None of the following are required; they are merely things
you can do to improve your portfolio. They may be as long
or as short as you deem fit.
I. Thought for the Day Responses: As we study the history
of philosophy, I’ll occasionally put up a ‘thought for the day’,
a philosophical passage from the general era we are studying.
While you don’t have to do anything with them, if you do come
across one that starts you thinking, don’t be afraid to put your
thoughts about it down on paper (making sure it’s clear which
passage it is to which you are responding) and put it in your
portfolio. (You can write on any Thought for the Day at any time
during the term.)
Ancient
September 25 (Plutarch)
September 27 (Cicero)
October 2 (Epictetus)
October 4 (Epicurus)
October 9 (Philo of Alexandria)
October 12 (Marcus Aurelius)
October 16 (Lucretius)
Medieval
October 18 (Augustine)
October 23 (Averroes)
October 25 (Bonaventure)
October 30 (Roger Bacon)
November 1 (Peter Abelard)
November 6 (Maimonides)
Early Modern
November 8 (Leibniz)
November 13 (Kant)
November 15 (Spinoza)
November 20 (Reid)
November 27 (Astell)
November 29 (Malebranche)
II. Two Apologia: Both Plato and Xenophon record a version of
Socrates' speech at his trial. Read Plato's Apology and Xenophon's
Apology, and compare and contrast them. ('Apology' in both cases
means a defensive speech, not an apology in our sense of the term.)
III. Socrates's Philosophical Approach: Using things Socrates
explicitly says in the Gorgias as your basis, briefly describe what
someone can learn from Socrates about how to approach
philosophical questions.
IV. Boethius and Aquinas: Compare and contrast Aquinas's
Fourth Way with Boethius's argument for the existence of the
Good in the Consolation. How are they alike? How do they differ?
Which is more plausible, and why? Is this general type of
argument legitimate?
V. Analysis of the Five Ways: Use the approach we used in class for
Aquinas's First Way to analyze one or more of the other Five Ways.
What is its structure? Is it legitimate? Valid? Sound? Why or why not?
VI. Animal Thinking: Do animals have minds? Why or why not? What is
your view of Descartes's position on the subject, and why?
VII. Machine Thinking: Is it possible to build a computer that could
think like a human being? What would Descartes's view of the matter,
and why would he take that position? Do you agree? Why or why not?
VIII. Hume and Shepherd on Testimony: Who has the better argument
in the dispute over belief from testimony -- Hume or Shepherd? And why?