PHILOSOPY (essential questions and understandings) + PLAY =
ENLARGED THINKING
Today you will be working with the great philosophical issues as they relate to the plays read last week. Philosophy is
the umbrella over the essential questions and understandings that we have examined throughout the year. We have also
called them the big questions.
Consider the following questions as you look at the philosophical issues in relation to the plays:
The Glass Menagerie,
A Doll House, and
Death of a Salesman.
Which philosophy is dominant?
How do the characters connect to the philosophy? through action?
Are the questions answered or are we still left to question?
How does this exploration of themes enlarge our thinking?
through dialogue?
DIRECTIONS
Step One: For this first step you can brainstorm in your group. How does your play align with these
ten philosophies? Respond to the following philosophies with their essential questions and understandings
as they relate to your play. You don't have to answer ALL the questions for each issue. Instead, pull from
the ones that speak to you.
Step Two: This next step is your sole creation. Create a graphic which illustrates the connections. Be
specific by using specific quotes, scene directions and actions. Use language from the philosophical issues
along with the philosophical quotations provided on the back of this page. You should also find yourself
weaving your own words into the mix.
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES
Since the beginning of thought, man has sought to understand the universe and
his own existence. He has sought to explain them through myths, superstitions, and religions on one hand; and through
science and philosophy on the other While the whole of philosophy is extensive and complicated, it can be reduced to
the search for the answers to the 10 issues below.
(Excerpted from the book: PSICANICA: A SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY, by Thomas Michael Powell)
ONE
What is the nature of the universe? Where does it come from? Of what is it made? How did it come to exist? What is its
purpose? By what process does it change? Is it evolving or devolving? Does it function by itself or would it degenerate to
chaos without some kind of intelligent control?
TWO
Is there a Supreme Being? If so, what is His nature? Did He create the universe? Does He continue to control it personally
and if so, at what level? What is his relationship with man? Does he intervene in the affairs of man? Is this Being good? If
this Being is good and all-powerful, how can evil exist?
THREE
What is the place of man in the universe? Is man the highest fruit of the universe or is he just an insignificant speck in
infinite space—or something in between? Does the spirit of man descend into matter from higher spiritual realms, or has it
evolved from matter? Is the universe conscious or unconscious of man? If it is aware, is it warm and friendly to him, or
cold and indifferent, or even hostile?
FOUR
What is reality? What is mind; what is thought? Is thought real? Which is superior: mind or matter? Has mind created
matter or has matter evolved mind? Where do ideas come from? Does thought have any importance--does it make any
difference in our lives--or is it just fantasy? What is Truth? Is there a universal Truth, true for all men forever, or is
Truth relative or individual?
FIVE
What determines the fate of each individual? Is man a creator and mover of his life, or does he live at the effect of forces
over which he has little control? Does free will exist or are our lives determined by outside factors—and if so, what
are those factors? How does life work: is there a Supreme Force that intervenes in our lives? Or is everything predetermined from the beginning of time? Or is life just random, full of coincidence and accident? Or is there some other
control mechanism we do not perceive?
SIX
What is good and what is bad or evil? What is moral? What is ethical? Who decides good and bad, right and wrong; and
by what standard? Is there an absolute standard of good and bad beyond one’s the personal opinions? Should good and
bad be determined by custom, by rational law, or by the situation? What if the decisions of others (society, authorities,
laws, etc) determining good and bad are contrary to one’s personal beliefs or freedoms? ¯should you obey others or
follow your own conscience? Moreover, if as an answer to FIVE, we do not have free will but are ruled by outside factors,
what difference does good and bad make? ¯we have no choice. If so, we have no responsibility for doing bad.
SEVEN
Why are things the way they are? How should things be ideally? What is the good life —for the individual and for the
many (society)? What would a Utopian society, a heaven on earth, be like? Is it even possible to create a Utopia? If so,
how? Would not a Utopia assure personal freedom? What, then, should you do with those who don’t cooperate and violate
the Utopian system? If you control or punish them, is there no longer a Utopia?
EIGHT
What is the ideal relation between the individual and the state? Should the individual serve the state or the state serve
the individual? What is the best form of government and what is the worst? When is a man justified in disobeying the
dictates of the state? To what extent should the majority rule and thereby act against the freedom of the minorities?
When is a man justified in rebelling against the established order and creating a new state? What are the relative merits of
the different economic systems (capitalism, communism, etc.).
NINE
He who controls education controls the future. What is education? How should the young be educated—what is
important and what not? Who should control education: the parents, the student, the society or the state? Should a student
be taught to think for himself or to adopt the beliefs of the society? Should man be educated to be free and live for his own
interests; or to subjugate his desires to serve others or the state? ¯see Question EIGHT.
TEN
What happens at death? Is death the end of everything or is there a soul in man that continues to exist beyond death? If so,
is that soul immortal or does it too eventually cease to exist? If the soul does continue to exist after death, what is the
nature of that existence? If there is an existence after death, is “good” rewarded and “bad” punished? If so, how do you
reconcile this with the concept of predestination? And if there is a God of INFINITE LOVE and FORGIVENESS, how to
you reconcile punishment?
Quote Collection:
(Feel free to use quotations that you discover on your own from different sources.)
Albert Einstein: Real sign of intelligence isn't knowledge, it's imagination.
The Book of Job: Remember: life is a breath; Soon I will vanish from your sight. The eye that looks will not see me; You may
search but I will be gone. Like a cloud fading in the sky, Man dissolves into death. And never comes home again.
Socrates:
My advice to you is to get married: If you find a good wife you'll be happy; If not, you'll become a philosopher
Socrates:
I only know one thing, and that is I know nothing
Aristotle: Happiness is something final and complete in itself, As being the aim and end of practical activities whatever... Happiness
then we define as the active exercise of the mind In conformity with perfect goodness or virtue
Pascal:
It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not the reason
Plato: There will be no end to the troubles of states,Or of humanity itself,Till philosophers become kings in this world,Or till those
we now call kings and rulers really And truly become philosophers,
Albert Camus: It was previously a question Of finding out whether or not life Has to have a meaning to be lived. It now becomes
clear, on the contrary That it will be lived all the better if it has no meaning
Henry David Thoreau: To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, Nor even to found a school, But so to love
wisdom as to live according to its dictates, A life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.
Epicurus: Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things
you only hoped for.
Albert Camus:
Bruce Lee:
If there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love.
Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.
Lewis Carrol:
impunity
It is the privilege of true genius, and especially genius who opens up a new path, to make great mistakes with
Know your true enemy, for it is no one else but you yourself, do the right thing.
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
- Chaitach .S
- Lm10
There is an inner logic, and we're taught to stay far from it. It is simple and elegant, but it's cruel and antithetic, and there is not effort
to reveal it. . . Unknown
Rough Rubric:
50 points for a thoughtful analysis along with a strong graphic created
with care that easily shows connections and your own personal touch and/or creativity. The
graphic can take many, many forms and sizes--computer generated or rendered by hand.