NOV 14
- SSHM ch3 Psychology and the Healthy Mind #H1 kayla lee, #H2 Nick Luse, #H3 Hadleigh Flowers
- Setiya 3 Grief. #H1 Alayna Frazier, #H3 Roman
- Question Everything (QE) IX What is it like to be a woman? (on reserve in lib'y) #H1 Mai Gibbons, #H2 Elloise Layus, #H3 Brooke Hale
- WGU -p.192. #H3 Evan Burrel
- Setiya 2 Loneliness #H1 John Pardue
With just a handful of classes remaining, it's important that we all present on our scheduled dates.
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1. James wrote Principles of Psychology to answer what question?
2. What did Aristotle say about habit?
3. What realization would make young people give more heed to their conduct?
4. James complained in 1884 that what devoured his time?
5. James thought everybody should do what each day?
6. How is habit "the enormous fly-wheel of society"?
7. There is "no more miserable human being" than ...
8. There is "no more contemptible type of human character" than ...
3. What realization would make young people give more heed to their conduct?
4. James complained in 1884 that what devoured his time?
5. James thought everybody should do what each day?
6. How is habit "the enormous fly-wheel of society"?
7. There is "no more miserable human being" than ...
8. There is "no more contemptible type of human character" than ...
LH
- What are three kinds of grief? Have you experienced any of them?
- What's the closest KS has come to grief?
- What "five neat steps" of grief does KS say there is no evidence for?
- What stoic attitude did Epictetus say would prevent you from being grievously upset at the death of a loved one? What does KS say about that?
- What does KS say should be our goal with respect to grief?
- The fact that someone is not alive, says Julian Barnes, does not mean what?
- What does KS call Epicurus's attitude towards death?
- If we did not grieve, we would not ____.
- How do the Dahomey of Western Africa celebrate the life of the deceased?
- What do conventions of mourning give us?
Discussion Questions:
- Do you want to "be somebody"? What does that mean? Does it make happiness harder to achieve?
- Does adult life make it harder to identify your "real" self? 70
- Is it good that "habit is the enormous fly-wheel of society"? 77
- Which comes first, happiness or laughter 87
- Is it bad to entertain emotions you don't act on? Why?
- Is habit, on balance, good for society?
- Are there any small habits you'd like to gain or lose? What's stopping you?
- COMMENT?: Are there any sequences of mental action you want or need to frequently repeat (or stop repeating)?
SSHM-1: James aimed to explore consciousness, behavior, and the processes that shape human psychology in order to understand what it truly means to have a mind and how mental states impact human lives.
ReplyDeleteSSHM-2: Aristotle emphasized that habit is essential to moral character and personal development. He believed that repeated actions shape one's moral habits and, ultimately, character. This aligns with James's view that habits are fundamental to achieving change and cultivating a disciplined life.
SSHM-3: James thought that if young people realized how powerful habits are in determining their future selves, they would take their actions more seriously. Knowing that habits formed early in life have lasting effects might encourage them to make wiser choices.
SSHM-4: James expressed frustration that teaching, administrative duties, and other responsibilities devoured his time, leaving him with limited energy for his writing and research. This strain hindered his ability to focus on his psychological studies and philosophical ideas.
H01
ReplyDeleteSSHM 1. Because he was expected by his father and peers to be academically successful following his application to Harvard University, James started a project that soon consumed his life. Part of his project was the Principles of Psychology. He wrote this to discover how life gives rise to human consciousness.
SSHM 2. Aristotle said that we have an obsession with habit and that we become our habits. In order for us to change ourselves, we need to change our habits: “Excellence is not an act. It is a habit”.
Discussion question: Do you want to "be somebody"? What does that mean? Does it make happiness harder to achieve?
I often do feel that I want to “be somebody,”. I think I would say that I “am somebody” if I was approached by strangers telling me that they’ve heard of me, whether it be online, through friends/family, or local news. The desire to be somebody does make happiness harder to achieve, because we want to be someone we’re not. The best way to make yourself known is through determination and passion (whether it be a skill or product), not by a constant chase for an achievement you may never get. For example, some well-known artists I listen to never expected to be famous one day, they just simply kept making music.
I'm not sure if you're talking about Chappell Roan in your answer to the discussion question, but I am fascinated by her story. It comes off almost as if she is complaining about her fame and attention, but I think people don't realize that she is a normal person who just happened to grab the attention of millions of people who now obsess over a stranger. I agree with you that your determination and passion make you known. Some people just maybe are more "lucky" than others.
