DESCARTES WAS WRONG: A PERSON IS A PERSON THROUGH OTHER PERSONS

By: Abeba Birhane

Published: Aeon https://aeon.co/ideas/descartes-was-wrong-a-person-is-a-person-through-other-persons

Level of difficulty: ** This is a philosophy text and as such it is in a different category from other texts. Don’t make it the first level two you do.

BEFORE YOU READ

The text you are going to read is a philosophy text. This being the case, it is vital that you prepare properly. In short, don’t skip the videos.

·         PHILOSOPHY - History: Descartes' Cogito Argument [HD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iGjiSbEp9c

·         I Am Because We Are: The Spirit of UBUNTU | Max Quinn | TEDxBSU

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxvxpCrDrIQ&t=152

·         Hubert Hermans' summary of the Dialogical Self

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKEKWzZOC3I&t=96s

NOW LISTEN AND READ ALONG

Use the icon to the left of the screen to listen to the text. Be sure to read along, highlight important points and use the margins to take notes. Here I am assuming you are working with a printout, the most efficient way to work.

QUESTIONS

1.       In what fundamental way does Ubuntu philosophy differ from Western thought?

2.       What conclusion can be drawn from the examples provided in paragraph two?

3.       The reason the Ubuntu philosophy doesn’t sit well with the way we perceive ourselves is………….

4.       The views of Descartes, which are summarized in paragraph four, are collectively called….

5.       What was Descartes’ purpose in formulating his philosophy?

6.       Read the account and analysis of the case of Kitty Genovese. The purpose of the writer in citing this example is to draw attention to a contradiction. State clearly what it is. Begin as follows: Although…

7.       Latené and Darley might have come up with a different explanation for the events that took place on the night Kitty Genovese died if they had taken …..into account.

8.       Bakhtin’s purpose in formulating his philosophy was to see if he could ….

9.       Bakhtin reached the ultimate conclusion that…

10.   The effects of solitary confine seem to prove that Descartes / Bakhtin / Piaget /Freund was / were wrong.

11.   The purpose of solitary confinement was ….but it failed miserably because lacking human relationships and the give and take that goes with it….

WRITING TASK

The text ends with the following words: There is a Zulu phrase, ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ which means ‘A person is a person through other persons’. This is a richer and better account, than ‘I think, therefore I am’. Write an essay in which you discuss to what extent you agree.

DESCARTES WAS WRONG: A PERSON IS A PERSON THROUGH OTHER PERSONS

This straightforward yet profound text tackles a problem that has long occupied the thoughts of thinkers worldwide: what makes us who we are? In doing so it challenges the Cartesian cogito and introduces us to a very different answer to the question. The whole text is a brilliantly written persuasive essay on the issue. The writing task I have provided is designed to bring everything together and should not be timed.

1.       People are born without ‘ena’ or selfhood and instead must acquire it through interactions and experiences over time.

2.       A person is partly forged in the crucible of community.

3.       The philosophy of René Descartes

4.       The Cartesian cogito

5.       To find a stable point of view from which to look on the world without relying on God created wisdoms (This is the minimum you need. Your clue is the semi colon.)

6.       Social psychology purports to examine the relationship between cognition and society, a collective of Cartesian subjects are the real focus of the enquiry.

7.       Vital contextual information

8.       Reconcile the relational world embracing version of the self and the autonomous inward one

9.       Truth is born between the people collectively searching for the truth in their process of their dialectic interaction

10.   Descartes and Piaget

11.   To turn the prisoner’s thoughts inward , to prompt her to reflect on her crimes, and eventually help her return to society as a morally cleansed citizen / a person risks disappearing into non-existence

IF WORK DOMINATED YOUR EVERY MOMENT, WOULD LIFE BE WORTH LIVING?

By: Andrew Taggart

Published: Aeon, https://aeon.co/ideas/if-work-dominated-your-every-moment-would-life-be-worth-living

Level of Difficulty: ***

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How working too much can actually kill you http://time.com/4972787/death-overwork-japan-heart-stress/  

·         Working long hours could be bad for your heart https://www.cbsnews.com/news/working-long-hours-higher-risk-of-stroke-heart-disease/

LISTEN FIRST

Access the text online. You will see the icon which will enable you to listen to the text on the left of your screen. Listen and read along underlining topic sentences, concluding statements and the like.

