I'm planning to do an upper course in philosophy. What topic should I do?

[MyNameIsDan]

I’m planning to do an upper course in philosophy where it’s more of a self-study under the guidance of a professor. The professor I want to do it with and who is willing to share his valuable time with me specializes in continental philosophy, particularly Hegel and Whitehead (emphasis on Whitehead). I wanted to do Ancient Greek, medieval, or patristic philosophy, but these aren’t his areas and he suggested I ask another prof (but I believe that prof is very busy, he didn’t reply to my email). But I’d still like to explore his area of philosophy.

Is there any topic that you would suggest I look at?

Background information that might help in topic selection:
I’d be starting the course in January (second semester) ending near the end of April. This course is generally for those pursuing an honours degree and would be taken in their final year of philosophy. I’ve only taken three philosophy courses (two ethics classes, one class focusing on a period of history in philosophy) but I’ve done well enough in my classes with this professor that he would be willing to do it with me. I’m currently taking intro to philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and critical thinking for the core courses in philosophy. I’d finish metaphysics and philosophy of religion by the end of this semester (December). I’m in my final year of a math major. I have also completed a number of core courses in chemistry and statistics, some in biology.

My professor is primarily interested in process philosophy, and the philosophy of science, perhaps in relation to religion (one of his classes next semester is on evolutionary epistemology in which we’ll be analyzing the claim that religion is merely an evolutionary construct). He’s teaching my philosophy of religion class this semester. He said he’s done a topic on Plotinus before, but I don’t know if he’ll want to do that again. I considered covering something from the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel but there is a class on that this semester which I’m not taking (full schedule, no room) so I don’t want him to feel like he’s wasting his time when I could have taken the class, although I would really like to do it on that.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[E_7]

• Philosophy of Man
• Logic

 

[MyNameIsDan]

• Philosophy of Man
• Logic

What is “philosophy of man”?

He wouldn’t be the right person to study logic with. I’d have to do that with a different professor.

Thanks for answering.

 

[Rhubarb]

What is “philosophy of man”?

He wouldn’t be the right person to study logic with. I’d have to do that with a different professor.

Thanks for answering.

Logic will feel more like a math class. It’s great, for sure, but if you want to get into the cerebral argument-based philosophy, you’ll want something else. The department at my University was fairly Analytic. The only experience I have with the Continentals was what I got in the history department. Without looking at your catalog I can’t say what your school will offer, but there should be classes in ancient philosophy, if not specific topics like “Pre-Socratics” or “Plato” or “Aristotle.” If you want to remain with that particular professor, the emphasis on Whitehead would lend towards philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. The ontology and epistemology of math is interesting. Plato and Aristotle had things to say about them, and Whitehead and Russell did too.

 

[JakeG]

I’m planning to do an upper course in philosophy where it’s more of a self-study under the guidance of a professor.

For what it’s worth here’s my contribution.

Don’t do a course in philosophy.

 

[Petaro]

I would suggest the Philosophy of Science. It is his area and is a fascinating study. Have done it myself at Uni. Opens up great issues.

 

[JakeG]

I would suggest the Philosophy of Science. It is his area and is a fascinating study. Have done it myself at Uni. Opens up great issues.

People who write books on the philosophy of science generally have no idea how real scientists work and are often astonishingly ignorant about science. Their worst fault is they make inappropriate generalisations from one field to another.

I cannot think of a single book on the philosophy science I’ve read or lecture I’ve attended that hasn’t left me apoplectic.

If you want to learn about science talk to scientists.

Definition:

A scientist is someone who carries out research - usually in collaboration with other scientists - and publishes his results in a peer reviewed journal.

Anyone else, no matter how impressive their degrees, is not a scientist.

 

[St_Francis]

I would listen to these talks, and pick a topic from there. The first talk only discusses one topic, the loss of analogy, the second about several topics, and the third is in between.

This seems to be about the right time frame. Dr Marshner’s style of speaking is different, took me some getting used to, but these lectures are chock-ful of interesting info!

 

[pianistclare]

I’m planning to do an upper course in philosophy where it’s more of a self-study under the guidance of a professor. The professor I want to do it with and who is willing to share his valuable time with me specializes in continental philosophy, particularly Hegel and Whitehead (emphasis on Whitehead). I wanted to do Ancient Greek, medieval, or patristic philosophy, but these aren’t his areas and he suggested I ask another prof (but I believe that prof is very busy, he didn’t reply to my email). But I’d still like to explore his area of philosophy.

Is there any topic that you would suggest I look at?