DeleteRoman Phillips H#03
ReplyDeleteLife is Hard
1. Setiya explained there are three kinds of grief: relational grief, which marks a fractured friendship, grief at the harm that befalls someone who dies, and grief at the sheer loss of life. Setiya points out that these types of grief may interact and coincide, but they are not the same because each of them hurts in different ways and each of them says something different about love.
2. Setiya explains that he is not really experienced with grief because the only deaths of close relatives were of distant grandparents; however, he confesses that the closest he has come to grief is watching his mother's health deteriorate due to Alzheimer's even though she is still alive.
3. Setiya explains how the five neat steps of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance - do not come in predictable stages and points to leading grief expert George Bonanno's revelation of how grief comes in waves.
4. Epictetus encouraged a Stoic attitude about grief by pointing out that love is perishable. Epictetus suggested comparing our feelings of loved one's deaths to that of a favorite jug that has been broken. Epictetus believed that grief could be outsmarted if we truly knew what it meant that what we love is perishable. Setiya explains that a Stoic attitude is difficult because there is no point in attempting the impossible and we should not blame ourselves for things that we cannot control. But that Stoic attitude only dulls our pain by distancing us from the things that really matter. Setiya reminds us that while grief brings pain, the pain is part of living well and forever intertwined with love.
5. Setiya says our goal should be to grieve well, but not to extinguish grief.
6. In an essay about his wife, novelist Julian Barnes reveals, "The fact that someone is not alive, does not mean that they do not exist." Barnes explains even though his wife has died, he still talks to her and it feels normal and necessary.
7. While it would be nice to think that death is harmless and therefore nothing to fear, these arguments are weak. Setiya explains how Epicurus believed that death cannot harm us because we cease to be conscious when we die and thus do not feel pain. Because death saves us from pain, we don't need to exist in order to miss out on life. The harm of death is the harm of deprivation, of pleasures forfeited, relationships unraveled, projects incomplete. We are indeed harmed by death in that it would be better to live on, if we could live well.
8. If we did not grieve, we would not love.
9. The Dahomey of Western Africa celebrate the life of the deceased with drinking, dancing, singing, and dirty jokes.
10. Grief is not naturally narrative because it comes in a chaos of waves and fluctuations, undetermined by reason. Conventions of mourning give a structure to grief it would not otherwise have. They make the possibility of grieving well more vivid and understandable.
SSHM 1. James ambitiously wanted to write Principals of psychology so solve the question: “how does life give rise to human consciousness”. He was feeling the pressure from colleagues and his father to make great strides in the world of psychology, and he had to succeed in answering the questions or as the text says ‘die trying’
ReplyDeleteSSHM 3. James was saying young people need to realize how significant their habits are. that we are placid creatures and young people even more, James says to pay more heed to our actions because now is the time we are forming habits, whether they are good, bad, or neutral is up to you.
SSHM 4. In his letter to Thomas Davidson, William James complains that his time is being devoted by teaching, that he hadn’t read or written anything new (other than one lecture on free will). At the time he was being consumed by his teaching and wasn’t gaining anything of his own pursuits from it.
Discussion questions:
ReplyDelete1) I think i strive to “be someone” in a few ways, I try to exude the characteristics of an ideal me. I strive to be on time, coordinated, and organized. I aim for a little less than perfection, through academics and personal life, sometimes to my own detriment. I think to me ‘being someone’ is being perceived and recognized in my efforts. Being someone doesn’t necessarily mean being famous or making a scientific discovery, to me it would mean being appreciated in my efforts by those around me as a hard working person.
7) there are quite a few habits I entertain and then drop that I wish I could’ve carried on. For example lately early mornings have been difficult when it used to be my habitual “me” time. Recreational reading and walks were habits that have now become luxuries of the past. Hopefully when the semester draws to a close I’ll get a handle on my old habits once again and welcome them back into my life.
H03
ReplyDeleteSSHM, Question 3
In James' eyes, young people would give more heed to their conduct if they knew both how malleable their dispositions are now in comparison to how they'll be when they get older, and also the fact that many of the habits formed when one is young carry over into old age. James refers to the middle-aged and up as, "...walking bundles of habits," only able to change their ways through intense concentration. In contrast, it is easier to break old habits and form new ones when one is young, or "in the plastic state."
