Ramirez Speis H03 LH ch 2
ReplyDelete5. What does KS say about Descartes, Hegel, Sartre, and Wittgenstein? KS spoke about lonely philosophers, including Descartes, Hegel, Sartre and Wittgenstein, whose writing all supported the idea that we as humans need to live and conceive ourselves in relation to others.
6. KS is unsure about which view of Aristotle's? KS is unsure about Aristotle’s view that man is a political animal. He believes man is a social animal, always gravitating towards groups.
7. What "dual propensity" did Kant say belongs to human nature? Kant believed humans have the dual propensity of being unsociably sociable. We want a space of our own but also want to be a part of society.
8. What is KS's picture of friendship? KS describes friendship as including romantic partners and family members, a relationship full of negotiation and adaptation. He pictures friendship as drinking, laughing, grieving, sharing, socializing, viewing, cooking and playing together.
9. What is the path to strong relationships? Listening well is the path to strong relationships.
also, a podcast I listen to just released an episode today about this book and its author! thought I would share the link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5drcgEhZBzj08kU2GVLxez?si=dcc5f98fab014bf7
WGU #5
ReplyDeletePhilosophy is an attempt to wrestle with what three questions, according to Kant?
What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope?
1. What gives Andersen "the heebie-jeebies”? Technologies like virtual and augmented reality.
ReplyDelete2. What does Disneyfication denote? It denotes how “urban America had started to resemble theme parks.” Examples include SoHo in Manhattan, Pioneer Square in Seattle, and Old Market in Omaha.
ReplyDelete3. A third of people at theme parks are what? They are adults without children.
ReplyDeleteH02 - SSHM 1
ReplyDeleteAnhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure.
H02 - WGU 3
ReplyDeleteThe U-curve shows that people tend to get happier as they get older, specifically after middle-age.
H02 - LH 1
ReplyDeleteKieran Setiya's childhood was one with few friends, but he didn't feel lonely. I can't relate to this. I had many friends, but I did experience a lot of loneliness. I was also picked on by several kids in school.
H02 - LH 3
ReplyDeleteAristotle and Hume said that loneliness is painful and will ultimately result in death or suicide. They believed that life isn't worth living without friends, which I agree with.
7.Shakespeare's As You Like It is a gloss on what modern message?
ReplyDeleteLife sucks and then you die
5. Philosophy is an attempt to wrestle with what three questions, according to Kant?
What can I know?
What should I do?
What may I hope?
8. Philosophers seek answers to children's questions such as what?
Why should I grow up? Why should I get an education?
Tessa Wallace H03
ReplyDelete3. The U curve shows that people normally get happier as the get towards the middle age of their life and after.
5. Kant says the three questions are: What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope? He goes on to say that they can be reduced to what is a human being.