Philosophy Journal

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Philosophy Journal

Journal Guidelines:
The journal must show your reading of the assigned materials and your thinking about matters relevant to the
course. The guided readings and questions in the online classroom will help you reflect on the materials in order
to respond through your journal. The journal is not a summary; it is a response to the readings. (You should
consult the sample journal.) Your responses should show your reflective judgment.
The order of learning is supposed to be: reading, writing, and discussing, so journal entries should usually be
made before discussions. You must enter the dates of your writing. (Don?t put the assignments in the headings.
Those references show up in the entry itself.) It is good to leave in earlier misunderstandings when they are
corrected at later dates; this shows development. The journals should reflect the student’s humility instead of a
"know it all" attitude. You may disagree with an author or the instructor, but support your position with reflective
reasons and relevant scholarly research.
The journal must be in proper scholarly form for the humanities (not social sciences or natural sciences). For a
passing grade, parenthetical documentation must be used (MLA style) if citing from one of the assigned texts. If
citing from other sources, give an expanded in-text citation [e.g., John Smith in his Twelve Steps (Penguin 2012),
says, "…." (17)]. In either case Works Cited is not necessary. (See MLA Guide in Resources for style and
samples.)
You are expected to use proper grammar and correct spelling and punctuation. The course is reading and writing
intensive, so rewriting is important for most students.
The journal work is to be submitted four times. Only new material is submitted. The minimum length for each of
the four journals is 1,500 words. There is no maximum. Include the word count on the front; without this, the
journal will lose five points.
You must submit your journals to the Dropbox by the close of Modules 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Characteristics of a very good journal:
Integrates personal observation and knowledge in an insightful way.
Provides concrete examples from the readings to support observations and interpretations.
Integrates prior readings.
Uses parenthetical documentation (MLA style) to show how the text is being read and to document
sources.
Shows tolerance and humility.
Has correct spelling and grammar.
Characteristics of a good journal:
Integrates personal knowledge and observation in a relevant way.
Refers to examples from the readings to support observations and interpretations.
Refers to prior readings in a relevant way.
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Uses parenthetical documentation (MLA style) to show how the text is being read and to document
sources.
Has largely correct spelling and grammar.
Shows tolerance and humility to authors, classmates, and instructor.
Characteristics of an acceptable journal:
Has a personal response to the readings.
Alludes to readings to support position.
Uses parenthetical documentation (MLA style) to show how the text is being read and to document
sources.
Has spelling and grammar that need improvement.
Shows tolerance and humility.
Characteristics of an unacceptable journal:
Does not have a personal response but instead uses material (even correct and insightful material) from
other sources.
Does not document sufficiently or at all.
Does not have minimum word count.
Is late without prior arrangements being made.

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JOURNAL TOPICS
MOD 1
Choose one of the questions below for your Discussion response and respond to at least two of your fellow students. Choose at least three of the questions for your Journal this week.

1. What are some of the things you carry? These things would be more than physical objects: they carried "the common secret of cowardice" (O’Brien

21).
normal human behavior

2. Is normal human behavior strange? Lt. Cross’s love interest, Martha, didn’t know "how men could do such things" (O’Brien 29).

3. He was a "declotter" (O’Brien 42-43). How does this relate to war? We have certain habits of eating/living: do they have a cost of pain and suffering that we prefer not to think about?

4. I was a coward. I went to war (O’Brien 61). Isn’t war based on courage?

5. In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" Mary Anne "was curious about things" (Plato 97). Indeed she was. What does this story suggest about our images (and our self-images) of gender difference?

6. In a story you can make the dead talk. Linda said, after she was dead (at nine): "Timmy, stop crying" (O’Brien 232). What is the relationship of the living to the dead? Remembrance of the dead is a traditional Christian practice and ancestor worship is about as old as humanity itself.
MOD 2
Choose one of the questions below for your Discussion response and respond to at least two of your fellow students. Choose at least three of the questions for your Journal this week.

1. Socrates contrasts being a skillful speaker with speaking the truth. Think of our culture today: where might this kind of conflict arise in our lives and society? Think of the media; marketing, advertising, and branding; political speeches and packaging political candidates.

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2. What does Socrates imply here about questioning (i.e., thinking) as a mode of life for all of us who are able and who can take the time for it? And what does this in turn imply about any conflict between science and religion?

3. Socrates says, "I am quite conscious of my ignorance" (Plato 44). Do you see any social and political implications of this for today? (Does one people ever attack another on the basis of ignorance, prejudice, and misconception?)

4. Many influential people in Athens assumed they were quite knowledgeable about certain important topics, such as goodness (Plato 66) and virtue. How did Socrates’ questions deflate these assumptions (Plato 44-47)?

5. Socrates was not afraid of death (Plato 59). Why? (Plato 67-70).

6. Socrates criticizes those who put wealth before goodness (Plato 56). "Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth" (Plato 56). But Socrates was poor, so was he therefore not good? We live in a "capitalist" society where corporations owned by private investors (and actively supported by the government) compete with one another while seeking to increase capital formation. Clearly a lot of material wealth comes from this arrangement: a multitude of consumer products and a high material standard of living. But could this political/economic situation itself promote materialism and international violence?

7. What is the last word in the Apology and what does this have to do with Socrates’ defense?

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