Temp

September 25, 2013

Evan Dobbs

I like the contrast of last week's science and philosophy discussion with this week's short anthology of philosophic non-fiction. As we move away from the technical language of science, we can clearly see how much a talented author can make a reader think. When I finished reading the first few pieces of the anthology I knew the texts initiated a response and caused me to think and consider its message; however, I was skeptical if it was technically "philosophy." Normally when I think of the moral of a story I don't think of it as a philosophical message. However after further contemplation, I have realized that is exactly what it is. The process of us challenging our currently held beliefs with that of the authors, is philosophy.

It was Socrates who said that the unexamined life is one not worth living for man. Isn't that exactly what some of these deeper pieces of fiction do? They cause us to relate a message to our lives and force us to reexamine our actions, attitudes, and/or beliefs. In my opinion, fiction may even be the better, more convincing avenue to try and convey one's message. It is one thing for a philosopher to write down and spell out his beliefs in a book, full of evidence, but is entirely more effective to weave a message into a story that the reader can discover for themselves. In the movie Inception it is constantly stressed that humans can tell when an idea has been purposefully planted for them to know. The most effective way for someone to hold onto the idea is to aid their journey towards it, while at the same time letting them have some freedom to discover and develop the idea for themselves. Even something as abstract as "Death of A Moth" can be used to think about death, how close we are all to it, and how we are such a small part of this planet.

I think this also opens up film and other styles of narrative/non-fiction to be considered sources of philosophy. I was recently watching an inspirational speech on a tv show that caused me to examine certain aspects of my life.

Peter Guthrie

E.B. White’s Once More to the Lake I thought was really interesting and stuck in my head more than the others. What I drew from this selection is how cyclical life is and it even seems to support the old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same. When White returns to the lake and finds that the only thing that has changed is the tar road and when he transposes his younger self onto his son and himself into his father it shows a similarity between the events and a pattern between the generations. White uses his surroundings to prove this point by writing, it was the arrival of this fly that convinced me beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a mirage and there had been no years. Later at the diner he again says there had been no passage of time, only the illusion of it again arguing the repetition in history. He talks of certain events in our past that are worth holding onto and keeping close like treasures. I think he might even be saying that there is a limit to how far we should progress; maybe there is such a thing as too much or going too far. White’s last two lines in this selection really show this cyclical idea. White, watching his son, realizes that while his son is growing up he is beginning to come closer to death. At some point his son will be a father with his own son and the cycle will continue. White uses a personal experience to show that there will always be a cycle of life and death. I think this is his main point in writing this selection but there are others in there as well.

I really enjoyed this style of writing. I think, in general, these stories were a lot easier to understand than say Kant who has a technical and complicated writing style. These stories have a point and meaning in them that is a little more subtle but far easier to wrap my mind around. However, I think I would agree with what Evan has said above. There is clearly a meaning in all of these stories but they seem to be more like moral or absolute truths like life and death. Maybe, because it is such a new style of philosophy than I am used to but it seems weird to call them philosophical works.

Marshall Powell

The really interesting thing about philosophy, that the short anthology illustrates, is that it isn't only about arguments and pushing the limits of understanding. For example, This Too is Life encourages a change in perspective softly, without stating explicitly what it is the reader is supposed to learn. This is very different than what traditional philosophic writing aims to do. Rather than stating a position, or prodding one along towards some end position with logical challenges, This Too is Life simply places one in a situation where a change in perspective develops organically. The feeling of disconnect with everything is something everyone can relate to, and so it isn't any sort of shock or challenge to join the narrator on the mental journey. There is no forcing the change. A person only needs to follow the writer down the path to see new things about reality.

To Shoot an Elephant uses setting to bring about a new understanding. As Orwell continues to develop the setting, the reader is slowly given enough information to recognize the reality of the situation. The short anthology is full of examples of philosophy done in a more comfortable way. Where traditional philosophic writing challenges one outright to look at things in a new way, or to make some change in their own life, these short writings simply encourage. Both are suited to different problems, and different readers.

Alynna Nemes

One of the pieces that I found intriguing was George Orwell's "Shooting An Elephant." At first, the reader would not consider this a story involving philosophy. Several themes presented are cultural differences, peer pressure, and how imperialism is wrong. Philosophy is hidden well within the story by disguising itself within the thoughts and action of Orwell shooting the elephant. Orwell describes how the crowd of over 2000 people blocked the road; willing him to shoot the mad elephant in order for the Burmans to attain some meat. He realizes that he is at the crowd's bidding and gives them the entertainment they seek. After seeing the agonizing and prolonged death of the elephant, he has mixed emotions. Philosophy utilizes contemplation about humanity and an individual's actions. In the words of Socrates, "to live practicing philosophy [meant] examining myself and others" (Apology). Orwell examines himself and is left feeling uneasy and anxious. He is at a crossroads internally because shooting the elephant can be interpreted as the legally right or the morally wrong action. He alone knows that he shot the elephant to avoid looking like a fool in front of the natives. Philosophy tries to understand human nature looking through morality, reasoning, etc, to find truth and wisdom. Philosophy grapples with cultivating virtues and well thought out actions to prevent rash decision making such as shooting an elephant due to peer pressure.

