Zelenn Posted July 29, 2015 Posted July 29, 2015 So, after much soul searching, I have decided to take Introduction to Philosophical Reasoning at my college. I have checked out the professor and he teaches courses on Aristotelian Logic, Applied Ethics, and this class on Philosophical Reasoning. I have looked at his reviews and he gets great scores from intelligible commentors and terrible reviews from commentors that type in fluent MSN shorthand. He also has a reputation of letting the class engage each other in discussion. I realize that's not much to go on, but I needed a humanities class. I thought about testing out, but thought it might be kind of fun to have a class where the students get to engage each other and the professor explicitly on the topics of Logic, Ethics, and large philosophical movements. I can't be sure whether or not it'll be an entire semester of Statist propaganda, Cartesian Matrix style realities, while praising Kant and Buddhist self erasure, or a great course on Reason, Logic and Evidence, but either way, I get to talk about philosophy for 3 hours a week and get credit for it. I just thought I would let the community know... I'm strappin up and goin' in! :-) 2
AynRand Posted July 30, 2015 Posted July 30, 2015 I've been in that situation just two semesters ago that was me. Just a piece of advice for my prof I could bring up free market anarchism without negative consequences, however if you want an A in the class (and this sounds terrible I know but) do not defend peaceful parenting. I faced social ostracization, and what I believe to be a letter grade deduction for daring to say we shouldn't verbally abuse children. 1
Zelenn Posted July 30, 2015 Author Posted July 30, 2015 I've been in that situation just two semesters ago that was me. Just a piece of advice for my prof I could bring up free market anarchism without negative consequences, however if you want an A in the class (and this sounds terrible I know but) do not defend peaceful parenting. I faced social ostracization, and what I believe to be a letter grade deduction for daring to say we shouldn't verbally abuse children. WOW! (Digging the username by the way.) It's gonna be super hard to NOT defend peaceful parenting or NOT put feminists on blast. I also keep hearing college students say that Kant is basically the greatest thing since sliced bread. That's not to say that the professor holds this view, but the students of this school aren't thrilling me. What classes did you take and can you remember any specific situation about this social ostracizion you're talking about? Thanks.
MrCapitalism Posted July 30, 2015 Posted July 30, 2015 In my college experience, introduction to formal logic was the only philosophy class that was worth attending. I would recommend a rigorous logic class if you're eligible for one, as everything else is sure to be brain draining propaganda. I've been completely zoned out in a "history of philosophy" class and was asked upon to call a question, which I then proceeded to completely improvise. The professor commented on how amazingly insightful my answer was , which didn't make me respect the quality of the material. I took a class on existentialism, which was a complete disaster. On day one the professor told us, "philosophy doesn't really matter in the world anymore, it's been replaced by science." Looking back I think I should have walked out at that point, seeing as how science wasn't really responsible for the ongoing invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. The first question of the final was "what is existentialism?" and I still remember how impossible that question was for me to answer, after having spent three months studying it, and how stupid of a concept that it needs to be on the final. So stick to formal logic, college philosophy really really sucks. 3
Zelenn Posted July 30, 2015 Author Posted July 30, 2015 My school has a course in Logic, but it doesn't qualify as an "Area 4 humanities." Intro to Phil Reasoning does count. And I swear by John Galt (lol,) if it turns into a circle jerk of Kant, Feminism, Socialism and Hegel, I'm walking the fuck out of class and demanding my money back.
shirgall Posted July 30, 2015 Posted July 30, 2015 Early in Philosophy classes you will get a better reputation for being able to organize your thoughts and argue either side of a position. It will mark you to the professor as someone that puts real thought and care into what you are saying, moreso than the positions. Your positions come later. My favorite professor never told anyone what he thought on any issue, at least in class.
MrCapitalism Posted July 30, 2015 Posted July 30, 2015 And I swear by John Galt (lol,) if it turns into a circle jerk of Kant, Feminism, Socialism and Hegel, I'm walking the fuck out of class and demanding my money back. Are there better options for you that can satisfy the humanities? Sounds like a waste of time and effort to have to drop out of a class and try and struggle to get your money back. Then you would have to register for another course after it has started and try to catch up. Or, you're just going to extend your education if you wait to do this class later. Is this really that important to your education? Maybe you could consider sticking it out. Early in Philosophy classes you will get a better reputation for being able to organize your thoughts and argue either side of a position. IMHO this training is much better provided by a logic class. The concepts of argumentation and organization are provided without any "ideas whatsoever" the premises are A,B,C,D etc.. there's nothing for the professor to give a personal opinion on. I also don't agree with the virtue of an "impartial professor," a professor is experienced and knowledgeable, and they're doing a disservice to their student to withhold their opinion when they are being specifically paid to share it. There's no point in being a subject expert if they think their job is to "teach students how to think" which I think evidence shows doesn't even work.
