March current events

17Mar14 Westboro Baptist founder is dying
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/03/16/dying-wbc-pastor-ex-communicated.html

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5Mar14 Interesting blog on topics we discuss in class:  http://deathanddesign.com/ 

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4Mar14 NYTimes Suicidal Tendencies are Evident Before Deployment

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/science/suicidal-tendencies-are-evident-before-deployment-study-finds.html?referrer=

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There's an essay in our news feed about a palliative care doctor.  This quote comes from the essay:
“Palliative care has some very philosophical questions. What is meaning? Why do we suffer? The stuff of religion and philosophy and art,” Miller said. “After my injuries, I switched my major to art history because of these very questions. [Studying art] also helped me get serious about perspective.”

Love & marriage

I found it!  The perfect essay for us:

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Marriage-Paradox/144821/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Please read it and comment.  I love the paradox, the Buddhist influence, the existential threads, the fundamental truth of human existence -- that we do love, and sometimes it is shaped by reason, but also by virtue.  It makes us our most despicable when it goes badly, but it brings out our sweet, clear, harmonious, best selves when it goes well.  We should also talk about freedom within relationships as well, I think.  We flirted with this idea last week or the week before -- especially that sexual monogamy is fundamental for so many of us, yet so many of us cheat.

Clergy questions (26 Feb)

This week, 26 Feb, we'll have two guests: Tom Bennett (chaplain, himself a Quaker) and Gerald Twaddell (our college Roman Catholic priest).

What questions do you have for them about death & dying or about religion with respect to human nature?

Digital Legacies

What do you think about memorializing people on Facebook, Twitter, etc.?  Can you find some arguments about it?

Death: digital scrapbooks
1. www.123456789.net,
2.www.forevernetwork.com
3. www.memorymountain.com

Which Theory of Human Nature is Most Persuasive? (by May Day)

Which of the theories of human nature in the Stevenson book do you find most persuasive and why?  Use specific examples.  You don’t have to commit to just one theory, you can pick and choose from various theories.  

This should be a lively threaded discussion. . .

Let's Talk about Death & Death Cafes (by Easter)

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_saul_let_s_talk_about_dying  

http://www.montereyherald.com/seniors/ci_25356807/talk-about-dying-and-eat-cake-too
 
If we were to (at least theoretically) organize a death cafe, what would we do?
NPR story on "death cafes"

*required* The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (before Easter break)

Trailer of the film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G69Zh7YIg8c

Review of the film
http://www.salon.com/2008/02/23/diving_bell_2/

Review of the book, from which the film was made
http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/15/reviews/970615.mallon.html

What was your initial reaction to the film? What do you take away from it?  How do you see it relating to class? Do you agree with your classmates' responses (pick one or two and explain).

Chpt 5: The Self (by 26Feb)

Comment on at least one of these prompts, and follow-up on someone else's comment:

• Spiritual Needs of the Dying. This is related to an earlier prompt about the importance of faith in human nature.  Question:  does everyone have spiritual needs?  Even atheists?  Even the dying?  Even children?  Please explore.
• Are we dualistic creatures?  Do we have minds separate from bodies as Descartes argued?  Or is that a folk tale we tell ourselves for comfort?  What is the mind-body problem?  Do souls exist?  If yes, how does that fit into human metaphysics?  Which of the many possible philosophical positions detailed in Barry's Chpt 5 is most comforting / makes the most sense to you?
• update 25Feb:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/science/the-brains-inner-language.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140225 
• Does one need to have a conception of a personal soul for immortality to make sense?  Explain.

Existentialism & Sartre (by end of Feb)

Watch 45-50 minutes of some combination of the following on Sartre and de Beauvoir, or discover your own videos on one or the other or both and post the links.  Post at least a brief comment on how the video relates to Chpt 9.

