HUM FINAL
"philosophy" mean in Greek?
"love of wisdom"
Henry Giroux's explanation of growing public desire for "spectacles of high-intensity violence and images of death, mutilation and suffering"
"the grave reality is that violence saturates almost every aspect of north american culture. domestically, violence weaves through the cultural and social landscape like a highly charged forest fire burning everything in its path. popular culture, extending from hollywood films and sports thuggery, to video games, embraces the spectacle of violence as the primary medium of entertainment. The real issue here is the existence of a pedagogy of violence that actually makes the power of deadly violence attractive"
These thinkers' key ideas on happiness from Bok's book, Exploring Happiness: Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, Ayn Rand, Charles Fourierc, Alexander Pope, Immanuel Kant ("dethronement of happiness"), Robert Nozick, Peter Singer
*Freud*: that pleasure alone could bring spurts, and only spurts, of happiness. "What we call happiness in the strictest sense of the word, comes from the (preferably sudden) satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon." *Alexander Pope* on happiness= There is little to learn in understanding happiness *Seneca* on happiness= minimalist-better to minimize our needs to increase happiness *Charles Fourier* on happiness= having passions and the ability to satisfy them *Ayn Rand* on happiness= political neutral terms as: "that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values" *Epicurus* on happiness= pleasure and diminishment of suffering; savoring simple pleasures; overcoming fears *Peter Singer* on happiness=based on personal goals and achievement *Robert Nozick*=Conductin happiness machine experiment *Immanuel Kant*= that happiness is not achievable in human life, and that it can therefore be hoped for only in afterlife.
These thinkers key ideas from lecture on the good life: Seneca, Epicurus
*seneca*= believed that happiness required reducing desires -says that limiting one's desires helps to cure one of the fear of death and of all the evils that fate might hold ins tore and thus makes possible a state of serene happiness *epicurus*=wrote that the ultimate end of human existence was pleasure and diminishment of suffering -vision of pleasurable existence is best understood as tranquilith or contentment -contends that the best life is found in savoring simple pleasures of life
the meaning of the Humanities, including the various sub-disciplines within it, and its relationship to Liberal Arts
-A family of academic disciplines and an interdisciplinary field of study - also called Liberal Arts humanities: the study of the myriad ways in which people, from every period of history and from every corner of the globe, process and document the human experience *liberal arts*: they are the cornerstone of the liberal arts - *sub-disciplines*: humanities, social sciences, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history
Key points made by Plato on education
-Children are significantly shaped by early experience and education (377b) -Children are often told stories that promote visions of life that "shape" their "souls" (377c) and are "hard to erase and apt to become unalterable" (378d) -Consequently, storytellers must be supervised (377c) to ensure wrongdoing and inharmonious behavior is not normalized or glamorized (378a-c) -And "god must always be represented as he is" "good" -objects to coercive learning bc he does not want the Guardians to develop a subservient mindset -contends that force is much less effective -believes free play may present a better opportunity to discover the child's natural aptitudes
What is Plato's myth of the metals? (see education on lecture)
-The gods have created each and every one of us as metals and that the most prized metal should be the ruler -In The Republic, Plato's Socrates articulates that it is important for a society to have a strict social hierarchy, and that in the greatest societies people would accept their role. He proposes keeping the social order through mythology. -used to explain natural differences between individuals: says that natural aptitudes are represented by different metals which predisposes them to different occupations. Gold= guardians; suitable for rule silver=auxiliaries; predisposed to fighting/ being soldiers copper=artisans; governed by animalistic appetites; only suitable for physical labor
key ideas from required readings from Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving including his argument about love as an art and the essence of each of the kinds of love he identifies.
-brotherly love, motherly and fatherly love, erotic love, self-love, and the love of God If we just let ourselves go, acting passively and waiting for the other person to do and say everything, and also to reciprocate, then we will just end up completely frustrated. 1. Love is the active concern for life and the growth of what we love -we don't know how to love 2. Love is an activity, not a passive effect; it is a continual being, not a sudden burst - we are urged to get down from our cloud and strengthen our relationship. He calls on us to make every effort to walk hand in hand together with the same ideas 3. Immature love follows the principle "I love you because you love me"
Benton and DiYanni's discussion of the various aspects of the humanities including art (for example, how does color play a role in painting; varied uses of art throughout history)
-celebrate and criticize, identify problems, ask questions to help us understand ourselves/the world -color creates unity, establishes mood
The value of art, uses of history and philosophy, as per the School of Life videos
-keeps us hopeful -makes us less lonely -rebalances us -helps us to appreciate things -propaganda for what really matters According to course materials, art does not merely reflect reality; it also shapes reality.
