Syllabus supplement

Dialogue:

Think of the dialogue as one additional way of discussing things with the others in the class. Since many do not have the chance to meet with one another after class, this electronic tool gives everyone the chance to do that. What would you say to one another about  the topics?

 These will be posted on Blackboard. Note that the links in the topics below should work from this page even though they do not show up on Blackboard, so you should have a look at those from this page before making your comments there.

As far as my place in the dialogues is concerned: the instructor is supposed to have an occasional presence but make sure not to dominate in this kind of tool. Hmmm. In other words, this is your forum to dialogue with one another and I should only pop in to correct a serious mistake or remind folks to be civil. I have to admit, there will probably be occasions when I won’t be able to help myself! But for the most part I will just be recording everyone’s level of participation for your course grade. The dialogue participation will count towards 10% of the course grade.

  Question 1: Why do we have the expression "feminine intuition"? Is it possible that females have a better sense of intuition than males?

  Question 2: In Wittgenstein's picture theory of language we have a powerful description of how language is useful. A statement is meaningful if the atomic relationships between the elements of the statement are organized in the same way as the atomic elements in the fact it describes. We also call this the correspondence theory of truth. Is there any other way we might consider a statement true?

  Question 3: What language games do you speak fluently?

  Question 4: What is the relationship between a scientific paradigm and a narrative?

Comments on Question 4: As we move further into the concept of narratives and narratology the course content guide includes scientifc paradigms as a topic for inclusion. Thomas Kuhn is of special interest here. It seems pretty clear to me when we associate the concept of “narrative” with the language games of math and then scientific hypothesis, it is the concept of “paradigm” that is most pertinent. But what is the relationship? There are concepts of narrative paradigms and that is a very good way of thinking about narratives. Would that do the trick?

  Question 5: Can I will to find something -- or someone -- beautiful or is my finding something beautiful involuntary?

  Question 6: What would it mean to refer to 5 o'clock on the sun? (Further: what is Wittgenstein pointing out with this question?)

  Question 7: What would it mean to say that "Beauty is the unity of meaning and configuration"?

  Question 8: What music is your favorite?

  Question 9: What do you think were the good points / bad points of using the Wittgenstein Reader as a text for this course?

  Question 10: Comment on a high school evaluation of a Wittgenstein quote.

  Question 11: Is all expressive art intended to elicit an emotional response from the audience?

  Question 12: Have a look at this for your own amusement: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/texts/Hegel%20Logic/logic%20-%20VIII.txt and ask which is more difficult, Wittgenstein (any!) or this.