HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 1
Monday, February 25, 2013
1. Announcements:
a. Annotations on Gould reading due at the start of class. Use two column format
with Facts and Insights. Cite all references to the sources, primarily in Facts;
cite by author and page, paragraph, section, if available as shown on the
source. Example:
Facts
Insights
“The sole cause and root of
So we get too full of ourselves, or assume that our
almost every defect in the
initial determination of the truth is correct, when we
sciences is this; that whilst we
might have gone further to verify our measurements,
falsely admire and extol the
methods, etc. Before Heisenberg came along with The
powers of the human mind, we
Uncertainty Principle, Bacon reminds us not to get
do not search for its real helps”
ahead of ourselves, and to be open to new
(Bacon, par. 9).
information. Does Bacon suggest that a definite
answer exists, unlike Heisenberg?
b. Class materials on website, books
c. Class information and policies. Questions?
2. Today and by Next Time: Select one Oral Report and one Outside Report from 2
different units (or different parts of Unit 1). They will be distributed as signup sheets.
a. Oral reports (see me if you are doing a Unit 1 Oral Report)
b. Outside Reports
c. Other—questions?
 Francis Bacon, “Aphorisms from the Novum Organum” at
http://people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN242/aphorisms.html (published in 1620. The title
translates to “New Organ” or “New Instrument,” meaning a new method for science.
It builds on Aristotle’s work Organum, which essentially used the logic of deductive
reasoning. In his new approach, Bacon advocated observation, rather than premises,
as a logical means of arriving at general statements of the truth: inductive reasoning.)
Some explanations of the Idols at http://www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htm#SH2j
Quiz: Develop clear answers or interpretations for each question:
1. In 1-2 sentences, in your own words, what is an idol, as Bacon uses the
term?
Summarize Bacon’s idea of the Idols, and give an everyday example of each one:
2. Idols of the Tribe
a. Definition
b. Example
3. Idols of the Den
a. Definition
b. Example
4. Idols of the Market
a. Definition
b. Example
5. Idols of the Theatre
a. Definition b. Example
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 2

Discuss the idols and Bacon’s point with them.
i. Which idol is described in each case below?
1. Find 7 mistaken assumptions here: Suppose that an ancient Greek
philosopher's natural human tendency to correct and unify led him
to mistake a man standing beside a horse for a creature with a
human head and an equine [horse’s] body, that is, a centaur. Some
of the philosopher's friends might believe his report because of his
authority, others because of its novelty. Their accounts of the
centaur might be read centuries later and accepted as true because
of their antiquity or because belief in the existence of centaurs had
become common. Some profound mind might then argue from this
instance that there must be a like combination of man with bull or
lion or elephant; and a philosopher might then formulate a
principle of animal cohesion or a doctrine that the soul resides in
the upper part of the human body.
2. Use of terms such as 'true democracy' in various parts of the world,
or “guaranteed pure” on a food label
3. “a musician thinking that the soul is only a harmony”
4. seeing something resembling a person in half-light and declaring
with certainty that it was the ghost of Dracula
source:
http://ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/patrickm/bacon/chap5.htm
ii. Which of the idols is a factor of the Chinese creation story about P’an Ku?
Is more than one? Explain whether and how this is the case or not. How
many, if any of the idols apply to this story?
iii. Which idol(s) is/are a factor of the poem “Desiderata”? Why or why not?
How many of the idols, if any, apply to this poem?
3. What does Bacon say “is the only fitting remedy, by which we can ward off and expel
these idols”?
4. In spite of the human tendencies for errors that the Idols embody, how does Bacon argue
that there is hope for human advancement?
5. Some movie trailers that may involve the 4 Idols:
a. Watch this trailer of The Truman Show (1998), starring Jim Carrey—which
idol(s) do you see? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYj2m1yVpGU
b. A trailer of Harvey (1950), with Jimmy Stewart—idols here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvfXvW2wsuQ

