university of southern maine€¦ · web view3) i don’t have a favorite artist. i am a big...
TRANSCRIPT
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT
Spring 2011
“THE HEMLOCK”NEWSLETTER &
SPRING 2011 REGISTRATION
=========================Fall 2011 Courses are now available
on MaineStreet ==========================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE 2 - Declare a Major Major Requirements
PAGE 3 – Major Requirements (Con’t) Minor Requirements Need Help in Philosophy?
PAGE 4 – Fall 2011 Consider Philosophy Upper Level Courses
PAGE 5- “The Hemlock” “Philosophy Valued at One Community College” by Margot Adler
Page 6&7-Faculty Update Spring Lecture Series dates
Page 8-10 Know the Philosophy Department Quiz
Page 10-12- Student Stories
Page 13- Quote Corner
Page 13&14- Philosophy Symposium Information and Film Series
Page 14&15- Know your Philosophers
Philosophy Department Faculty47 Exeter St.
Portland CampusCHAIR OF DEPARTMENT
George Caffentzis, 780-4332, [email protected]
Brenda McGovernAdministrative Assistant
Full-time:Jeremiah Conway, x-4241 [email protected]
William Gavin, X4242,[email protected]
Robert Louden, [email protected]
Julien Murphy, [email protected]
Jason Read, [email protected]
Kathleen Wininger, [email protected]
Part TimeMichael [email protected]
Silvia Federici [email protected]
John Hines, Gorham History [email protected]
Eric VonMagnus [email protected]
1
Greetings Philosophy Department majors, minors and potential majors. We hope this newsletter will be a useful resource for you when choosing your courses for the 2011 spring semester. In this newsletter you will find: degree requirements for the major, a list of department members and their contact information, as well as a detailed list of our Fall 2011 course offerings. BE SURE TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR ADVISOR SO YOU CAN RECEIVE YOUR PIN AND REGISTER IN A TIMELY MANNER. As a reminder, course registration is done online through the University’s MaineStreet system. Check MaineStreet for your advisor’s name and your designated registration time.
===========================
PROCESS ON DECLARING A MAJOR
Please call or email the Chair of the Department and make an appointment to discuss your path as a Philosophy Major and get the formal paper work in order.
========================
REGISTER EARLY!!
WE ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO REGISTER FOR FALL SEMESTER
COURSES IN A TIMELY MANNER TO ENSURE THAT COURSES ARE NOT
CANCELLED FOR LACK OF ENROLLMENT!
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR ACADEMIC ADVISOR SOON!!!
=============================
The Philosophy Department is located on 47 Exeter St. Brenda McGovern our
departmental Administrative Assistant is
always willing to assist students. She can be reached at 780-4258 or, by email:
If you have any questions about the major or minor, please contact Department Chair
George Caffentzis, 780-4332, [email protected]
============================
USM Philosophy Department MAJOR/MINOR REQUIREMENTS
MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
Any introductory philosophy course is a prerequisite to all other courses in philosophy. The minimum number of credits (excluding PHI 100 level) required for the major is:
36 CREDITSRequired: PHI 310I – History of Ancient PhilosophyRequired: PHI 330I – History of Early Modern Philosophy
Required: 2 of any of the following history of philosophy courses:
PHI 310I-History of Ancient PhilosophyPHI 312I-Women Philosophy From Africa Diaspora,PHI 315I-Eastern PhilosophyPHI 320I-History of Medieval PhilosophyPHI 340I-History of Late Modern PhilosophyPHI 350I-American PhilosophyPHI 360I-ExistentialismPHI 370I-Analytic PhilosophyPHI 380I-PostmodernismPHI 390I-HermeneuticsRequired: 7 upper level course electives (200’s, 300’s and 400 (level courses)
Required: PHI 400 Seminar in Philosophy or PHI 410 Senior Thesis**
** In the last year a Senior Thesis (PHI 410) is optional. The prerequisite for PHI 410 is a
2
successful completion of PHI 400. This thesis consists of a major paper (minimum length: 50 pages) on a topic selected by the student and directed by one member of the Department. The student will meet with the mentor on a regular basis during the semester of the senior thesis. Honors status for graduation is granted if the student’s GPA in philosophy is at least 3.33 or higher upon completion of all requirements for the major.
