#philosophical methods

[esarkaye]

I have a new article out where I apply experimental philosophy to philosophy and ethics of technology. If you’re interested, you can read it here (open access): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-021-00447-6 Also feel free to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/srkraaijeveld

[gryphonlover]

According to my professor, "zen Buddhism is the craziest form of Buddhism, which makes it the sexiest form of Buddhism."

Given that she wrote her PhD dissertation on Buddhism and is allosexual (experiences sexual attraction), I'm going to assume that she's right.

Still going to fact check the part about "cutting cats in half," though...

[gryphonlover]

I'll be honest, it's a relief to spend the last week of the semester studying Buddhism for philosophical methods. It's a breath of fresh air after studying Peter Singer in ethics class for 2 months.

[gryphonlover]

My professor has cancelled class for today because of the eclipse, which is a relief. I don't care much about the eclipse, but this buys me extra time for homework and resting.

[gryphonlover]

A few videos from my first week of philosophy classes. I had to watch more than just these but the following videos are the most important ones in my opinion.

[gryphonlover]

First day of the spring semester and starting off strong with my school's particular brand of weirdness.

In Philosophical Methods we were just about to start class and were waiting on one last person. (Note: it is a 300 level philosophy class, therefore most students know each other and the professor knows us all.) This guy walks in, looks at my professor and says, "wow you lost a lot of weight!" My professor, understandably confused as to why this stranger is commenting on her body asks him who he thinks she is. Unsurprisingly, he has the wrong name, puts two and two together and turns on his heel saying that she looks like his professor except thinner and also he is supposed to be in room 115 not 105. Class then proceeds as planned after the last student arrives.

Just before dinner I got an email with the syllabus for Philosophy of Law. Excellent news, since the syllabus was not available through Blackboard this morning. During dinner, I check my phone and, lo and behold, a friend in the same class has texted me saying that the syllabus is... awful, to put it bluntly. I read the syllabus. There is assigned reading for the first day of class. That's normal. There is a final exam that is 2-3 hours long, has to be taken in the classroom, is composed of T/F questions, multiple choice questions, and more types of questions. This exam also accounts for 75% of the class's grade. This is not normal. This is, in fact, very distressing news. Fortunately for me Introduction to Ethics takes place at the same time, has no textbooks, and is required for my degree in philosophy. I am now swapped over to Introduction to Ethics and doing the necessary damage control.

[soviele]

Julian Baggini, Peter S. Fosl (2010): "The Philosopher's Toolkit - A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods"

284 pages; Full Text (pdf)