Final Project Assignment

Due: Wednesday, May 13, by midnight, to CourseWorks

Please choose one of the following options for your final project.

Choose your philosophical adventure

Format: 5–8 pages, double spaced

Many of our authors recognize that philosophy isn’t merely an intellectual exercise but has profound implications for how we live our lives. I’d like you to choose a philosopher we’ve read this semester and try to live like them for a full week. For example, what’s it like—in a concrete and embodied way, as one goes about one’s daily life—to think that determinism precludes free will, as Peter van Inwagen does? Or, what difference does it make if one believes in ghosts and spirits, as Mozi recommends?

Assignment: Please report back on your philosophical adventure. How did it go? Does there turn out to be an important difference between believing something intellectually and living it out for real? How does this (re)shape your understanding and assessment of your chosen philosopher’s view?

Wild card

Format: Up to you, but you must discuss your idea with either me or our TA by Monday, April 27 at the latest.

Assignment: With my or our TA’s permission, you may write a third response paper or pursue another creative project (a video essay, a short story, a dialogue, a play, a game, a zine, a mini-album, a podcast episode, an exhibit, a website or an application, a reenactment, an alternative history, etc.). Usually this is an in-depth response to a reading or a philosophical problem we’ve covered, but it need not be.