Up@dawn 2.0

Friday, August 30, 2019

Manhattan

The Woody Allen scenes we referenced in class ["I'll be hanging in a classroom one day"... LISTEN]:


An idea for a short story about, um, people in Manhattan who are constantly creating these real, unnecessary, neurotic problems for themselves cos it keeps them from dealing with more unsolvable, terrifying problems about... the universe. Let's... Well, it has to be optimistic. Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things, I guess, that make it worthwhile. Like what?
OK... for me... 
Ooh, I would say Groucho Marx, to name one thing. And Willie Mays. And... the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony. And... Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head BluesSwedish movies, naturally. Sentimental Education by Flaubert. Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra. Those incredible apples and pears by Cezanne. The crabs at Sam Wo's. Tracy's face...
We should all make our lists. What are the things that make life living, for you? Let's see... 


You know, someday we're gonna be like him. And he was probably one of the beautiful people, dancing and playing tennis. And now look. This is what happens to us. You know, it's important to have some kind of personal integrity. I'll be hanging in a classroom one day and I wanna make sure when I thin out that I'm... well thought of...

Wrote about this once...



==
As William James said in Pragmatism Lecture I, one's philosophy (not to mention one's happiness) is "only partly got from books"...

Image result for "books about ice cream" cartoon new yorker
or meetings:

Image result for "sorry i'm late" "being happy" cartoon new yorker
"Sorry I'm late, I got caught up at home being happy."

Quiz Sep 5

Haybron ch3-4, Life Satisfaction & Measuring Happiness

1. Is satisfaction with your life the same as thinking it's going well?

2. Does rating your life satisfaction provide reliably objective insight into your degree of happiness?

3. In what sense do "most people actually have good lives"?

4. Can the science of happiness tell us which groups tend to be happier?

5. What (verbally-expressed, non-numerical) ratio of positive over negative emotional states does happiness probably require?

6. What percentage of American college students said they'd considered suicide?

Discussion Questions (please add yours):

  • Are you having wonderful life, like Wittgenstein allegedly said he did? 34
  • Today, right now, where would you rate your life on a 1-10 scale? What do you think that rating says about your satisfaction and your happiness? How much has it, or will it, fluctuate in the days, weeks, and years to come?
  • Do you have a good life? What will they say about you at your funeral? Will you be gratified if your children have a life comparable to yours?
  • Could you be happy in Maldonia? 42 In general, are you more or less happy than the people around you?
  • Do you agree with Mill's statement?  46
  • Which face on the chart is yours today? 47
  • Is it "impossible that 94% of Americans are happy"? 50


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Old Podcast
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"Brad's Status" on Fresh Air - a new film on status anxiety and the pursuit of elusive happiness.
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How do you Measure Happiness? The Top Questionnaires


Measuring happiness is at least as difficult as catching rare and elusive butterflies. What kind of net should we use? At the Pursuit of Happiness project, we try to collect and analyze the most scientific studies on happiness and subjective well-being (SWB). The question is, how does one evaluate what the most “scientific” studies are? Naturally, randomized and controlled studies are more reliable. These kinds of studies often require an enormous amount of effort and funding, and many studies that claim to do this are flawed in various ways.


One more major challenge to reliability is how these studies measure the happiness or SWB of their subjects. The following is a list of the most widely used and respected questionnaires. As you can see, we can discover some major differences in how they approach the issue, which reflect different definitions and perceptions of happiness.


Oxford Happiness Inventory (Argyle and Hill)


Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper)

Satisfaction with Life Scale (Deiner, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin)

Panas Scale (Watson, Clark, Tellegen)

And this is Todd Kashdan’s thoughtful critique of the above scales:

The assessment of subjective well-being (issues raised by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire)

We should mention a recent measurement of Subjective Well Being created by the OECD, as part of their very sophisticated and broad ranging survey, theBetter Life Initiative. This initiative is fascinating and includes some eye-popping graphics. To see their detailed report on SWB and the questions they used to measure it, please refer to the end note.