John Ruskin, “Of the Pathetic Fallacy” excerpt from Modern Painters (iii.4)
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/ruskinj/
c. Summarize Ruskin’s definition of the pathetic fallacy.
d. What is Ruskin’s thesis?
e. List the “four classes” that show the worst to best ways to deal with the
pathetic fallacy, as shown in § 9.
f. Discuss examples from poetry brought up by Ruskin and explain what he
finds faulty or effective with them.
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 3
The spendthrift crocus, bursting through the mould
Naked and shivering, with his cup of gold. (§ 4)
They rowed her in across the rolling foam—
The cruel, crawling foam. (§ 5)
A man in despair [desires] that his body may be cast into the sea,
Whose changing mound, and foam that passed away,
Might mock the eye that questioned where I lay. (§ 11).
g. Why does Ruskin approve of “Casimir de la Vigne's terrible ballad” (§ 13)?
h. Why does Ruskin favor Ellen over Jessy in the passages he excerpts in § 16?

Steven Jay Gould, “Nonmoral Nature” ***Annotations Due
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_nonmoral.html
a. Clarify the distinction among these terms:
i. Moral
ii. Amoral
iii. Nonmoral
b. Summarize Gould’s thesis (which he states well after the beginning of the essay,
probably most clearly in the final 6 paragraphs).
c. Briefly describe the activity of the ichneumons wasp larvae.
d. How is the wasp construed as cruel?
e. How did Darwin and others (along with Gould) argue such behavior should be
viewed?
 The Big Picture: Remember that the theme of our class is connections.
o What do the readings’ ideas about human problems finding the truth in the
world imply about The Human Struggle? In particular, what do the Idols,
Pathetic Fallacy, and conceptions of morality in nature suggest about people’s
assumptions, beliefs, ways of thinking, and other aspects of individual and
social existence?
o Other points?
o Everyday examples of the Idols, etc.?
 For Next Time—Readings to Complete:

René Descartes, Meditation VI
http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/meditation6.html

“Paul Maclean’s Triune Brain Hypothesis” at
http://www.kheper.net/topics/intelligence/MacLean.htm

Thomas D. Davis, "Strange Behavior” (Course Reader, pages 7-11)

Patrick Bracken and Philip Thomas, “Time to Move Beyond the Mind-Body
Split” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1124895/

“Philosophy of Mind—Ludwig Wittgenstein”
http://science.jrank.org/pages/10720/Philosophy-Mind-Ludwig-Wittgenstein.html
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 4
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
 Readings for Today:

René Descartes, Meditation VI
http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/meditation6.html

Thomas D. Davis, "Strange Behavior” (Course Reader, pages 7-11)

Patrick Bracken and Philip Thomas, “Time to Move Beyond the Mind-Body
Split” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1124895/