Students enrolled in the HONORS Program can substitute their Honors senior thesis course for the seminar in philosophy/thesis requirement if a philosophy faculty member mentors the thesis.
Every major intending to pursue graduate study in philosophy is expected to take at least one language (German, French, Greek) through the intermediate level. German is preferred to French, although ideally both sets of courses should be taken. All majors are encouraged to take PHI 205, Symbolic Logic.
============================MINOR REQUIREMENTS
The minimum number of credits (excluding PHI 100 level courses) required for the minor is:
15 CREDITS Students who wish to pursue a Minor in Philosophy are required to take 5 courses beyond any PHI 100 level course.Required: 2 courses in the history of philosophy:
PHI 310I-History of Ancient PhilosophyPHI 312I-Women Philosophy From Africa Diaspora,PHI 315I-Eastern PhilosophyPHI 320I-History of Medieval PhilosophyPHI 340I-History of Late Modern PhilosophyPHI 350I-American PhilosophyPHI 360I-ExistentialismPHI 370I-Analytic PhilosophyPHI 380I-PostmodernismPHI 390I-Hermeneutics
Required: 3 additional upper level course electives (200’s, 300’s, and 400 level)
NEED HELP IN PHILOSOPHY?
NEED HELP WITH FIGURING OUT HOW TO CONQUER YOUR PHILOSOPHICAL
READING AND WRITING? DON’T UNDERSTAND YOUR COURSE
ASSIGNMENT? PLEASE CALL YOUR ADVISOR FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO GET HELP OR CALL THE PHILOSOPHY DEPT.
AND GET A MENTOR TO HELP YOUR OUT WITH DIFFICULT OR VAUGE ISSUES YOU
HAVE WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AND PAPERS IN PHILOSOPHY. PHONE
NUMBERS AND EMAILS OF FACULTY & THE ADMINISTRAIVE ASSISTANT ARE ON
THE FRONT PAGE OF THIS NEWSLETTER.
==================================A full explanation of the UNIVERSITY CORE
REQUIREMENTS can be found online:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/catalogs/undergraduate/core.htm
==================================
Consider Philosophy Fall 2011 Upper Level Courses
PHI 205: Symbolic LogicProf. George Caffentzis
M/W, 4:10 - 5:25 pm
All humans are rational.All students of logic are rational.
Therefore, all students of logic are human.
3
Is this a valid argument? Can you explain your answer?
The main objective of the course is to give a formal backing to a student’s logical intuitions.
Everyone who is now living has these intuitions, for without them one would be making
disastrously bad judgments leading to immediate death. However, these logical intuitions are open
to error. Formal logic gives us a way to understand the nature of these errors and a method to avoid them. This course can be
helpful to all students, especially those who are involved in the creation and/or critique of
arguments.
PHI 220 – Philosophy of ArtProf. Kathleen Wininger
T - 4:10-6:40, TH – 4:10-6:40
What makes a person creative? What do artists think about their art? How do critics evaluate a
work? If art is created for a cultural ritual or healing, is it to be understood differently? How do the circumstances of a work’s creation and
reception effect its evaluation? How does a person’s class, ethnicity, or gender influence
his/her artwork and its reception? Philosophers in the field of Aesthetics attempt to answer questions which artists, art historians,
anthropologists, and critics ask about art. The works of art and philosophy considered will be drawn from a wide variety of cultural contexts.
PHI 340I: Late Modern PhilosophyProf. Robert Louden
T/TH, 2:45-4:00
Late Modern Philosophy is an exploration of nineteenth-century European philosophy. Most of the leading European philosophers of this period were German, and many of them were reacting
to the work of yet another highly influential German philosopher: Immanuel Kant (1724-
1804). The Post-Kantian German philosophers to be studied in this first group include Fichte,
Hegel, Schelling, Schopenhauer, Feuerbach, Stirner, Marx, and Nietzsche. But we will also
examine some non-German nineteenth-century philosophy as well, e.g., Kierkegaard (Denmark),
Comte (France), and Mill (England).
