IQ 10
I think that asking questions like I am asking you to do is an art. I do not think it would be justifiable to give questions grades, but I think that you all are learning the lesson very well that proper formulation of a question can be essential as a starting point for an effort to explain something. Asking questions carefully is hard.
I think you all are doing a great job, for what it's worth. I am often surprised and interested by points in your questions. They tell me a lot about you and your thoughts.
Formulating and defining topics and questions is as important as the end product or answer.
Rachel Sargent
1. Do you think it is a concern that compulsory voting might be a step towards
undermining the freedom that voting reresents?
2. Do you think social pressures or a sense of duty could ever be sufficient to
cause voter turn out at the levels seen in countries with compulsory voting?
why or why not?
3. Is something really compulsory if you decided to impose it on yourself?
Katie Cook
1. How does Run Lola Run play with the ideas of determinism/indeterminism, and
what techniques do the filmmakers use to show this?
2. If one's path in life is largely a matter of coincidences, as suggested by
Run Lola Run, how can one shape one's life?
3. Is there a real difference between fining someone for not voting, or paying
them to vote?
Lauren Barnett
1. In class last Thursday, we spoke a lot about the idea of compulsory voting and if it is right or wrong or even plausible. How do you feel about this idea and do you think that it goes against the entire principle of voting in the first place?
2. The ideology of rewards versus penalties is in some ways complex and in some ways very simplistic. In your own life and from past precedents, which do you feel is more successful if either is at all?
3. Prof. Wertheimer spoke of receiving mail back from his article on compulsory voting asking if his editorial was in jest. Why do you think that the public reacted so strongly to the implications set up within the article?
Nilima
1. Is Bennett completely wasting his time? In the preface he talked about
spending 12 hours a day trying to get answers. What is the point to his work?
You can take this wherever you want, but you may want to consider what
Aristotle says about knowledge for its own sake.
2.Bennett's definition of "rationality" is "whatever it is that humans possess
which marks them off, in respect of intellectual capacity, sharply and
importantlly from all other known species" (5). Doesn't this set up a situation
of circular logic? He's saying "rationality is what makes us human" therefore
when looking at other animals, they cannot be rational because they are not
human. The research I've read on Ape intelligence, for example, sets them apart
from us by degree, not kind, as he suggests. Chimps are as smart as 6 yr. old
children. Do you see faults in his logic based on his definition of
rationality?
3. Describe/discuss Bennett's method of starting with the Honey bees as they are
"irrational" and making up scenarios which move them towards his definition of
rationality. Does this system make sense?
Liz Guenard
1) Some schools of ancient thought divided the human comprehension of the world into 2 classes; intellectual and perceptual. It was thought that a weakness in one would be compensated for by the other. What is your opinion on this philosophy and how might it further or detract from skepticism?
2) Mode #6 argues for the inherent contamination of our perception of things. Based on some of the arguments put forth in the chapter, do you believe that we're able to filter out these contaminations? Is there really now way to see and identify the mixtures? why or why not?
3) How might skepticism lead to a tranquility of thought? How does this apply to any philosophies that you adhere to in your life?
Zuzana Srostlik
Why 10 modes of skepticism? Did you find the modes to be redundant or extraneous; or that there weren't enough? Care to add or take any away? In essence, if you were an ancient skeptic, how would you construct the 'pillars' of skepticism?
How can we be sure that any of our perceptions match up with reality as it really exists, or other people's perceptions of the world?
Is it because of, in spite of, or necessarily parallel with our rationality as humans (if we really possess any) that we can/do live contrary to our skeptical beliefs (or our suspension of judgements)?
Ashley Orenbergıs Questions:
If language is the basis of all of our comparisons, and language is so often determined by how we choose to interpret the words, can comparisons (meaning I like this music, but you donıt) ever really be identical? Can you really compare music in terms of language because what you hear and what I may hear and how we may describe it may be entirely different.
The more we require people to perform actions such as voting, the lesser the role morality plays in that action. In your opinion, what is more important when dealing with the issue of making voting compulsory: the role morality plays or the role that obligation would play? Do you feel making it a requirement to vote would make more people that much more knowledgeable about the election and the parties involved or would the same people who were indifferent before compulsory voting remain indifferent? Do you feel compulsory voting is a good idea?
Professor Bailly made a comment today in class saying that there are modes of thinking that claim that anything we can reasonably doubt is false. So, is it fair to say that everything that is not a proven fact be thought of as false? Or is it just more false than true? For exampleIım doubtful that humans and animals see objects in the same way. Therefore, can I claim that the notion that humans and animals see objects in the same way is false or should I say that it is more false than true?
Nathan Mahany
1) Would mandatory voting actually benefit the country, or change the outcome of
any election? If so, would the effect be positive in nature or negative?
2) It seemed that, for the most part, professor Alan Wertheimer took rationality
as nothing more than compulsive and selfish decisions. Does this agree with
our previously developed definitions of rationality?
3) What is the significance of Alan Wertheimers essay, In Defense of
Compulsory Voting, as pertaining to rationality and to this course?