A Ku Indeed!

(cross posted at Socrates’ Wake)

Adam thinks that the main point of Mike’s post on classroom management was lost (I lost the point too). In this short post I’d just like to redirect it to what Mike probably intended (or at least what Adam thinks he intended) the main focus to be: grading students in the philosophy class based on comportment. In other words: should a part of a grade in a philosophy classroom be based on whether a student is cordial, not arrogant, respectful of the opinions of others, genuinely interested in creating a classroom environment that focused on collaboration (and so on).

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In Values Analysis yesterday we discussed the concept of “integrity” and whether it is important. Regardless of your particular ethical beliefs or system, it seems to me that integrity is usually a virtue that most people can get behind and support. To me, integrity has a number of components:

1. Striving to know why you believe what you believe (understanding the presuppositions that motivate your beliefs)

2. Understanding the implications of those presuppositions (what sort of behavior they will demand of you in the world).

3. Acting in accord with what your beliefs demand of you.

4. Keeping yourself open to the possibility that your current beliefs might actually be wrong. This doesn’t mean that you do #1 through #3 with any less passion, but rather that you always “have your eye open” to possible ways in which your current beliefs might need to be revised in light of further information and/or experience.

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Hi Folks,

Welcome back for the start of Fall 2007! Hopefully you all had a great summer, and are ready to get started on a new semester and year (I know, everyone could use a little more summer). This post explains the function of this blog and how it is integrated into my classes.

1. This blog is a sort of “nexus” for all of my online material. What you’ll find here are all of the written materials that I use for my courses, so if you need the syllabus, handouts, assignments (papers, quizzes, etc), exam questions, and so on, you’ll find it all here. Just look up and click on the class you are in (or to the right). That will bring you to the appropriate “sub menu” that will then tell you what to click into for the specific thing you’re looking to find.

2. A place for me to make occasional blog-post observations. Occasionally I’ll put up a blog post on some subject on ethics or teaching. If you are in Values Analysis, and you’d like some extra credit for participation, feel free to make a comment on that blog post.

3. There’s a link to the forum board on the right side, so you can come here to click to the forum or just input the address to get there (http://panza.freeminds.net).

See you in class,

CP