PHI 360I: ExistentialismProf. Jeremiah Conway
M/W, 1:15-2:30pm
Existentialism is an effort on the part of certain 19th & 20th century thinkers to refocus
philosophical attention on concrete issues of
human existence – such as choice, faith, responsibility, anxiety, idle talk, and relationships. To these thinkers, philosophy is not just a matter of the intellect, but involves the imagination and emotions; philosophy must not let its theoretical
interests detach themselves from the daily struggle to lead a more meaningful life.
Philosophers studied include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir, and
Heidegger.
PHI 400 Seminar: Sartre & Beauvoir Prof. Julien Murphy
M/W – 8:30-9:45
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were a famous philosophical couple of the mid-
twentieth century. In their forty-year friendship, they were the first readers of each other’s
philosophical writings, political allies, personal confidants, and public intellectuals. We will study
selections from Sartre’s existential writings including: Nausea, Being and Nothingness, No Exit, and the Critique of Dialectical Reason and from Beauvoir’s: The Second Sex, She Came to Stay, An Easy Death, and Coming of Age. Our
objective is to assess the relevance of Sartre and Beauvoir’s existential phenomenology by the practice of detailed reading, writing and lively
conversation.
“The Hemlock”Newsletter Spring 2011
Philosophy Valued At One Community College
by MARGOT ADLER
January 4, 2011
4
As state universities cut back on humanities programs in order to deal with budget shortfalls, LaGuardia Community College in Queens, N.Y., is going in the opposite direction. At LaGuardia, philosophy is king: Of the 17,000 matriculated students, 4,500 are taking philosophy. There are seven full-time professors, most of whom have been added in the past two years.
The school, which has a well-regarded nursing school and programs in engineering and veterinary technology, is overturning the stereotype that four-year colleges are for intellectuals and community colleges are for career training.
"People tell me the role of community colleges is narrow — to train students for tomorrow's jobs, says Peter Katopes, the interim president of LaGuardia. "But I ask them, 'What are these jobs?' " The real task, he says, is training students for what he calls "the entrepreneurship of the imagination."
"It is giving students the opportunity to really understand the context of their lives, and you do that through the humanities," Katopes says. "If you do even a cursory survey of successful CEOs, you will know that an unbelievable number of them did their undergraduate degrees in English or philosophy or history."
Asking Questions
All kinds of students are taking philosophy at LaGuardia. Liz Montesclaros, 29, had been in the military before enrolling.
The military "is not the best place for questioning," Montesclaros says. "It's very rigid, very structured. When I finally got out, that's when I decided I really wanted to explore the questions that matter to me: What are we doing here, why am I here in the first place, for what purpose?"
E.J. Lee, 22, started out as a business major.
"Growing up, my parents were 'make money, make money, make money,' so I figured business was what you do. But as a business major, I was required to take an ethics course, and as soon as I sat in that class, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Lee says.
These are the kinds of attitudes you might find normal at a four-year liberal arts college. But the students here speak 120 different languages. And most of them were not born in the United States.
"We are all so different on the outside, and on the inside we are all searching, we are all seeking," says Gabriel Lockwood, who came to LaGuardia at 36. He wandered through Europe, knows a half-dozen languages, worked as a translator and took courses at various European universities, but he couldn't get credit for them in the United States. So at 36, he is starting again. He is full of questions, and philosophy, he says, has helped to answer some of them.
'The Heart Of Life'
The classes in philosophy are the usual: introduction to philosophy; ethics; religion and philosophy; political philosophy; logic; aesthetics; Eastern philosophy. But there are also new courses being developed in African philosophy and Latin philosophy.
John Chaffee, the chair of the department, says philosophy is a necessity, not a luxury.
"It's something that is at the heart of life. It addresses the foundational questions that we all wrestle with, and these are questions that [Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist and author] Viktor Frankl said 'burn under our fingernails,' " Chaffee says. "Philosophy is a discipline that gives us the tools to really understand ourselves, and the skills to answer the mysteries that are really at the heart of
5
ourselves and at the heart of life."
Take a recent philosophy club meeting, where more than a dozen students and two professors sit in a circle and debate happiness.
The question: Suppose you lived a totally pleasurable life, but found out that you had been living in a virtual reality the whole time. You had really not done any of the things you thought you had, but you had all the experiences, all the pleasure, all the satisfaction, all the contentment. Would you say you were happy in those previous experiences?