QUESTIONS

1.       Why would the many worlds disappear completely from the cultural record?

2.       The phrase “this census” refers to something which is partly implied and partly stated. State clearly what the phrase refers to?

3.       Which of the following statements could be placed at the end of the second paragraph to form the concluding statement?

·         Everybody would love work above all else

·         Everybody would see work as the end all and be all of life

·         Everybody would think, sound and act as if they loved work

·         Everybody would derive great happiness from working 24/7

4.       We understand from the third paragraph that every human activity, whatever its nature, would

·         Lead to total work

·         Be regarded as total work

·         Be conducive to total work

·         Serve total work

·         Result in total work

5.       Look back at the three paragraphs you have read. Where would you place the following statement: Our modern world has become one where the ethos of hard work is deemed the only way to achieve success? Would you need to make any adjustments?

6.       How do we know that the nightmarish scenario described in “Leisure: the basis of culture” has come true?

7.       Read the paragraph beginning “For unlike…” The victim of the ethos of total work could best be likened to an idiot / a madman / a robot / an agent / a machine / a worker. Mark as many as fit.

8.       We understand from the text that people caught up in the ethos of total work probably constantly feel trapped/ guilty / angry / thoughtful / powerless / stressed. Mark as many as appropriate.

9.       What is the worst effect on people of a world where total work dominates people’s lives?

10.   What feature of life dominated by total work makes it impossible to experience meaning?

WRITING TASK

The text criticizes what the world is becoming underscores what it is doing to us. Write an essay in which you discuss the effects of total work. Remember to provide examples from modern life.

IF WORK DOMINATED YOUR EVERY MOMENT, WOULD LIFE BE WORTH LIVING? KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This brilliant text describes the dystopia we are in the process of creating for ourselves and pictures the nightmarish world we may end up living in. Paralels could be drawn to Brave New World if the students have read the book. It is a relatively short text but quite sophisticated and packed with ideas.

1.       Because work would be the center around which the rest of life turned

2.       The census to determine who is pre-employed, employed, post employed, underemployed or unemployed

3.       The second

4.       The fourth

5.       At the beginning of the first paragraph. You would need to delete the word “Imagine” and change the hypotheticals.

6.       Work has come to control people’s lives making their world into a task, their thoughts an unspoken burden

7.       Robot, machine

8.       Guilty, stressed

9.       It is empirically impossible from within this mode of being to experience things completely.

10.   There is no silence, stillness, a wholehearted willingness to simply apprehend

THE ETHICS OF ET

“The discovery of independent life beyond Earth would have deep philosophical implications for us, and our ideas of morality.”

By: Tim Mulgan

Published: Aeon, https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-discovery-of-extraterrestrial-life-would-change-morality

Level of Difficulty: ****

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Normative and Non-Normative Ethics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVVF2t54Xlg

QUESTIONS

1.       What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

2.       Imagine the second sentence of the second paragraph went as follows: ‘This is hard to justify because…’. What phrase in the remainder of the paragraph would you use to complete the sentence?

3.       What conclusion would we draw as human beings if we discovered life was widespread throughout the galaxy? We would draw the conclusion that…

4.       Read the explanation of normative non-naturalism to the end. According to this explanation, it would make sense for moral absolutes to exist if…

5.       Assuming that life is ubiquitous, there remain two reasons why we don’t seem to know about it: either…………or……………..

6.       Read the examples of the various Wontian solutions. What is the common problem with them? They assume that…but this is not credible because it is hard to believe that…

7.       According to the text, the only way to justify the view that not all intelligent species are out to conquer the world is:

·         To assume that they have selected a different path

·         To assume that they are responding to natural normative facts

·         To assume that from a certain point onwards, rational thought prevails

·         To assume that widely accepted principles of good and bad exert a stronger pull factor

·         To assume that it is mandatory to discover universal motivations to manipulate them