The strong point of both the Panas Scale and the OECD Subjective Well Being scale is that they measure both positive and negative affect, which, as one might expect, have a clear inverse correlation.

http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of-happiness/measuring-happiness/
==


And speaking of Buddhists, Robert Wright's audacioiusly-titled Why Buddhism is True tackles the western secular version as a philosophy of happiness.


Quiz Sep 3

Find as many answers  as you can, we'll go over them in class. Post your comments, alternate quiz questions, discussion questions, links, responses to classmates, etc., any combination of three of those since last class, added to your presence in today's class, secures your daily participation run. 

ch1
1. Who has frequently been held up by philosophers as a paradigm of happiness?

2. What nation did Gallup find to be happiest in terms of daily experience?

3. What does Haybron say will most likely NOT be on your deathbed list of things you'd like to experience again before you go?

4. What was Aristotle's word for happiness, and what did he particularly not mean by it?

5. Which of Haybron's three happiness theories is not mainly concerned with feelings?

6. Why does Haybron consider "subjective well-being" unhelpful?
ch2
7. How does the author's Dad describe existence "on the Pond"?

8. What does Big Joe the commercial fisherman feel at the end of his working day, and how does he feel generally?

9. Your posture or stride reveals something deeper than what?

10. The author says moments like the one depicted in the photo on p.18 involve no what?

11. Who developed the notion of flow?

12. Tranquility, confidence, and expansiveness are aspects of what state of mind/body?

13. Though your temperament may be more or less fixed, your ___ may be more or less prone to change with circumstances.

14. What famous western Buddhist says happiness is an optimal state of being, much more than a feeling?

Discussion Questions (please add your own)
  • Do you often, or ever, experience a state of mindless meditation? Are you happy in those moments? Or must such moments recur regularly over the course of a lifetime before such a judgment would be appropriate?
  • How often do you find yourself fully engaged and absorbed in what you're doing? Do you think you could learn to experience such a state of being more frequently and reliably?
  • How much attention do you pay to your posture and bodily presentation? When striding confidently do you feel more confident, when sitting erect do you feel more competent? Can acting happy make you happy?
  • This isn't how most philosophers would define "rationality," but what do you think of it as a description of happiness? "When enjoying plenary freedom either in the way of motion or of thought, we are in a sort of anaesthetic state in which we might say with Walt Whitman, if we cared to say anything about ourselves at such times, " I am sufficient as I am." This feeling of the sufficiency of the present moment, of its absoluteness, — this absence of all need to explain it, account for it, or justify it, — is what I call the Sentiment of Rationality. As soon, in short, as we are enabled from any cause whatever to think with perfect fluency, the thing we think of seems to us pro tanto rational." William James
  • Do you ever experience "flow," when your absorption in a task makes the experience of the passage of time drop away? Did you experience that more when younger? (Could that be what the poet Wordsworth was talking about when he referred to intimations of immortality in childhood?)
  • How do you manage your bad moods? Does it work for you to try and ignore them, and just get on with your day? Or have you learned the Stoic/Vulcan art of distancing yourself from all moods? Is it possible to achieve selective distancing, drawing closer to happy moods and away from bad ones?
  • Who's the happiest person you know? What have you learned from observing them?
  •  Do you agree that there's never been a better time to be alive? 1 (Steven Pinker in Better Angels of Our Nature, for one, says life's never been better.)
  • "Life is good" - agree? What hypothetical circumstances in your life do you imagine might reverse your opinion?
  • Do you think many poor communities are happier than the average college student? 3
  • How important is health, and healthcare, in your conception of happiness? 7
  • Do we need a theory or definition of happiness? 10
  • What do you think of Aristotle's approach? 11
  • Do you have views about eastern (eg, Buddhist) approaches to happiness?
  • Can you be a genuinely happy individual in an unhappy society? 13

Haybron's bigger book, The Pursuit of Unhappiness: The Elusive Psychology of Well-Being:


Some old thoughts on "flow"-


Podcast ch1...  An old podcast discussing the first two chapters of Haybron's Happiness: A Very Short Introduction
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 A propos how our our culture encourages us to think of money as the measure of self-worth and success, leading William James to tell H.G. Wells that "our national disease" is worshiping at the altar of "the bitch-goddess SUCCESS":








More from M. Ricard... More TED Talks on happiness... There's more to life than being happy...

