fandomhigh | The Philosophy of Values: Period 3 - Class #8

This morning Wilson was a wee more awake and for some reason he was wearing a turtleneck and if he asked him about the marks above the turtleneck he’d look you straight in the eye and claim to have cut himself shaving. He might change it up and say he fell on the vacuum nozzle.

There was a spread of deviled eggs, hard boiled eggs, poached eggs and fruits for anyone who needed a spot of breakfast. There was also coffee, tea and cider. Wilson himself was finishing off a deviled egg and sipping on coffee as the students came in and settled down.

“Good morning everyone.” He said with a smile.

“Okay, you may all groan now but I won’t be passing the tests back until after class. For those of you who missed the test, last class and who haven’t gotten with me in between, I’m afraid to inform you that your test score is 0. That segues quite nicely into today’s topic, Hope vs Despair and how either of these emotions can color our ability to rationally view a situation.”

Pushing away from the front of the desk, Wilson walked to the chalk board and began to lecture.

“First, I want us to have working definitions of Hope and of Despair. For this class I want to focus on Kierkegaard’s definition of despair ’Kierkegaard argues that humans are made up of three parts: the finite, the infinite, and the "relationship of the two to itself." The finite (sense, body, knowledge) and the infinite (paradox and the capacity to believe) always exist in a state of tension. That tension, as it is aware of itself, is the "self." When the self is lost, either to insensibility or exuberance, the person is in a state of despair. Notably, despair does not have to be agony. It is, instead, the loss of self.’”

As he spoke he scrawled across the blackboard, turning towards the class and then grinning impishly.

“I am forever hopeful, in such I thought you might be able to read my hand writing, however, not to despair, I do have the overheads.”

Picking up the remote, Wilson set up the overhead projector and then continued with the lecture. As before, he didn’t show one choice as being better or worse than the other and in fact highlighted points where having too much hope or –blind faith- could become a marker of tunnel vision, just like being stuck and wallowing in despair.

“It’s hard, to embrace the idea that because of your gift, you need to keep your mind open because both Hope and Despair can give us sources of internal comfort at times in our lives but, is the comfort real? Back long ago, spirits such as brandy, port, wine were shared to people suffering from many maladies but particularly the idea of physically warming a person up through the alcohol, because it does make us feel warm, but it's a false warmth."

Walking back to the chalkboard Wilson wrote a word up across the neat surface.

"Vasodilatation, is the dilation of blood vessels in the skin, occurs under the influence of alcohol. This gives a false sense of warmth, but actually leads to a greater loss of body heat. So, not only was this a false heat, it was also working directly counter to it’s intended application.”

Class Participation:

Setting the chalk down, Wilson walked back around the desk, crossed his arms and leaned against the front.

“Now, for the sake of this conversation, let’s define despair as a loss of self. How do you define self? At the beginning of the semester, we spoke about how we define our reality, now taking that definition, how do you look at situations that seem to strip you of that reality? Have you ever felt as if you’ve lost yourself?”

After everyone had been given a chance to participate, Wilson picked up the graded tests and handed them out amongst the class.

“I was pleased with the tests over all. There is no homework this week, enjoy the break and have a safe Halloween…or as safe as Fandom will allow that holiday to be.”

[ooc: ~~Please wait for~~ The OCDs are up and ready. Class is in session!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Discuss your grades ~~assume good grade if you've actually taken the test~~ or discuss what you're doing next week, hopefully coming to party on Sunday!

Blair unfolded his copy of the petition and looked around to see if anyone wanted to sign.

"Hey, Blair. What's that?" Willow asked.

"It's a petition for keeping the cafeteria open on the weekends. Because not everyone can afford to go out to eat." Blair passed it over. "Do you wanna sign (http://lovechildblair.livejournal.com/29215.html)?"

Willow read it over. "Sure! I'd be happy to."

"Yay!" Blair grinned and bounced. "Thanks so much!"

"I am happy to help the cause of good nutrition," Willow said. "As well as frugality. Student budgeting is hard."

"Hopefully it'll be open next week even though school is out." Blair shook his head sadly.

"It is?" Willow asked. "How come?"

"Midterm break or something." Blair shook his head. "I think it's insane. We don't need a break in the middle of the semester."

"I'm of the opinion that we need no breaks ever," Willow said. "Breaks stop the learning process, and, significantly, the grading process!"

"If I had known about this in advance I could have put together some sort of protest." Blair said. "But I didn't find out till this week."

"I'm going to the library right after class. Just in case they're closed next week."

"Do you think denying it will work?" Willow asked. "Maybe if we show up to classes anyway they'll have to teach us."

"That might work. Like a sit-in only with note-taking?" Blair nodded.

"Note-in?"

"I think you just invented a whole new form of protesting." Blair nodded. "I might have to hug you."

"I'm pleased to help," Willow said.

Really, Wilson tried to ignore them but the cloud of geek was getting too thick to go without comment.

Without looking up from where he was starting to read Willow's paper, Wilson said.

"If either of you think I'm showing up in this classroom next week, you're nuts."

Willow gave him a full-on pout.

Wilson knew better than to look at the pout directly, for fear that he would cave completely.

Yes, the pout was that powerful.

"How about an extra credit project to keep you both amused and to go in with the grading?"

Not that either Willow or Blair needed the boost, they both had top notch marks.

"You're not toying with me, are you?" Willow asked. "Teasing about extra credit is mean."

Wilson glanced up and gave Willow a gentle smile.

"Have I ever toyed with you, Willow?"

"Admittedly no," Willow said. "Though this could be an early Halloween trick. Which would make sense, considering you're promising a treat."

He stared at Willow for a moment, as if trying to follow the path of her thought process but he eventually had to give up and gave his head a small shake.

"Here's the offer for you both to work on as a pair. Pick one of the philosophical debates we've discussed in class to this point and I want you to follow it's history from the beginning of recorded occurances, through both Western Philosophy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Western_philosophy) and Eastern Philosphy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_philosophy) and give me a comparative argument at the end on how each philosophy approaches the subject matter."

It would be like...footnote heaven!

"Still interested?"

"Is there a limit on pages?" Willow asked. She took these things seriously.

Re: Test has been returned - Talk amongst yourselves

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