My initial questions for you: Who are you, why are you here, which (if any) of the 'isms do you identify with, and why?
- Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, by Julian Baggini (JB)
"Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief characterized by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. Baggini shows how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral."
- Humanism-A Very Short Introduction, by Stephen Law (SL)
"The humanist is not simply one who denies the truth of religious belief, but one who believes we can enjoy meaningful, purposeful, and good lives without religion. And far from embracing moral nihilism, humanists are often deeply committed people, to be found at the forefront of many important ethical campaigns."
- Secularism: A Very Short Introduction, by Andrew Copson (AC)
- The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy by Alice Roberts and Andrew Copson (LBH)
- Life After Faith: The Case for Secular Humanism, by Philip Kitcher (LAF)
- "Kitcher thoughtfully and sensitively considers how secularism can respond to the worries and challenges that all people confront, including the issue of mortality. He investigates how secular lives compare with those of people who adopt religious doctrines as literal truth, as well as those who embrace less literalistic versions of religion. Whereas religious belief has been important in past times, Kitcher concludes that evolution away from religion is now essential. He envisions the successors to religious life, when the senses of identity and community traditionally fostered by religion will instead draw on a broader range of cultural items—those provided by poets, filmmakers, musicians, artists, scientists, and others."
- Pragmatism as Anti-Authoritarianism, by Richard Rorty (RR)
"Anti-authoritarianism, on this view, means acknowledging that our cultural inheritance is always open to revision because no authority exists to ascertain the truth, once and for all. If we cannot rely on the unshakable certainties of God or nature, then all we have left to go on—and argue with—are the opinions and ideas of our fellow humans. The test of these ideas, Rorty suggests, is relatively simple: Do they work? Do they produce the peace, freedom, and happiness we desire?"
- William James selections tba (WJ), Pragmatism
- Carl Sagan selections online, tba
Just FYI, some old TEXTS (you may wish to use one or more of these for your report(s):
Baggini, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction (JB) - OUP, 978-0192804242
Ruse, A Meaning to Life (ML) - OUP, 978-0190933227
Caruso & Flanagan, Neuroexistentialism: Meaning, Morals, and Purpose in the Age of Neuroscience (MP) - OUP, 978-0190460730
Hägglund, This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom (TL) - Pantheon, 978-1101870402
Julian Baggini, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction (JB)
Melanie Brewster, ed., Atheists in America (AA)
Susan Jacoby, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (SJ)
Matthew Stewart, Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic (NG)J
Julian Baggini, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction (JB)
Samuel Scheffler, Death and the Afterlife (DA)
Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion (RA)
Philip Kitcher, Life After Faith (LAF)
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian and other essays (BR)
A.C. Grayling, The Good Book: A Humanist Bible (GB)
Owen Flanagan, The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World (RHP)
Alex Rosenberg, The Atheist's Guide to Reality (AGR)
Christopher Hitchens, Mortality (M)
Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience (VSE)
IMPORTANT DATES Spring 2022
January 18 – Classes Begin (Tuesday after MLK, Jr. Day)
February 8 - assign midterm report topics
February 15 - midterm report presentations begin
March 3 - Exam 1
March 7-12 – Spring Break
March 29 - assign final report topics
April 5 - final report presentations begin
April 27 – Last class, Exam 2
April 28 – Study Day, No Classes/Exams/Mandatory Meetings
April 29 - Final blogpost due (post earlier for constructive feedback)
May 5 – Last day of Term
May 8 – 11:59 p.m. Deadline for Submission of Final Grades
18 Introductions. Post your response to these questions, interpreted any way you like: Who are you? Why are you here? Which (if any) of the 'isms--atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, naturalism, pragmatism etc.-- do you identify with, and why? Do you have an easily-summarized personal philosophy? (Maybe something short like Charlie Brown's sister Sally's?--"No!")
20 What is atheism? The case for it (JB 1-2)
25 Atheist ethics; Meaning & purpose (JB 3-4)
27 Atheism in history; Against religion?; Conclusion (JB 5-7)
FEB
1 William James (WJ), Pragmatism Lec I The Present Dilemma in Philosophy; Lec VI Pragmatism's Conception of Truth
3 WJ, Pragmatism Lec VII Pragmatism and Humanism; Lec VIII Pragmatism and Religion
8 The varieties of experience. WJ, Varieties of Religious Experience tba; Carl Sagan, Varieties of Scientific Experience, editor's intro & tba
15 Polytheism, Universality and Truth. Midterm report presentations begin. RR 2-4
17 Pan-Relationalism, Depth. RR 5-6
22 Ethics, obligations, justice. RR 7-8
24 Empiricism. RR 9-10, epilogue
MAR
1 Doubt Delineated. LAF preface, 1
3 Values Vindicated. LAF 2 EXAM 1
SPRING BREAK
15 Religion Refined.LAF 3
17 Mortality and Meaning. LAF 4
22 Depth and Depravity. 5
24 History of Humanism, god. SL intro, 1-2
29 Humanism god and morality. SL 3-4. Assign final report topics.
31 Humanism and secularism, education. SL 5-6
APR
5 Meaning of life, ceremonies. SL 7-8
7 Secularism AC 1-2; LBH __
12 Secularism diversifies AC 3-4; LBH __
14 The case against secularism AC 5-6; LBH
19 Hard questions AC 7, afterword; LBH __
21 tba
26 Last class. Exam 2 (NOTE: Exam 2 is not a "final exam," it is the exam covering material since Exam 1.)
29 Final blogposts due (post early draft for constructive feedback)
EXAMS. Two objective-format exams based on daily questions, each worth up to 25 points.
