Yesterday the grades from our philosophy test came back. I got an 86, not bad but also not what I wanted. There were not any comments on any of the papers except on the front where "chart" was written.
A week before the test, the instructor told us what we needed to know for the test. He included the fact that we need to know and be able to reproduce one of the charts in the book. The day of the test, he put the essay questions on the board without anything about the chart; nearly everyone wrote out their essay. Only two people drew the chart out on the paper.
I assumed that, since it was an essay, I would write out the information on the chart to explain it. Apparently, the instructor wanted a drawing of the actual chart; he took away 7 points, which would have given me a comfortable "A".
It amazed me and several other classmates that we had our A's taken away from us because we didn't have clear instructions to draw the chart.
And I still don't know where the other 7 points went.
(Note: The following four blog entries were journal entries actually written 9/8-9/11/08. The first entry was originally written on 9/08/08. The blog "editor" lost them in her desk and just now found them. Oops! Better late than never?)"Right is right. It defines itself."
"Religion kills people and is just a control mechanism. That's why I don't like religion."
"Everything is energy; you, me, the table, our souls. Anything can become anything else and probably will at some point."
These statements come from the professor of the philosophy class I'm taking. All on our first day, too. The man at the front of the room is an aged vet with a doctorate that he says gives him the right to call himself intelligent and the class dumb.With a grin.
"I'm going to teach you how to think," he said after we all settled into our seats, as if none of us had ever done any real thinking before.
The college level philosophy class I took before prison was one of my favorites. As a "team-taught" class, I heard the perspectives from philosophy, science, and mathematics all at once. And fortunately, none of those professors had the intellectual ego to blow out the hot air steaming up the classroom here.
I'm excited to be in this class. I love to learn, regardless of how I get the information. Losing debates with this professor ought to be fun. He'll do his mental victory dance after quashing the argument of a college sophomore.
(Note: this entry was originally written on 9/11/08)
Yesterday in Philosophy class the professor was talking about how religion and philosophy differ and he was really groping for the right buttons to push before someone spoke out against him. Though I haven't had good intellectual debate in a while, I gave it a go.
The professor had said all religion is bad because it relies on a foundation that may not and probably does not exist. I asked him, "If you don't find religion compelling enough to believe in, where do you find purpose in your life? Why keep living?"
"I find purpose in gaining knowledge, power, and sharing knowledge with others," he replied.
"If you're lucky you'll live 100 years. Then why will any of that matter when you are dead and have long become worm food?"
"It helps my kids and their kids and so on."
"So, you're just gone with your last hope before you die that your descendants will be better off with your instruction?"
"Yeah, and therefore improve the world."
We had several other exchanges on the problem of evil, energy, and the soul, and other topics. A guy later got confused in the lecture and remarked,"I'm lost."
The professor said, "Talk to him (meaning me.) He'll tell you about Jesus."
At the end of class I stayed behind to tell the professor that I deeply respected him and really looked forward to the remainder of the session. He gave me a look like he wasn't looking forward to the having the outspoken young squirt in standing front of him in his class.
Well, I wasn't asleep but I was coming awfully close during the oddly scheduled Philosophy class today. We spent the day going over Plato's philosopher state and reviewing for our test that we will take on Monday. I don't know why this guy likes the structures of government put forth by Plato or Nietzsche.
With human nature being what it is, there isn't a perfect way to organize government. Even the U.S. has its faults.
Our test is going to cover Plato and Nietzsche and how the latter made sense of the former's ideas. More than any class I've ever taken before, I'm going to have to completely set aside my own opinions and answer the way this professor would want. I would assert my own opinions but I'd rather get a good grade than make a point to a professor who thinks he is always right.
Through the reading assignment the professor gave us Monday, I figured he was giving a clue to his own philosophical leanings. He had us read a section about Plato and his allegory of the cave, then skip forward 400 pages to the Nietzschean philosophy of the overman (Übermensch) and slave versus master mentality.
Sure enough, the prof told the class upfront that his favorite philosophers are Nietzsche and Heidegger (curiously, both are strongly committed to Nazism...creepy!) He said he views himself as the overman and the rest of society as the underman to be taken advantage of and dominated. The overman is supposed to be an enlightened person with his own created purpose. God is dead and so man is left to create his own fate.
Is it just me or does this guy sound completely full of himself? The sad thing is that many of the guys in class have no real foundation on which to stand and so they follow the prof's (misguided) authority. He is challenging us to be better thinkers but has a nihilistic view that offers little hope to his audience.
For me, the class has forced me to dig deeper into my faith and find out what I believe and why. Of course, I will always have doubts, but everyone has doubts every now and then, no matter what philosophy you ascribe to. I recognize that my faith is fragmentary and can't explain everything because - would you believe it? - my finite mind can't comprehend the infinite. That's why it's called faith.
"
In contemplation, if a man begins with certainties he shall end in doubts; but if he be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." - Francis Bacon