"Even if this life is a dream, you can't take away the experience of that dream or what you thought you accomplished," student Arthur Rodriguez says.
Javier Velasco says it all depends on suffering. "If you had no suffering, you can't really recognize happiness or appreciation for something if it is always there," he says.
Minerva Ahumada, who teaches introduction to philosophy and Eastern philosophy at LaGuardia, says these students bring very different things to the mix.
"It is more personal here. It is more challenging here, but also, the results you get are way more surprising than what I got at other kinds of institutions," Ahumada says.
Professor Richard Brown says many of the students here have serious real-life issues, but "to suddenly see them become curious about the nature of forms or universals or what is the morally right thing to do — it is really a privilege. These people never envisioned that they would be studying these kinds of things, and also understanding it and having it influence their life."
Five years ago, there wasn't even a
philosophy major at LaGuardia. Now 60 students are majoring, and several say they want to teach it in the future.
The president of LaGuardia Community College made philosophy a priority, the department chair built a department and hired faculty. Now this community college in New York City that's under many people's radar has more philosophy majors than many four-year colleges and universities. It's like that line in the film Field of Dreams: If you build it, they will come
What is Professor Murphy up to?
I chaired session of the Sartre Circle, Author Meets Critic: Joseph Catalano’s book, Reading Sartre: An Invitation from Being and Nothingness to The Family Idiot, at the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meetings in Boston.
I have been invited to review conference proposal presentations for the Perinatal Ethics Subcommittee, the Environmental Ethics subcommittee, the Research Ethics Subcommittee for the American Society for Bioethics, and Humanities 2011 Meetings in Minneapolis.
I serve on the Maine Medical Center Research Institute’s Embryonic StemCell Research Oversight Committee and on the Maine Medical Tissue BankingSteering Committee.
For a second year, I am a member of the Medical School Admissions Committee for the Maine Track, for Tufts/MMC School of Medicine.
Philosophy Department’sSpring 2011 Lecture Series
Date: March 17, ThursdayTime: 11:45-1:00 pm
Place: Wishcamper, Rm. 133, Lecture Hall
6
Friendship & Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato’s “Lysis”
Prof. Jeremiah Conway
Hard as it is to believe, philosophy sometimes has the reputation of an esoteric, head-in the-clouds pursuit. Missing n this perception are the incredible resources that philosophy brings to bear on everyday issues, such as friendship.
This talk examines one Platonic dialogue that asks us to consider what we mean by friendship, why it is so important in our lives, how we encourage it, and how friendship is deepened. Perhaps as Plato suspected thinking about friendship may be necessary to become a better friend.
Date: March 30, WednesdayTime: 1:00-2:30 pm
Place: PS 202Professor’s Kathleen Wininger & Jonathan
Cohen
A panel in celebration of the publication of Prof. Jonathan Cohen’s new book, “Science, Culture, and Free Spirits: A Study of Nietzsche’s ‘Human, All Too Human’ “
Professors Kathleen Wininger and Jonathan Cohen will speak on “Science, Culture, and Free Spirits: The Importance of Nietzsche’s Development for Understanding his Philosophy”
Date: April 14, ThursdayTime: 15-2:30 pm
Place: Wishcamper Ctr., Rm. 133
Prof. Julien Murphy
The Second Sex in Algeria: Simone de Beauvoir’s Defense of Djamila Boupacha
Near the end of the Algerian war, Simone de Beauvoir, author of The Second Sex, demonstrated her commitment to the Algerian rebels by advocating for Djamila Boupacha. A young Algerian student and member of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), Boupacha was imprisoned for planting a bomb, which did not go off in the University
restaurant in Algiers. She confessed under torture by French police in a French prison in El Biar notorious for torture tactics. Boupacha was spared execution largely due to the vigorous efforts of her defense attorney, Gisèle Halimi, who enlisted the help of Beauvoir in bringing international attention to the case. Beauvoir took a series of actions in defense of Boupacha including speaking out against the French government’s use of torture and lending her name to a book about Boupacha’s trial. This discussion of her involvement in the case will highlight a feminist critique of torture, the role of “The Second Sex” in the Algerian feminist movement and lessons from Algerian feminists for American feminist theory.
