Welcome to the discussion board accompanying the Introduction to Philosophy course at HSMSE. From time to time, I will post questions (prompts) on this blog for you to think about. It will be your responsibility to post a short response to these prompts. Feel free to comment on the responses of your classmates, but only after posting an original response. (In other words, respond directly to the prompt and then comment on other responses.)
Here are some suggestions for how to respond to prompts:
- Clarify a question
- Ask your own question about the prompt (make sure to explain WHY your question is important)
- Outline the argument in a way that makes it easier to understand
- Point out a problem in the argument
- Provide a solution to a posed problem
- Expound on a point made in the prompt
When commenting on your classmates' responses, please remember to make your comments in the spirit of academic discussion. The purpose of academic discussion is to help EVERYONE better understand an issue. As such, it is absolutely unacceptable to make ad hominem attacks (attacks on a person) in your comments. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable to disagree with someone, but make sure that your comments relate to specific ideas or thoughts in the post. It is a good idea to ask yourself why you are making a comment before you do so. If your answer is, "to help the class better understand the issue," than it is likely that your comments are in the spirit of academic discussion. If your answer is, "to belittle my classmate," or "to show everyone what an idiot my classmate really is," than your thoughts should be kept to yourself.
FINALLY, as a way of demonstrating that you have read this post and in order to assure that there are no technical difficulties responding to posts, please write a short response (3-5 sentences) to ONE of the three questions below.
- What was the most interesting part of the first day of Philosophy class?
- What surprised you about philosophy class (good or bad)?
- What do you hope to learn by the end of philosophy class? (I am NOT looking for a mere list of philosophers!)
Happy posting!
7 comments:
By the end of philosophy class i would like to see things from other points of view and question ideas for deeper meanings
Kathleen
I think that the most interesting thing about today was when we went over the text. I didn't understand most of it and today when I went to class, I sort of understood what was happening
I found it intersting how most people was able to just enter the conversation and was able to contribute something to help the class. This had made my understanding of the text better as well as understand other's opinion
The most interesting part of the first day of philosophy class is how a discussion on what philosophy is stared. I learned different and somewhat the same views on what their idea about philosophy is and get to compare it on my own. Even though I didn't explain to the class what I think philosophy is, I now have to some extent an idea on the subject philosophy.
Initially, of course, its mere existence surprised me. It seemed to me that it would never actually come about, but I am glad it has. I was also surprised by the insight exhibited by some of the new students, who defied my expectations by large.
my goal is to think like a philosopher and be able to break down complex situations in life, and learn some moral lessons.
I entered this class so that i could learn to think in a way that would bring the right answers. The text helps me do just that. Samantha
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