Morality, Metaphysics and the Meaning of Life

Kelly InglisOffice: Philosophy Department MB306Office hours: by appointmentEmail: kellyinglis@yahoo.com

About the course

Wednesdays 2:00-5:00Classroom: Meng Wah Complex T1

For schedule, readings, announcements, etc., see course blog:

kellyinglis.wordpress.com

Course content

Philosophy through movies

Exploration of philosophical ideas, puzzles, problems and dilemmas as introduced through 10 thought-provoking movies

Every week: Lecture on philosophical topic Movie Short post-movie discussion

Tutorials

Tutorials to discuss how the movies handle the philosophical issues

15 students per tutorial

Discussion is extremely important

You must attend 5 tutorials

Tutorial arrangements There are 10 tutorials for 10 movies

But you only attend 5

Two categories of tutorials

Category one: The Matrix, Thank you for Smoking, Bicentennial Man, Memento, Groundhog Day

Category two: Quiz Show, Minority Report, the Prestige, Kate and Leopold, Life is Beautiful

Tutorial schedule will be posted next week.

Tutorials start on Sept. 15th

Tutorial participationTutorial presentations:

Every week you will be given a list of questions about the movie.

For one tutorial, you must prepare a short presentation (2-3 minutes) on your answer to one question and lead a discussion on this question in the tutorial

This counts for 20% of your grade.

For every tutorial, you must participate in the discussion.

This counts for 30% of your grade.

Portfolio

You must write a short answer (2 pages) to one question on each of 8 movies (out of 10).

Due at the end of the course.

50% of your grade

Assessment summary:

Class presentation in tutorial: 20% Tutorial participation: 30% Portfolio: 50%

Suggested readings

No required reading Suggested readings every week Copies of readings available in the

Philosophy Department office Ask Loletta

What is philosophy?

Tackling the big questions

Morality

What is moral? Where does morality come from? How do we decide what is moral?

Metaphysics

What is real? What can we know? What is a person? Do we have free will? What is logically possible?

The Meaning of Life

Does life have meaning? What makes a good life?

Philosophical topics in this course

Skepticism Morality Paternalism vs. Individual Rights Free Will Personhood Personal Identity The Extended Mind Problems and Paradoxes of Time Travel The Meaning of Life Interpreting Reality

Skepticism

Is the world real? What can we know? Are we dreaming? Are we brains in a vat? Are we part of a computer program?

Plato’s cave

Plato Ancient Greek philosopher Approx. 427 BC – 348 BC The Republic

The cave

Reality vs. illusion The cave is an illusion Outside the cave is reality The prisoner’s know only the illusion Are we like the prisoners? Is there another world that is more real than

this world?

Spectrum of reality:

Illusion Reality

shadows ordinary objects the Forms

reflections the apparent world the real world

Descartes

French philosopher and mathematician(1596-1650)

Radical skepticism

Doubt everything

I am dreaming. A demon is deceiving me.

What cannot be doubted?

I think therefore I am.

Thoughts, ideas, perceptions are real.

Everything else is in doubt.

Maybe the world is not real.

Zhuangzi

Ancient Chinese philosopher (4th century B.C.)

Dreamt he was a butterfly

“Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn't know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi.” (2, tr. Burton Watson 1968:49)

Could you be dreaming right now? Could your whole life be a dream? How could you know?

Plato vs. Descartes Descartes: I am real, you are not Plato: we’re in the same dream

Note: Plato taught that this world is not real but there is a higher reality. Descartes ultimately decided that the world we see and experience is real.Zhuangzi??

Suggested readings on Skepticism

 Internet Sources:

• Plato, Allegory of the Cave, at: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/platoscave.html

• Descartes, First Meditation, Second Meditation (up to section 3), at: http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/mede.html

• Daniel Dennett, “Where am I?”, at: http://www.cs.umu.se/kurser/TDBC12/HT99/Dennett.html

On reserve in Philosophy Dept. Office: 

Stephen Law, The Philosophy Gym, Chapter 3, “Brain-Snatched”