BBC on Sartre, Nietzsche & Heidegger

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAMCZKDgL04 (in English, 48 min)

Sartre on Intellectualism & knowledge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g8JVK4Fppw (in French with English subtitles, 5 min)

Sartre & de Beauvoir

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lFLO16TRPQ (in French with English subtitles, 5 min)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lFLO16TRPQ (in French with Spanish subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHVTKy1cmuc (in French subtitled in ???)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYRYw0o5d8M a poem about love (in English)

Death & Religion (by spring break)

A whole series about the afterlife from different religious traditions.
http://ideastations.org/articles/afterlife-series-on-all-things-considered-2013-10-04 

Basic information about a wide range of religions:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/

Let's collect information about the views of other faith traditions:
We have an entire separate post for Buddhism.

Here's an explanation of the Presbyterian (Protestant Christian) teachings on death:
http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/today/end-life/

Collect some information from your own tradition or one you're interested in and post here.

History of Death/Modern Practices (21 Feb)

What surprised you in this history?  What do you want more information about?  Did any of this background help you make sense out of current cultural practices surrounding death & dying? This post could tie into one of the alt assignments (see 12Feb email)

Chpt 3: Consciousness of Death (due 16Feb)

The existentialists view the world in this way:  "finding ourselves in a non-purposive universe, living non-purposive lives, we are completely free to choose and act.  This makes us totally responsible for our lives. . . " (Barry, 55).  What do you make of that?  Do you agree or not?  Does that view help you make sense of the world, terrify or just bewilder you?

Are you living authentically?  Explain.  Give an example of behavior (yours or another's) which is inauthentic.  Do you think that is a good way to live?  Why or why not?  (reference Barry, p. 58)

*new* 28Feb Buddhism (due 19 Feb)

*new* an article about Buddhist connections between science & religion
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/39041/title/Book-Excerpt-from-Buddhist-Biology/

Please comment on at least one of the following sources and then comment on at least one of your classmates' posts.


General information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/ 


More information about Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/15/thich-nhat-hanh-visits-boston/uogJLMVsJML1To2SxsPxRI/story.html 

Watch or listen to one of these:
Oprah interviews Thich Nhat Hanh (this is a really clear, helpful interview.  You will love the monk!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ9UtuWfs3U

A radio interview with Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.onbeing.org/program/brother-thay-radio-pilgrimage-thich-nhat-hanh/74

A radio interview about Buddhism in Burma
http://www.onbeing.org/program/burma-buddhism-and-power/75


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About the Dalai Lama:

• in Louisville in May 2013  http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/post/293-youth-engaging-compassion
• ABC Interview http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/post/287-abcs-730-interviews-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-in-sydney
• Tulane commencement speech 2013 http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/post/283-tulane-universitys-2013-commencement-keynote-address

Feb Current Events

*new* 25Feb14 DNR tatoos
http://www.jems.com/article/administration-and-leadership/pro-bono-should-you-pay-attention-or-obe

*new* 25Feb14 Brain research
 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/science/the-brains-inner-language.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140225

20 Feb 14 President Obama to meet the Dalai Lama
http://swampland.time.com/2014/02/20/dalai-lama-barack-obama-meeting-white-house/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/world/asia/us-brushes-off-chinese-rebuke-as-obama-meets-with-dalai-lama.html?_r=0 

19Feb14 Starting palliative care sooner is helpful
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/earlier-palliative-care-helps-patients-with-advanced-cancer-to-cope-1.2542457

Rosencrantz and Gildensterm are Dead at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Co.
http://cincyshakes.com/events/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead/ 
I believe Prof. Schuttemeyer is going Thursday 13 Feb if you want to get cheaper group tickets with him.  859.344.3384

12Feb14 NPR  Belgian proposal terminally-ill kids could choose euthanasia
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/02/12/274728194/belgian-proposal-terminally-ill-kids-could-choose-euthanasia

Preview: The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (to watch by 12 Feb)

Assignment: watch the film, don't just read a synopsis.  Update: you'll need to watch the film outside of class since we lost time yesterday (you can find it on Netflix or I have the DVD if you want to borrow it).  Let's do this by the end of Feb.  We will have a regular class on 12 Feb.
I'll give a quiz tomorrow and next week.  If everyone passes then you'll have a short class next week on 12 Feb.

Questions/Follow-up Kant & Marx

What questions do you still have about Marx or Kant?  Did we run out of time before you got to make your point?  Is there something you agree or disagree with that you didn't get to say in class?