The Paper Cutter and Sartre'

After reading Sartre' on the bottom of page 72 - 74, and considering the actiivity in class with the paper cutter, discuss some or all of the following:

-Does a paper cutter only become a paper cutter when you can see it, or does it first exist as a form?
-Does a paper cutter's esistence come before or after its essence, and why?
-What is the essence of a paper cutter?
-How is the essence of a paper cutter different or similar to that of a whale?
-What is the essence of a person?  Does existence precede essence, or does essence precede existence,and
  what does that even mean?
-What doe you think existentialism is, and how does it fit into this discussion?

Please feel free to and do comment on each other's comments. Humor is appreciated, but keep it all in good taste, be appropriate, and consider each other's feelings. 

 

Assignments for Philosohy 101

Assignments: 

For Friday March 21st:
         -Read  pages 5-12 and do the self-test on page 7
         -Pages 21-25 section called "Fields of Philosophy"
         -Page 33-36  on Bertrand Russell

There will be a quizz on Friday over the above readings.  I want you to think about what Bertrand Russell feels the aim or purpose of philosophy is.


For Monday March 25th
     -48-49 section called "Stoicism's Cynical Origins"
     -50-51 section called "The Stoic Universe"
     -52-53 section called "Purpose of Life"
     -55-56 "Emotions in Life, and "How to Progress Morally".

Also:  -You should bring both 'self-tests" you took on Thursday with Mr. Simon.
          -You need to tune into the blog - of course if you're reading this you are :), AND I'd like you to
             comment on the first question I posted about fate vs. free will.   
 

Philosophy 101
March - May 2013

So.......... you took the survey in the book to see if you have any traits of Existentialism, Stoicism, Buddhism, and Hedonism.  I bet you found that you have some of each.  One reason might be because Americans are actually a blend of many cultures................We often practice many (sometimes conflicting) philosophical systems at the same time  (whether we know it or not). 

You will also find that many philosophies have different "levels" or "degrees".  Like at a game sometimes you might be really decked out in Blue and Gold, while others might just wear a blue t-shirt. Both are practicing their colors, but at different levels.

An extreme Existentialist practices a system that EVERYTHING is free will.  An extreme Stoic practices a system where NOTHING is free will and EVERYTHING is fate/ and determined ahead-of-time.  What do you think about fate and free will?  

Eastern Allamakee Blog

At the School Improvement Advisory Meeting (SIAC) we discussed some "area-wide" concerns that were more about Northeast Iowa and economic development than just Eastern Allamakee Community Schools as an isolated entity.  Obviously, we will need to keep our SIAC meetings more centered on the "school events", as this is the major requirement and function of the committee.  However, we decided to start this blog to continue to discuss some of our thoughts about school events at EACS, AND the area-wide whole-ball-of-wax sort-of-thing. 

I did give out some demographic and financial data.  It was a lot in a short amount of time, but hopefully you were able to review this, digest it some, and think about these things. 

At our SIAC meeting we discussed some of our basic programs that we must offer:  ELL, TAG, Multicultural and Global Education, Special Needs, and Dropout Prevention.  We reviewed our test scores, reviewed student surveys, and then discussed the more area-wide concerns.

From my perspective (which may be wrong) some of our conclusions were that our test scores are high, our curriculum is broad-based and solid, we like/love our school and teaching staff, our school is currently financially and functionally sound, good decisions have been made in the past, and our facilities are new.  Basically we rock on all elements! 

AND 

We have had continuous declining enrollment, our K-3 has about 60 kids (or 20 per grade), the enrollment for the future looks bleak, economic development in the area could improve, and we are not alone in Northeast Iowa.   

What are we/should we be doing about this

How do we know what we know?

Do you feel that we learn and perceive reality totally from our senses, or is it from rational assumptions based on prior facts that we already know to be true.

Is it our senses, or is it logic that brings us truth?  If its logic, what is it based on?

2012 Question 3

Note the following two extremes:

1) Hitler had about 6 million Jewish people killed because he wanted to "purify" the race.  What Hitler did to the Jewish people in the 40's is considered "universally" as an "immoral" action.  I think everyone can agree that any attempt to exterminate a race of people is "always" wrong.


2) In the 60's many young men had hair that was very long.  Some people felt that this was "immoral".

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Questions:  Are some things/actions universally immoral or moral?  How many of these things/actions are there, if there are?

I would challenge you to try answering this philosophically "advanced" by connecting to the readings about Kant, and by implementing "maxims" "imperatives" and the conflict between "moral actions" and "prudent actions"...............

2012 Questions

1) For the seniors and anyone else who wants to comment: What was the purpose of the Lemon Exercise?

2) For the juniors and anyone else who wants to comment:  What daily battle between free will vs. determinism do you see going on daily in school and in American society?