[lit-ideas] Re: Decisions, decisions

  • From: Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 10:51:14 -0400

No, Robert, it wouldn't be rude at all -- and my heart agrees with you. 
  But I teach intro phil to 160 or so students, only two of whom are 
actually philosophy majors.  Almost none of the others ever take another 
philosophy course.   Over the years, my purpose has drifted from 
providing a solid grounding for upper year courses (although I do still 
keep an eye on that) to firing them up about anything philosophical at 
all.   Most will have seen The Matrix when I show it.   But what they 
saw was an action flick.  Before the class viewing, they read and 
discuss the First Meditation and the 'brain in the vat' theories and the 
'happiness box'.   I use anything I can, song lyrics, art, literature 
and film to bring them to the realization that the people out there in 
the world who are doing things that they find interesting, begin with 
ideas that generations of philosophers have wrestled with.  My intention 
is for them to see how much philosophy they already are exposed to (only 
no one ever called it that) and to convince them that a thoughtfully 
developed philosophy is preferable to the inconsistent ready-made ones 
most of them walk around with.  

This is a really important topic and applies to so much else we do in 
academe.   But marking calls.
Ursula
explaining herself in North Bay
  
Robert Paul wrote:

>But I would be interested in which movies people here would recommend 
>for intro phil.
> -------------------------------------
>Would it be rude of me to say 'none'? Probably, but I'm not happy with the idea
>that everything should be something else. If they can't read Descartes'
>Meditations and understand them, perhaps they could go into accounting without
>passing Go.
>
>It would be depressing--is depressing--to think that The Matrix is the only way
>into the problem of Cartesian global scepticism, and that without its special
>effects today's students will not understand the philosophical issues (which
>are?) involved.
>
>I'd give the same answer if I were asked to suggest movies to show to an intro
>lit class (one that was reading Jane Eyre, e.g.)  If the _only_ way to get 
>their
>attention is via a movie, why not just admit that you're dealing with different
>issues and different genres?
>
>There's probably a witty comic book illustrating the Philosophical
>Investigations, but should there be I'd recommend it only to students who'd
>struggled for a while with the original. They'd get it.
>
>Robert Paul
>The Old Oligarch
>Reed College
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
>digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
>
>  
>

------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. lit-ideas
  3. Archive
  4. 10-2004