Some of this borders on cliche, but there's wisdom here too:

“the best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” 

“Ralph Waldo Emerson explains, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

“In Aristotle's words, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

“Life is too short to be in a hurry." If we are always on the go, we are reacting to the exigencies of day-to-day life rather than allowing ourselves the space to create a happy life.” 

“Things do not necessarily happen for the best, but I can choose to make the best of things that happen.” 

“A human being, like a business, makes profits and suffers losses. For a human being, however, the ultimate currency is not money, nor is it any external measure, such as fame, fortune, or power. The ultimate currency for a human being is happiness. Money and fame are subordinate to happiness and have no intrinsic value. The only reason money and fame may be desirable is that having them or the thought of having them could lead to positive emotions or meaning. In themselves, wealth and fame are worthless: there would be no reason to seek fame and fortune if they did not contribute, in some way, toward happiness.” 


Calvin and Hobbes (@Calvinn_Hobbes)
Never forget about the simple things in life. 🌅🌌 pic.twitter.com/2vxFPJqiJP

                   

CV & Resume Workshop

If you're interested, Dr. King is hosting this and would be happy to have you. But NOTE: it's Tuesday, Sep 3.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Happiness: A Very Short Introduction

Graceful-Life, part 2

More Graceful-Life Philosophy (LISTEN).

An older video from School of Life's Alain de Botton, on Epicurean happiness (based on his book Consolations of Philosophy):




Epicurus (This pairs with the School of Life's video on Epicurus, in last time's post)

The Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was born in 341 BC, on the island of Samos, a few miles off the coast of modern Turkey. He had an unusually long beard, wrote over three hundred books and was one of the most famous philosophers of his age.

What made him famous was his skilful and relentless focus on one particular subject: happiness. Previously, philosophers had wanted to know how to be good; Epicurus insisted he wanted to focus on how to be happy.

Few philosophers had ever made such a frank, down-to-earth admission of their interests before. It shocked many, especially when they heard that Epicurus had started a School for Happiness. The idea of what was going on inside was both entirely shocking and deeply titillating. A few disgruntled Epicureans made some damaging leaks about what was going on in the school. Timocrates said that Epicurus had to vomit twice a day because he spent all his time on a sofa being fed luxurious meats and fish by a team of slaves. And Diotimus the Stoic published fifty lewd letters which he said had been written by Epicurus to some young students when he’d been drunk and sexually obsessed. It’s because of such gossip that we still sometimes now use the adjective ‘Epicurean’ to describe luxury and decadence. (continues)
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The Stoics

‘Stoicism’ was a philosophy that flourished for some 400 years in Ancient Greece and Rome, gaining widespread support among all classes of society. It had one overwhelming and highly practical ambition: to teach people how to be calm and brave in the face of overwhelming anxiety and pain.

We still honour this school whenever we call someone ‘stoic’ or plain ‘philosophical’ when fate turns against them: when they lose their keys, are humiliated at work, rejected in love or disgraced in society. Of all philosophies, Stoicism remains perhaps the most immediately relevant and useful for our uncertain and panicky times... (continues)



Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Graceful-life philosophy

The Happiness Myth-ch1 excerpt
By JENNIFER MICHAEL HECHT

LISTEN. Know yourself. This is the key to all philosophy, the center of all wisdom, the one thing that decides if you are the actor in a tragedy or a comedy. This chapter points out three major interpretations of this singular injunction. The first is the Socratic, and it has to do with knowing what you believe. The second is Freudian and has to do with knowing who you are. The third is lonely and has to do with training yourself to take your intellect as your own companion.

In the Apology, Plato has Socrates explain that the only happiness is figuring out what real virtue is, and enacting it. People who behave badly may seem happy, but they are not, no matter how rich they get, and people who act with virtue are certain to come into happiness and, very likely, come into money as well. As he put it: "I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private." Coming to know yourself and re-creating how you experience the world is a more efficient way to get comfortable than directly altering the world.