SSHM, Question 5
James thought that, "Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice." The goal is to perform difficult, perhaps unpleasant tasks as a disciplinary measure. It shows that you are capable of conquering those activities and your own emotions. James thought that we think of the relationship between our emotions and how we display them backwards. He observed that it becomes much easier maintain a positive outlook if you go about your day acting in a positive manner, and vice versa -- it becomes more difficult if you act in a dour manner. As James put it, "We don't laugh because we're happy, we're happy because we laugh."
SSHM, Question 6
I must admit that I only vaguely knew what a fly-wheel was when reading this passage initially, although now having looked at how it functions, James' remark is somewhat poetic. A flywheel, as I understand it, stores and smooths out rotational energy in and stores that energy for later use. James' point is that habit is a mechanism which acts as a stable bedrock for us to weather tough times. Our daily rituals allow us to reclaim some peace of mind back from the harsh absurdity and even cruelness of life and allow us to transform the sideways-shoves of unpredictable events into energy that we can use to continue moving forward.
H01
ReplyDeleteLH #4:
Basically, Epictetus recommended that you acknowledge that you care about something and that that thing is impermanent, and that this would allow you to avoid grief. (Setiya 69-70) I suppose that, if you remind yourself that you will one day lose what you care about, it will not hurt as much when you do because you expected it, but that doesn't mean that it won't matter to you. Even if you know something bad is going to happen, it is still unpleasant and in some cases very disheartening when it does. Setiya says essentially that Epictetus' approach doesn't work because there are things that you should care about even if you can't change them, and that you should still recognize their value (71)
LH #7:
KS calls it "sophistry" (Setiya 78). I am not sure I agree with KS about this, because, in the book, he basically argues that not being able to live is still harmful. But Epicurus' point here is that there IS nobody for the lack of life to be harmful to. You cannot cause harm to a nonexistent person. This is of course operating under the worldview that there is no afterlife. Also, although I don't agree with KS's argument, I also do not agree with Epicurus' idea either. If death were harmless, why not just cause a bunch of death? Obviously it's not okay to just go around and cause death, so clearly there is some moral weight and probably "harm" in death.
LH #8:
According to Setiya, "we would not love" (81). I would say this depends on the definition of "love" that you are using.
{DQ} Are there any small habits you'd like to gain or lose? What's stopping you?:
I would say that I would like to build better time prioritization skills. Sometimes I know that I should be working on my class work, but I will still stop to talk to friends, and then get behind on said class work. I think what is stopping me is a combination of three things: 1] that I just need to be more disciplined and do what I need to do even when I would rather do something else, 2] I think part of it is FOMO, and 3] there is a degree to which I am worried I am missing an opportunity by saying no, but the antidote to this is obviously that I should just remind myself that there will be other opportunities to spend time with my friends, so I shouldn't worry about "missing" the opportunity.
Setiya, Kieran. LIFE IS HARD: HOW PHILOSOPHY CAN HELP US FIND
OUR WAY. Riverhead Books, 2022.
H03
ReplyDeleteSSHM
1. The Principles of Psychology was William James's method of answering the question how life gives rise to human consciousness. Answering this question was a matter of life and death to James, one he intended to solve no matter how ambitious the goal may be.
2. Aristotle believed that who we are is shown by our habits. "We are what we repeatedly do."
3. William James's realization is thus, "Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state."
H03
ReplyDeleteSSHM
1: James wrote the Principles of Psychology in order to answer how life allows for human consciousness to arise.
2: Aristotle said that humans are what they do repeatedly and that excellence was not an act, but rather that it was a habit.
#H02
ReplyDeleteSSHM
2: Aristotle believed "habit" was key to living a virtuous life, as one learns to repeatedly do virtuous acts through the repetition of them. Virtues like courage and temperance are not innate qualities humans are born with, but are rather qualities that are developed through consistent practice. The formation of these habits makes it easier for a person to constantly achieve excellence, as their nature is overwritten through the consistency of their virtuous actions.
3: James believed younger individuals would value their actions to a greater degree if they realized the impact small decisions have on one's future character. He emphasized how important it is for a person to forge their identity on a solid character in their youth, and believed choices made in ones foundational life stage could impact ones values, character, and overall happiness.
7: James believed ones inability to commit in life was the primary way humans experienced misery during their lifetime. The constant wavering between choices and the failure to commit to a course of action prevented the formation of stable habits in human beings, preventing them from developing a sense of purpose and direction in life.
H1
ReplyDelete1 William James wrote the Principles of Psychology to answer the question of how life gives rise to consciousness. With this project, he had to accomplish greatness or die trying.
