Philosophy for Dummies ; Anyone Take Class Philosophy?

[BillieJean84]

Anyone take Philosophy?? I am going to take this class & would like some help, discuss... anything.

I just bought book Philosophy for Dummies from amazon to help me with this class I am going to need to take. It hasn't arrived yet.

anyway... discuss Philosophy

[xthunderx2]

I dont think philosophy is something you can just discuss...I think you may need a topic on what you want to discuss. People have different philosophy's on different topics.

[BillieJean84]

I dont think philosophy is something you can just discuss...I think you may need a topic on what you want to discuss. People have different philosophy's on different topics.

ooohhhh I see. thank you.

[xthunderx2]

your welcome..

[ginvid]

I took philossphy in school. We studied what is...art, love, beauty, living. I think maybe a few more. Gosh this was 13 years ago. AAACCCCKKKKKK!!! Runs and hides her head in the sand for being soooo old. (I did keep all of my notes and books. Unfortunately, they are all still at my mother's house, and I', in a different state).

[BillieJean84]

I guess I didn't realize ppl had so many different 'versions' of philosophy.... and no I have not read anything by the great Philosophers: Astrocrates, etc...

[ginvid]

Do you mean Socrates? Lol! He actually never wrote down any of his philosophical ideas. What we have from him is from his student Plato. Plato actually taught Aristotle. He was a tutor to Alexander the Great. Wow, right?

[ChrissyBrown]

I did Philosophy for about 2 months about 4yrs ago. I remember we had to buy Sophie's World (book), we watched the series. Don't remember a lot just the teacher was awful.
Philosophy is a tough subject because yes many will have different opinions & you have to sit back & listen.
In our class we had a boy who said if he was Prime Minister or something like that he would get rid of all Christians & disabled. The teacher didn't say anything. I was so angry & raised my hand to say something but was abruptly told by teacher it wasn't my turn. I said I need to go toilet instead went to the window sill in the corridor & cried.
Funny that whenever I raised my hand it was never my turn.

Another time we were studying a article about I think a white girl who was raped by a black man or maybe other way around. This article hit me hard & was hard for me to sit through & read. The same boy told his side saying it was the girls fault blah blah blah.
I just gave up & walked out breaking down in tears. I never returned to the class.

I did try Philosophy by distance education year after but didn't work just couldn't concentrate at home.
Be prepared is all I can say if you feel uncomfortable speak out & show your feelings

[suzynyc]

I had to take 9 credits of philosophy in college as part of our core curriculum. Why so many credits of this subject was required is STILL beyond me. And with all those courses I don't remember much of anything, lol (I graduated 18 years ago).

I too kept all my notes but they are at my mom's and I plan to throw them out soon.

We studied the usual guys...Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Sartre, Nietzsche, etc etc.

I vaguely remember discussions about hell and death which intrigued me (but not enough to actually remember it all).

Which philosopher said that earth was hell (or something like that)? Well, he's right.

Sorry I can't be more help. My brain is mush.

[Pace,MioDolceCuore]

Introduction to duality:

The First Law of Philosophy: For every philosopher, there exists an equal and opposite philosopher.The Second Law of Philosophy: They`re both wrong.

An eccentric philosophy professor gave a one question final exam after a semester dealing with a broad array of topics. The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on his desk and wrote on the board: "Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over 30 pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair. One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.Weeks later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have gotten an A when he had barely written anything at all. His answer consisted of two words: "What chair?"

And this is one of my alltime favorites:

Dear Doctor Rude,

I think I understand what a "platonic kiss" is, but could you explain to me the difference between the following kisses?

Aristotelian kiss
Hegelian kiss
Wittgensteinian kiss
Godelian kiss
Signed,
Flummoxed in Florida

Dear Flummoxed,

That's a very good question; nowadays most sex education courses focus on secondary and tertiary sources, so much so that few people really get exposed to the classics in this field any more. I'll try to make a brief but clear summary of some of these important types of kisses:

Aristotelian kiss
a kiss performed using techniques gained solely from theoretical speculation untainted by any experiential data by one who feels that the latter is irrelevant anyway.
Hegelian kiss
dialiptical technique in which the kiss incorporates its own antithikiss, forming a synthekiss.
Wittgensteinian kiss
the important thing about this type of kiss is that it refers only to the symbol (our internal mental representation we associate with the experience of the kiss--which must necessarilly also be differentiated from the act itself for obvious reasons and which need not be by any means the same or even similar for the different people experiencing the act) rather than the act itself and, as such, one must be careful not to make unwarranted generalizations about the act itself or the experience thereof based merely on our manipulation of the symbology therefor.
Godelian kiss
a kiss that takes an extraordinarilly long time, yet leaves you unable to decide whether you've been kissed or not.

This is by no means an exhaustive list--here are some more of the classic kisses:

Socratic kiss
really a Platonic kiss, but it's claimed to be the Socratic technique so it'll sound more authoritative; however, compared to most strictly Platonic kisses, Socratic kisses wander around a lot more and cover more ground.
Kantian kiss
a kiss that, eschewing inferior "phenomenal" contact, is performed entirely on the superior "noumenal" plane; though you don't actually feel it at all, you are, nonetheless, free to declare it the best kiss you've ever given or received.
Kafkaesque kiss
a kiss that starts out feeling like it's about to transform you but ends up just bugging you.
Sartrean kiss
a kiss that you worry yourself to death about even though it really doesn't matter anyway.
Russell-Whiteheadian kiss
a formal kiss in which each lip and tongue movement is rigorously and completely defined, even though it ends up seeming incomplete somehow.
Hertzsprung-Russellian kiss
Oh, Be A Fine Girl/Guy, Kiss Me.
Pythagorean kiss
a kiss given by someone who has developed some new and wonderful techniques but refuses to use them on anyone for fear that others would find out about them and copy them.
Cartesian kiss
a particularly well-planned and coordinated movement: "I think, therefore, I aim." In general, a kiss does not count as Cartesian unless it is applied with enough force to remove all doubt that one has been kissed. (cf. Polar kiss, a more well-rounded movement involving greater nose-to-nose contact, but colder overall.)
Heisenbergian kiss
a hard-to-define kiss--the more it moves you, the less sure you are of where the kiss was; the more energy it has, the more trouble you have figuring out how long it lasted. Extreme versions of this type of kiss are known as "virtual kisses" because the level of uncertainty is so high that you're not quite sure if you were kissed or not. Virtual kisses have the advantage, however, that you need not have anyone else in the room with you to enjoy them.
Nietzscheian kiss
"she/he who does not kiss you, makes your lust stronger."
Epimenidian kiss
a kiss given by someone who does not kiss.
Grouchoic kiss
a kiss given by someone who will only kiss those who would not kiss him or her.
Harpoic kiss
shut up and kiss me.
Zenoian kiss
your lips approach, closer and closer, but never actually touch.
Procrustean kiss
suffice it to say that it is a technique that, once you've experienced it, you'll never forget it, especially when applied to areas of the anatomy other than the lips.
- Doctor Rude