An angry person on the subway scowls and pushes, other people scowl and push in response, and quarrels ensue; a smiling person offers seats, takes inconveniences with patience, offers to share cabs, and has merry encounters. The angry person has no idea how much his or her anger colors the way other people act. A sunny disposition is no guarantee they won't steal your wallet, but some of what we don't really know about ourselves gets bounced back from the world and radically conditions how we see things. The Socratic claim that the unexamined life is not worth living is so commonplace that we forget how harsh it is. Vicious even. Think of all the good, sweet fools you know! Isn't it possible to be a decent, gentle, productive person without a jot of philosophy or self-examination? The Socratic answer is resolutely no; the examination of oneself and one's manner of living is the only good life and only cause of happiness. The happiness thus achieved cannot be stolen away by any means. Given the pitiless vagaries of life, the internal nature of philosophical happiness is one of its big selling points.

Socrates insisted that we ask ourselves how we know what we believe. You like democracy, monogamy, American food, sleeping at night, children raised in families, longevity as a life-defining goal. You like a woman of five foot ten to weigh about a hundred forty pounds. Set a goal of convincing yourself of something you oppose. Pick a hot-button subject, and a reward for yourself if you can shake your own faith in your convictions. I have strong political convictions, but I'm not rallying for them right now. I'm suggesting you pull a Socratic trick on yourself and ask yourself all the questions you usually avoid thinking about. If the thought is unbearable, it tells us something about the way we believe, and think, and live. We live in little cognitive comas. Or rather, we cavort in cognitive fields surrounded by electric fences: we all think we are free to go where we wish, but we are struck by a lot of pain when we try to think past our boundaries. Politics are real, but the odds are that if you had been raised in a different U.S. state (let alone China!), you would be not the Democrat or Republican that you are now, but instead a Republican or Democrat. Even though those people make your blood boil. Odds are odds. If you want to know yourself, you are going to have to rough yourself up a little. Socrates and Plato both held that this kind of ruthless thinking makes you happy in the process. When Plato does imagine an arrival, a coming to the most profound knowledge, it is blissful. But most of the time this is all about happiness as a process, as an effort.

Note that philosophy is unlikely to be effective if you just read it. Socrates so believed that philosophy required conversation with others that he did not write any books, and when Plato recorded Socratic thought, he did so in the form of dialog. Many of the great Socratic dialogs took place at social events; the title of Plato's Symposium means "the drinking party," and that is where it is set. In a sense that book is one of the most idealistic visions ever crafted, and it took place amid food, copious wine, and modest revelry. How do you do philosophy? Discuss it with others, write about it, get locked away with it. The last is the least effective, but it cannot be entirely rejected, because it does work for some people, some of the time. The essence of the philosophical experience, the active verb of doing philosophy, is unlearning what you think you know. And it is much easier to find out what your deep assumptions are if there is someone else there to help you discover them. Alone, your best bet is to try to write what you think, and proceed with scrupulous honesty, imagining your own most skeptical self as the reader. Think of the biblical story where Jacob wrestles all night with an angel and the angel wounds him, and changes his name from Jacob ("who grasps") to Israel ("who prevails"). Renamed, he can finally ask for his brother's pardon for stealing his birthright, and thus be reunited with him. When you come to something you can't explain, do not gloss over it; stay with it, wrestle it. Confusion is your quarry. Rejoice when you find it, bear with the pain it inflicts, and don't let it go until it gives you a new name. By the way, later, the sun, that symbol of true wisdom, heals Jacob's injury.

