2014 Fall Proseminar Class Notes A

Return to Philosophy Proseminar

SEP 2

Introductory Class

SEP 9

Discussion of Hadot, "Spiritual Exercises"

"Spiritual exercises can be best observed in the context of Hellenistic and Roman schools of philosophy. The Stoics, for instance, declared explicitly that philosophy, for them, was an "exercise." In their view, philosophy did not consist in teaching an abstract theory - much less in the exegesis of texts, but rather in the art of living. It is a concrete attitude and determinate life-style, which engages the whole of existence. The philosophical act is not situated merely on the cognitive level, but on that of the self and of being. It is a progress which causes us to be more fully, and makes us better. It is a conversion which turns our entire life upside down, changing the life of the person who goes through it. It raises the individual from an inauthentic condition of life, darkened by unconsciousness and harassed by worry, to an authentic state of life, in which he attains self-consciousness, an exact vision of the world, inner peace, and freedom." 82

86: "For the Stoic, then, doing philosophy meant practicing how to "live": that is, how to live freely and consciously. Consciously, in that we pass beyond the limits of individuality, to recognize ourselves as a part of the reason-animated cosmos. Freely, in that we give up desiring that which does not depend on us and is beyond our control, so as to attach ourselves only to what depends onus: actions which are just and in conformity with reason."

• Philosophers as therapists / Philosophy as therapeutic.

• In Epicurean thought -- the tetrapharmakos; also in Phaedrus.

88: "For the Epicureans, in the last analysis, pleasure is a spiritual exercise. Not pleasure in the form of mere sensual gratification, but the intellectual pleasure derived from contemplating nature, the thought of pleasures past and present, and lastly the pleasure of friendship. "

• Prosoche -- attention.

• Learning to Die -- It's role in defining philosophy.

• Plotinus - sculpting your statue.

Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life

• Opening quote from Philo of Alexandria - mix of stoic thought. wise are joyous

• thesis: Philosophy was a way of life. Discusses Symposium as model.

• Wisdom sought also because it brings peace of mind (ataraxia) and inner freedom (autarkeia)

• Philosopy as therapeutic.

• "Philosophy presented itself as a method for achieving independence andinner freedom {autarkeia), that state in which the ego depends only uponitself. We encounter this theme in Socrates, among the Cynics, in Aristotle for whom only the contemplative life is independent - in Epicurus," among the Stoics." Although their methodologies differ, we find in allphilosophical schools the same awareness of the power of the human self tofree itself from everything which is alien to it, even if, as in the case of theSkeptics, it does so via the mere refusal to make any decision." 266

• Hadot claims there was a big distinction between "discourse" on philosophy and doing philosophy. The task of philosophy was living wisely. Anecdote about the carpenter (267). read par. top of 268, "Does the philosophical life..."

• Ancients sought for integration.

• 269: Thesis: "From its very beginnings - that is, from the second century AD on - Christianity had presented itself as a philosophy: the Christian way of life. Indeed, the very fact that Christianity was able to present itself as a philosophy confirms the assertion that philosophy was conceived in antiquity as a way of life. If to do philosophy was to live in conformity with the law of reason, so the argument went, the Christian was a philosopher, since he lived in conformity with the law of the Logos - divine reason. In order to present itself as a philosophy, Christianity was obliged to integrate elements borrowed from ancient philosophy. It had to make the Logos of the gospel according to John coincide withStoic cosmic reason, and subsequently also with the Aristotelian or Platonicintellect. It also had to integrate philosophical spiritual exercises into Christian life. The phenomenon of integration appears very clearly in Clement of Alexandria, and was intensely developed in the monastic movement, where we find the Stoico/Platonic exercises of attention to oneself (prosoche), meditation, examination of conscience, and the training for death. We also re-encounter the high value accorded to peace of mind and impassibility."

• claims this tradition lapse in medieval period. Revived by Ignatius.

• exceptions - Hegel / Marx, Descartes' Meditations, but then, pretty much theoretical philosophy?

Deleuze, "Introduction: The Question Then...(What is Philosophy?)"

• Philosophy - the art of forming inventing, and fabricating concepts.

• conceptual personae - philosopher as friend/lover of wisdom and philosopher as "concept's friend"

• like "friend" philo - Sophia -- connected with "societies of friends" (Including rivals)

• theory of concepts: p. 5,

• What it's not: contemplation, reflection, communication.

• we even build concepts with intuitions inside them (7). Concepts remain "signed" (Kant's, Nietzsche's, etc.).

• cultural contest: philosophy's rivals today (10).

SEP 16

Work on Method

• brief look at methods lists
• Reconstruction (mention SWoRD rubric coming soon). Criteria. Usage in writing and speech. Variations.
• Interrogative Reconstruction.
• Logical Structure in Deductive and Inductive Reasoning. (Note: What other kinds are there? Are philosophers always reasoning?)
• Reconstructing arguments as Deductive or Inductive.
• Problem of Induction. (Transition to Science).

Schick and Vaughn, "Science and its Pretenders"

• Emphasis: features of scientific theory, how theories are assessed, criteria of good theory

Giere, "Understanding and Evaluating Theoretical Hypotheses"

• Emphasis 1: Double Helix Case Study -- How science/scientists work?
• Emphasis 2: Model of Science, Reality, Data, Models of Reality

Barnes, "Natural Science in the 17th and 18th Centuries

• Emphasis: Sociology of Science -- Technology of science -- Circumstances of development -- The lateness of chemistry (note on nutrition science)
• Emphasis: Achieving a New Cosmology

Bryson, "How to Build a Universe"

• Emphasis: Using speculative science writing to speculate as philosophers.

Major Research Questions

1. What makes something science? How does science work theoretically?

2. How do scientists work? What would a "sociology of knowledge" tell us about methods in science?

3. What is the relationship between science and philosophy? Does science ask all of the interesting questions? What sorts of questions doesn't it answer?

OCT 7

Thought Experiments

from SEP

• Thought experiments in history of science.
• Lucretius' boundary argument
• Note reconstruction of Thompson's argument
• Popper's classification: heuristic, critical, apologetic. SEP: constructive and destructive

from Schick and Vaughn

• Warren's space traveler
• Time Travel - grandfather paradox
• Gallileo's paradoxes for Aristotelian motion
• Newton's bucket

Case Study of Thought Experiments: Thompson's "A Defence of Abortion"

• identify and critically discuss: Violinist, Tiny House, People Seeds.
• how would you argue against these thought experiments (strategies: accept/reject the premises of the experiment)

Genetic Engineering & Transhumanism

Even thought Glover and Bostrom aren't offering thought experiments directly, this topic seems to fit here because genetic engineering and transhumanism seem to generate "what if" scenarios that are similar to thought experiments and might generate them.

Glover, "What Sort of People Should There Be?"

• role call question.

• negative vs. positive
• Raising a single trait, like IQ -- Argument against: playing God, ultimately separates into a blasphemy component and a part which objects to specific people playing God.
• considerations of justice.

• Nozick's genetic supermarket. What kinds of kids should we be allowed to create?