FILMS: Find these classic films (rent from video shops, check out from libraries, or purchase online) and view them thoughtfully. Watch for
Tinder's questions (and see how Tinder's questions are answered) and how the films connect to the other readings. Report and discuss..
THE LAST FOUR THREADED DISCUSSIONS:
CONFUCIUS: Every thinker wants to base his/her system of thought on something solid--something eternally true. Plato observed that centuries from now not a single person, not a single tree that is alive today will be alive then. But there will be humans and there will be trees in the centuries to come because the FORM of humans and of trees is permanent and eternal and, therefore, more real than the material humans and trees currently extant. Confucius also appreciated the transience of people. Individual people do not last more than a few decades but relationship patterns among people persist through time--through the ages. Thus, human relationships were the permanent, solid, and "real" elements at the core of Confucius' thinking.
What, for Confucius and for you, is the proper relationship between ruler and ruled? (Put aside completely how rulers are chosen.) What obligations do each hold to the other? In exploring the proper relationship consider these analogs:
HOBBES: Thomas Hobbes believes that people are rational beings albeit emotional and violent beings as well. Why do we leave the state of nature? Are we persuaded? Are we forced? From whence comes the obligation to obey government?
ROBINSON: In what fundamental ways is global civilization different in a world dominated by Islamic and Buddhist ideas?
MILL: Many of us in the Western world support the idea of free speech. Fundamental to our notion of free speech is the idea of tolerance--that we should tolerate the expression of ideas with which we do not agree. Is tolerance just a nice thing to do in times of peace and security but is essentially a luxury item to be discarded in times of strife? Why should we tolerate untrue or false opinion--especially if sucn opinion could lead to harmful results? How does Mill argue that toleration of untrue and false opinion is actually useful?
EXAMS:
MIDTERM EXAM: Take any three of Tinder's questions-questions that are touched upon in Job, Plato, Confucius, and Machiavelli--and show how each answers or, given their basic principles, would answer each question. Then, make a case for your own answer to each of the questions--showing areas of agreement and disagreement with the thinkers you have studied.
I am looking for evidence that you have fully come to grips with the readings and are seriously conversant with the major ideas developed by each.
Send your write-up to me as an attachment to an e-mail message -- to Lfarley@lhup.edu
FINAL EXAM: Select three of Tinder's questions (different from the ones you used in your midterm exam) that you find especially interesting, important, and paradoxical. With the help of the authors that you have read for this course offer some tentative answers to the questions. The length of your answers is largely up to you but you will probably need at least a few pages for each. Submit as an e-mail attachment to me.
Let me set Wednesday December 6 as a target deadline. You are welcome to take all the time that you need--until April of 2007 is fine with me. I'd rather you take the time to think these matters through carefully than rush to meet a deadline.