SU PHI2301 Complete Course Latest 2021 June

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 1 Discussion

What makes a life worth living?

What makes your life worth living? In 1-2 pages, explain your idea of what makes life meaningful and compare/contrast your view with Socrates’ idea that philosophy makes life worth living. Your discussion post should address the following:

Your own ideas about what makes life worth living

The difference between philosophy and sophistry

Socrates’s account of the philosophical life

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 2 Discussion

Are you an Avocado or An Artichoke?

The purpose of this discussion assignment is to reflect upon your understanding of the two main philosophical approaches to the self. After completing your readings, write a 1-2 page paper comparing and contrasting the avocado/modernist idea of the self with the artichoke/postmodern view.

As you develop your response, you might find some of the following questions to be relevant:

What is the avocado idea of the self? What is your understanding of Plato and Aristotle’s belief that reason is the core essence of human beings?

What is the artichoke idea of the self? What is your understanding of the existential idea that our existence determines our essence?

What do you make of the concern that the avocado idea of the self values reason over emotion? What are the implications of this view for women?

Are you an avocado or an artichoke? Or do you find the non-Western views of the self to be more compelling?

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 3 Discussion

What is True and How Do We Know?

The purpose of this discussion assignment is to reflect upon your understanding of epistemology, i.e., the philosophical approach to knowledge and truth. In 1-2 pages, address the following:

Identify a belief you think is true.

Identify and explain a philosophical account of truth from the readings that might help support your belief. For example, say the belief is that you are awake right now. Is this something you would prove using empirical evidence? If so, discuss at least one version of empiricism and the correspondence theory of truth. If the belief is one that refers to a paradigm (math, for example), discuss Cartesian rationalism and the coherence theory of truth. If it is one that does not admit of empirical or logical warrantability, discuss Deconstruction and/or the Pragmatic and Ewe Creativity approaches to truth.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 4 Discussion

The purpose of this discussion assignment is to reflect upon your belief about how our society should be structured to achieve justice. In 1-2 pages, write a letter to one of your elected officials in which you identify an unjust circumstance in your community and advise your representative as to how it might be remedied. Include the following in your letter:

Identify and explain the injustice in your community.

Discuss your proposed solution.

Explain at least one social philosophy from Chapter 9 in the textbook that supports your solution.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 5 Discussion

The purpose of this discussion assignment is to reflect upon your belief about how our government should be structured to achieve justice. In 1-2 pages, address the following:

Identify an ethical dilemma you or someone you know has faced.

Identify and explain the ethical philosophy from the reading that you think either should have or did inform how you resolved the dilemma. You can choose utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, care ethics, Buddhist ethics, African ethics, or existential ethics.

Identify and explain an ethical theory that would take a different approach.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 1 Project  

What is Wisdom?

In a 3-4 page essay, address/discuss the following:

Define “dialectic” and discuss how Socratic dialogue differs from other conversations.

Illustrate your understanding with examples of some specific beliefs one might examine via the Socratic Method.

Explain the difference between knowledge and opinion for Socrates as illustrated in the Meno and the Republic.

Explore your own response to the question of whether human beings can ever know the truth for certain. Can we ever achieve perfect wisdom about the kinds of ideas philosophers explore? Why or why not?Remember to use supporting citations from the textbook and online lectures in correct APA citation.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 2 Project  

Instructions

This 3-4 page Project Assignment picks up the discussion of the self in the week 2 discussion by asking you to further explore the question of who you are. If any of the philosophers we read this session might agree with your view, identify the philosopher and explain their position on the self. If any might disagree, identify and discuss the points of disagreement. Personal experience is particularly relevant to this prompt, so feel free to compare your own ideas/experiences to the philosophical theories from the readings. You might consider the following questions as you develop your response:

Does your essence determine your existence (as in the avocado view), or are you a product of your choices and environment (as in the artichoke view)? Or do you not have a solid, separate self at all (as in the non-Western views of the self)?

Does race/sex/gender/class/sexual orientation play a role in who you are? Is gender identity a fixed biological reality? Why or why not?

Remember to use supporting citations from the textbook and online lectures in correct APA citation.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 3 Project  

Instructions

This Project Assignment picks up the discussion of truth in the Week 3 Discussion by asking you to compare and contrast the modern and postmodern approaches to truth and art. In a 3-4 page paper, discuss the following:

Explain the idea that art represents reality by discussing Plato and/or Aristotle’s view of art. Discuss a work of art that you think illustrates this idea. For example, you might discuss a character/narrator/subject in a work of art (novel, poem, film, graphic novel, short story, television show, song, painting, etc.) who you think captures the idea that we have an essential, shared human nature and that art reflects this reality for us.

• Explain the idea that art is truth by discussing Schelling, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and/or Heidegger. Discuss a work of art that you think illustrates this idea. For example, you might discuss a character/narrator/subject in a work of art (novel, poem, film, graphic novel, short story, television show, song, painting, etc.) who you think captures the artichoke/post-modern idea.

You might also consider the following in developing your paper:

Is art mimesis/representation (as in Platonism and Aristotelian aesthetics) or is it a means of transforming the self and reality? Might it be aspirational, allowing us to achieve catharsis, as Aristotle suggests? Consider, too, how the idea of art as representation is akin to the avocado view while the idea of art as transformative is more like the artichoke view.

What is the relationship between art and philosophy? Do you agree with Plato and Descartes that philosophy is the best means of achieving certainty about reality and existence, or do you think that art is the ultimate expression of truth? How is the postmodern view of art a rejection of the natural standpoint we see adopted by empiricism and rationalism and rejected by phenomenology?Remember to use supporting citations from the textbook and online lectures in correct APA citation.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 4 Project  

Social identity and Justice

Imagine that you have been given a piece of sovereign land upon which to build a just society. In a 3-4-page paper, discuss the following:

Identify and explain your definition of justice.

Identify and discuss the social philosophy/philosophies that are similar to your own vision of justice. For example, you might draw upon Rawls’ idea that justice is fairness and original position and discuss how reflecting upon the original position influenced the structure of your new society. Alternatively, you might explain intersectionality and discuss how your society will ensure that discrimination on the basis of identities like race, class, gender, and sexuality will not occur.

Identify and discuss a contrasting theory.

Support your account of the theories with citations to the textbook and online lectures in correct APA format.

PHI2301 Introduction to Philosophy

Week 5 Project  

The Good Life

Imagine you could go back in time and give your childhood self a letter in which you explain your current view of the good and ethical life. Write a 3-4 page letter to your childhood self explaining your view of the Good in which you:

Identify at least one philosopher who might agree with your view of the Good. Explain that philosophical ethical theory and discuss how it compares to your own views.

Discuss how another philosopher might disagree. For example, if you discuss deontology in support of your view, utilitarianism might be a good point of contrast. Virtue and care ethics are very similar, but it would be interesting to explore their differences as well.

Support your account of the theories with citations to the textbook and online lectures in correct APA format.