Know your Philosophy Professors Quiz:
Although none of us can narrow down one particular “favorite” artist that we enjoy, your beloved Professors shared some of the art and music that they find interesting. Can you figure out who said this?: (answers on last page of newsletter)
1) Favorite painting: Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Vermeer. Why? I have had a print of it on the wall of my study for twenty years. I still can't take my eyes off it. Brings a smile. It's like looking at wonder in color.
7
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
Music: Cat Stevens' Teaser and Firecat, sound track to the movie The Mission, Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Reason? It's the ability of the music to give voice to emotional states. The second movement of Mahler's Symphony is probably the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.
2) My taste in music is eclectic from Doc Watson to Etta James to Bartok to Sapphire the Uppity Blues Women (esp. School Teacher Blues" of course) to Talking Heads to Dixie Chicks to Joni Mitchell to Bessie Smith to Eric Clapton to Johnny Cash. Depending on my mood I like blues, traditional jazz, modern jazz, folk, opera, classical (I like almost anything except Tchaikovsky and Aaron Copeland). I would have to say that Billy Holiday as a singer and "Strange Fruit" or "Autumn Leaves" as my favorite songs by her. Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" as favorite classical pieces of music although these are songs too - so Marian Anderson would be my preference to sing them.
Visual Art is my first love so I cannot possibly answer this without changing my opinion many times in a day. I'm currently most intrigued by Wangechi Mutu and Yinka Shonibare. Both of these artists embody a gendered postcolonial vision, and their work
is still very accessible in a more naive visual way.
Yinka Shonibare
3) I don’t have a favorite artist. I am a big music fan. I listen to music while I write. I don't have a favorite piece of music. I listen to primarily classical baroque and jazz on Pandora and NPR jazz stations from New York, New Orleans, California, and Seattle.
4) This painting, "In Reticence, a Thousand Voices" struck my eye recently so much so that I made it the wallpaper of my computer, which is a kind of tribute.
“In Reticence, a Thousand Voices”
Fugazi has always been an important band for me. They formed at a time when music was central to my life, and I saw them play throughout college. They produce interesting and engaging music while simultaneously actively resisting war, exploitation, and complacency. It is important to stress that they do both equally well, never sacrificing music to a party line or political commitments for musical success.
5) Music: Robert Johnson, "blues master" of the 1930s, "the blue light was my mind"
8
Artist: Albrecht Durer, the late 15th and early 16th century German artist, famous for his depiction of the Apocalypse.
Albrecht Durer
6) Music: I am an amateur musician, and have played violin with the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra for 20-odd years. Our next concert is on April 16 at Gorham Middle School, and features music by Bach, Mozart, Mahler, and Bizet. We're also doing a pops concert at the State Theater in Portland on May 7 (the music of Elton John and Billy Joel). In my younger days (when I had several more feet of hair on my head and lived in California), I also played guitar.
Art (painting): When I first came to Portland in the 1980s, I volunteered as a docent for several years at the Portland Museum of Art. I became very interested then in Marsden Hartley -- whom I knew nothing about before moving here.
7) This Professor enjoys Monet because he says that his brush strokes remind him of William James’ idea of consciousness as a stream. For more fascinating philosophical connections, refer to: “Modern Art and William James” in Science/Technology and the Humanities, Vol. 1, #1, Winter 1978
Music: This Professor also enjoys traditional Irish music.
8) I have an eclectic collection of music that I love, here are some of my favorites: Joss Stone, Lenard Cohen, David All Coe, Etta James, John Prine, Santana, Dail Dragonfly Marin, Shiva Rea, Arie, Nawang Khelog, Macy Gray (especially Hound Dog). My favorite art? Theatrical Art: Alejandro by Lady Gaga, Painters: The Wyeth Family (Wind from the Sea and the Quaker). Assemblage: Lissa Hunter.
What Spinoza taught me about yoga or what yoga taught me about Spinoza
ByKaye Kunz
I have been practicing yoga for several years, and in all that time I never realized that I could have so much in common with a 17th century metaphysician! It struck me after reading Spinoza’s Ethics that he and I might be yoga pals. We would roll out our mats, don our American Apparel stretch-pants, (although he still refuses to remove his ruff collar in the studio!) and sweat our way to a more joyful existence.
