Midterm report presentations - Fall '25

Select a topic related to the day's scheduled assigned reading OR to one of the RECOMMENDED texts #1-8 on reserve in the library, below* (focus on the first couple of chapters, if you wish you can return to the rest of it for your final report presentation later):

Plan to speak for about ten minutes, then give us a discussion question or two and direct the discussion. We'll do two presentations per class. If you can find a suitable way to incorporate a library-produced podcast and/or video into your report presentation (as we learned about on our Library Day tour), you're welcome to do so.

If it's a nice day and the class decides to go outside, be prepared to present your report without technological support - you can do a PowerPoint (etc.) and post it, but we'll look at it when we're inside.

Indicate your date & topic preferences in the comments space below. First come, first served.

SEP

18 Montaigne, Descartes, & Pascal-LHP 11-12. Weiner 14. Rec: FL 13-14. HWT 14-15.

1. #1 Sabin: Montaigne. #2 Emily: Montaigne. #3 Bennie: Montaigne
2. #1 Donyae: Descartes. #2 Antonella: Augustine. #3 Morgan: Boethius

23 Spinoza, Locke, & Reid-LHP 13-14. Rec: FL 15-16. HWT 16-17.

1. #1 Cooper: Locke. #2 Kaitlyn: Locke. #3 Matthew: Locke
2. #1 Grayson: Spinoza. #2 James K: Spinoza. #3 Malcolm: Spinoza

25 Berkeley, Leibniz (and Voltaire), Hume, & Rousseau-LHP 15-18. Weiner 3. Rec: FL 17-18. HWT 18-19.

1. #1 Makenzie: Humans naturally good? #2 Keira: Rousseau. #3 Jeremiah: ___
2. #1 Ashton: Berkeley. #2 Allie: Leibniz/Voltaire. #3 Bella: Capitalism

30 Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Schopenhauer-LHP 19-23. Weiner 5. Rec: FL 19-20. HWT 20-22.

1. #1 Tommy: Kant. #2 Jay: Kant. #3 Brooke: Bentham
2. #1 Kate: Hegel.  #2 Mackenzie: Schopenhauer. #3 Philopateer: Schopenhauer

OCT

2 Mill, Darwin, Kierkegaard, Marx-LHP 24-27. Rec: FL 21-22. HWT 23-24.

1. #1 Jack: Mill. #2 Corey: Mill. #2 Addison: Marx. #3 Corbin: Marx
2. #1 Daxton: Darwin. #2 Abby: Darwin. #3 Addison: Kierkegaard

7 Peirce & James, Nietzsche, Freud-LHP 28-30. Weiner 11. Rec: FL 23-24. HWT 25-26.

1. #1 Stone: Freud. #2 Mady: Freud. #3 Katelyn: Freud
2. #1 Anderson: Nietzsche. #2 Mercy: Nietzsche. #3 Harley: Nietzsche

9 Exam 1.

Fall Break

16 Russell, Ayer, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus-LHP 31-33. Weiner 13. Rec: FL 25-26. HWT 27-28.

1. #1 Abby: de Beauvoir. #2 Leo: Russell. #3 Sarah: de Beauvoir
2. #1 Connor: Ayer. #2 [Anon]: Sartre. #2 Somou: Ayer. #3 Mackenzie M: Sartre

21 Wittgenstein, Arendt, Popper & Kuhn, Foot & Thomson-LHP 34-37, Rec: FL 27-28.

1. #1 Lily: Arendt. #2 Elijah: Arendt. #3 Skylar: Arendt.
2. #1 Gracyn: Wittgenstein. #2 Jacob Moncayo: Three Roads Back. #3 Matthew: Wittgenstein

23 Rawls, Turing & Searle, Singer-LHP 38-40. WGU Introduction-p.35. Rec: FL 29-32.

1. #1 Jackson: Peter Singer. #2 Gracyn: Rawls. #3 Mallory: Peter Singer
2. #1 Austin: Turing and Searle. #2 Lily: Turing and Searle. #3 Eric: Turing and Searle

28 WGU -p.79 Rec: FL 33-34.

1. #_ [Anon]: Philosopher Queens. #2 Matthew: WGU, ___. #3 Ben L: ___
2. (Name & topic)

*

1. How the World Thinks (HWT) by Julian Baggini - because Western philosophy is not the whole  story.
2. Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen (FL) - because the contemporary crisis of American democracy is rooted in our history.
3. How to Think Like Socrates, by Donald J. Robertson - because he was, as the Monty Python song says, "a lovely little thinker..."
4. How to Think Like Marcus Aurelius, by Donald J. Robertson - because he was a wise stoic and emperor, as close to a Philosopher-King as we've had or are likely to get.
5. The Philosopher Queens: the lives and legacies of philosophy's unsung women, by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting - because women have always philosophized too.
6. Starry Messenger: cosmic perspectives on civilization, by Neil deGrasse Tyson - because we are cosmopolitans, citizens of the cosmos.
7. Question Everything: A Stone Reader, eds. Catapano and Critchley - short popular essays by contemporary philosophers published in the New York Times, because philosophy is relevant to contemporary issues.
8. Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives by Robert Richardson - because we'll all eventually lose someone close.
9. Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James-companion anthology to Sick Souls - because William James can save your life, or at least ameliorate it.
10. Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help by Kieran Setiya - because we'll all eventually be challenged by something hard.
11. Night Vision: seeing ourselves through dark moods, by Mariana Allesandri - because all is not sunshine and light.