8.       What is the major argument against the above view?

9.       Kantianism on its own cannot adequately explain the Ferni Paradox because:

·         Living beings follow intrinsically motivating values

·         There are countless motivating factors governing behavior

·         Objective values are part and parcel of the universe

·         Many varied life forms cherish the same universal values

10.   Why are Theism and Kantian non-naturalism mutually supporting?

11.   Read the paragraph beginning “Theism and Kantian non-naturalism are…” to the end. The conclusion we can draw from this paragraph is that…

12.   What traditional attitude to man may need to be reconsidered if life turns out to be ubiquitous?

13.   Theists feel a ubiquitous universe would not create a problem because of the belief that…

14.   Theists also argue that “we must be essential to God’s plan” because we are best qualified to…

15.   Read the last four paragraphs of the text. Which sentence in the paragraph beginning “The discovery…” would best qualify the last sentence?

16.   What does “it” refer to in the last sentence of the text?

WRITING TASK

Use all the information you have acquired to write about which view put forward in the text you agree with and why. Remember to justify your opinion and refute counter arguments

THE ETHICS OF ET, KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This is one of the hardest philosophy texts on this blog conceptually and as such should only be attempted with advanced students with an interest in the topic. Having said that, once you get in to it, it is riveting and should lead to some lively discussion.  

1.       Possible answer: To introduce the issues that are going to be discussed

2.       God or nature does nothing in vain, and therefore such a vast cosmos could not be home to only one small race of rational beings

3.       While the universe does have a purpose, human beings are irrelevant to that purpose

4.       Life were ubiquitous

5.       Promising species inevitably destroy themselves or encounter resource constraints before they can conquer the stars OR every intelligent species who could conquer the stars chooses not to.

6.       Wontian motivations are universal/ Every intelligent species would eschew reality

7.       4

8.       Beings no more sophisticated than ourselves armed with current technologies such as radio waves and nuclear weapons surely could attract the attention of very distant observers.

9.       2

10.   Because aliens who discover why the universe exists will abandon their previous inclinations and embrace the purpose of God

11.   Our universe is religiously ambiguous

12.   The cosmic uniqueness of human beings

13.   God has infinite love for every individual creature

14.   Explain the regular, intelligible mathematical laws this universe is governed by

15.   The second one

16.   The fact that all advanced civilizations are Wontians

SHOULD CANNABIS BE LEGALIZED?

Cannabis is gradually being decriminalized around the world. In Uruguay, it is completely legal; in the USA, various states, like California, are in the process of legalizing it but are they right to do so or are they taking the wrong approach? Is it the thin edge of the wedge, a slippery slope or was it long overdue? Do your research and decide. When you are ready, write an essay in which you state your opinion, justify it and refute counter arguments.

Legal where:

·         Where in the world is marijuana legal? https://www.marijuana.com/news/2017/11/where-in-the-world-is-marijuana-legal/  

Familiarize yourself with the issue:

·         Should cannabis be legal? https://prohbtd.com/should-cannabis-be-legal

·         Arguments for and against legalizing cannabis http://www.debatingeurope.eu/focus/arguments-legalising-cannabis/#.Wk88KdJl8dU

Reading material to make notes on

·         Should cannabis be legalized? https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=article&id=975

·         Should the UK legalize cannabis? http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-uk-legalize-cannabis

·         Legalization of cannabis 'only solution to crime and addiction problems'

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/21/uk-should-legalise-cannabis-adam-smith-institute-report

·         Should the UK legalize cannabis? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3580873/Should-UK-legalise-cannabis-Leading-academics-argue-GOVERNMENT-start-selling-drug.html

Videos to watch and take notes from

·         Smoking Marijuana: The Long Term Effects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRhz92GKlWE

·         Cannabis and the brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZT3qpH5dPY  

Refer to my second blog, The Essay Archive, for sample essays: https://theessayarchive.blogspot.com/

WAR ONCE HELPED BUILD NATIONS NOW IT DESTROYS THEM

By: Mark Kukis

Published: Aeon, https://aeon.co/ideas/war-once-helped-build-nations-now-it-destroys-them

Level of Difficulty: **

BEFORE YOU READ

·          Paradoxes of war https://tr.coursera.org/learn/war/lecture/KrSI3/the-nature-of-war Watch all the little videos in the lesson.

