Threaded Discussion Questions

These are your weekly assignments to post. Go to MyHeritage.

Berkeley & Taylor: How might it affect a culture if everyone in that culture held either Berkeley’s or Taylor’s position in common? What might you imagine as some specific consequences of everyone in society holding one of these positions?

Descartes: Most people in Western society share Descartes’ dualism. How does that show up in everyday life in Western culture? In other words, how does the fact that most people in Western culture agree at least in part with Descartes affect the structure of society, including everyday life?

Stace: What might a culture based entirely on absolutist or relativist principles look like?

Ross: Does your tradition (or one of your multiple traditions) share any of the values noted by Ross? What might be the origin of those rules in your own tradition(s)?

Ethical Theories: Choose one of these ethical theories. What might a society which held that system in common look like? That is, how would holding those ethical beliefs affect everyday life?

Sartre: Think about the events of your own life. Briefly discuss one event of your life and how you think it expresses “YOU.” Alternative: If you would prefer to share that only with the instructor, you may e-mail your autobiographical analysis to the instructor and post a “biographical” analysis instead—briefly discuss one event of someone else’s life and explain how it might express him or her.

Le Guin: If you were to write about your own perfect society, what might you include in it? How would that express some of your own beliefs and values?

Arts: Post a link to a webpage or site containing a work of art and a work of music. Then post your commentary on the philosophical ideas and personal/cultural elements expressed in those cultural items, including ways in which those ideas reflect or invert the ideas held by the artist’s or musician’s culture.