Critical Thinking and Writing
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Homework for Lesson1
Preparation for next week:
On Sunday we will talk about Plato’s story of the “ring of Gyges”. To prepare, read the following passage from Plato’s Republic.
“Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the ruler of Lydia. One day there was a violent thunderstorm, and an earthquake broke open the ground and created a crater at the place where Gyges was tending his sheep. Seeing the big hole, Gyges was filled with amazement and went down into it. And there, in addition to many other wonders of which we are not told, he saw a hollow bronze horse. There were window-like openings in it, and peeping in,
he saw a corpse, which seemed to be of more than human size, wearing nothing but a gold ring on its finger. He took the ring and came out of the crater.Gyges wore the ring at the usual monthly meeting that reported to the king on the state of the flocks of sheep. As he was sitting among the others, he happened to turn the setting of the ring towards himself to the inside of his hand. When he did this, he became invisible to those sitting near him, and they went on talking as if he had gone. He wondered at this, and,fingering the ring, he turned the setting outwards again and became visible. So, he experimented with the ring to test whether it indeed has this power – and it did. If he
turned the setting inward, he became invisible; if he turned it outward, he became visible again. When he realized this, he at once arranged to become one of the messengers sent to report to the king. And when he arrived there, he attacked the king, killed him, and took over the kingdom” (from Plato’s Republic).
Plato has us imagine two magic rings, one given to a morally good person and one to a person who is not morally good. Plato contends that there would be no difference in the way the two would behave. People only behave morally, he claims, because they are afraid of the consequences of getting caught if they behave badly.
What would you do if you had a ring that made you invisible?
If we all had a ring of Gyges, what would happen?
Do you think Plato is right, that we are good only because we are afraid of getting caught?
Do people want to be good, or are they only good because they will get something out of it,
like the approval of their parents or some other reward?
What is the difference between someone who is morally good and someone who is not? -
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Lesson 2
Critical Thinking & Writing: Recap & HW #2
Today we talked about the story of “the Ring of Gyges” and play the “the Prisoners’ Dilemma” game. In both cases, we talked about the ways in which the good of the individual can differ from the good of the collective. If someone had the ring of Gyges, they would be able to do whatever they wanted without getting caught. This might be good for one individual, but if everyone had the ring then society would be in trouble. With the prisoners’ dilemma, we talked about how the best outcome for everyone can be the one that it is not in the rational interest of any individual to choose.
In light of the discussion, write a short essay (about three paragraphs) answering the question: what is the relationship between the good of the individual and the good of the community? Is the individual’s self-interest always in conflict with the interest of society, or can they be brought into harmony? Feel free to draw on class discussion as well as your personal experience when putting together your argument.
Hint: Philosophers place a great deal of emphasis on the structure of their arguments. Therefore, it might be a good idea to organize your essay in the following way. Begin by stating the position you are defending. Then, give a few reasons to support your position (think about what we talked about in class). In another paragraph, briefly summarize an objection or two that an opponent might make in response to your argument. Then, in a final paragraph, explain why you think your opponent’s arguments are not strong enough to refute your own. This format is very effective, which is why it is so common among professional philosophers! Don’t worry if you find it difficult to put your arguments in perfect order, we will continue to practice structuring arguments over the course of this class.
Reading assignments for next lesson:
The 3 pages on the evil demon thought experiment,see attachments.
Another optional assignment is (optional because the language might be difficult) Meditation II from Descartes Mediations on the first philosophy.
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Lesson 3
Critical Thinking & Writing: Recap & HW #3
On Sunday we discussed:
-The difference between knowledge and opinion
-Arguments for skepticism about the empirical (external) world
-The unreliability of the senses
-Descartes’ evil demon thought experimentDrawing on what we discussed in class, write a short essay (about three paragraphs) answering the question: is there anything that you can know for certain? Descartes argues that the only thing you can know with certainty is that you exist. But you don’t have to agree with Descartes! Also, try to structure your argument in the format we’ve been practicing.
Prepare for next week:
For Sunday, students should watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA2cdHLKYB8 and think about the question: is mathematics invented or discovered?
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Critical Thinking & Writing: Recap & HW #4
On Sunday we sorted all different kinds of things into “exists” and “doesn’t exist”
categories, and we sorted statements about them into “true” and “false.” Both charts are post
online. Through this activity, we talked about the questions:*What kinds of things exist?
*How can we make true statements about things that don’t exist?
*What makes a statement about something true? (Some are definitionally true,some are true about reality, some are true about fictional universes.)
*Do non-physical things exist? What about the color red? What about numbers?For the homework, write a short essay (about three paragraphs) answering any one of the above questions. Feel free to draw on the examples we discussed in class or make up your own.
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Lesson 5
Critical Thinking & Writing: Recap & HW #5
On Sunday we discussed the following questions:What is freedom? Does it simply involve not being constrained by an external authority, or something more?
Is free will possible in a fully causally determined universe?
Drawing on our discussion from class, the video we watched, or your own ideas, write a short essay (about three paragraphs) answering the following question: is it possible for human beings to be free?Hint: It might be a good idea to use the essay format we learned at the beginning of the course. Remember to begin by stating the position you are defending. Then, give a few reasons to support your position (think about what we talked about in class). In another paragraph, briefly summarize an objection or two that an opponent might make in response to your argument. Then, in a final paragraph, explain why you think your opponent’s arguments are not strong enough to refute your own.
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