Philosophy Now Forum

OK, Yale Intro to Philo - would this put you off ?
BTW, I like the idea of a course 'sell', whereby you get to meet the lecturer, and judge whether the course is for you.

http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/death/co ... ure01.html

Interesting that much of it is about grades and that this chap is considered a 'hard' marker. Also, unlike the OU, it is compulsory to talk the talk - participation is worth 25% of the final mark.

Question : should it be compulsory ?

Can the study of philo be compared to a language course - where you need to pass the oral ? One student on my Italian course said he didn't want to speak Italian, he only wanted to understand it, ie read Italian books, listen to opera....

Can it be compared to a music course - which you take to understand and appreciate the structure, complexities of music rather than to play an instrument ?

Should philosophy be more harshly marked because it is more complex to unravel....?
I find it fascinating to see the different ways that philosophy is taught.

Anyone care to share their own experience ?

'The lunatics are those who pass'

Posted - 7/10/10 - on an OU forum- pre-exam blues ? { OUSA AA309 Roman Empire }

THE DARK SIDE OF THE ROOM

to the tune of Pink Floyd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf-Argak ... re=related

The lunatics are those who pass
The lunatics are those who pass
Remembering names and hazy claims and baths
Got to keep the loonies on the path
The lunatics are in the hall
The lunatics are in the hall
The paper moulds their folded faces to their score
They're thinking now of leaving through the door
And if the cram breaks open many hours too soon
And if there is no room for study skills
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the room.

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
Please raise the grade, my plans will change
You re-arrange me 'till I'm sane
You shut my jaw
And throw away the key
All Rome is in my head but it's not me.

And if old Zeus bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the stance you take starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the room.

Cue examiners chuckling
"I can't think of anything to say except...
I think we're marvellous! HaHaHa!"

All that you clutch
And all that you read
All that you paste
All you feel
And facts that you love
And facts that you hate
Sources you trust
Stuff to save
And all that you give
And each appeal
And books that you buy
beg, borrow or steal
And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
And all that you say
And all that you cheat
And everyone you meet
And each new website
And every sleepless night
And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that's to come
And everything that can be fun is in tune
but the fun is eclipsed by the room.

Cue invigilator:
"There is no dark side to the room really: as a matter of fact, you've turned up to the wrong venue!'

From the above 'song' :

'...if the stance you take starts playing different tunes...'

I think that this is what I like about PhilosophyNow.
My head fairly swivels to the symphonies of provocative devilishnessness

Which aria now ? Whose voice ?

Drawing a few threads together - eg recent PN'ers thoughts on Nietzsche...the way to study/learn philosophy....the rewards - I googled ' Nietzsche in tune' just for fun and found :

http://iph.fsu.edu/interculture/pdfs/mc ... ialism.pdf

I've only had a quick skim over, there's about 20 + pages, but it seems to use Nietzsche in a practical way ie transforming dull classroom situations by 'harbouring the will to truth' ?

I took note of the phrase ' thought needs no ultimate purpose beyond the act of thinking'.

As always, my scribbles are abysmal - so haven't quite 'got' the connection....yet !

Time to get on with real life....

Richard Baron wrote: In the UK we have had the Open University for 40 years. It uses broadcast lectures, online discussions and tutors who advise students and mark essays. In the early days (before VCRs), dedicated students would get up at 5 in the morning to watch lectures. Now programmes are distributed on DVD.

Here are some links to other distance learning universities in the English-speaking world ...

http://philosophynow.org/links?group=8

mhoraine wrote:Are you almost finished or are you an eternal student ?

I know it was a while ago when we last discussed this but I can now finally say that I've completed my studies (for the foreseeable future anyway ) and have now completed a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics with the Open University and managed to achieve First-class Honours.

So I'm rather pleased and now intend to take up golf

John wrote:

mhoraine wrote:Are you almost finished or are you an eternal student ?

I know it was a while ago when we last discussed this but I can now finally say that I've completed my studies (for the foreseeable future anyway ) and have now completed a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics with the Open University and managed to achieve First-class Honours.

So I'm rather pleased and now intend to take up golf

'rather pleased'

How rather bloody excellent - and very many Congratulations, and then some

I suppose now is as good a time as any to own up that 'mhoraine' was my previous name. For some reason, I couldn't return as 'she', so decided to start again...
I decided not to 'play' as another character - as if I could ! - I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if anyone would recognise 'me' by my words/thoughts and the way I expressed them. Not the best of my ideas

To return to your achievment - having completed an assortment of courses ( sorry, 'modules' ), and scraping to a BA (Open) - I can SO appreciate all the hard work and time involved.

A First Class Honours in PPE, and you're taking up golf - Good Lord, man - you could be our next PM

marjoramblues wrote:How rather bloody excellent - and very many Congratulations, and then some

Thank you

I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that I'll have all this free time now and not have the stress of producing an essay every 5 weeks for six months at a time as I have for the best part of decade now. You never know, I might miss it though

And congratulations on your own degree because I know how tough it is to achieve, particularly when you're trying to juggle all the other little things in life like work, families and the desire to just veg out in front of the TV now and again.

Oh, and I had no idea you were Mhoraine.

Oh, and I had no idea you were Mhoraine.

I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing
Do you ever look back at your old essays and wonder who the hell wrote them ?

Thanks, for the Congrats - and yes, the studying lark can be most addictive. Even now, I check up on some forums
And despite my hard time with philo, I seem to remain drawn...there's just too many darn things I want to follow up, and find out about...

Now, I think this deserves a Party in the Lounge to sillybrate
Who's bringing the music and food ?