Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
Debating subjects?
Hello everyone, now that we have a provisional film list ( please feel free to make your own suggestions- just post your comments on the facebook wall- search for "Philosophy Society @ UWS"- and I will add it to the "philosophical films" list I have attached to this group) and a slowly emerging speaker programme (only 5 thus far excluding myself but I will be sending out friendly reminders soon;) I wanted to suggest that we hold a series of debating competitions; I am completely open to how we conduct these debates and the subject matter chosen. As a beginning, I propose the following and welcome your feedback:
Topics: (based on a 13 week term)
1) Why study philosophy?
2) Should we attempt to "cure" ageing via technological intervention?
3) Does God exist and if so to what extent does he intervene in human affairs?
4) Is eating meat ethical?
5) Can euthanasia be ethical?
6) Is suicide immoral?
7) Can there be any "just" wars?
8) Is virtue necessary or sufficient for happiness?
9) Is democracy the best form of governance?
10) Is capitalism a just socio-economic system?
11) Is mandatory military service ethical?
12) Are human beings inherently of greater value than (non human) animals?
13) What is "beauty?"
Principles of the debate:
1) No one has a monopoly of the "truth" of the matter
2) No degrading language should used during the debates. No one should act in a threatening manner.
3) Each speaker will have the opportunity to speak uninterrupted until s/he has informed the participants that they have nothing further to contribute OR until the moderator intervenes for the purposes of ensuring that all speakers have a fair platform (for instance, time constraints) ; at this point the other speaker will have the same opportunity to voice their views
4) The moderator should attempt to be as neutral as possible during the debates and not privilege any particular actor.
5) No one should be pressured to speak if they do not wish so
etc, etc, etc............lets hear your views!
Topics: (based on a 13 week term)
1) Why study philosophy?
2) Should we attempt to "cure" ageing via technological intervention?
3) Does God exist and if so to what extent does he intervene in human affairs?
4) Is eating meat ethical?
5) Can euthanasia be ethical?
6) Is suicide immoral?
7) Can there be any "just" wars?
8) Is virtue necessary or sufficient for happiness?
9) Is democracy the best form of governance?
10) Is capitalism a just socio-economic system?
11) Is mandatory military service ethical?
12) Are human beings inherently of greater value than (non human) animals?
13) What is "beauty?"
Principles of the debate:
1) No one has a monopoly of the "truth" of the matter
2) No degrading language should used during the debates. No one should act in a threatening manner.
3) Each speaker will have the opportunity to speak uninterrupted until s/he has informed the participants that they have nothing further to contribute OR until the moderator intervenes for the purposes of ensuring that all speakers have a fair platform (for instance, time constraints) ; at this point the other speaker will have the same opportunity to voice their views
4) The moderator should attempt to be as neutral as possible during the debates and not privilege any particular actor.
5) No one should be pressured to speak if they do not wish so
etc, etc, etc............lets hear your views!
The first meeting of the Philosophy Society-"Al Farabi and Islamic Ethics".
Hello everyone! Our first seminar will talk place on Wednesday the 25th of May from 17.30 to about 19:00. The speaker? Dr Jan A. Ali/School of Humanities and Languages/Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, UWS. The subject? "Al-Farabi's philosophy of Islamic ethics (based on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics)".
ABSTRACT:
Al-Farabi and Islamic Ethics
...
The Socratic-Platonic ethical idea is important in understanding Islamic ethics today. This is because Al-Farabi who drew extensively on Aristotelian Nicomachean Ethics translated by Ishaq Ibn Hunayn in the ninth century made powerful contribution to the development of Islamic ethics from which many Muslims benefit even today. Ishaq Ibn Hunayn’s translation of Nicomachean Ethics marked a turning point in the evolution of philosophical ethics in Islam which linked Arabic philosophers with the systematic treatise of Greek ethics and subsequently conditioned the ethical thinking of numerous Muslim intellectuals including Al-Farabi.
Al-Farabi’s conception of ethics is shaped by general political perspective which is influenced in part by Aristotelian and in part by Platonic articulations.
In Aristotelian Nicomachean Ethics the powers of the soul is vitally important and is the basis for the study of ethics. The key powers of the soul are:
i - the nutritive,
ii- the sensitive,
iii- the imaginative,
iv- the concupiscent, and
v - the rational.
The last of these powers have a unique ethical function. It is through it that human beings reason and distinguishes right from wrong. These subdivisions are subsequently described as theoretical and practical and the latter is further subdivided into technical and reflective or deliberative. It is the reflective or deliberative which is said to be relevant to ethics.
In the reflective or deliberative power the concern is with the discovery of the means which leads to the specific outcome. Unlike the theoretical virtues where the focus is on the ultimate principles of reality, the concern of the reflective faculty is with the voluntary actions which turn into object of preference or actual realization.
