Philosophy/week 4 Discussion

These weekly discussions are intended to help you digest the material. They should be used to:

1. Clarify the material (ask if you do not understand).
2. Identify problems (issues with the arguments, problems with a thought or idea).
3. Help you formulate your own ideas and responses.

First Post: When posting for the first time (Thursday), be as thorough as possible. For example, if you are having difficulty interpreting a piece of the text, start off by explaining what you are trying to read, and how you understand it (even if you know it’s wrong). This helps your colleagues and myself approach the problem from your perspective. If you are disputing something a philosopher says, give us a quote or a summary of the argument, then explain why you think it is incorrect. 

Post length: This depends on the problem you are discussing. Two paragraphs as a general rule is a good minimum length. This is your chance to discuss and work through the problems or ideas you have. It is much easier to learn philosophy if you are able to communicate it (even if your interpretation is wrong). We are not here to memorize a bunch of old dead white men’s ideas. We are here to work through them and see what sense we can make of them.

Multiple posts or questions: If you have more than one topic to discuss (this definitely will help you with your homework), you can either keep all of the ideas in a single post, or divide them up by topic. It might be easier for people to reply to a single post (there are a lot of students in this section). In cases where you are posting multiple ideas, I would suggest keeping the length down as much as possible.

Discussion prompt: 

This week, we read several theories about causality and free will.  You are not required to write about these topics, but here are some possible discussion prompts:

• Determinism: Are all of our actions determined? If not, how do we distinguish ‘free acts’? 
• Nature vs. Nurture: I may believe that my actions, choices, and desires are free, but how much of them are ‘determined’ in some way by how I was raised, or what I am exposed to? Am I a product of my environment (education, parenting, advertising, peer pressure)? Am I a product of my genetics? Can I ever truly have a free will?
• The Nihilists: How can a position of nihilism be a positive thing? If there is no inherent meaning in the world, doesn’t that make us hopeless?
• Sisyphus’ Rock: Why does Camus say ‘One must imagine Sisyphus happy’?