The Meeting of the Minds
The capstone of our philosophy classes will be the project “The
Meeting of the Minds.” Each student will select a philosopher and work
independently to grasp that thinker in depth. Students are expected to
do readings in primary sources, submit regular reading logs, and give
periodic progress reports. The final several class periods are
conversations with the great philosophers (“The Meeting of the Minds”).
These conversations cover topics given to students in advance as the
talking points for this assemblage. Each student must speak for their
philosopher in the first person and engage in debate with the other
great minds in the room. This method has helped avoid the mile-wideinch-deep curse inherent in introductory courses.
START HERE: http://plato.stanford.edu/
The Meeting of the Minds
(Thee Slide PowerPoint Introduction)

What was your “project”?
o
o
o
What are you most noted for? Why are you a big deal?
How have people misunderstood you?
If you had a bumper sticker for your philosophy what would it say?
(Conversations with Great Minds . . . Bring your notes!)

What is the goal of life?
o
o
What constitutes a good life?
How does one know?
(MOM! Bring Notes!)

What is the role or purpose for society?
o
o
o
What are the rights and responsibilities of the individual to the society?
What is the goal of education?
Would you celebrate “Thanksgiving”?
(MOM! Bring Your Notes)

How would your philosopher view Global Warming?
o
Is it real? What should be done? Who should do it?
Three Slide Introduction
Major Works
Environmental
Social Reform
Walden
“Walking”
“The Succession of Forest Trees”
“Civil Disobedience”
“Slavery in Massachusetts”
“A Plea for Captain John Brown”
“Life Without Principle”
Major Concepts
Wilderness
 Hard to get to
 Takes planning
Wildness
 Everywhere
 Attention – Awake, Aware and
Alive
Hearing That Different Drummer
Desperate Lives
Deliberate Lives
Living in Society
Living in Nature
Henry David Thoreau’s Influence on American Culture:
Individualism
“Back to Nature”
Articulation of Abolitionists’ Positions
Civil Disobedience – Non-Violent Resistance
Conservationist
Cultural Criticism and Free Speech
Henry David Thoreau
July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862
was an American author and philosopher
Because of his Walden
Experiment
Thoreau is often
misunderstood as promoting
isolation and anti-social views
Only that day dawns
to which we are awake.
Thoreau
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc0337/philosophers.html
1. Confucius: Philosophy as Interdependence, Christopher Rzonca.
2. The Presocratics and Socrates: Philosophy as Rational Inquiry, Phil Washburn.
3. Plato: Philosophy as an Ideal, Phil Washburn.
4. Aristotle: Philosophy as Science, Phil Washburn.
5. Marcus Aurelius: Philosophy as Consolation, David J. Rosner.
6. St. Thomas Aquinas: Philosophy as the Handmaid of Theology, Ronald Rainey.
7. Descartes: Philosophy as the Search for Reasonableness, Michael Shenefelt.
8. Locke: Philosophy as Moderation, John Barna.
9. Hume: Philosophy as an Intellectual Game?, Angelo Juffras.
10. Kant: Philosophy as Mapping the Mind, Ellen Freeberg.
11. Marx: Philosophy as Changing the World, Ernie Alleva.
12. Mill: Philosophy as Experiment, Maria Antonini.
13. Nietzsche: Philosophy as Creating Values, Betty Weitz.
14. James: Philosophy as Practice, Gail E. Linsenbard.
15. Wittgenstein: Philosophy as Investigating Language, John J. Ross.
16. Beauvoir: Philosophy as Freedom, Gail E. Linsenbard.