High Drama in the West Midlands (well, Bromsgrove)

Wednesday saw me off to visit South Bromsgrove High School Technology and Language College - to talk about Buddhist ideas of Life after Death - and the Problem of Evil.
It was a memorable trip..

I was almost late due to transport difficulties - and our second session was interrupted by a fire alarm - it has been ages since I have lined up with 1300 pupils and staff in a large sports area.. That was made up for by cake - as one of the group was celebrating her 18th birthday: so on balance an enjoyable visit..
The group asked some very good questions - and it was a pleasure to come and talk to so thoughtful and reflective a class - good luck with the A2 exams!

For more on the problem of evil (buy our A-level Religious Studies Problem of Evil DVD here !) - see the post at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/03/evil-stalks-west-midlands-cadbury.html - and look at the YouTube clip, and the other links in that post. On Buddhism - there are great resources at Access to Insight - I would start with their subject index.

Dave

St Mary's School - Shaftesbury...

Well -after rather a long drive, this Tuesday saw me arrive at St Mary's School, in Shaftesbury - where I talked (quite a lot, if I recall) about Utilitarianism.

Those interested in the Omelas short story that I mentioned, and its relation to Utilitarianism can look at some discussions we had on this site by clicking HERE... I also talked about moral dilemmas - such as those at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4954856.stm - which might remind you of some of the ones I used in the session!

And - as I said after a simliar session (albeit in the West Midlands, rather than Dorest): For those who thought I was a little tough on Utilitarianism (I have been accused of this) - you can redress the balance at http://www.utilitarian.net/

I hope the sessions were of some use for your AS Religious Studies paper - and thanks for inviting me..

Dave

"Thou shalt not pollute the Earth"?

Hello to all, and thanks for reading my first post here! My Name is Jason Chambers and I am a third year student of R.P.E at the University of Gloucestershire.

I found this interesting, the Vatican have decided its time to update the book on what contemporary actions may result in eternal damnation; quite thoughtful of them, really. Among those joining the original seven deadly sins are 'Inflicting poverty' and 'Environmental pollution'

Are these really needed?

Details on the B.B.C website, link below:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7287071.stm

So much for happiness?

Now - many of you will have heard me deride the notion that happiness is the goal of all life, especially moral decisions. Maybe I have overstated this at times - but a piece HERE takes issue with the slew of new books telling us how to be happy.

Even if it is a worthy goal - can we teach people to be happy?
Dave

King Edward VI School, Stratford upon Avon - visit

Well - another visit. This time to historic (and busy) Stratford, to see one of our graduates who is now a teacher at the King Edward VI School - known to some as Shakespeare's school...

I was there to talk about ethics (as in the AQA Philosophy AS syllabus) - and talked about Kant and also Utilitarianism. We also talked about the nature of moral dilemmas - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4954856.stm for some examples. If you follow the link HERE there is more on ethical ideas - follow the links!

Dave

Evil Stalks the West (Midlands): Cadbury College Visit

Well - today was a day of evil.. I went to Cadbury College where I did three sessions with AS groups - all on the Problem of Evil.

See more on Evil at http://www.rsweb.org.uk/phil/evil.html and also on the 'Irenaean theodicy' at http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pages/irenaean.htm

(or buy our 'Problem of Evil DVD'! Aimed at A level Religious Studies / Philosophy and Ethics: HERE )

I thought the discussions were very useful - and I liked the points made about the nature of God - indeed, all the questions today showed some real insight: and I hope to be back before too long.
Cheers,
Dave.

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I also found this YouTube video (with music - if you keep listening) that addresses Voltaire's reaction to the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, and the Problem of Evil - and it is well worth watching through...

Philosophy & Ethics Reading Group

Our next reading will be Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. We will discuss this at our next two meetings so will break it into the two volumes. It can be found in various places online but it is probably much better to get hold of a hard copy.

Due to the Easter break, our next meeting will be 6pm, Tuesday 8th April at Bar Ha! Ha! in Montpellier.

More details can be found on our wordpress site: http://readingphilosophy.wordpress.com/

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Upcoming Events: Islam and the Veil Conference, Islam and Nietzsche Paper

Just to let people know on Tuesday 29th April 2008, the University of Gloucestershire is hosting a conference on Islam and the Veil.

Contact Patricia Downes pdownes@glos.ac.uk for details. Or click HERE for the brochure.

The programme includes the following sessions
Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke (Oxford): Respect in a Plural Society
Dr Simonetta Calderini (University of Roehampton): Veiling among Ismaili Women
Mrs Sariya Contractor (University of Gloucestershire): The Hijab, a Symbol of Muslim Women’s Identity

Mrs Rabiha Hannan (SACRE, Leicester): An exploration of head covering and face veiling among Muslim women in Leicester.

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Also - don't forget Roy's paper at the Gloucesterhire Philosophical Society - on Islam and Nietzsche is on the 12th of March see: http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/01/gloucestershire-philosophical-society.html for details: all welcome

Carnegie Mellon University Open Learning Initiative

Readers of this blog may be interested in the FREE online, e-learning courses at http://www.cmu.edu/oli/. The blurb there says, about the Open Learning Initiative

Through the OLI project, Carnegie Mellon is working to help the World Wide Web make good on its promise of widely accessible and effective online education. OLI grew out of collaboration among cognitive scientists, experts in human computer interaction and seasoned faculty who have both a deep expertise in their respective fields and a strong commitment to excellence in higher education. The project adds to online education the crucial elements of instructional design grounded in cognitive theory, formative evaluation for students and faculty, and iterative course improvement based on empirical evidence.