I must confess that I have no interest in finding some spiritual salvation through yoga. My practice is strictly atheistic. That being said, I use yoga to strengthen my mind and body in order to elevate myself to a higher consciousness. Sort of like David
9
Lynch’s transcendental meditation obsession. There must be something to it if Twin Peaks was created under such conditions. Thanks to David I now look forward to my nightmares.
Spinoza used God and Nature interchangeably and there is some question as to whether he meant God at all. I am inclined to think he meant Nature.
According to Spinoza, the world is infinite, and we are finite, therefore can never truly comprehend the infinite nature of the universe. That being said, the closest that I have ever gotten to infinity is through my yoga practice. I know that I will never get there, but that still doesn’t stop me from reaching for that final turtle.
Capitalism seeks to disunify and isolate every aspect of the world, and every aspect of our connectedness with nature. I am reminded that there is tremendous hope in the world when I eradicate disunity and isolation. You and I and everyone else, we are one. And as we all know there is no power greater than a unified multitude.
Planet Fitness exacerbates this isolationist tendency. Every machine for the body has a corresponding box for the head. We run on the treadmill and stare at the empty lives of the Kardashians while our hearts call out for our attention. It’s no wonder why zombies only want our brains! We have no bodies to speak of! Instead of taking the time to connect with ones body, exercise is seen as something that one must bear in order to get ripped abs. Listen, we all want to get oiled up and flex our muscles on the beach, but this should not be the aim of exercise. We have a completely skewed sense of the power of our totality.
For me, yoga allows me to directly connect with the whole world. I can feel the world breathing when I breathe. I open myself up to the joy and sadness of the world. I think this is what Spinoza meant when he talked about truly understanding Nature. God is not apart from us, wagging his finger at us from his perch in the sky, but God is a part of every aspect of our world.
I would recommend Yoga (more specifically Bikram Yoga) to anyone who desires to increase their awareness of the world. In true Spinoza fashion, I want you to love what I love. Spinoza believes that we
should understand the finite cause of things in order to fully comprehend how to interact with them. We must understand the cause of our sadness to overcome our grief. I understand the cause of my joy as yoga, so therefore I am better able to increase my joy through practicing it. Since we can’t help but be indentured servants to our passions, we might as well choose joy instead of sadness. Do you know the true cause of your joy? If so, then go increase it already!
A Speech by Amanda FickettGovernor Paul LePage decided to remove the Maine Labor History Mural from the Department of Labor after receiving a handful of complaints regarding the mural's supposedly anti-business content-- and he made this decision just days before the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Factory Fire which killed nearly 150 workers. In response, Jessica Graham, Sarah Ward, and Amanda Fickett (a senior philosophy major at USM) organized a brief "moment of reflection" which took place at 9 AM on March 25th. This event was followed by the much publicized protest of the mural's removal. Amanda offered the following statement at the early morning event:
Hello, my name is Amanda Fickett and I am a senior student of Philosophy at the University of Southern Maine. I am the Lorax, I speak for the art.
American Pragmatist, John Dewey, is responsible for the following two passages. The first, one of his most well known statements, is this:
“the most pervasive fallacy of philosophic thinking goes back to neglect of context.”
That is, when we neglect the circumstances, structures, buildings, locations, and history which come together to cause an event, a creation -- this is where we, as a civilization,
10
make our greatest and most grievous errors. Dewey also said the following:
“When artistic objects are separated from both conditions of origin and operation in experience, a wall is built around them that renders almost opaque their general significance.”
Regardless of where our governor would send them, removing these panels from the Department of Labor would be, in a sense, to wall them up. And in such an act of erasure, we would be ignoring two of their vitally important aspects: the historical significance of the struggle and triumph these panels relate, as well as their inherent connection to democracy and labor relations in Maine.
The latter of these two items of neglect also allows us to flip the mural’s dependency around. Not only do the panels depend upon the department of labor to contextualize them, the Department of Labor exists because of the context they depict! — this specific history is why we have a Department of Labor at all.
I’d like to finish my statement with another brief passage from John Dewey and then read from a letter written by my good friend, fellow artist, and fellow Mainer, Jeb Knight who could not attend today but has assured me that he is here in spirit. Dewey said:
“Art celebrates with peculiar intensity the moments in which the past reinforces the present." Something I think could not be more relevant. Thank you, Mr. Dewey, wherever you are.