Know the aspects of "doing philosophy" as per Robert Solomon: reflection, articulation, argument (justification), analysis, and synthesis
-reflection -articulation -argument(justification) -analysis -synthesis
Various approaches to studying the Humanities
1. history of humanity and culture -Learning about key events, intellectual and artistic movements, and other valuable works in the development of human culture 2. wisdom and cultivation of humanity -Examining the "great" creative and intellectual works to develop deeper insights into how we have come to believe and be as we presently are, as above, but also to use these works to nourish our humanity and grow wiser -Involves wrestling with key questions and compelling, competing answers in order to reach greater understanding of our own individual and cultural ideals 3. social construction and power -Critically examining the influence revered trends, movements, creative and intellectual works have shaped contemporary culture and its power relations -Asks how particular works benefited some while detrimentally impacting others critical thinking reasoning experience inference background beliefs
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Maslow's view of the significance of character/morality (King) and values (Maslow) in education
Abraham Maslow argued that education without engagement with values was akin to a pilot making good time without a destination -no education can be truly "value-free" because we cannot even determine what is "efficient" without first deciding what our fundamental goal is MLK- argued that the purpose of education was to "teach one to think intensively and to think critically"
What Adrienne Rich means by "claiming an education," and why it's important for women in particular to claim theirs
Adrienne Rich urge gave a convocation at Douglass college where she urged students to reject educational models of passivity and to claim an education: -"The difference is that between acting and being acted-upon, and for women it can literally mean the difference between life and death." -"Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work" -The first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one. One of the dictionary definitions of the verb "to claim" is: to take as the rightful owner; to assert in the face of possible contradiction. "To receive" is to come into possession of: to act as receptacle or container for; to accept as authoritative or true. The difference is that between acting and being acted-upon, and for women it can literally mean the difference between life and death."
What question does Dr. Nall contend is crucial for fans of entertainment violence such as mixed martial arts to contemplate?
Are we not entertained -do fans acknowledge athletes' humanity when they cheer as their team/player harms another
Know Socrates' position, via Plato in The Republic, on forced education of children (see lecture on education)
Because no free person should learn anything like a slave. Forced bodily labor does no harm to the body, but nothing taught by force stays in the soul. In place of force Socrates calls for children to be taught these subjects through -"play instead. That way you'll also see better what each of them is naturally fitted for."
Carol Becker's view of art in relation to research; bell hooks' understanding of the significance and meaning of imagination; Rollo May's understanding of creativity
Carol Becker's: artists engage in a type of irreverent and unorthodox research that refuses conventional "deliverables" measured by traditional data-driven matrices. Yet artists' unquantifiable results are essential to the well-being and evolution of the species' consciousness. -Artists will use any form, any discipline, and take ideas from anyone to further their goal of answering the questions they have posed for themselves or calling attention to concerns they feel should be addressed by the society. Bell Hooks: imagination receives so little attention. - We need imagination to illuminate those spaces not covered by data, facts and proven information.
Meaning of culture as per Stephen Duncombe; and meaning of cultural studies as per UCF and UNC websites
Cultural studies is an innovative interdisciplinary field of research and teaching that investigates the ways in which 'culture' creates and transforms individual experiences, everyday life, social relations and power UNC=Innovative interdisciplinary fields of research that investigates how culture creates and transforms individual experiences, everyday life, social relations, and power UCF= an intentionally interdisciplinary course study culture and meaning.
Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences
Defines intelligence as "the capacity to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings." 8 intelligences, everyone has all 8, but in different proportions. You can strengthen your weaker areas. Visual-Spatial Intelligence Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence Logical-Mathematical Intelligence Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence Musical Intelligence Interpersonal Intelligence Intrapersonal Intelligence Naturalistic Intelligence
Nussbaum and Russell's critique of overemphasis on the means of life at the expense of the ends of life
Economic means are being preferred over human ends, we are losing what it means to be human, we can't properly participate in democracy that way
Know Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony, why he believes all people are philosophers, and what we must recognize in order to achieve self-knowledge (hint: "infinity of traces") (see lecture on culture)
Gramsci argued that force could only be a short-term measure for the ruling classes, who needed to create popular consent among the working classes to rule effectively and efficiently. That consent was gained by spreading the beliefs of Capitalist ideology through important cultural institutions. Through education, religion, the media, and government bureaucracy the ruling class could create order in civil society by ensuring that basic capitalist values were thought unquestionable. -specifically the parts of society that rely on the consensual participation of the public—supports ways of seeing the world that benefit particular groups in society and undermine other groups
Value of the humanities as per Mark Edmundson, David Behling, Judith Butler, and Martha Nussbaum
Mark Edmundson - Questions success and every important value, informed thoughtful dialogue, understand and analyze complex ideas, teaches you skills that teach you how to live your life David Behling - About what it means to be human and about how our ancestors created their world, at the core of liberal arts (people = active creators of culture) Judith Butler - We become more critical and capacious in our thinking and acting after reflecting on what we read and what we have done Martha Nussbaum - Allows the ability to think critically, to go past loyalties (own beliefs), approach problems as "citizens of the world" and to be sympathetic with another person's problems in short: it is important to know what we want to express and why, and the humanities gives us the capacity to do this.
Noam Chomsky's view on reading and books including electronic books
Reading a book is an intellectual exercise, stimulating thought and imagination. Online books have advantages being easily accessible and you can take many on a plane in one but in paper books, you are truly interested in you are going to want to engage actively and write in the margins and on e-books, it just has words that pass through your eyes, barely ever making it to the brain. [Electronic books] have advantages. You have half a dozen books you can read on an airplane trip. On the other hand, when I read a book I care about, I want to make comments in the margins, I want to underline things. I want to make notes on the flyleaf. Otherwise I don't even know what to go back to. You can't do that the same way with an electronic book. Words just pass into your eyes. Maybe they don't even stay in your brain....
In what ways can we "actively engage" or participate in the humanities, according to Richard Jewell
See a play, concert, or dance. -Attend an art or sculpture exhibition. -Go to an historical museum. -Describe one's own philosophy of life. -Create a work of art. -Study the basis of other world religions. -Experience a foreign culture for a day. -Write about such experiences before and after. -Discuss such experiences with each other. -Compare, compare.
In what ways do we experience the humanities, as per Benton and DiYanii
The humanities extend our experiences. They broaden our perspective, deepen our understanding, stimulate our imagination, reward our study, and satisfy our longings. They amaze and astonish. They counsel and console. They enlarge and enrich our lives through making us, finally, more fully and more deeply human -we experience the humanities through art, dance, history, religion, philosophy , literature, film, drama, -Celebrate and criticize -Ask Questions
Know key aspects or skills that comprise critical thinking according to the Critical Thinking Community in their piece, "Defining Critical Thinking
The key components of critical thinking, as per the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking include skillfully: 1) conceptualizing, 2) applying, 3) analyzing, and 4) synthesizing information In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. - purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference -ends and objectives -the status and wording of questions -the sources of info and fact -the method and quality of info collection -the mode of judgment and reasoning used -the assumptions that underlie concepts in use -the implications that follow from their use -the point of view or frame of reference within which reasoning takes place
According to Solomon, what role does philosophy play in shaping our conceptual framework?
