Unit One Assignment Summary
(click to go to summary page)

Your Study of Philosophy

Armchair Traveler:  Visit Greek Sites

Brief Overview of Early Greek Philosophy

Timeline | Graphical Timeline | Timeline of Greek Philosophers

A Student's Guide to Philosophy

How to Read a Book, Chapter 1

Reference Terms

To Think About:  Spencer W. Kimball

Unit One

Your Study of Philosophy
(Read and ponder)

Philosophy teaches us how to ask important questions—how to think critically as we evaluate competing ideas and popular claims. It deepens our appreciation for how we humans perceive, think, feel, and act. By so doing, it informs our living and enlarges our compassion.

Armchair Traveler:  Visit Greek Sites
(Enjoy these photos!  Think of the life and the culture that these photos represent).
 

Timeline | Graphical Timeline | Timeline of Greek Philosophers
(Study these timelines to get familiar with the major players)


 
Brief Overview of Early Greek Philosophy
(Read Brief Overview of Early Greek Philosophy and create one insightful comment regarding early Greek philosophy.  Post your comments on the bulletin board.  Respond to two comments posted by your study mates.  You may use (and cite) other sources for your ideas).

 
 A Student's Guide to Philosophy
An Introductory Note | The Pursuit of Wisdom | Getting There | Common Sense?
(Read through page 31 of A Student's Guide to Philosophy.  Create two good questions on the reading and post them on the bulletin board.  Respond to two questions posted by your study mates).

How to Read a Book | Preface | Chapter 1: To The Average Reader
With all these aids to reading  and  to understanding, the accumulated wisdom of our Western civilization is within the reach of anyone who has the willingness to put them to good use.
(Read and ponder the preface and chapter one).


 
Reference Links | Philosophy Terms
Using your choice of the reference links below, choose four philosophy terms that are new and interesting to you.  Write a definition in your own words, and post your words and definitions on the bulletin board.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
Dictionary of Philosophy

Great Books Online

 

Looking Ahead for Unit Two

1.  By the end of Unit Two, you will read through page 80 in Cohen, et. al., (the pre-Socratic philosophers).  You have two weeks to do this. 2.  For Unit Two, be prepared to thoroughly discuss one of the following pre-Socratic Philosophers (your choice):   Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Philolaus, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus, Diogenes of Apollonia, Melissus. Information on these philosophers is found in Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy from Thales to Aristotle, by Cohen, Curd, and Reeve (eds), pp. 1-80, in The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy, in the internet readings assigned for Unit One, and on the internet. Include in your discussion details of their background and personal history, their major philosophical contributions, and how their ideas fit into the development of Greek philosophy (which ideas came before and which came after).  What do you think of your philosopher's ideas? Your comments will be posted on the bulletin board.

 

To Think About . . . Smart young people will discipline themselves early in youth, charting long-range courses to include all that is wholesome and nothing that is ruinous. The bridge builder, before starting construction, draws charts and plans, makes estimates of strains and stresses, costs and hazards; the architect, even before excavation, makes a blueprint of the building from foundation to pinnacle. Similarly the smart person will plan carefully and blueprint his own life from his first mental awakening to the end of life. Just as a builder will wish his structure to stand through storm and disturbances of the elements, so the young and old alike will wish a life unharmed by adversities, calamities, and troubles throughout eternity. Having planned such a course, prudent men will gear their lives, activities, ambitions and aspirations so that they may have every advantage in total fulfillment of a righteous destiny. (Spencer W. Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, 233.)

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Take Note Post a Comment   Looking Ahead

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