Getting Philosophical

Posted: Wed, Sep 3, 2025

Today

  • Welcome! :-)
  • Philosophy: What, why, and how?
    • Bathroom break
  • Course logistics
  • Questions? & Plans for next week

Philosophy: What?

Calvin and Hobbes comic: How are Calvin and Hobbes talking past each other?

In-class activity: How would different fields go about answering the question “why are we here?” What seems to be different about philosophy’s approach in particular?

  • Astronomy?
  • Evolutionary biology?
  • Anthropology?
  • History?
  • Women’s and gender studies?
  • Philosophy??

Philosophy: Why?

Jennifer Morton, in today’s reading, considers three answers:

  • Philosophy teaches critical thinking and analytical writing.
    • Morton finds this “dispassionate answer” to be “rather disappointing” (p. 103) Why do you think that is?
  • Philosophy aims at fundamental truths.
    • Why does Morton reject this answer as well? Is this right?
  • Morton’s answer: Philosophy offers an “antidote to the uncritical acceptance of the world and ourselves as we are” (p. 104).
    • What does this amount to? Morton on the merely critical vs. also constructive/imaginative/remedial.

Question for discussion: Does Morton’s answer also sell philosophy short?

Philosophy: How?

Philosophy is an activity we do, not specific facts to be memorized.

  • Philosophy is a distinctive genre of texts: We are going to work with primary rather than secondary texts.
  • Philosophy is democratic: We treat these famous philosophers as our equals in a long conversation; philosophy really is for everybody.
  • Philosophy is anti-dogmatic: We believe something not because parents, society, etc., told us so, but because we reflectively endorse and “own up to” them; most of the time, we are all really just figuring things out.
  • So, philosophy is not “just opinions” or “no wrong answers”: Ideas and even truths abound. Not every idea ought to be taken equally seriously, nor is every truth equally significant. Don’t forget to ask: Is this right? What are we trying to do here?
  • Good philosophy should also be fun! I want us to get our hands dirty, so to speak.

I’d like us to think of our classroom as where we come to do philosophy together!

  • Usual class structure: Brief introduction -> small group discussion -> whole class discussion -> what I want you to get out of from the reading -> whole class discussion.
  • To make this work, I expect everybody to have read the assigned readings carefully and critically before coming to class (see the syllabus for tips).
  • Course lexicon: Philosophy words are hard and I want to help.
  • Bring the readings with you to class!
  • There will be a handout posted on the course website; take your own notes as well.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask right away if you have a question, if you are not sure what we are doing, if I use a word you don’t understand, etc.

Let’s take care of each other!

  • Some of the materials will be difficult for a lot of students; I’m here if you need to talk.
  • Philosophy is full of disagreements.
    • You can disagree without being a prick.
    • When I challenge you with follow-up questions, it means I’m interested in what you are saying, not that I’m upset with you!!
    • Sometimes people read my sense of humor as passive aggression—I want to clarify that.

Teaching assistant for sec. 003

  • If you are enrolled in the afternoon/larger section, your first point of contact for questions et alia is our TA, Nick Witchey.
  • If your section is in the morning, I’m your go-to person; please do not reach out to Nick.

Office hours

  • Come talk to me about both the substance and the logistics of the course; I would also genuinely love to get to know you more!
  • No signups needed; candy jar provided.
  • If my office hours don’t work for you, please suggest three or four times for us to meet (“make an appointment”).

Ideas are powerful—don’t underestimate them!

If something goes wrong

Please reach out if there’s something going on in your life (it happens!).

Absences

  • Email me if there’s a reason you can’t come to class (I consider mental health to be a legitimate reason for missing class).
  • To catch up: Do the readings, read the handout, get notes from at least two classmates, and come to office hours to discuss questions/thoughts.

Makeups & extensions

  • If you email me six hours prior to the deadline: No questions asked.
  • A little bit later: A little bit of questions asked.
  • Much later: A legitimate reason expected.

Tour of …

  • Course website: https://intro.dingherself.com
    • We will use CourseWroks only for things that need to be hidden behind a password (assignments/grades/certain readings).
  • Reading schedule
    • Chronological logic + thematic logic.
    • The diversification discussion in philosophy.
    • If a reading is not directly linked, I will upload it to CourseWorks > Files.
  • Assignments/exams

Plans for Monday

  • Please fill out the “getting to know you” survey if you have not already!
  • Find Analects fragments on the reading schedule—don’t be intimidated! these are short fragments.
    • Confucius [Kongfuzi 孔夫子, or Kongzi 孔子 for short]: roughly, ‘Master Kong.’
      • Fuzi: A gendered honorific for men, [male] teachers, and husbands.
      • Kong: His family name.
    • Analects [Lunyu 论语]: Roughly, ‘collected sayings.’
      • There is a pun of sorts: Lun means both ‘discuss’ and ‘select’; yu means ‘sayings’ or ‘speeches.’
    • The introduction in our selections is a useful overview of some important concepts.