“Philosophy of Mind—Ludwig Wittgenstein”
http://science.jrank.org/pages/10720/Philosophy-Mind-Ludwig-Wittgenstein.html
Announcements:
 If you have completed the Annotations on Gould and/or have revised them, you may
hand them in now with no penalty.
 Assignments are due at the start of class on the due date. You may hand them in late
for partial credit if you do not have it ready. Late means after class has started and
they have been collected. Please do not work on the annotations during class; I have
too many other things for you to work on.
 Reminder: Sign up for one Oral Report and one Outside Report (from 2 different
units). Everyone should be signed up by the end of today.
 Other? Questions?
Mind/Body readings:
 René Descartes, Meditation VI
http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/meditation6.html –Key Points to Explain:
1. How Descartes knows material things exist.
2. Imagination vs. intellect.
3. Indications that imagination, and sensation, exist.
4. Where Descartes previously thought knowledge of objects came from.
5. The importance of doubt.
6. Mind as distinct from body.
7. The existence of corporeal things and how nature and the senses are involved.
8. Judgments not consistent with sensations or nature.
9. Problems from misleading signals sometimes received from the body.
10. Normal functioning of mind and body.
11. Avoiding errors of the senses of this kind and getting rid of doubts.
 Thomas D. Davis, “Strange Behavior” (Course Reader 7-11)—quick questions to
answer orally. Keep track in your notes.
1. T / F : The Gammas are brown-skinned and hairless like humans, but much
shorter.
2. T / F : The visiting humans mistake the robots for living beings.
3. T / F : The Gammas and robots have equal status in their society.
4. The humans eventually realize that the Gammas have no __________.
5. Name some of the things that the Gammese can create and develop without this
thing:
6. “The people with the something else that does nothing at all” describes: humans /
robots / Gammas / Italians (choose one).
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 5
7. T / F : Some Gammas believe that God is a physical being, and that even the
robots will be physically resurrected.
8. T / F : The humans leave Gamma thinking that they are inferior to the Gammese.
9. What is the mind, according to this story? Explain your interpretation.
The Big Picture:
Make a connection between “Strange Behavior” and The 4 Idols (from last week)
and “The Allegory of the Cave.” What is one idea that these 3 generally share?
Readings on the Mind/Body Split Debate—Are mind and body two different
things, or are they unified?
 Bracken & Thomas, “Time to Move Beyond the Mind-Body Split” at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1124895/
1. Where is the mind, according to Bracken and Thomas? Explain their
argument.
 “Philosophy of Mind—Ludwig Wittgenstein”
http://science.jrank.org/pages/10720/Philosophy-Mind-LudwigWittgenstein.html
1. What is Wittgenstein’s main point about the nature of the mind? (how are
language and other people involved?)
2. How does his theory differ from Descartes’? (Note: the adjective used to
describe Descartes’ work and theories is Cartesian.)
 Watch and discuss a video on YouTube with Dr. Candace Pert on mind and
body—Bill Moyers interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOSLvTWjebw
 What Happens in Your Brain When You Change Your Mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmvk3zlyQ2w&p=75C5CF33AD54005F&pl
aynext=1&index=17 [warning: could be construed as a bit preachy]
 Also see this Bill Moyers documentary excerpt on Chi and Acupuncture (from
Healing the Mind, 1993) at
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1448489/acupuncture_healing_the_mind_bill_m
oyers/ [21:57 for whole excerpt]
 Is the Circadian Clock an aspect of the mind?
Common manipulations of the circadian clock:
 Video of the Forum Shops in Las Vegas. Note the ceiling lighting and consider its
effects. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfLBSZnrrEY

Photo of a casino: Note how the carpet and ceiling direct the eyes; the absence of
windows and clocks; etc.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stewartimage.com/virginia_p
hotographers/Va_architectural_photographer/architectural_interiors_md_live.jpg
&imgrefurl=http://www.stewartimage.com/maryland-live-casinointeriors/&h=810&w=1172&sz=247&tbnid=_nBeI1McTg9JM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=127&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcasino%2Binteriors
%2Bphotos%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=casino+interiors+photos
HUMAN 105H, Spring, 2013
Dr. Harnett
Week 2 Class Notes, page 6
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=X&ei=Z3QtUdGjFor7igKvvYG4Dw&ved=0CDUQ9QEwAQ&dur=4134
Questions:
o What exactly is the mind, especially in light of the readings on mind and
body? Where is the mind?
o Are mind and body separate or not?
o Summary: Various interpretations of the mind and body:
 It has great potential, though it is prone to errors and distortions
 Francis Bacon, John Ruskin, Steven Jay Gould
 It can be self-limiting and resist change or be immensely
enlightened and motivated to be helpful to others in society
 Plato
 Two distinct entities, though coordinated
 Descartes
 Determined at least in part by social influences
 Wittgenstein
 In every cell of the body, including the circadian clock
 Dr. Candace Pert
 based largely on emotion or feelings
 “Strange Behavior”
 “Uncovering the Neurobiologic….” Antonio Damasio [next
time]


Handout by Cousins for Monday: excerpts from Head First: The Biology of
Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit. Please read the entire handout
and prepare at least 10 annotations (facts and accompanying insights or reactions,
etc.). This reading addresses the question How can the mind influence the body,
especially when the body is injured or diseased?
Also Read: Scientific American interview of Antonio Damasio at
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=feeling-our-emotions
Exam 1.1 (Mind) is next Wednesday (one week from today!).