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the first sentence (the topic sentence) of the first paragraph. Which sentence in the first paragraph best qualifies it?

2.       Read the second paragraph of the text carefully. Where else could the following be placed: “Waging war was one of their reasons for being”?

3.       Read the third paragraph. According to what you have learnt about essay writing, what is wrong with the organization?

4.       The Iraq – Iran war was an example of a war which delivered…

5.       Read the paragraph beginning “Since the Iran – Iraq war…”. What conclusion can be drawn from the examples listed?

6.       The existence of ….. make(s) wars in the historical sense hard in the 20^th century; the fact that….makes them unnecessary.

7.       The Myanmar governments crushing of the Rohingya is an example of…

8.       Sukarno is an example of a leader with….

9.       Nation building is not a glamorous, romantic or heroic process it involves…

WAR ONCE HELPED BUILD NATIONS NOW IT DESTROYS THEM; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This short text is a comparison of the purposes of wars past and wars present. It is concise, to the point and very well argued. It should lead to an equally tidy writing task.

1.       Attackers and defenders alike had to marshal resources, make plans and build trust among one another in order to fight effectively.

2.       Right at the end as a concluding statement.

3.       This is roughly what you need to say: There are two different ideas in the paragraph. The topic sentence covers one only. The second, the aftermath of wars emerges suddenly out of the blue in the second half of the paragraph.

4.       Legitimacy and cohesion

5.       Armed conflict, whatever its origins and outcomes, tends to be a scaring interruption to the progress of societies, setting back development and darkening prospects.

6.       Norms of international politics / many of the gains that used to require territorial conquest can now be achieved through capturing market shares, election rigging and military intrigue

7.       An ethnically driven conflict that has fallen into disrepute and is likely to draw accusations of war crimes

8.       Big ideas and revolutionary ideology; OR forceful ideas

9.       The violence of internal repression and external conflict

EDUCATIONISM: THE HIDDEN BIAS WE SOMETIMES IGNORE

      

“A subtle form of discrimination exists towards those who are less educated and it divides society in a number of ways: welcome to educationism”

By: Melissa Hogenboom

Published: BBC, December 20 2017, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171219-the-hidden-judgements-holding-people-back

Level of difficulty: ***

BEFORE YOU READ

·         What is education bias https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-educational-bias-definition-types.html

·         Cultural bias in education https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7ZVlltjM8s

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the story of Lance Fusarelli. The reason why he had a harder time adapting to university life was:

·         The other students he was studying with

·         The way his parents brought him up

·         The working class environment he was brought up in

·         The uneducated people he had been surrounded with

2.       The knock on effect of income inequality is ……………..which basically means that …………are looked down upon.

3.       What seems to be the practical basis for the bias described thus far?

4.       Read the paragraph beginning “Education also appears…” Which of the following phrases would you substitute for the words “in many ways”?

·         In terms of income, health and happiness

·         In terms of general wellbeing and social status

·         In terms of general wellbeing, health and votes

·         In terms of financial status, quality  of employment, general wellbeing and political leaning

5.       What widely held belief was disproved by the experiments carried out by Kuppens and his colleagues?

6.       Education is inherently unfair because people…

7.       The illogical link between poverty and a sense of shame and stigma is due to…

8.       Read the account of Sheehy and Skeffington’s studies. We understand from this section that the widely held prejudice that poor people are more stupid is blatantly wrong because…

9.       The change of focus experienced by poor people and described by Skeffington is due to…

10.   Fabricio Butera’s study reached a damming conclusion. State clearly what it was.

11.   People from working class backgrounds who receive higher education have to make important sacrifices. State clearly what this means.

12.   The purpose of the current system of testing is……….The down side of this system is that…

13.   What does “This” refer to in the phrase “ This appears to reduce social class and gender inequalities..”?

WRITING TASK

Refer back to the text and the videos to write an essay discussing the causes of educationism.

EDUCATIONISM: THE HIDDEN BIAS WE SOMETIMES IGNORE KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This interesting text focuses on a problem we are all well aware of but perhaps haven’t thought too deeply about. In this respect, it is very interesting. It has also given me the opportunity to write some good inferential questions. The writing task can be extended.