Al-Farabi takes into consideration the nature and divisions of virtue when he explores Nicomachean Ethics in which virtues emerge from habitation or nature. The divisions of virtue are described as moral and intellectual.
In this work-in-progress paper I explore the basic contention of Al- Farabi’s argument that it is not possible for human beings to be born with virtuous or vicious traits although they can be born with natural tendency to virtuous or vicious behaviour and this natural inclination can over time through rituals and practices evolve into a habitus which once implanted in the soul is viewed depending on either from the positive or negative perspective as virtue or as vicious.
SPEAKER INFORMATION:
Dr Jan A. Ali is a Sociologist of Religion (Islam). He lectures in Islamic Studies in the School of Humanities and Languages and simultaneously holds a title as the Community and Research Analyst in the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies at the University of Western Sydney. His main sociological focus is on the study of existential Islam. In recent years Jan has been invited by a number of non-government organizations and government agencies in Sydney and Adelaide to deliver Public Lectures on Islamic Revivalism, Shar’iah, Terrorism, and various other important topics on Islam. Currently Jan is researching the Effects of the New South Wales Police Counter-Radicalisation Community Engagement Model in Australia. It is an empirically based research project investigating the most effective ways of “de-radicalising” young Muslim men within the community and preventing their imprisonment for terrorist related offences. Also, he is researching Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus’ Involvement in the Workforce in Australia which is a census data-based study of the difference in income, education and level of workforce involvement in Australia between the three religious groups.
Useful links:
http://www.uws.edu.au/humaeople/academic_staff/doctor_jan_ali
http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H021.htm See more
ABSTRACT:
Al-Farabi and Islamic Ethics
...
The Socratic-Platonic ethical idea is important in understanding Islamic ethics today. This is because Al-Farabi who drew extensively on Aristotelian Nicomachean Ethics translated by Ishaq Ibn Hunayn in the ninth century made powerful contribution to the development of Islamic ethics from which many Muslims benefit even today. Ishaq Ibn Hunayn’s translation of Nicomachean Ethics marked a turning point in the evolution of philosophical ethics in Islam which linked Arabic philosophers with the systematic treatise of Greek ethics and subsequently conditioned the ethical thinking of numerous Muslim intellectuals including Al-Farabi.
Al-Farabi’s conception of ethics is shaped by general political perspective which is influenced in part by Aristotelian and in part by Platonic articulations.
In Aristotelian Nicomachean Ethics the powers of the soul is vitally important and is the basis for the study of ethics. The key powers of the soul are:
i - the nutritive,
ii- the sensitive,
iii- the imaginative,
iv- the concupiscent, and
v - the rational.
The last of these powers have a unique ethical function. It is through it that human beings reason and distinguishes right from wrong. These subdivisions are subsequently described as theoretical and practical and the latter is further subdivided into technical and reflective or deliberative. It is the reflective or deliberative which is said to be relevant to ethics.
In the reflective or deliberative power the concern is with the discovery of the means which leads to the specific outcome. Unlike the theoretical virtues where the focus is on the ultimate principles of reality, the concern of the reflective faculty is with the voluntary actions which turn into object of preference or actual realization.
Al-Farabi takes into consideration the nature and divisions of virtue when he explores Nicomachean Ethics in which virtues emerge from habitation or nature. The divisions of virtue are described as moral and intellectual.
In this work-in-progress paper I explore the basic contention of Al- Farabi’s argument that it is not possible for human beings to be born with virtuous or vicious traits although they can be born with natural tendency to virtuous or vicious behaviour and this natural inclination can over time through rituals and practices evolve into a habitus which once implanted in the soul is viewed depending on either from the positive or negative perspective as virtue or as vicious.
SPEAKER INFORMATION:
Dr Jan A. Ali is a Sociologist of Religion (Islam). He lectures in Islamic Studies in the School of Humanities and Languages and simultaneously holds a title as the Community and Research Analyst in the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies at the University of Western Sydney. His main sociological focus is on the study of existential Islam. In recent years Jan has been invited by a number of non-government organizations and government agencies in Sydney and Adelaide to deliver Public Lectures on Islamic Revivalism, Shar’iah, Terrorism, and various other important topics on Islam. Currently Jan is researching the Effects of the New South Wales Police Counter-Radicalisation Community Engagement Model in Australia. It is an empirically based research project investigating the most effective ways of “de-radicalising” young Muslim men within the community and preventing their imprisonment for terrorist related offences. Also, he is researching Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus’ Involvement in the Workforce in Australia which is a census data-based study of the difference in income, education and level of workforce involvement in Australia between the three religious groups.
Useful links:
http://www.uws.edu.au/huma
http://www.muslimphilosoph
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Philosophical Films
Hi everyone, I propose we watch some of the following films which I mostly derived from this amazing website from the University of Tennessee: http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/2/filmlist.htm. Does anyone else have any other ideas? Jack
Totalitarianism/Collectivism:
The Great Dictator, 1940- Charlie Chaplin's brilliant satire of Nazi Germany.