Jeb says:As an artist, I appreciate the power of images. As a Mainer, I know the meaning of hard work. As Americans, we unite behind thirteen stripes and fifty stars not because it makes a flag but because it represents us--the blood our grandfathers shed, the dreams of our children yet born.
By ordering this mural removed, Governor LePage has all but declared that the memory of the men who toiled in the mills and of the women who broke their backs in potato fields should be plowed away.
Inherent in our state motto is an obligation to hard work, calloused hands and sweaty brows--values that have been passed down through generations of Mainers, some depicted here. One cannot lead from the back of the pack, and tactics that limit free expression and censor our past are not only from the rear-guard, they are not from America and do no service to those who suffered nor to those who could yet suffer if this history is ignored.-Jeb Neal Knight Thank you.
Where has all the good Television Gone?
By William Lovejoy
We all have to admit a few unpleasant facts. Standards are plummeting, freshman have to be reminded what the 9/11 attacks were. Other students can’t remember who Darth Vader was, and worse yet they can’t seem to remember what part Hitler played in the Second World War. Why is my generation becoming so ignorant? Well, many have a few theories, mostly they seem to blame technology, but one thing has changed most definitely, television has become so painful to watch it’s unbearable.
I was born in 1989, when I grew up my parents took an active role in what I watched though they didn’t care about what seemed appropriate or not, to them it mattered if it was educational. Fortunately, my parents could pick up p on educational subtleties more than most. When I was but a toddler, my parents and I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation every week it aired. They loved it and I grew to love it as they taught me the meaning of every episode. Star Trek offered a wonderful window into basic Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and Poli-Science. I didn’t get the idea that humanity could co-exist peacefully if they set aside their egotistical problems from Kant, it was the United Federation of Planets. I didn’t find the values of rationality and logic from the Greeks; it was Spock of the old Trek. Star Trek always played a role as a story device to talk about social issues which were too close to
11
home to discuss. The examples themselves are an essay. Gene Roddenberry himself said, “The inspiration for Star Trek was to create a show that talked about sex, psychology, philosophy and political issues, because there wasn’t a show on that did.” (The Pilot was rejected by CBS by the way because the test audience couldn’t stand a Female Second-in-Command or the cerebral nature of the show. “Not enough action”)
Another show my parents and I enjoyed often together was Classic Simpsons. Often my parents were chided by their cohorts because of their letting me watch it at a young age. People often claim, “The Simpsons” is so vile, the show curses and their family is so dysfunctional. Well, yes, they curse, but so does everyone. Not to mention, the Simpsons started a formula that is best described as the dysfunctional-functional family. If anything, the Simpsons are more family-wholesome than half that dribble that tries to pass itself off as safe-to-watch Television. No matter the details of the episode, the crazy antics or the fights the Simpson family gets into, they always put aside their own personal desires and live for one another. It shows how diversity and dissonance is required for a healthy family.
“Yeah, but “The Simpsons” are still on…” Well, yes, but the show fell for a time to being
a competition with Family Guy for lowest Television denominator.
“Well, I’m glad you like good Television, but what does this have to do with falling standards or philosophy for that matter?”
Well, It’s a simple explanation. We all watch TV as kids (my generation), at least to be logically sound and not make a generalization; most of us do. Regardless, we will internalize what we view, or at least reflect on them in retrospect. However, the difference between then and now, when we think about our television we witnessed; now we must just reflect on the lowest common denominator of human behavior and stand in horror as it’s emulated by those around us. Workers of the World may unite, but Viewers of the World ought to rally and no longer be content in being force-fed the tripe that supposedly must be decent television. Spoken word stories have
been the means of conveying philosophical ideas far before an alphabet was formed. The idea of the conveyance has changed, but it is no reasoning for why the stories must change. Give us interesting educational stories, or give us nothing.
Quote Corner
“Thinking is not the intellectual reproduction of what already exists anyway. As long as it doesn't break off, thinking has a secure hold on possibility. Its insatiable aspect, its aversion to being quickly and easily satisfied, refuses the foolish wisdom of resignation. . . . Open thinking points beyond itself. . .”