1.       3

2.       Educationism / less educated people

3.       The fact that the education system was invented by the ruling classes, with middle class knowledge and questions appearing in tests

4.       4

5.       People who are more highly educated are inherently more tolerant (We want this answer verbatim)

6.       Cannot be blamed for their low education

7.       Meritocratic ideologies in societies

8.       Those who were told they were low status individuals performed worse on both financial decisions and cognitive tasks.

9.       A diminished sense of control over future life outcomes

10.   The education system is motivated to maintain the status quo

11.   They have to discard the original parts of their identity

12.   Assessment for selection / it reduces motivation and performance in reasoning and decision making

13.   Creating a classroom environment where assessment is part of the learning process

THE MINDS OF PLANTS

“From the memories of flowers to the sociability of trees, the cognitive abilities of our vegetal cousins are all around us”

By: Laura Ruggles

Published: Aeon, https://aeon.co/essays/beyond-the-animal-brain-plants-have-cognitive-capacities-too

Level of Difficulty: ***

WATCH AND TAKE NOTES

·         In the mind of plants https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/mind-plants/  

QUESTIONS

1.       What surprising fact is revealed concerning the Cornish Mallow?

2.       What widely accepted fact seems to stand in the way of the view that “plants can learn from memories”?

3.       Read the accounts of the amazing capabilities of certain plants. What conclusion can be drawn from these examples?

4.       Read the example of the thaliana. According to the text, vernalisation  seems to be governed by a genetic process / a chemical process / a physical process / an experimental process.

5.       What surprising piece of information is provided concerning chromatin remodeling?

6.       Read the paragraph beginning “Both…”. A change in word order in one section of this paragraph would make better sense. State clearly what this correction is.

7.       Who would sleep better, a person living close to a motorway or a person living near a railway line?

8.       Read the paragraph beginning “But”. What conclusion can be drawn from the 2016 experiment?

9.       The systematic bias against non-humans including both animals and to a larger extent plants can be linked to…

10.   Read the three paragraph explanation of the reasons for zoochauvanism. Which sentence in these three paragraphs best expresses the main idea? Where else in the section could it be placed?

11.   We understand from the text that habituation is not considered a cognitive mechanism whereas trading in representations is. This is due to the fact that…

12.   Read the paragraph beginning “On the other hand…” and the three paragraphs that follow. What essay type is the structure of this section closest to?

13.   Read the account of Fransisco Calvo Garzon’s views. Does the argument the writer puts forward concerning the cognitive power of plants tie in with Garzon’s views or not?

14.   Read the last section of the text. Which of the following would be wrong according to this section? How would you correct it?

·         We need to be more open minded

·         We need to be more objective

·         We need to be more aware of grey areas

·         We need to define concepts such as memory, learning and thought

WRITING TASK

Use all the information you have gleaned to write an essay in which you discuss to what extent you think that plants actually think. Determine your position and justify it.

THE MINDS OF PLANTS

This insightful text challenges widely held beliefs concerning plants by showing what amazing feets they are capable of. Because it overturns so many so called ‘truisms’ it should have a wow factor despite its length. The writing task will hopefully give students a chance to put forward their own views.

1.       It seems to remember when and where the Sun has come up on previous days (and…)

2.       Memory requires a brain and plants lack even the most rudimentary nervous system

3.       Plants can sense and integrate information about dozens of different environmental variables and they use this knowledge to guide flexible, adaptive behavior.

4.       A chemical process

5.       Later produced cells remember past winters

6.       The sentence beginning “Perhaps” should read “Perhaps the interesting question isn’t  really whether or not cognition is needed for memories but…”

7.       A motorway; you will get used to the noise and perhaps not even notice after a while but you’ll probably startle at the sound of a train)

8.       Evidence is mounting that plants share some of the treasured learning capacities of animals.

9.       Aristotle’s influential notion of the scala naturae

10.   It seems that, when we are deciding whether to interpret behavior as intelligent, we rely on anthropomorphic prototypes /  After the sentence beginning  “Today”

11.   Unless it can operate offline a state or mechanism is not genuinely cognitive

12.   Argumentative

13.   It does; Garzon said nothing about plants; he just defined cognition

14.   The last / We need to refine…