I Am David, 2004- a 12 year old boy escapes a communist concentration camp and consequently distrusts everyone
Good, 2005- depicts the moral disintegration of a German literature professor into becoming a concentration camp commander.
Moral education:
The Emperor's Club, 1989- a prep school classics teacher tries to teach virtue.
The death of god?
Crimes and Misdemeanours, 1989- explores the grounds of morality in a Godless (?) world
Media Ethics:
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, 2004. A documentary about Fox “News”
Business Ethics:
Enron: The Smartes Guys in the Room, 2005- documentary which explores the background and consequences of Enron's business practices.
The Future of Food, 2004- a documentary about the impact of genetically engineered plants on the food supply.
McLibel, 2005- a documentary which explores the law suit brought McDonald's against British activists.
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices, 2005- a documentary about the social impact of Walmart's business practices)
Ethics of Poverty:
Born Into Brothels, 2004- a documentary on children of prostitutes in India.
City of Joy, 1992- a disillusioned doctor goes to India and faces the brutal reality of the caste system
Children Underground, 2001- a documentary on homeless children in Romania.
Racism:
American History X, 1998- a neo-Nazi rejects racism following his imprisonment
Promises, 2001- a documentary about the racial attitudes of Israeli and Palestinian children.
Rabbit-Proof Fence, 2002- a true story of aboriginal Australian girls who escape racist relocation policy
Genocide:
The Grey Zone, 2002- the true story of Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz forced by the Nazis to help exterminate fellow Jews.
Hotel Rwanda, 2005- depicts the genocide in Rwanda in the early 1990s.
State violence:
Team America: World Police, 2004- a satire on American involvement in war.
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/2/filmlist.htm
Totalitarianism/Collectivism:
The Great Dictator, 1940- Charlie Chaplin's brilliant satire of Nazi Germany.
I Am David, 2004- a 12 year old boy escapes a communist concentration camp and consequently distrusts everyone
Good, 2005- depicts the moral disintegration of a German literature professor into becoming a concentration camp commander.
Moral education:
The Emperor's Club, 1989- a prep school classics teacher tries to teach virtue.
The death of god?
Crimes and Misdemeanours, 1989- explores the grounds of morality in a Godless (?) world
Media Ethics:
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, 2004. A documentary about Fox “News”
Business Ethics:
Enron: The Smartes Guys in the Room, 2005- documentary which explores the background and consequences of Enron's business practices.
The Future of Food, 2004- a documentary about the impact of genetically engineered plants on the food supply.
McLibel, 2005- a documentary which explores the law suit brought McDonald's against British activists.
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices, 2005- a documentary about the social impact of Walmart's business practices)
Ethics of Poverty:
Born Into Brothels, 2004- a documentary on children of prostitutes in India.
City of Joy, 1992- a disillusioned doctor goes to India and faces the brutal reality of the caste system
Children Underground, 2001- a documentary on homeless children in Romania.
Racism:
American History X, 1998- a neo-Nazi rejects racism following his imprisonment
Promises, 2001- a documentary about the racial attitudes of Israeli and Palestinian children.
Rabbit-Proof Fence, 2002- a true story of aboriginal Australian girls who escape racist relocation policy
Genocide:
The Grey Zone, 2002- the true story of Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz forced by the Nazis to help exterminate fellow Jews.
Hotel Rwanda, 2005- depicts the genocide in Rwanda in the early 1990s.
State violence:
Team America: World Police, 2004- a satire on American involvement in war.
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/2/filmlist.htm
Monday, 11 April 2011
Facebook Group
Hi everyone, until we have fully formulated our programme outline I would ask please that you use our facebook group to find out the latest information (although this website will be updated weekly in depth in the future) If the following link does not work- http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_205898336092611- please search "Philosophy Society @ UWS". Please feel free to contact me- jackisherwood AT hotmail.com- if you have any questions in the meantime. Best, Jack
Monday, 28 February 2011
Welcome
"The purpose of the society is to discuss various philosophical issues in an informative yet entertaining fashion. Ideally we shall meet every fortnight and hopefully we shall be engaged in a wide variety of activities; this might consist of student and staff presentations, movie nights and debating competitions. I am hoping to develop a full programme in the next few weeks which will then be offered to all of the society's members for their feedback- this means that our first actual meeting will not occur until the 2nd semester. However, as an indication, I hope to include the following topics/themes: - Plato's Apology - Aristotle on the good life - The Stoics and self-control - The Epicureans and the nature of pleasure - The history of Christian ethics - The history of Islamic ethics - Immanuel Kant and Cosmopolitanism - The existentialists- Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre, and Camus - Arendt on human plurality - Victor Frankl on courage- Amongst many more! I shall keep you posted as soon as possible! Best, Jack "
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