Background information that might help in topic selection:
I’d be starting the course in January (second semester) ending near the end of April. This course is generally for those pursuing an honours degree and would be taken in their final year of philosophy. I’ve only taken three philosophy courses (two ethics classes, one class focusing on a period of history in philosophy) but I’ve done well enough in my classes with this professor that he would be willing to do it with me. I’m currently taking intro to philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and critical thinking for the core courses in philosophy. I’d finish metaphysics and philosophy of religion by the end of this semester (December). I’m in my final year of a math major. I have also completed a number of core courses in chemistry and statistics, some in biology.

My professor is primarily interested in process philosophy, and the philosophy of science, perhaps in relation to religion (one of his classes next semester is on evolutionary epistemology in which we’ll be analyzing the claim that religion is merely an evolutionary construct). He’s teaching my philosophy of religion class this semester. He said he’s done a topic on Plotinus before, but I don’t know if he’ll want to do that again. I considered covering something from the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel but there is a class on that this semester which I’m not taking (full schedule, no room) so I don’t want him to feel like he’s wasting his time when I could have taken the class, although I would really like to do it on that.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you.

Clearly working with this particular person is most important t you. If so, go with his specialty. You don’t seem to be really stuck on any particular subject yourself. Go with his strength.
If it were me though, I’d go with Petaro’s advice. He’s a smart poster.

 

[utunumsint]

I’m planning to do an upper course in philosophy where it’s more of a self-study under the guidance of a professor. The professor I want to do it with and who is willing to share his valuable time with me specializes in continental philosophy, particularly Hegel and Whitehead (emphasis on Whitehead). I wanted to do Ancient Greek, medieval, or patristic philosophy, but these aren’t his areas and he suggested I ask another prof (but I believe that prof is very busy, he didn’t reply to my email). But I’d still like to explore his area of philosophy.

Is there any topic that you would suggest I look at?

Background information that might help in topic selection:
I’d be starting the course in January (second semester) ending near the end of April. This course is generally for those pursuing an honours degree and would be taken in their final year of philosophy. I’ve only taken three philosophy courses (two ethics classes, one class focusing on a period of history in philosophy) but I’ve done well enough in my classes with this professor that he would be willing to do it with me. I’m currently taking intro to philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and critical thinking for the core courses in philosophy. I’d finish metaphysics and philosophy of religion by the end of this semester (December). I’m in my final year of a math major. I have also completed a number of core courses in chemistry and statistics, some in biology.

My professor is primarily interested in process philosophy, and the philosophy of science, perhaps in relation to religion (one of his classes next semester is on evolutionary epistemology in which we’ll be analyzing the claim that religion is merely an evolutionary construct). He’s teaching my philosophy of religion class this semester. He said he’s done a topic on Plotinus before, but I don’t know if he’ll want to do that again. I considered covering something from the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel but there is a class on that this semester which I’m not taking (full schedule, no room) so I don’t want him to feel like he’s wasting his time when I could have taken the class, although I would really like to do it on that.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you.

Hi Dan,

Studying Ancient Greek, medieval, and patristic philosophy in university was very important in my faith journey. I came from a very secular liberal background so I received no grounding in these subjects until I did my undergrad.

I would first want to know if you are fairly strong in your faith. Because some of these philosophies are antithetical to belief almost from the ground up. But that doesn’t always mean that they cannot be studied profitably.

One thing I would warn you about and want you to question is whether your teacher is religious him or herself. Is she an atheist personally? It is very hard for a teacher not to influence his or her students towards the perspectives that they themselves hold and it is good to enter into the student/teacher relationship with a firm understanding of where your teacher wants to take you. That does not mean that you must disqualify a teacher just because they are not religious. But if they are acrimoniously anti religious or show a marked lack of respect for those with religious beliefs, then I would seriously question whether such a person could teach you objectively.

Whatever you choose, make sure your faith is a priority.

God bless,
Ut

 

[Rhubarb]

People who write books on the philosophy of science generally have no idea how real scientists work and are often astonishingly ignorant about science. Their worst fault is they make inappropriate generalisations from one field to another.

I cannot think of a single book on the philosophy science I’ve read or lecture I’ve attended that hasn’t left me apoplectic.

If you want to learn about science talk to scientists.

Definition:

A scientist is someone who carries out research - usually in collaboration with other scientists - and publishes his results in a peer reviewed journal.

Anyone else, no matter how impressive their degrees, is not a scientist.

That’s different from the experience I’ve had studying philosophy of science. Most philosophers of science I’ve read are accomplished scientists as well. And the things the philosophy of science touches are clearly not ‘science proper’ but a sort of meta-science. Questions like what qualifies as science? What is the nature of a theory? What are the nature of scientific laws? And then more specific topics that scientists often take for granted but that serious questions can be raised. Such as what is a species? Or the ontology of race. What is fitness, and is adaptionism correct? What is the nature of populations? What is the nature of space?

