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 Final Journal Project

Introduction to Philosophy

Instructions:

Write a 7-10 page paper (double spaced) in which you provide:

• A personal reflection
• A discussion of one major issue from the course (see list on p. 3)
• A general reflection on the value of philosophizing

Your paper should be divided into three parts corresponding to the numbers above.  Please include headings in your paper at the beginning of each part.

Part 1: Personal reflection (1 page)

Answer the following questions:

• Who are you?
• What beliefs are essential to who you are (i.e., If you did not possess these beliefs, you would no longer be who you are, live as you do, or view the world in the same way)?

Part 2: Issue (4-5 pages)

In this part of the journal, your task is to discuss your journey in thinking about one issue chosen from the list on p. 3.  You should select an issue that is both important to you and where you have noticed intellectual growth over the course of the term.  Please do the following, preferably in this order.

1. Describe your view on the issue before this class and how this view was shaped over your lifetime. In discussing how this view was shaped, mention and weave into the discussion, when relevant, some of the following items: personal experiences, upbringing, education, influential figures (e.g., parents, teachers, friends, pop culture icons, pastors), books, poems, films, etc.

2. Discuss how a chosen set (no more than 2 to 3) of ideas or arguments we examined have affected your view during this course. This should be a personal reflection in which you weave analysis and evaluation of the relevant ideas or arguments into a discussion of how your view has been affected over the term.  I want to see a demonstration or portrait of you wrestling with the details and specifics of these ideas and arguments in an honest and critical way.

Although your view may not have changed (if it did, that’s great!), discuss how your view has grown – whether it be in terms of it becoming strengthened, weakened,[1] more informed, more nuanced, more multifaceted, etc.  You must show the reader the connection between the details of whatever ideas or arguments chosen with your growth in thinking and viewing this issue.

Avoid simply summarizing these ideas and arguments.  The aim is not to summarize, but to weave analysis and evaluation of selected course content into a personal reflection that shows you wrestling with this content in a manner that produces intellectual growth.

Although not required, you are encouraged at the end of this section to include a brief summary that compares and contrasts your view now with your view (that was discussed in Part 2.1) coming into the class.

Part 3: Reflection on the philosophizing (2-4 pages)

On the first day of the course, we defined philosophy as an activity that takes your beliefs about value, existence, and reality and challenges them through a process of critical reflection.  As we have seen in this course, critical reflection (“philosophizing”) demands:

• Questioning the truth of your beliefs, even if these beliefs have great personal significance in your life

• Remaining open to the reasonability of views that, at first glance, appear mistaken or even absurd to you

• Demonstrating open-mindedness, humility, and objectivity in the face of difficult questions (about God, free will, personal identity, morality, etc.), even if you feel certain that you know the answer to the question

In the quote below, the 20^th century thinker Bertrand Russell hints that a life without philosophy may have advantages in being less confused, more definite, and more comfortable.  In contrast, as soon as we begin to philosophize, our lives may become more confused, less certain, and less comfortable.  Below is the quote in full:

The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason.  To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected.  As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find […] that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given.[2]

With this quote in mind, answer the following prompt:

Do you believe that philosophizing is an important activity in life, even if its outcome may be confusion, uncertainty, and discomfort – a mindset in which “even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given”?  Or is a life in which one’s “world [is] definite, finite, obvious [where] common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected” a preferable one?

Format:

Your paper should take the following format.

1. Part 1: Personal reflection

1. Part 2: Reflections on your issue

III. Part 3: Reflections on philosophizing

List of Issues from Which You May Choose:

Below is a list of issues from which you may choose.  Please select only one issue from this list.  If you wish to write on an issue not included on this list, I kindly ask that you run it by me first.

• Whether I believe God exists
• Whether I believe that the existence of evil and suffering can be reconciled with the existence of an all-loving, all-powerful God
• Whether I privilege a utilitarian moral theory that emphasizes the happiness produced by the act or a Kantian moral theory that emphasizes whether the act respects an individual’s dignity and worth
• Whether I believe that my mind is more than simply my brain – and that my thoughts, sensations, and emotions are more than simply electrochemical impulses in my brain
• Whether I believe I have free will
• Whether I believe that I can know anything to be true about the world in which I live

[1] Be very honest, especially when it comes to expressing doubts, worries, or questions about your view.  Are there any doubts you have about your view, and do you plan to address them after the course is over?

[2] Bertrand Russell. “Value of Philosophy”, in Louis Pojman. Introduction to Philosophy, (2008), 27