Philosophy Of Knowledge
UGA, Term I, 2016
Instructor: John Thomas Brittingham, PhD
TA: Madeleine Hill
What does it mean to know something? We live in a world full of information, facts, and data. From the moment we wake up to the moment we sleep we are bombarded by information. How much lunch at school will cost, how many pages to read for homework, what an integer is, what the three branches of government are, when your favorite sports team is going to be playing next or when your favorite television show airs. These are but a few of the myriad of information that comes our way and somehow, we have to manage this information.
Yet, in spite of all of our ways of managing information and organizing data, we still have not answered this apparently simple question. What does it mean to know something? This question has been asked and discussed since before the time of Socrates and more than likely this question will be asked long after us. Still, the question of what counts as knowledge is always an important one. Is it simply an opinion believed by a lot of people? Is it only scientifically verifiable? Must knowledge conform to objects? Can we know the limits of the knowable? These are but a few of the questions that we will look into over the course of this term.
As a class we will be inquiring into the question of knowledge together, asking questions not only of our own assumptions about what it means to know but also asking questions of each other. Philosophers are not mere curmudgeonly hermits thinking about odd questions that nobody else cares about. Rather, philosophers have asked questions in community; in classrooms such as ours or even in the marketplace, wandering amongst friends as Socrates did. With this tradition of communal inquiry in mind we will open up our classroom queries to voices from the outside; to voices from the history of western philosophy from Plato to Nietzsche and beyond. We should also keep in mind the idea that we do not need to follow the same path as these thinkers but we do need to pay attention to what they have to say.
Required Texts:
Plato: Five Dialogues
European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche
Basic Writings of Existentialism
Selected readings provided by the instructor
Objectives:
-To become familiar with some of the philosophical texts and ideas of important thinkers in the history of Western philosophy
-To engage these philosophers in the development of our own understanding of ourselves and the question of Knowledge
-To explore how philosophical problems of knowledge are represented in contemporary life and culture.
Expectations:
-Be respectful of others’ property, person, and ideas.
-Read the primary texts very closely and carefully, looking for new ways of thinking about the world.
-Participate responsibly in the group work and in the class discussion.
-Ask lots and lots of questions.
-Have fun!
Learning Opportunities:
1) Students will READ selections from the history of philosophy regarding our topic of knowledge. They will attempt to understand and critique these various philosophers in the class.
2) Students will participate in a series of DISCUSSIONS based on the readings in class and their thoughts on the topic of knowledge. Each student will have a chance to serve as a moderator for our discussions.
3) Students will complete 3 PRESENTATIONS. The first presentation will be the creation of a 2 minute documentary on a philosophical question concerning knowledge. The second and third presentations will be the creation of a TED-style group talk regarding an ethical and political issue respectively.
4) A final project which will consist of the creation of a Philosophy “zine” filled with students’ personal CULTURAL EXEGESIS of some object or work of art or social practice. Students will explore these cultural artifacts and practices by using social and aesthetic philosophers covered in class and researched individually. The end result will be a tangible pamphlet the students can take home with them.
Tentative Schedule of Instruction
Monday
Introduction to Instructor and TA
Introduction to Philosophy
Ice-Breaker Activities
Initial group discussion: “Whatever sort of thing is Knowledge?”
Expectations and Goals
Review of syllabus
Introduction to Socrates
Intro to the Meno
Memory Exercise
Read Meno selection
Group Discussion
Tuesday
Reading from The Republic
Group Discussion
Library Research Adventure
Wednesday
Define Your Terms Activity
Logic Puzzle
Read Aristotle Selections
Group discussion
Syllogism Activity
4 Causes 4 Square
Thursday
Logic Puzzle
Read Descartes
Group Discussion of Descartes
Critical Thinking Exercises
Documentary Research
Friday
Philosophy Exercise
Read Hume
Discuss Hume
Research Documentary Topic
Documentary Filming
Saturday
Philosophy Film Festival
Philosophically Relevant Futurama Episode
Monday
Thought Experiment
Kant Dictionary Activity
Read Kant
Group Discussion
Tuesday
Watch Movie #2--The Village
Group Discussion
Introduction to Ethics
Ethics Group Research
Wednesday
Ethics Presentation Research
Ethics Presentations
Group Discussions
Thursday
Constructing the State Group Research
Constructing the State Presentations
Group Discussions
Friday
Intro to Nietzsche
Read Nietzsche
Discussion of Nietzsche
Saturday
Film—Groundhog Day
Group Discussion
Monday
Bagels With Hegel
Discussion of Hegelian Aesthetics
Final Project Discussion
Cultural Exegesis Research
Tuesday
Read Plato on Art
Discussion of Cultural Exegesis
Guest Lecture on Zine-making (Desi Sharpe)
Meme Cultural Exegesis Group Project
Cultural Exegesis Project Research
Wednesday
Cultural Exegesis Research
Group Workshop on Final Projects
Writing up Final Projects
Thursday
Cultural Exegesis Editing
Cultural Exegesis Book Designing
Constructing Books
Friday
NERDQUEST
Saturday
Conferences
UGA, Term I, 2016
Instructor: John Thomas Brittingham, PhD
TA: Madeleine Hill
What does it mean to know something? We live in a world full of information, facts, and data. From the moment we wake up to the moment we sleep we are bombarded by information. How much lunch at school will cost, how many pages to read for homework, what an integer is, what the three branches of government are, when your favorite sports team is going to be playing next or when your favorite television show airs. These are but a few of the myriad of information that comes our way and somehow, we have to manage this information.