shirgall Posted July 30, 2015 Posted July 30, 2015 IMHO this training is much better provided by a logic class. The concepts of argumentation and organization are provided without any "ideas whatsoever" the premises are A,B,C,D etc.. there's nothing for the professor to give a personal opinion on. I also don't agree with the virtue of an "impartial professor," a professor is experienced and knowledgeable, and they're doing a disservice to their student to withhold their opinion when they are being specifically paid to share it. There's no point in being a subject expert if they think their job is to "teach students how to think" which I think evidence shows doesn't even work. In my University, Logic was indeed a PHIL class too, but Logic is not the same as Argumentation, Ethics, etc. My point was that the professor want people to learn enough about what was going on it recognize the arguments that should be coming from the other side, to really understand the issues. That way when you did have a conclusion, it was based on real strengths, and defended against strong attacks. This is good training in critical thinking. I think I enjoyed picking up the credits there than I would have in Literature or other requires "Arts" credits for my degree which was in Science after all. He was impartial in class, but he railed on folks that did not take the time to understand weaknesses in their positions. I do think he made people more effective arguers, in additional to taking a little journey through the topics. I didn't go on to 300-level stuff, so I dunno where it would have gone. My 300-level electives were instead in support of a minor in Mathematics... 1
Zelenn Posted July 30, 2015 Author Posted July 30, 2015 Are there better options for you that can satisfy the humanities? Sounds like a waste of time and effort to have to drop out of a class and try and struggle to get your money back. Then you would have to register for another course after it has started and try to catch up. Or, you're just going to extend your education if you wait to do this class later. Is this really that important to your education? Maybe you could consider sticking it out. IMHO this training is much better provided by a logic class. The concepts of argumentation and organization are provided without any "ideas whatsoever" the premises are A,B,C,D etc.. there's nothing for the professor to give a personal opinion on. I also don't agree with the virtue of an "impartial professor," a professor is experienced and knowledgeable, and they're doing a disservice to their student to withhold their opinion when they are being specifically paid to share it. There's no point in being a subject expert if they think their job is to "teach students how to think" which I think evidence shows doesn't even work. I don't think so. I've looked over the classes that I could take to satify it. There's history (egad!), Art (groan), comparative religion (they'd LOVE me :-) ), and philosophy (Yay?) Of those, philosophy sounds best, and of the philosophy courses only Introduction to Philosophical Reasoning and Applied Ethics, satisfy the requirements. I'm almost certain that the Ethics course would just be a test of endurance that I'd probably fail. LOL. So, Philosophical Reasoning sounds like the safest humanities class I can take, and it MIGHT even be fun. I can't be sure that my professor is a total Statist/ Irrationalist, although the odds seem fairly high. From what I can tell by speaking to others and reading the online reviews ratemyprofessor.com, it seems to be an "easy A" for the non philosophically inclined. If worst comes to worst, I'll try super hard to remain silent, grab the A and get out. My degree (Biotechnology AKA Genetic Engineering) is pretty awesome in that it only has 3 non science courses, one of which was an english class which is over, another of which is this philosophy class, the last of which, the Social Sciences class, I can test out of by taking the Statist propaganda exam known as CLEP Macroeconomics. Better to take an exam over a month's time, than sit through an actual Sociology class. I agree with you about the "impartial professor." This professor claims the right to teach me about philosophical reasoning. He claims access to superior knowledge in this matter. If he offers nothing in the way of reasoning about important matters in the world, then he is doing a massive disservice to his students by offering then nothing in return for their time and money. We come after all, to gain knowledge about reasoning so that we might apply it to the real world. Witholding examples of such applications of what we're learning is intellectual thievery. On the other hand, if he makes groundless, basesless, arbitrary assertions without providing either evidence or valid reasoning, then he would essentially be a "counterfeit philosopher" or a great example of the average professor. :-)
green banana Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 Cartesian Matrix style realities, while praising Kant and Buddhist self erasure, Few who critisize Kant read him. For the live of me I don't understand where all that ire comes from. Déscartes' attempt is very similar to Praxeology. Ironically, Austrians use Kantian terms all the time (synthetic knowledge a priori is one of them) though most are not aware what they mean anymore.
Snafui Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Read the book called Disciplined Minds by Jeff Schmidt, it explains a lot of what you face, and includes survival tips for the nightmares to come, especially should you go beyond a bachelors. Disciplined Minds demonstrates how college is rigged, why you cannot fake your way through, and the brainwashing techniques used to manipulate your world view. This book explains why someone like Stef had trouble getting his thesis through: They will do anything, and everything, to weed you out if you hold views contrary to the system. They want conservative values not radicals that will try to topple the current hierarchy--the irony. This book is not anti-intellectual but a critique on the system in place, and how it is setup for you to either do as you are told or have your life destroyed, even to the point of death (not hyperbole, there are several examples in the book). Although Schmidt's conclusions on how to fix the system are quite terrible; typical tear down the system from the inside meme--good luck with that! On a personal note: It took me a long time to read the book because it highlighted my errors while in college. That was kind of painful. I have had a terrible habit of speaking my mind my entire life, even had an argument with a teacher in 2nd grade over the benefits of bats! Yeah, college was rough. I have the 200+ credits and no degree to show for it, too.
Lights Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 So stick to formal logic, college philosophy really really sucks. ^ I second this. I went back to college a couple months ago to take a philosophy course(Intro to philosophy) . A huge interest of mine which I love reading and studying about. Taking the college course was a negative experience for me Dropped the class, so yea just be careful of how lame college philosophy can be.
Zelenn Posted August 6, 2015 Author Posted August 6, 2015 I just watched 1984 with John Hurt. Kind of sick to my stomach at the thought of failing a philosophy class for actually being philosophical. "Freedom is the freedom to say that 2+2=4."
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