–Theodor Adorno
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity”
–Simone Weil
"It's no wonder we don't defend the land where we live. We don't live here. We live in television programs and movies and books and with celebrities and in heaven and by rules and laws and abstractions created by people far away and we live anywhere and everywhere except in our particular bodies on this particular land at this particular moment in these particular circumstances."
-Derrick Jensen Endgame Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
–Anais Nin
Friends Forever12
“It is not a matter of pretending that we are powerful when we are not, but rather recognizing the power we really have; the power that created the contemporary world and can create another.”
-Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt
"Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public"
-Cornel West
“Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the universe.”
-Heraclitus
“The veil is forced on Egyptian women by religio-political groups. It is no different culturally from the postmodern veil made of cosmetics and hair dyes that is forced on Western women by the media and beauty commercials.”
-Nawal El Saadawi
JOIN THE PHILOSOPHY SYMPOSIUM
The Philosophy Symposium is a group of students who want to engage in the theory & practice of philosophy. It is open to all USM students and we attempt to create a variety of events that will appeal to students with diverse backgrounds and interests. In the past, events have included guest speakers, panel discussions, forums, attendance at conferences, reading and study groups, seeing movies and plays, trips to museums and other locations of interest, parties and other social gatherings. These are just a few of the possibilities open to the Philosophy Symposium; they are determined by those involved with the group.
Contact Names;
Chairs of Philosophy Symposium
Kaye Kunz [email protected]
Amanda [email protected]
Patrick O’Connor [email protected]
Faculty RepresentativeJason Read [email protected]
Philosophy Symposium does not meet during the summer.
Where: Held every Wednesday afternoonTime: 4:10pm-5:10pmPlace: 47 Exeter St., Philosophy House Portland Campus
To chat about philosophical topics and check for new events please check the following link, usmphilosophysymposium.blogspot.com/
Email the above Chairs for more information on current events.
The USM Philosophy Symposium Film Series
Presents:
Monday, April 4th at Space Gallery in Portland.
SYNOPSIS:The USM Philosophy Symposium Film
Series is an annual collaboration between the Symposium and SPACE Gallery in an
effort to bring the discussion of philosophy out from behind the walls of
academia and into the access of the general public. The screening of BEING
IN THE WORLD will be followed by a discussion moderated by USM Associate Professor of Philosophy Jerry Conway.
13
Get to know your philosophers:
Emma Goldman (June 27,1869 – May 14, 1940) was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania), Goldman emigrated to the US in 1885 and lived in New York City, where she joined the burgeoning anarchist movement. Attracted to anarchism after the Haymarket affair, Goldman became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues, attracting crowds of thousands."I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things."“The most violent element in society is ignorance.”
Albert Camus7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French Algerian author, philosopher and journalist. He was a key philosopher of the 20th-century, his most famous work being the novel The Stranger. Camus's first significant contribution to philosophy was his idea of the absurd. He saw it as the result of our desire for clarity and meaning within a world and condition that offers neither, which he expressed in The Myth of Sisyphus and incorporated into many of his other works, such as The Stranger and The Plague."The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth""Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth.""I rebel; therefore I exist."
Answers to “Know Your Philosophy Professors Quiz” (1.Conway 2.Wininger 3.Murphy 4.Read 5.Caffentzis 6.Louden 7.Gavin 8. Brenda McGovern)
A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR WORK STUDY STUDENTS FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK THIS
14
SEMESTER. THEY ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT.
Kaye KunzKatherine CollinsThomas Wreck
Faculty and Staff of the Philosophy Department
Revamped Philosophy Library
Stop by the Philosophy House! We just revamped the library so you can be comfortable, browse and check out books. Get comfortable in a quiet and peaceful area and read a book, write a philosophical paper or do some homework. We have a large variety of Philosophy books categorized by subject and easy to use. It’s a little hidden gem no one seems to know about. We also have tons of information regarding the Philosophy major or minor, class descriptions and schedule of faculty office hours, contact information, mentoring and more.
PHILOSOPHY T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE
With the hard work of Thomas Wreck, Philosophy Major and work-study student, a T-Shirt has been custom designed for the Philosophy Department. We have both black and dark gray on hand. The cost is $15.Money from the contribution of buying the T-shirt will go for future T-shirts, lectures, in house celebrations, etc.
LOGO ON T-SHIRT:
15