To talk about thinking seems to me so presumptuous that I feel I owe you a justification.
The author is beginning her lecture with her main focus; she is informing the audience immediately that her main attempt in the lecture is to discuss the concept of thinking.
Often what happens in debate is that each side simply gets more deeplyentrenched in the belief that it started out with, and very little reallearning takes place
In other words, a lot of the time, debates don't really help people understand each other and learn from the discussion.
descriptions of reality
The author describes beliefs as "descriptions of reality"; they don't always have to belong to someone in particular.
Beliefs do not have to be viewed aswho we are; we can see them as simply maps that can, and should,continually be revised in the interests of making them more accurate.
The author is reassuring the reader that it is okay to critique one's beliefs and change them in order to make the belief stronger and closer to being correct.
When discussing personal attachment in class, I like to use the analogyof packages (gifts) that have nametags attached to them with strings. Hereis a package with a string attached to a paper tag that says ‘‘John’s view’’and over here is a package with a string attached to a tag that is labeled‘‘Ann’s view,’’ and so on for each package. I ask students to imaginepulling out a pair of scissors and cutting all the strings and throwingthe nametags away. At this point we can just examine the packages andnot concern ourselves with whether they ‘‘belong to’’ any particularperson.
This is a helpful analogy for students to understand the concept of personal attachment. The author created this analogy to show how it's more important to be concerned about the belief in general, and not worry about the person who possesses that certain belief.
When such attachment occurs, it often has a dramatic and quitenegative impact on the quality of classroom discussions and learning. Atthe very least it frequently causes difficulties in acknowledging error andchanging beliefs, blindness to new evidence, difficulties in understandingnew ideas, entrenchment in views, rancorous behavior, and discussionsthat become competitive personal contests rather than collaborativesearches for the truth
This is an interesting perspective; the author is saying that one's attachment to his/her own beliefs can have negative effects on the environment around them, including changing their beliefs and becoming competitive in class discussions. I never thought that having certain beliefs could have negative effects, so this was surprising, but interesting to me.
incomplete answers can be given
The author keeps repeating how in philosophy, there is no definite knowledge or answer to anything, so he is trying to get the reader to understand that philosophy can be confusing and unsolvable.
as soon as definite knowledge concerning any subject becomes possible, this subject ceases to be called philosophy, and becomes a separate science
In other words, the author is saying that there are never any straight-forward or definite answers in philosophy, so if something is discovered that is definitely true, it can't be described as philosophy.
Having now come to the end of our brief and very incomplete review of the problems of philosophy, it will be well to consider, in conclusion, what is the value of philosophy and why it ought to be studied.
The author is giving the reader the main idea of the article-why should philosophy be studied and what benefits can we get from studying philosophy?
Restriction of freedom is everywhere
This is an interesting statement; the author uses examples, such as a tax bureau saying "Don't argue, just pay", to show how freedom isn't really free, and that you must obey rules-you can't just do what you want.
Hence it is only slowly that a public can achieve enlightenment. A revolution may perhaps bring about an abolition of personal despotism and of profiteering or power-hungry oppression, but never any true reform in the public's manner of thinking. On the contrary: new prejudices will serve as well as the old ones for a leash on the unthinking masses.
In other words, enlightenment is a slow process and cannot be rushed. The author is using interesting and advanced diction, such as " despotism" and "profiteering" in his writing.
it is difficult for an isolated individual to work himself out of a dependency that has become virtually second-nature to him
In this sentence, the author is saying that after someone has been dependent for so long and isn't used to doing things on his/her own, it's much harder to become independent.
If the writer is conscientious, he or she will try to en-sure that each premise is either well supported or in no need of sup-port (because the premise is obvious or agreed to by all parties)
In other words, the author is saying that a good writer ensures that each of their premises is well supported and well understood by the audience.
But good arguments must also have true premises.
The author seems to be explaining the key point in arguments. In other words, without true premises, an argument is nothing.
Here are a few conclusion indicator words: consequently thus therefore it follows that as a result hence so which means that Here are some premise indicator words: in view of the fact assuming that because due to the fact that the reason being since for given that
The author is giving the reader examples of indicator words so that conclusions and premises will be easier to find throughout pieces of text; therefore the reader can dissect articles more easily.
The trick is to separate the premises and conclusion from all the other stuff. Once you pin-point those, spotting the extraneous material is fairly straightforward.
The author is making sure the reader knows that finding the premises and conclusion is the first thing to do. Then, finding all of the other information you need is easier once you have the main parts figured out.
suppose he'd be at a loss and believe that what was seen before is truer than what is now shown?"
This is an interesting thought; usually, as people develop their thoughts deeper and deeper, things become more clear. In this situation, the situation is becoming more confusing as time goes on.
"How could they," he said, "if they h~d been compelled to keep b their heads motionless throughout -life?"
This quote shows how the person the narrator is speaking to is not only listening to what the narrator is saying, but he/she is also responding and asking his/her own questions.
"I see," he said.
From this dialogue, it sounds like the author is telling a story to his audience and the audience is responding to the author throughout the text.
Flagging is better than highlighting because flagging is more de-tailed than highlighting. If all you’re interested in doing is distinguish-ing something that seems important from other stuff that doesn’t seem important then highlighting is fine. But you want to do more than just distinguish important from unimportant.
The author is explaining that highlighting only makes a certain word or phrase stand out. Flagging is more efficient because it allows the reader to raise questions and to make notes about a certain idea.
Have I identified some of my own beliefs that can’t be true if the author is right?
The author is telling students to connect their personal opinions and beliefs to the beliefs in the article in order to better understand the concepts stated in the article.
(1) Pre-Read:For a very short time, examine the general features of the article. Look at the title, section headings, footnotes, bibliography, reading questions, and biography of the author. The goal of the pre-read is to get a basic idea of what the article is about.
The author is preparing students in the course to read articles in order to have a better understanding of the article. He explains that looking at the article as a whole will help the reader understand the article more versus reading the article without paying attention to titles, footnotes, etc.
This is a problem-based class. In problem-based classes, students spend most of their time identifying, reflecting upon, and defending their beliefs. This is not a historical or figure-based course. In historical classes, students spend most of their time learning certain themes in the history of philosophy. In figure-based classes, students spend most of their time mastering what certain philosophers think.
The author is clarifying that there are differences between our course and other Philosophy courses. He is also comparing problem-based Philosophy classes with historical or figure-based Philosophy courses to ensure that students understand what the main objective of the specific course is.
. It is likely that you will find unfamiliar vocabulary, abstract ideas, complexly organized writing, and unsettling views. I mention this because it is normal to have certain reactions, such as confusion, outrage, and frustration,
This is a helpful tip in order to succeed in this course because it reassures students that Philosophy isn't always easy to understand and that it's normal to feel frustrated with some of the ideas we will learn in class.
i) All assigned readings must be completedbeforeyou come to class.Do NOT wait until the last minute to start the reading.Philosophical paperstend to be dense, so you need to allow yourself ample time (2-3 hours) to read and re-read a text
This is a helpful tip in order to practice time management and to be successful in this course.
There will be 2short papers(3-4 pages long) and one final paper (5-6 pages).
This outlines the major assignments we will have throughout the semester.
You’re strongly encouraged to apply the concepts, theories and skills learned in this course to real lifeissues and problem
It's interesting how this class will allow us to connect what we learn in the class to our actual problems in reality.