To verify our frameworks a conceptual framework= A network of interrelated concepts A frame of reference, worldview, or basic set of values, attitudes, and beliefs An interpretative lens
Stuart Hall's understanding of culture and representation
a way in which we make sense of or give meaning to things of one sort or another. says that representation is commonly understood as presenting, reflecting or "re-presenting" something that was already there
Key concepts, questions, and arguments from Ronald de Sousa's treatment of love (as outlined in lecture/powerpoint)
believes love comes by chance ex. proximity, influences, taste, habit contends that love is not an emotion, but rather that it is a condition - a syndrome: not a kind of feeling, but an intricate pattern of potential thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that tend to 'run together'. -says that love stories seldom have happy endings. the greatest love stories usually end in death
Know meaning of conceptual framework as per Karen Warren; and meaning of background belief (see critical thinking lecture)
conceptual frameworks: network of concepts (values, attitudes, and beliefs) that form an interpretive lens through which we see and understand the world Karen: network of concepts that form an interpretive lens in which we see and understand the world Solomon and Higgins: our life is made up of concepts that we make through interaction with the world, all those concepts come together to make our conceptual framework
Meaning and components of critical thinking as per Dr. Nall including non-critical "default ways of thinking"
critical thinking- a method of thinking that emphasizes reflective,open-minded, and rational thinking default thinking: "common sense" thinking, dogmatic thinking, reactive thinking, egocentric thinking, and ethnocentric thinking
Know the meaning of ethics, as per Anthony Weston, and how it differs from moral values
ethics is the study of how best to think about moral values and how best to clarify, prioritize, and integrate them -Claims that moral values give voice to the basic needs and legitimate expectations of others as well as our own differs bc the term ethics has a more critical, self-conscious edge, and moral values are legitimate expectations
Bell hooks' perspective on imagination
helps connect ideas we previously thought were unrelated, and is important in helping students come up with new ideas "we need imagination illuminate those spaces not covered by data, facts, and proven information
Eduardo Galeano's view on imagination
imagination is needed to illuminate the spaces not covered by data, facts, and proven information imagine the world we want to live in; "right to dream"
Plot and presented interpretations of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World; also be prepared to apply key concepts to analyze film
is an apocalyptical romantic comedy/drama. three weeks until earth's destruction via 70 miles wide asteroid -offers a metaphor for death, for which there is no cure since life and death are different sides of the same coin -teaches us that we must confront the looming reality of our mortality so that we can identify what it is we are committed to above all else
Plot of Don Jon and how the story relates to and/or exemplifies key ideas and arguments found in assigned readings on love
jon martello objectifies everything in his life. His friends call him Don Jon bc of his ability to pull tens every weekend. But the finest things dont give him satisfaction like watching porn does, so he goes on a journey to find a more satisfying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women -provides recognition of the idea that mens desire for intimate love can be fulfilled through impersonal sex. it also portrays the dehumanizing sexual objectification of women
4 kinds of love as per the Greeks
philia- close friendship storge- caring for another's interests and welfare, not incompatible with sexual desire agape- universal concern for others; sexual storge eros- intense sexual attraction, entails intimacy
bell hooks' discussion of love and sexuality including "perfect love" and critique of "falling in love"
says that most are more comfortable talking about sex than love -on falling in love hooks says that the notion of falling in love protects us from taking full responsibility for love -if we fall in love then we need not proactively explore our feelings and determine what we want from a relationship with another person -"perfect love" gives us the courage to face reality, to embrace our true selves"
Joanna Kadi's critique of the idea of "stupidity" and how she believes it functions in society
says that so much energy goes into the social lie that poor people are stupid; capitalism needs a basic rationalization to explain why things happen the way they do -"So much energy goes into the social lie that poor people are stupid." "I knew money and brains didn't go hand in hand. But on deep unconscious levels, I believed in my own stupidity and in the stupidity of working-class people."
Key concepts from Bok's book, Mayhem, including entertainment violence, catharsis, influences that override intrinsic resistance to doing harm to people, probabilistic causation; Bok's contention about the impact of entertainment violence
says that those at greatest risk of negative media violence influence are children who lack adequate parental love and guidance, particularly those subjected to abuse themselves
Know the author of and basic story of "Pyramus and Thisbe"
told by Roman poet, Ovid, in Metamorphoses -about two youths who lived next door and their friendship developed into erotic love. Their parents forbade their marriage so they communicated through nods and signs. They plotted to escape together and meet at Ninus' tomb. Thisbe was chased by a lioness who caught her veil and tore it. Pyramus saw the torn veil and thought Thisbe was dead, so he killed himself. Thisbe saw this and killed herself as well. - their love represented by the berry of the mulberry tree.
Key arguments from Plato's Symposium including Aristophanes' ideas and Diotima's ladder of love
written in 385-370 BCE; explores love through the speeches of seven men -examines influence Eros has our character and happiness -heightens our awareness of the influence culture has on ideas of love, gender, and sexual propriety -suggests a few strands of those "infinity of traces" in history that shape our present *Diotima's ladder of love* starts with the lowest and ascends to the height of real love -love beauty of individual body -love beauty of kind of bodies -love beauty of the soul - love of "the beautiful" itself, of the idea of beauty
Know the meaning of philosophy and Ph.D.
•A thinking activity involving the search for the truth about the world and our place in it •Critical evaluation of human thought and concepts •Discipline that facilitates the critical evaluation of human thought and fundamental concepts Ph.D. is doctor of philosophy