REPORTS. Midterm presentation & posted summary (10 minute presentation, 250+ word summary, with sources and two discussion questions), final presentation & blog post (10 min, 1,000+ word post. Worth up to 25 points each.
PARTICIPATION. Participation includes attendance, your full and attentive presence in class, and posts, comments (etc.) to our CoPhi site prior to each class. No points formally allotted, but steady participation earns strong consideration for a higher final grade. (Hypothetically, for instance: say you earned a total of 88 points (of a possible 100) on the exams and reports. If you did not participate consistently and well, your course grade would be B+. If you did, it would be A.)
SCORECARDS. Because your professor is a baseball fan, we'll track participation with baseball scorecards adapted to the purpose. Come to class to get on 1st base. Post a pertinent comment or question for discussion prior to class to advance to 2d base. Same to move to 3d. To come home, post a pertinent research discovery, something we wouldn't have known from the day's assigned reading. Good places for quick online research include the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Philosophical Dictionary, and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. We'll learn about more when we visit the library (or they visit us...stay tuned).
(For instance, when we discuss Socrates you might post the comment that you think his version of enlightened ignorance -- "I know that I know nothing" etc. -- seems more humble than Plato's confident assertion of the possibility of rationally understanding the ultimate structure of reality, "Forms" etc. You might also pose the discussion question "Do you think Socrates should have taken the opportunity to escape Athens before his death sentence was imposed?" And you might share your discovery that Socrates seemed to have a higher opinion of women than most of his companions had, speaking of “men and women,” “priests and priestesses,” and naming foreign women as his teachers: Socrates claimed to have learned rhetoric from Aspasia of Miletus, the de facto spouse of Pericles (Plato, Menexenus); and to have learned erotics from the priestess Diotima of Mantinea (Plato, Symposium). --Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Socrates"
Keep a detailed and dated log of your posts and comments, appended to your last post each week.
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"Solvitur ambulando"... the art of walking
A NOTE ON THE BLOG POST FORMAT: Midterm & final report blog posts should include appropriately-bloggish content: not just words, but also images, links, videos where relevant, etc.
A NOTE ON WORD COUNTS. 250 and 1,000 are minimums. Write more, if you've got more to say. Write a tome, if you've got one in you. But your main goal in writing for our course is always to be clear, to say what you mean, and to say things your classmates (and I) will want to respond to. Think of your weekly blog posts not as "papers" but as contributions to a conversation. And again, do think of them as blog posts, with links, graphics, videos. etc.
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Watch this space for updated info on the university's and our department's FREE tutoring service... and learn how to study, get help with understanding difficult course material, receive better test grades, or simply improve your grade point average. Tutoring is available in study skills and learning strategies that includes sessions on time management, notetaking, when and where to study, and memory principles. Tutoring is also available in over 200 courses including biology, history, computer information systems, physics, math, psychology, chemistry, economics, recording industry, and many more. The central location for tutoring is the Tutoring Spot, located in Walker Library, but is also conducted at various other campus sites. For available tutoring opportunities, visit http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/tutoring.php#on . For questions, call the Tutoring Spot at 615-904-8014.
Dr. Cornelia Wills
Director of Student Success
Middle Tennessee State University
P. O. Box 500
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Telephone: 615-898-5025
http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/index.php
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Title IX
Students who believe they have been harassed, discriminated against or been the victim of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking should contact a Title IX/Deputy Coordinator at 615-898-2185 or 615-898- 2750 for assistance or review MTSU’s Title IX website for resources. http://www.mtsu.edu/titleix/
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Writing Center
The Margaret H. Ordoubadian University Writing Center serves all MTSU students, from freshmen to PhD candidates, on writing from any discipline, and in any genre. [website...] We have a brand new digital class visit, a brief introduction to the UWC, which can be embedded in any D2L shell for your students.
Tutoring sessions begin August 24th, and this semester, students will have two choices for online writing support:
Live Chat: students to use their mic and camera and meet tutors in real time to work on a shared document;
Document Drop: students upload their text and assignment sheet, identify specific feedback needs, and receive tutor feedback through email.
We also support writers through course-specific or assignment-specific workshops. The UWC administrative team has worked closely with faculty in diverse programs and departments, such as Biology, Anthropology, and Professional Studies, to create workshops and writing support for students in those courses. Please email Erica Cirillo-McCarthy, Director of the UWC, at erica.cirillo-mccarthy@mtsu.edu if you are interested in talking about ways the UWC can support writers in your class.
