Philosophical discussions and first thoughts towards your question

For today you have two tasks that will move you towards naming your question.
As the bottom of this post you will see the homework for Monday.

1. Find a partner.  You will have a typed conversation about one of the issues that came up during our discussions of Man's Search For Meaning.  It can be from the final section of the work you did on Tuesday, or even from one of the opening set of questions we addressed.  You can find that earlier handout by clicking here.
1. For your conversation - which will essentially be a practice run for the dialogue section of your project - you should start out with an opening statement that goes something like this: "Frankl raises the question of ... and he claims ...." 
2. You'll follow this by talking about your beliefs in relation to the issue: "I agree / disagree / am not so sure because..." then add in an explanation of your thoughts about it.  Try to use a specific story or example to illustrate your point.
3. Switch computers.  Read what the previous person had to say, and then respectfully respond to their points.  It should start with something like, "I agree / disagree / am not so sure about what you are saying because..." then add in an explanation of your thoughts about it
4. As the conversation continues, both of you should work towards gaining a fuller understanding of your point and what the other person has to say.  To get there, use some of the questions we used on Tuesday: 
1. What the other person's assumptions and premises?
1. What is s/he assuming to be true?
2. What conditions is s/he assuming to exist?
3. What is s/he suggesting about the different people involved?
2. What are its implications?
1. If this is true then what else is true? Why?
3. What different types or contexts exist?
1. When does / doesn’t it work?
4. What do the specific terms mean?
5. Who else shares this belief or perspective, and why?
1. Are there other people who this does / doesn’t apply to? Why?
5. Go for about 15 minutes.  Save your results.
2. Choose a new topic from the list below.  Choose a new partner.  You and your partner must have different topics.  Repeat the process detailed above for these two new quesions, with each person starting off one of them with a personal statement.  These do not need to connect with the book.

1.      On bodily death, a person continues to exist in a non-physical form

2.      The ultimate goal in life is to live as pleasurably as possible.

3.      Democracy is the best form of government.

4.      God exists.

5.      I am now the same person as I was when I was 5 years old.

6.      I am always responsible for my actions.

7.      To allow an innocent child to suffer needlessly when one could easily prevent it is morally
         reprehensible.

8.      Ghosts exist.

9.      One day there may be computers that understand Shakespeare better than I do right now.

10.  It is wrong to impose the death penalty.

11.  There are universal moral standards that apply to all human beings regardless of where they live.

12.  The best way to treat depression is to inject chemicals into the brain.

13.  If I had been born into a different environment, I might have become a professional killer.

14.  It is impossible to know anything with absolute certainty.

15.  The future is fixed; how one’s life unfolds is a matter of destiny.

16.  The life of a young child is more valuable that the life of a 22-year-old college student.

17.  If God does not exist, then there are no moral obligations.  In this case, no action would be right  
       or wrong.

18.  It is impossible to be truly happy if one is an immoral person.





Hopefully all of this thinking today gave you a lot to think about!  For Monday, please refer to this handout - it discusses how to move towards creating your question.

By the end of class Monday, you will complete this form which describes your proposed question.