Q&A's: Constructing Reality

Q&A # 10

2010-04-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

1. Finish reading Bridges to the World.

Two questions this week:

2. Does Hans succeed in avoiding all ontological/metaphysical assumptions? In other words, has he, in the words of von Glasersfeld, successfully described and defended an "epistemology without metaphysics"? (For further reading beyond the text, consult this paper by Holtorf: http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/papers/holtorf/97-knowing.pdf
3. What are the pedagogical implications of Alison's "constructivist realism"? Or, (you choose) write a letter from Jules in response to Alison's letter.

Q&A # 9

2010-04-17T10:08:00.001-07:00

Bridges to the World

1. Read: chapters 1-5.

2. Question: Who is most convincing in these first 5 chapters -- Russell or Hans? Why?

3. Raise two questions of your own.

Q&A # 8

2010-04-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Radical Constructivism

1. Watch the short video in the left margin of this blog of Ernst von Glasersfeld, the founder of radical constructivism, describing his view. (Ernst's view is the focus of the book, Bridges to the World, to which we will turn our attention in a week or so.)

2. Read his essay, "An Introduction to Radical Constructivism."

3. In this essay, von G. writes: "we cannot possibly conceive of an unexperienced world." (p. 1). Later he applies this line of thought to apples (p. 5). Here's my question: Can we conceive of an unexperienced apple?

4. Write two questions of your own.

Q&A # 7

2010-03-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Constructing Time

1. Read: IEP's article on time: http://www.iep.utm.edu/time/

2. Question: Is time real? What is it? Does it "flow"?

3. Write 2 questions of your own.

Q&A # 6

2010-03-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Equality and Envy

1. Read the SEP entry on Envy:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/envy

2. Question: Is egalitarianism (socialism, for example) based on envy? (See, for example, this essay:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:lct4GeT_No4J:homepages.luc.edu/~dschwei/socenvy.rtf+envy+socialism&cd=21&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

And this one:
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/cooray/vilify/socialis.htm

3. Write two questions of your own.

Q&A #5

2010-03-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Update:

Don't forget to check out the documentary, "Earthlings" (posted on my blog).

Of Meat and Morals

1. Read Michelle Carter's essay, "Medium Rare Morals: A Moral Justification of Meat Eating."

2. Find any other defenses of meat eating and share links/summaries on your blogs/in class.

3. Question: How would Carter respond to the bumper-sticker slogan, "Meat is Murder"?

5. Write two questions of your own.

Q&A #4

2010-02-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

The Social Construction of Patriotism

1. Read the SEP entry on "patriotism:"

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/patriotism/

Listen to the debate on patriotism vs. cosmopolitanism (and follow links for further readings/information):

http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/PatriotismversusCosmopolitanism.htm

2. What are the moral/rational limits of patriotic partiality?

3. Write 2 questions of your own.

Q&A #3

2010-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:

Here's some further reading (a naturalist explains in detail the purported failings of supernaturalism) to supplement next Wednesday's concluding discussion of Clark's essay:

http://www.naturalism.org/Morelandreview.htm

Constructing Reality: Naturalism or Supernaturalism (or some combination of the two)?

1. Read: Thomas W. Clark, “Naturalism vs. Supernaturalism: How to Survive the Culture Wars.” Follow all links in the text, including the footnotes, for further reading. Research as necessary.

http://www.naturalism.org/culture_wars.htm

2. Does Clark’s “pragmatic empiricism” or “this-world empiricism” succeed in carving out a neutral ground for adjudicating the contrasting worldviews of naturalism and supernaturalism?

3. Write two questions of your own.

Q&A #2

2010-01-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Construction of Beauty

1. Read: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aesthetic-judgment/

2. Question: After reading the essay from SEP (above) and any other supplemental sources you may discover, discuss the commonplace claim that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

3. Raise 2 questions of your own.

Q&A #1

2010-01-14T12:53:00.001-08:00

The Construction of Truth

1. Reading: 1. Read over the entire Philosophy Toolkit. 2. Supplement your reading with online/library materials of your own choosing in order to answer the following question.

2. Question: What are the central relations between (a) theories of truth (the Toolkit mentions two major views -- correspondence and coherence -- on pp. 2 and 7), (b) epistemology, and (c) ontology? (Hint: consider the wording of the theories themselves; correspondence theory, for instance, claims that truth is the correspondence of a statement (or thought) with the way the world is).

3. Write two questions of your own that are related to my question.

4. Have fun. Due: Monday. Remember: limit your answers to one page.