Philosophy Conundrums 1. There are people on the streets without shelter; the government owns many vacant houses no one wants to buy. Should the government let these people live in these houses? 2. There is a book in the library …
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Can machines think?
Write a letter to an MP or MLA to urge better pollution control.
Name some examples of people giving up personal freedoms in a time of war. Can you think of an instance when this can become problematic?
What is your view of human nature? Do you think that there is such a thing as human nature? Explain.
Read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Do you think Golding is suggesting that the state of nature is more like Hobbes’ than it is Locke’s? How would you organize society if you were one of the stranded boys?
Watch the movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), directed by George Miller. How does this movie envision the state of nature?
Describe something bad that happened to a good person you know. Do you think it happened for a reason? Is life supposed to be fair or unfair? Explain.
Investigate the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation. Write a post promoting their mission.
Watch/read the world news and make a list of the suffering around the world. Create a post in your blog detailing issues of suffering around the world.
Interview a local priest or minister about the problem of suffering. Write a speech providing solutions to the problem.
Listen to the song Dear God by XTC. What do you think it is trying to say? Dear God, XTC
Watch the movie Time Bandits (1981) by Terry Gilliam. Do you think humor is a good way to deal with the problem of suffering?
Write a short story to test the claim that suffering makes you stronger.
Describe a change you have noticed in yourself lately. Do you think you discovered it buried deep in you all along or do you think you invented it? How could you prove it?
Write a letter to a friend explaining who you think they really are?
Write an autobiographical story that reveals who you really are.
Watch three different biography programs on TV or video and write an essay, discussing whether they prove that essence precedes existence or the other way around.
Write a letter to yourself describing who you want to be in one year and arrange for someone to mail it to you in one year.
Start a record of your dreams. What do they tell you about who you are or who you want to be?
Watch the movie, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life(1983), directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. Is there an argument in the humor?