I prefer these stories because they seem to stay more grounded to actual human experience and have more meaning to them. Most people learn and through reading, observing, and following the examples of people whether they are fictional or real; rather than reading a thesis of pure academic philosophy that states how to view reality or live your life. Stories provide context and build connections between the reader and character that make philosophy easier to attain and can encourage more people to examine their lives and their souls.

In Dennett's, "Is Nothing Sacred," he opens with a childhood memory and song to captivate interest and give meaning as to what he will discuss further on about Darwin and God. The philosophy he will later discuss melds both storytelling and academic philosophy to presumably engage not just academics but regular folks into why his philosophical problem has importance, his stance, and debate on his chosen topic.

Riley Peschon

A Casual Sampler of Great & Modest Openings to Philosophical Work represented a quite common characteristic of philosophical writing (and philosophical thinking for that matter). The majority of the pieces introduced a question or something to be called into doubt as the primary jumping point. Following this, it would be addressed how the dilemma at hand was rather complex, leading to a specific form of designing the question in order to see through an answer (likely found at the end) that fits the criteria. This critical means of thinking is described in a brief (yet incredibly accurate when related to philosophical thinking) quote from Historical Introductions. "It is better to understand that something is so difficult that it simply cannot be understood than to understand that a difficulty is so very easy to understand." It is hard to accept something that seems simple, thus we hold it in doubt and discuss the possibilities.

I found the Willard Gaylin piece "What You See Is The Real You" to be very applicable towards the importance of acting upon philosophy. Gaylin does not acknowledge the existence of an "inner man", instead disregarding psychoanalytic data while focusing on the outer man. The outer man is what one displays and how one portrays the self. The inner man "serves your purposes alone". I found this to work well with the previously discussed notion of philosophical importance only being found in universities (or in our case, the basement of a campus building). While having inner dialogues and conversations with other philosophers is vital, one mustn't forego the act of genuinely living his or her philosophy, as this is what impacts others.

on behalf of Sam W

Among the differing stories within the anthology, I found myself drawn to two pieces in specific. First was George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” piece and second was Aldo Leopold’s piece, “Thinking Like a Mountain.” To avoid unnecessary summary of each piece I’ll just jump right in.

Orwell’s piece reminded me of the many discussions I’ve had with friends or in the classroom about morality. In the story, Orwell battles with an internal moral decision to act. He states, “As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” Right there, Orwell knows what he ought to do. He looks at the animal and realizes, this is worthy piece of “machinery.” He then goes on to justify that the animal must have overcome his “must” because he is no more harmful than a grazing cow. But then, as he has settled on a thought, a crowd challenged his justification. This is where it was interesting to me, and reminded my of my Ethics class and Haidt. Orwell hated imperialism. He stated that opinion at the beginning of the story. So when it comes to his duty to potentially take care of the animal, he is already finding ways around it, without stating that verbally in the piece. Why would he shoot the animal if he could find a way around it? So from his emotions, he then looks at the animal, and justifies from what he sees that the animal not ought to be shot. But, and this is a big but, his justification is challenged, and he is to go back to his original emotional being, because as Haidt claims, in the “righteous mind,” logical thinking stems from emotions. At that point, Orwell is faced with a new moral dilemma – act upon the crowds emotions or his own gut instinct. Who’s moral thinking is more just, more right? Is Orwell right for not wanting to kill the elephant? Are the Bermese people right for wanting the elephant dead? Is this a case where you assume a utilitarian stance? How do we come to a consensus? These are all the questions that came into my mind. Perhaps I’ll leave it there for discussion and quickly talk about Leopold.

I won’t put too much here only because I think that the majority of discussion can stem from Orwell’s piece, but Leopold’s piece reminded a lot of my Human Nature class. We talked about a current philosopher of the name J. Baird Callicott. Callicott is an environmental philosopher that has stemmed a good chunk of his thoughts from Leopold. An interesting topic of discussion could be our connectedness with the environment. Callicott argues that we ought to preserve the earth as best we can because we depend so heavily on the earth. That is a basic and very simple statement, but like Leopold in his piece, Callicott observes the connection and importance of the environmental world around us. We all stem from the same web of energy, so we ought to respect that.