2 Aristotle believed that we were obsessed with our habits and that it was our habits that made us who we were.
discussion questions
To me, being someone means being remembered, but not forever like those who are in history or major celebrities that live decades and even centuries past their time. Instead, I want to be held fondly by the people around me, and to be known as someone who was capable. I do want to be someone, and I do feel that that takes a toll on my happiness. I believe that this is because I will push down my emotions in order to focus on achieving something at times. Or I get lost in what I truly want pursuing something I merely believe that I do.
#H01
ReplyDeleteSSHM
1: James wrote the Principles of Psychology in order to answer the questions on how life allows for human consciousness to arise.
2: Aristotle said that humans become their habits, and that human excellence was not an act, but rather a habit.
3. William James wrote, "Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state."
#H1 - Zoe Kuhn
ReplyDeleteSSHM - #1
James wrote Principles of Psychology to answer “How does life give rise to human consciousness?”
SSHM - #3
The realization that your habits and actions hold significance would make young people give more heed to their conduct.
SSHM - #4
James complained in 1884 that teaching devoured his time.
#H02
ReplyDeleteSSHM
#1 - William James wrote the Principles of Psychology to answer the question of how life gives rise to human consciousness.
#2 - Aristotle said that humans are made from their habits and are therefore what makes people themselves.
#3 - James said that young people should acknowledge their own habits and be more aware of their actions, as it shapes them to have a greater character.
#H02-
ReplyDeleteLH-1
He dives into the nitty-gritty of life’s challenges, including grief. He doesn’t exactly break it down into three neat categories, but he does talk about different ways we experience grief. For instance, there’s the heart-wrenching grief of losing someone you love, which can feel like a punch to the gut. Then there’s the grief that comes from personal failures or setbacks, like when you don’t achieve something you worked really hard for. And finally, there’s the existential kind of grief, where you grapple with the tough realities of life itself – like the fact that life can be unfair and full of suffering. Setiya’s whole point is to help us understand and navigate these tough times with a bit more grace and resilience.
As for me, I experienced grief when I lost my grandmother, whom I was very close with three years ago. This loss really triggered me, and I felt overwhelmed for almost a year since I was very, really close to her. But then, later on, I realized life's realities and accepted that everyone has to go one day. Then on, I feel relieved as I pray for her soul routinely.
LH-2
So, Kieran Setiya has shared that his closest brush with grief is dealing with chronic pain. Imagine waking up every day with this nagging pain that just won’t go away. It’s like having an uninvited guest who overstays their welcome. This chronic pain has really shaped how he sees the world and life’s challenges. He talks about feeling envious of people who seem to glide through life without a care, only to realize that everyone has their own battles, whether it’s grief, loneliness, or failure. It’s a bit of a wake-up call, reminding us that we’re all in this together, facing our own unique struggles. Setiya’s experience with chronic pain has given him a lot of insight into how we can navigate tough times with a bit more grace and resilience. It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, life can be tough, but we can get through it.”
LH-3
So, Kieran Setiya talks about the so-called “five neat steps” of grief, which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. He points out that there’s actually no solid evidence to support this tidy sequence. Instead, grief is more like a rollercoaster ride – it comes in waves and doesn’t follow any predictable order. You might feel fine one moment and then be hit with a wave of sadness the next. It’s a messy, unpredictable process, and everyone experiences it differently. Setiya’s take is that we shouldn’t expect grief to fit into a neat little box, but rather understand that it’s a unique journey for each person.
Maheswari Ramesh (Maahi)
SSHM
ReplyDeleteQ1: James wrote “Principles of Psychology” to answer the question of how life gives rise to human consciousness. Meaning, he wanted to answer how living human beings, biological functioning, lead to active consciousness and thinking.
Q2: Aristotle said that excellence is a habit, and that what we do repeatedly is what makes us who we are. In other words, the persistent performance of singular actions helps determine what a person is.
Q3: James believed that If the young came to realize that they were bound to eventually become a “walking bundle” of habits, formed throughout their younger years and reinforced and cemented as they age.
H02 Erick Martinez
ReplyDeleteSSHM
1. James wrote Principles of Psychology to answer one of the oldest questions in philosophy; How does one life give rise to human consciousness. This was a real challenge at this time as technology wasn’t too advanced to do experiments that could prove James’s right or wrong. He had to do it all himself.