Ancient ideas of knowing yourself were about coming to be a better person. The process was psychological, but more in the realm of conditioning one's mind than in finding out why the mind does what it does. Marcus Aurelius said, "Cast away opinion and you are saved. Who then hinders you from casting it away?" Can we really control our emotions by decision? The best of the ancient writers, including Aurelius, acknowledged that we could not do it, and with a smile and a shrug provided exercises for teaching ourselves to improve what self-control we have. That's what religion and graceful-life philosophies are doing with their rituals and their meditations: teaching us to wake up to ourselves, for the sake of happiness. Not all philosophy overtly calls for ritual meditation. For instance, epistemology, the study of how we know things, and eschatology, the study of how things end, involve conceptual investigation. But some philosophies, throughout history, have been about how we should live. Much life advice comes as part of a particular religion or politics. To indicate a philosophy primarily concerned with advice for living, I use the term "graceful-life philosophy." The important ancient ones were Epicureanism, Stoicism, Cynicism, and Skepticism, and the term is also useful for referring to the work of the Renaissance thinker Montaigne, and of any modern thinker who offers secular, philosophical arguments for how individuals should best live their lives. . . .Continue reading the main story

The Happiness Myth - Jennifer Michael Hecht - Books - ReviewMAY 6, 2007

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In summary, a simple heuristic to remember the difference between the Stoics and the Epicureans: The Stoics cared about virtuous behavior and living according to nature, while the Epicureans were all about avoiding pain and seeking natural and necessary pleasure.
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In Letters from a Stoic, Seneca, a Stoic who appreciated the philosophy of Epicureanism, noted the main difference between his Stoic school and the school of Epicurus. Epicureanism is a philosophy which stresses the importance of ‘training one’s desires’.
Man is miserable, thought Epicurus (the founder of Epicureanism) because he desires things that he need not desire. If we would but learn or habitualize ourselves to desire only those things which are necessary and natural to us as human beings, we would be able to bathe in the ‘pure joy of being’; that is, learn to understand how pleasurable it is just to exist. The Epicurean sage, or one who has attained the ideal which Epicureanism sets forth, is one who, given that his basic needs are met (shelter, food, etc.) is able to rival ‘the gods’ in happiness.
Stoic philosophers, in contrast to Epicureans, believed that there are many things outside of our control in life, and therefore many things which could befall us and make our lives very difficult. Sickness, loss, poverty, death and other tragedies which commonly befall human beings are things which in general we have little control over. Should the goddess Fortuna (the Roman goddess of luck or fortune) decide that a terrible ill must come upon us, in many cases there is little we can do except wait and hope the terrible storm will soon pass, and not wipe us away for eternity.
Unlike Epicureans, the Stoic philosophers stressed that to be alive means to be open to the many troubles which can arise in our lives at no fault of our own, and that the attainment of happiness is not merely a matter of ceasing to desire things we need not desire. What is required in order to live a successful life according to the Stoics is courage, moral strength, and of course, wisdom. Surely bad things will happen to us, and moreover surely we will have desires for things the attainment of which will not benefit us. But one who has become a true Stoic, a Stoic sage, will bear the vicissitudes of fortune with strength, understanding, and equanimity; and will refrain from acting upon or giving to his base desires/impulses.
Or, in the words of the Stoic philosopher Seneca…
“The difference here between the Epicurean and our own school is this: our wise man feels his troubles but overcomes them, while their wise man does not even feel them. We share with them the belief that the wise man is content with himself. Nevertheless, self-sufficient though he is, he still desires a friend, a neighbour, a companion. Notice how self-contented he is: on occasion such a man is content with a mere partial self – if he loses a hand as a result of war or disease, or has one of his eyes, or even both, put out in an accident, he will be satisfied with what remains of himself and be no less pleased with his body now that it is maimed and incomplete than he was when it was whole. But while he does not hanker after what he has lost, he does prefer not to lose them. And this is what we mean when we say the wise man is self-content; he is so in the sense that he is able to do without friends, not that he desires to do without them. When I speak of his being ‘able’ to do this, what I am saying in fact amounts to this: he bears the loss of a friend with equanimity.”(Letters from a stoic). Academy of Ideas
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“The Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was born in 341 BC, on the island of Samos, a few miles off the coast of modern Turkey. He had an unusually long beard, wrote over three hundred books and was one of the most famous philosophers of his age. What made him famous was his skilful and relentless focus on one particular subject:happiness. Previously, philosophers had wanted to know how to be good; Epicurus insisted he wanted to focus on how to be happy...” continues
How the Stoics can help us tackle anxiety, fury and loss of perspective - and realise that very little is needed to make a happy life.
“‘Stoicism’ was a philosophy that flourished for some 400 years in Ancient Greece and Rome, gaining widespread support among all classes of society. It had one overwhelming and highly practical ambition: to teach people how to be calm and brave in the face of overwhelming anxiety and pain…” continues