I had a go at Chapter 1, Part 1, of the Logic Unit - good stuff: don't let the diagram at the start of the intro movie to scare you off! As they say: Il y a un chat dans la théière.
Dave

Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School Visit - Ethics..

Last friday [29th Feb] I headed up the delightful M5 and M42 to Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School to talk to Years 11, 12 and 13 (in varying quantities) about various things.

We began with arguments for the existence of God - mainly the Ontological argument. Some suspected I was playing some kind of theological conuring trick - defining things into existence (and treating existence as a predicate) - maybe they were right...

See http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/ for more on God as a necessary being. We also spoke about the Cosmological argument - and the idea of an unmoved mover... Click HERE for more on that topic..

After lunch, we talked about ethics in general, and dilemmas - such as those at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4954856.stm - and more real life ones such as at http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/greatergood/archive/2006springsummer/halberstam.html

I had a good time - and hope the session were useful - be glad to be back soon.

Cheers,

Dave

Turkey to revise Islamic texts

Turkey's Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara to revise the Islamic texts known as hadith. The hadith, which are thousands in number, are considered to be the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and second in importance to the Qur'an, especially as a source for Islamic law (sharia). As such, any revision is bound to be controversial. Having said that, Islam historically has developed a 'science of hadith' in an attempt to determine which are genuine, although it is considered by many scholars that a number of dubious hadith have slipped through the net. Many women scholars, especially, consider a number of hadith that could be used to suppress women were invented and are not, in fact, the original words uttered by Muhammad.

Halesowen College Visit

Well, despite the excitment and chaos of a minor earthquake (which don't phase those of us who sleep through them - see previous earthquake entry..), I made it to Halesowen College today to talk about various exciting things: thanks for the warm welcome.

The first session, on Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, intriguing - as this can be quite a heavy topic - but I think we made some progress... The essay at http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/introser/nietzs.htm may give some extra food for thought. And of course the works of my esteemed colleague Dr Roy Jackson can illuminate on the links between Nietzsche and Islam, or help you begin to study Nietzsche...

In the second session we talked (mainly me actually) about moral dilemmas (such as those at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4954856.stm) and tried to think we might actually face - and the small decisions we make everyday - and their moral implications (click HERE for more on cheap clothes and their implications). The Omelas short story can be followed up HERE.

For those who thought I was a little tough on Utilitarianism (I have been accused of this) - you can redress the balance at http://www.utilitarian.net/

Cheers, Dave

The Seventh Seal

Well - we did it: we watched The Seventh Seal in RPE301 (Love, Sex and Death) this Monday. This post is to allow RPE301 students to post their comments - but others are welcome to join in to.

Now - many think of this Bergman film as depressing and dull. I really found it neither: it was quite funny (even without thinking about the excellent Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey parody - but I will keep my opinions on the ethical profundity of Bill and Ted for another day..) -and rather optimistic - even cheerful..?

I am not sure how many will prefer the Squire to Block himself - but I think his balance to Antonius Block's seriousness and Jon's pragmatism is refreshing throughout. Of course, there is a lot that is pertinent to this module in here: esp in Block's pleas for those who want to believe but can't..

If you are stuck for where to start for comments - think about the questions at the bottom of this page from Winona State University.

Oh - there is some interesting analysis at http://course1.winona.edu/pjohnson/h140/seal2.htm - with explicit reference to existentialism. I am not sure that I agree that it is a flaw in the script that Block does not have to sacrifice anything in order to find what he looks for (when he knocks the pieces over to aid the escape of the Acrobats/Players and child). Also - are you convined by the claim in this analysis that Block's ceaseless questioning prevents him from being able to "hear the still, small voice of God"? Lots to comment on in this analysis though!

Dave

Finham Park School Visit

Well - fresh back from another enjoyable school visit. Today I was just south of Coventry to talk about the Problem of Evil and Ethics (esp Utilitarianism). The group there had lots to say - and it was good to see so many people engaging with Philosophy and Religious ideas.

Many of the links at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/02/malmesbury-school-visit.html will be useful - as I provide some links there re the Omelas short story - and to a list of ethical dilemmas.

I am also interested in the notion that ethics has some, but rather hard to define (and in some cases spot) impact on those that study it. This topics is one we have discussed at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/02/ethical-decisions-and-study-of.html - though new comments are welcome.

Oh - and if you can't get enough on the Problem of Evil -see the links at http://www.rsweb.org.uk/phil/evil.html

Hope the class there enjoyed the material as much as I enjoyed the visit.
Cheers,
Dave

Second Life and Philosophy

In recent discussions with some Philosophy and other university teachers - someone mentioned the use of the Second Life - the virtual world - as a possible teaching tool / environment. I know some Universities use Second Life to hold tutorials - and have virtual campuses there.

I was not convinced that these meetings had many advantages over more spartan on-line discussion forums - and worried students (and staff) might get distracted by working so hard on their Avatars that they forgot why they were there.. But, as often, maybe I am wrong.

I did find a blog about Philosophy in Second Life at http://secondlifephilosophy.com/ and this links to a philosophy meeting place, and other resources.

I also began to ponder whether we could use Second Life for modelling and playing out ethical scenarios...

You may also be interested in the debate at http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2007/07/philosophy-of-s.html

Is this a wise idea to move in- or a dubious and time-consuming distraction?
Dave