I don’t recall any philosopher of science ever writing about the subject of science itself while wearing their philosopher hat.

 

[MyNameIsDan]

Thank you to all those who replied so far! I am thankful for your time and consideration.

 

[MyNameIsDan]

Logic will feel more like a math class. It’s great, for sure, but if you want to get into the cerebral argument-based philosophy, you’ll want something else. The department at my University was fairly Analytic. The only experience I have with the Continentals was what I got in the history department. Without looking at your catalog I can’t say what your school will offer, but there should be classes in ancient philosophy, if not specific topics like “Pre-Socratics” or “Plato” or “Aristotle.” If you want to remain with that particular professor, the emphasis on Whitehead would lend towards philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. The ontology and epistemology of math is interesting. Plato and Aristotle had things to say about them, and Whitehead and Russell did too.

The department at my university is pretty small. I believe we have professors in the history of philosophy (particularly Ancient Greek, Medieval, Christian, and Arabic philosophy – who, unfortunately, is very busy and didn’t reply to my email), continental philosophy and epistemology, aesthetics, political philosophy (Canadian “spin”), and a contract professor (I think only this semester, however) in metaphysics/logic. If I remember correctly.

It’s hard to describe what “branch” of philosophy I’m interested in. I’m interested in method (how can we attain knowledge? The (in)sufficiency of empiricism, for example), naturally any question to do with God, moral philosophy, political philosophy (particularly Greek or Medieval), and ethics.

 

[MyNameIsDan]

I forgot to add, oops! Sorry! Another area of his specialty is ethics!

 

[MyNameIsDan]

Hi Dan,

Studying Ancient Greek, medieval, and patristic philosophy in university was very important in my faith journey. I came from a very secular liberal background so I received no grounding in these subjects until I did my undergrad.

I would first want to know if you are fairly strong in your faith. Because some of these philosophies are antithetical to belief almost from the ground up. But that doesn’t always mean that they cannot be studied profitably.

One thing I would warn you about and want you to question is whether your teacher is religious him or herself. Is she an atheist personally? It is very hard for a teacher not to influence his or her students towards the perspectives that they themselves hold and it is good to enter into the student/teacher relationship with a firm understanding of where your teacher wants to take you. That does not mean that you must disqualify a teacher just because they are not religious. But if they are acrimoniously anti religious or show a marked lack of respect for those with religious beliefs, then I would seriously question whether such a person could teach you objectively.

Whatever you choose, make sure your faith is a priority.

God bless,
Ut

I think that I’m at a point in my faith where I feel I have to go the next step to “search for truth”. To me, if what I believe is true, then philosophy won’t endanger my faith. It could even strengthen it (for example, learning about what method is proper to use for attaining knowledge about God). In other words, I feel secure but I would not describe myself as having beliefs that are unquestionably, unequivocally, true. In any case, I think I tend to hold a view in which if I see an argument which has implications that may oppose my faith, it doesn’t necessarily mean my faith is wrong. Often times, there is no definite answer or you won’t even have the counter argument to the counter argument. You don’t get the whole interplay/responses. For example, Hume’s argument on causation. Then Kant. Then who knows how much further you go. I wouldn’t just read Hume’s argument and think, “well, there goes this belief I hold” :whacky:

In any case, my prof is very fair. I trust him and the other one who specializes in Greek/Christian/Arabic philosophy. The others, I’m not sure about – and their areas of interest aren’t mine anyway.

 

[Rhubarb]

The department at my university is pretty small. I believe we have professors in the history of philosophy (particularly Ancient Greek, Medieval, Christian, and Arabic philosophy – who, unfortunately, is very busy and didn’t reply to my email), continental philosophy and epistemology, aesthetics, political philosophy (Canadian “spin”), and a contract professor (I think only this semester, however) in metaphysics/logic. If I remember correctly.

It’s hard to describe what “branch” of philosophy I’m interested in. I’m interested in method (how can we attain knowledge? The (in)sufficiency of empiricism, for example), naturally any question to do with God, moral philosophy, political philosophy (particularly Greek or Medieval), and ethics.

At my University, Philosophy 101 and 102 (the first two Upper-Division courses) were Metaphysics and Epistemology. They go hand-in-hand, and provide the basis for a great many of the questions other topics will raise. Epistemology sounds like it would be right up your alley, too. It was touched on my the Ancients, Medievals, and is a topic of heavy debate today. It’s definitely something you should take if you plan to make further study. Then you’ll be able to articulate the ontological and epistemological problems in other subjects, such as ethics, philosophy of science, religion, math, etc., and everything in between. Epistemic questions come up A LOT. The problem of empiricism is a huge hurdle for science, for example.