More videos on happiness etc. from The School of Life
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Skeptics & cynics
Most philosophers are moderate (not extreme) skeptics: their default mindset is to doubt and question what "everybody knows," so that truth, facts, and reality may emerge. George Santayana said skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and you should guard it. But don't get stuck in doubt, like this guy (who very much resembles my dog Pita) on my desk at home. (Did you know, btw, that "cynic" means doglike?) Don't get stuck in doubt

Introductions

Let's introduce ourselves, Fall 2019 Philosophy of Happiness collaborators. (I'll tell you in class why I call my version of the Intro course "CoPhilosophy." But maybe you can guess, from the William James quote above.)

I invite you all to hit "comments" below share your own introductions, and (bearing in mind that this is an open site) answer two basic questions: Who are you? and Why are you here? (in this course, on this campus, in this state, on this planet, wherever, whatever). And, Are you happy? How high does happiness rank in your personal hierarchy of values, alongside (say) virtue, integrity, a sense of meaningfulness and purpose, etc.?

Our first class meeting will consist mainly of introductions and a heads-up that this will be (or perhaps I should say may be, sometimes, depending on the preferences and attitudes of your peers) an unconventional course in ways I hope you'll find delightful, instructive, and rewarding. If you don't like to move, breathe, and converse in the open air on nice days, this course may be a challenge. But, if you don't especially like the conventional lecture-style academic model in which I talk and you scribble silently in your seats, it may be just what you've been looking for. If that sounds too mysterious, I'll de-mystify it on the first day. HINT: wear comfortable shoes.Another HINT: see below.*

We'll not go over the syllabus or get bogged down in the nuts and bolts of course mechanics on Day One, there's plenty of time for those details later. Peruse the blogsite and syllabus (linked in the right margin) before next class and let me know what's unclear. Meanwhile, read your classmates' intros and post your own.

I'm Dr. Oliver. I live in Nashville with my wife, two dogs we "rescued" in May 2018 (Nell, a sweet & gentle Pit/Boxer, and Pita, a sweet and feisty Dachsund/Lab), and an old cat (Zeus). Older Daughter lives in California. Younger Daughter is a college junior.



My office is 300 James Union Building (JUB). My office hours are Monday thru Thursday 4-5 pm, & by appointment. 

On nice days office hours may be outside, or at an alternate location. Check my office door for details. I answer emails during office hours, but not at all on weekends. Surest way to get a quick response: come in or call during office hours.

I've been at MTSU since the early '00s, teaching philosophy courses on diverse subjects including atheism, childhood, happiness, the environment, the future, epistemology, metaphysics, Anglo-American philosophy, consciousness, evolution, and bioethics. Just did a fun summer course in the Master of Liberal Arts (MALA) program called Identity and Truth. I'm always open to working with students on Independent Readings courses as well, if you don't find a listed course in something you're interested in. Let me know if I can ever help you with that.

My Ph.D. is from Vanderbilt. I'm originally from Missouri, near St. Louis. I was indoctrinated as a Cardinals fan in early childhood, so I understand something about religious zeal. My undergrad degree is from the University of Missouri ("Mizzou") in Columbia MO. (I wish my schools weren't in the SEC-I don't approve of the inordinate emphasis on major collegiate sports culture or football brain injuries, as I'm sure to tell you again.)

My philosophical expertise, such as it is, centers on the American philosophical tradition of William James and John Dewey. A former student once asked me to respond to a questionnaire, if you're curious you can learn more about me there.