2. Aristotle sort of anticipated how much wed use the world habit. He states, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act. It is a habit” I think he is saying that our habits shape us, whether it’s our sleep schedule or our habit of saving money, we build ourselves by continuously doing these things. So, excellence is something we can repeat, a skill that we acquire after many trials.
3. James realized that the minds of young people were far more pliable and able to change than older people. James believed that if young people realized that soon they will become just a bundle of habits, they would “heed to their conduct while in the plastic stage” It’s true, we don’t realize that after a while, we don’t form new habits, we stick to what we know and don’t care to change that. If we were to realize that is coming, we would try new habits, change things up to make sure we don’t end up just a bundle of bad habits.
Annlee Head H02
ReplyDeleteSSHM1: James wrote Principles of Psychology to answer the question “What is the relationship between Being and Thinking?” James had to do the research and experiments himself in order to answer this question. He was intent on being someone in order to figure out that relationship.
SSHM2: Aristotle stated “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act. It is a habit.” He anticipated our obsession with the word ‘habit,’ as modern society tries their hardest to break bad habits and striving to form good ones instead.
SSHM3: James knew that the realization of “how soon [young people] will become mere walking bundles of habits” will make young people give more heed to their conduct while in the “plastic” state of being easily pliable.
SSHM #1- William James decided to write Principles of Psychology in order to answer the question: How does one life give rise to human consciousness.
ReplyDeleteSSHM #4- James complained that so much of his time was being taken up by teaching that he hadn't spent time learning anything new.
SSHM #2 - Aristotle believed that humans are obsessed with our habits and that we let these habits shape who we are.
H03
ReplyDeleteSSHMs 1 + Discussion-
James wrote the Principle of Psychology to answer the question: How does life give rise to human consciousness? Another way to phrase the question was, “What is the relationship between Being and thinking?” So, he wrote The Principles to answer the question of how the mind and the body are connected, how the consciousness connects with the body. + According to James, being “somebody” makes happiness harder to achieve, as he stated when he was intent on becoming somebody. To me, being somebody in the way he used it was a person to remember, to put your name out there. In another way, being somebody is just that: living and being anyone you desire yourself to be: policeman, gardener, chef, etc. I feel that being somebody is nice, but at the same time, it depends on the definition. I do not care nor want my name to be out there or greatly remembered. If it happens, it happens, but I like those around me, my family, to remember me as somebody.
SSHMs 4 + Discussion-
James complained 1884 to his lifelong tutor, Thomas Davidson, that teaching was devouring his time. He admitted that it had no intellectual profit to him and that he had done nothing, leaving him to feel unaccomplished at the time. + While adult life might make it harder to act as the real you or refine who you feel you truly are, I feel this is something that happens when one’s work-life balance is poor. For example, separating work and home or work and personal can be hard, but is very important for an adult, as it allows them to keep that real self going.
SSHMs 5-
James believed that people should do at least two things they hate to do daily. This is for practice, according to James. So the example given in SSHMs was doing yoga every day, which the author hated, and therefore started doing every day. The author claims that yoga had become a Jamesian habit for him, as he made a habit of doing something he hated every day, following James words.
H03
ReplyDeleteSSHM
1. William James wrote Principles of Psychology to explain how life gives rise to human consciousness. Essentially, he wanted to shed light on the relationship between thinking and being. Descarte claimed that he thought, therefore, he was. James's purpose in writing Principles was to examine the truth of this statement. Does our ability to have complex though and interpret our experience from unique perspectives imply that we are truly conscious and alive.
2. Aristotle claimed that habits define individuals. He believed that humans become obsessed with their habits to the point that they are deeply ingrained in our personality and identity. The things that we repeatedly do or don't do provide insight on our values and qualities.
6. What this means is that habit is what we build our lives around. Humans are apt to do what is comfortable and what they know. The development of cultural habits build cooperative societies. Breaking your habits may be seen as taboo, so most people will go about following them blindly, regardless of this causes them strife. Habit can be a protector of society enforcing social laws and protecting people from dangers associated with breaking such habit. However, they can also be oppressive keeping people locked in their places, drones to their collective habits. This has potential to be abused, as so may be smart enough to leverage a person or group of people's habit to suppress them.
#H02
ReplyDeleteSSHM 1. James wrote the “Principles of Psychology” to answer the question, “What is the relationship between Being and Thinking?” James did the research and experiments himself in order to answer this question.
SSHM 3. James had the realization about how young people will become mere “walking bundles of habits” and will be more impressionable while in their “plastic” state.