Yet, in spite of all of our ways of managing information and organizing data, we still have not answered this apparently simple question. What does it mean to know something? This question has been asked and discussed since before the time of Socrates and more than likely this question will be asked long after us. Still, the question of what counts as knowledge is always an important one. Is it simply an opinion believed by a lot of people? Is it only scientifically verifiable? Must knowledge conform to objects? Can we know the limits of the knowable? These are but a few of the questions that we will look into over the course of this term.
As a class we will be inquiring into the question of knowledge together, asking questions not only of our own assumptions about what it means to know but also asking questions of each other. Philosophers are not mere curmudgeonly hermits thinking about odd questions that nobody else cares about. Rather, philosophers have asked questions in community; in classrooms such as ours or even in the marketplace, wandering amongst friends as Socrates did. With this tradition of communal inquiry in mind we will open up our classroom queries to voices from the outside; to voices from the history of western philosophy from Plato to Nietzsche and beyond. We should also keep in mind the idea that we do not need to follow the same path as these thinkers but we do need to pay attention to what they have to say.
Required Texts:
Plato: Five Dialogues
European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche
Basic Writings of Existentialism
Selected readings provided by the instructor
Objectives:
-To become familiar with some of the philosophical texts and ideas of important thinkers in the history of Western philosophy
-To engage these philosophers in the development of our own understanding of ourselves and the question of Knowledge
-To explore how philosophical problems of knowledge are represented in contemporary life and culture.
Expectations:
-Be respectful of others’ property, person, and ideas.
-Read the primary texts very closely and carefully, looking for new ways of thinking about the world.
-Participate responsibly in the group work and in the class discussion.
-Ask lots and lots of questions.
-Have fun!
Learning Opportunities:
1) Students will READ selections from the history of philosophy regarding our topic of knowledge. They will attempt to understand and critique these various philosophers in the class.
2) Students will participate in a series of DISCUSSIONS based on the readings in class and their thoughts on the topic of knowledge. Each student will have a chance to serve as a moderator for our discussions.
3) Students will complete 3 PRESENTATIONS. The first presentation will be the creation of a 2 minute documentary on a philosophical question concerning knowledge. The second and third presentations will be the creation of a TED-style group talk regarding an ethical and political issue respectively.
4) A final project which will consist of the creation of a Philosophy “zine” filled with students’ personal CULTURAL EXEGESIS of some object or work of art or social practice. Students will explore these cultural artifacts and practices by using social and aesthetic philosophers covered in class and researched individually. The end result will be a tangible pamphlet the students can take home with them.
Tentative Schedule of Instruction
Monday
Introduction to Instructor and TA
Introduction to Philosophy
Ice-Breaker Activities
Initial group discussion: “Whatever sort of thing is Knowledge?”
Expectations and Goals
Review of syllabus
Introduction to Socrates
Intro to the Meno
Memory Exercise
Read Meno selection
Group Discussion
Tuesday
Reading from The Republic
Group Discussion
Library Research Adventure
Wednesday
Define Your Terms Activity
Logic Puzzle
Read Aristotle Selections
Group discussion
Syllogism Activity
4 Causes 4 Square
Thursday
Logic Puzzle
Read Descartes
Group Discussion of Descartes
Critical Thinking Exercises
Documentary Research
Friday
Philosophy Exercise
Read Hume
Discuss Hume
Research Documentary Topic
Documentary Filming
Saturday
Philosophy Film Festival
Philosophically Relevant Futurama Episode
Monday
Thought Experiment
Kant Dictionary Activity
Read Kant
Group Discussion
Tuesday
Watch Movie #2--The Village
Group Discussion
Introduction to Ethics
Ethics Group Research
Wednesday
Ethics Presentation Research
Ethics Presentations
Group Discussions
Thursday
Constructing the State Group Research
Constructing the State Presentations
Group Discussions
Friday
Intro to Nietzsche
Read Nietzsche
Discussion of Nietzsche
Saturday
Film—Groundhog Day
Group Discussion
Monday
Bagels With Hegel
Discussion of Hegelian Aesthetics
Final Project Discussion
Cultural Exegesis Research
Tuesday
Read Plato on Art
Discussion of Cultural Exegesis
Guest Lecture on Zine-making (Desi Sharpe)
Meme Cultural Exegesis Group Project
Cultural Exegesis Project Research
Wednesday
Cultural Exegesis Research
Group Workshop on Final Projects
Writing up Final Projects
Thursday
Cultural Exegesis Editing
Cultural Exegesis Book Designing
Constructing Books
Friday
NERDQUEST
Saturday
Conferences