*What you most need to know about me, though, is that I'm a peripatetic and will encourage you all to join me in that philosophical lifestyle as often as possible during discussion time. (If you're not sure what peripatetic means, scan the right sidebar or read the syllabus or ask me. Or look it up.)

I post my thoughts regularly to my blogs Up@dawn and Delight Springs, among others, and to Twitter (@osopher), and am continuing to experiment with podcasting as a classroom tool this semester. Follow me if you want to.

But of course, as Brian Cohen said, you don't have to follow anyone. (Extra credit if you get that reference... and real extra credit if you realize that my "extra credit" is usually rhetorical.) However, if a blog or podcast link turns up with the daily quiz (which will always be posted on this site no later than the night before class), you might find it helpful to read or listen.

Enough about me. Who are you? (Where are you from, where have you been, what do you like, who do you want to become,...?) Why are you here? (On Earth, in Tennessee, at MTSU, in philosophy class)? Hit "comments" below and post your introduction, then read your classmates'... and bear in mind that this is an open site. The world can read it. (The world's probably busy with other stuff, of course - Drumpf and Kardashians and cooking shows and other examples of what passes for "reality" these days.)

Quiz Aug 29

Our first daily quiz includes questions about keeping score (which we'll do every day to track and inspire participation). Quiz questions are eligible for inclusion on the exams. Your minimal "learning outcome" should be to learn the answers to these questions. Our broader goal, of course, is to understand more about happiness and how it relates to other values, why and how to get and keep it, etc.

1. Name two of the ways you can earn a base in our class. (See "course requirements" & other info in the sidebar & on the syllabus)

2. How many bases must you earn each class, to "circle the diamond" and claim your daily participation run on the scorecard?

3. How do you earn your first base in each class?

4. Can you earn bases from the daily quiz if you're not present?

5. How can you earn bases on days when you're not present?

6. Suppose you came to class one day, turned on the computer/projector and opened the CoPhi site,and had posted a comment, a discussion question, an alternate quiz question, AND a link to a relevant YouTube video before class. Did you earn your daily participation run?

7. Did you have any "extra bases" in the scenario posed in the previous question?

8. How can you indicate extra bases on the scorecard?

9. What are Dr. Oliver's office hours? Where is his office? What is his email address?

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Don't let others define you: Tara Westover

Powerful happiness wisdom from this year's convocation speaker, Tara Westover (author of Educated):

Google Happiness

This week's Google Happiness Alert:


Visiting a park boosts your happiness like Christmas morning, new research shows
What's more, they found, people's moods started to improve just from the anticipation of a park outing, and the afterglow of increased happiness ...
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One study from the University of Warwick found that increased happiness in the workplace led to a 12% jump in productivity, while unhappy workers ...
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Despite all the meditation lunches, CBD elixirs, trigger warnings, and caffeinated chocolates, Americans aren't getting any happier. In fact, over the ...
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According to the recent research from B&Q, 32% of us feel that updating our bathroom would have more impact on our happiness than refreshing any ...
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In Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert writes, “For most of recorded history, people lived where they were born, did what their parents had done, ...
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I'm beginning to see the light. I see that undertaking the pursuit of happiness is unproductive, meaningless, ineffective, absurd and futile. YES! It is all ...
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Let's face it: We're all constantly searching for ways to live a happier life. But the abundance of information out there can leave the average person ...
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Frankie Dettori has seen plenty in his long and illustrious career – but even he was reduced to tears after Enable won her 10th Group One in the ...
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HAPPINESS HAPPENS DIY with STABILO Pen 68. Download three beautiful drawing templates for FREE and easily create wonderful decoration ...
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The Customer Happiness (CH) team empowers people to carshare everywhere by delivering world class support to our Renters and Owners before, ...
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I started my first business in 1984 and, as our romance grew, Robert and I started building businesses together. That's when my happiness blossomed ...
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You will find videos, jokes, recipes, quotations and much more to help you practice your English. You can leave a comment to tell me what you liked!
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Empirical research consistently indicates that contact with the natural world is associated with broad psychological and physical benefit. Of particular ...