Is This Right?

To paraphrase Pat Summitt, if you have to stop and think about whether or not it's a good idea, it isn't.  That's comforting in some ways, though I'm not sure I agree.  Do you?  Certainly, this philosophy depends on a clear sense of both ethics and morality.  In this vein, let's keep exploring what these mean, both categorically and personally.  Please do a little research (you may choose to begin here) on definitions of Ethics and Morality.  Read, think, synthesize, create.  Share your sources and share your own definitions.  Please complete this writing by 9:30 Monday evening and arrive Tuesday having read everyone's definitions.  It's the right thing to do.

The Pathos of Righteousness

As we continue to plumb the depths and implications of emotion as a way of knowing, please seek out, share, and contextualize two appeals based on emotion.  For each, consider whether or not the same effects could be achieved without employing emotion.  Also, explain whether or not these particular uses of emotion are ethical.  To do this, you will need to explore and share your definition of ethics.  Please complete your post by 9:30 Wednesday evening.  Come to class on Thursday having read one another's work.  I'll be particularly interested to hear your assessments of your classmates' emotion-free scenarios, and to begin to discuss ethics and their implications.

It's like...

As Richard Wilbur demonstrates in Advice to a Prophet, metaphor, and the emotions and understandings that it imparts, are vital to our understanding--our knowledge--of ourselves and the world we inhabit.  For Sunday evening at 9:30, please share two metaphors by which you define your world.  Return to Douglas Hofstadter's definition: what are "the filters through which we scan and sort reality?"  To help you on your way, read through the handout of illustrative quotations elaborating on emotion as a way of knowing.  Explain the nature of the metaphors you select, what functions they serve for you, and their shortcomings--what do they filter out?