Philosophy... more like Theology

[Clovery]

I have a bit of a rant.

I'm taking Intro to Philosophy right now (it's a requirement). It's a condensed summer term class. The professor wears a gold cross on a chain, and doesn't teach by the book. He seems to just pick and choose which philosophers we learn about and their positions. The class is halfway through now, and nearly everyone we've learned about has an argument for why God must exist. The other day we were finally going to discuss "the problem of evil" which makes a great case for atheism. He mentioned it for less than 5 minutes, then spent the next hour talking about the criticisms and counter arguments for why God must exist...

He also asked the class "Who here was on the fence about whether or not God exists before taking this class?"

Two people raised their hands. I did not. (I'm not on the fence at all... I'm sure he doesn't exist)

Then he said, "Really? Only two people? So everyone else here believes in God?"
All my rage.....

/rant

 

[Mac]

Systems of education.
Systems of government.
Systems of religious doctrine.

These are all systems of control. All human constructs are inherently flawed. Some of us are unable to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong. So we glom on to whatever slick talker promises us the moon and stars. It's way easier to cop out and blame our problems on some invisble boogeyman then accept that life sucks and we are on our own.

Good for you that you rejected the institutional brain washing being shoved down your throat.

 

[John1952]

Is he listed here?

Professor Search - RateMyProfessors.com

 

[Clovery]

Is he listed here?

Professor Search - RateMyProfessors.com

yep, he is. I may or may not review him there... I doubt many professors actually read through that. Usually we get a course evaluation to fill out, but I'm not sure they do it in these short summer terms. If I don't get to evaluate him, I plan on telling him what I thought of his class after the last test - that it was extremely biased, and a big Christian circle jerk.

 

[Oneida]

I wouldn't bother talking to him, he'll prolly just try to convert you. I'd just talk to the admin about it.

 

[tranced]

As a semi-recent grad who took advantage of the short summer classes to get a lot of the boring, annoying classes out of the way I can say that most places still have the faculty eval forms for even those short classes and ratemyprofessor is a great way to forewarn others about professors that seem to use their job as a bully pulpit, both for and against theism. I will say that I truly believe most of the time it's atheist profs speaking against religion but both ways are equally inappropriate and don't belong.

 

[Clovery]

I'm definitely going to fill out the eval if we have the opportunity... I just don't recall ever doing it during these summer classes. I think I'll get the most satisfaction out of just telling him myself. Considering he likely got his phd in theology, he's probably just lecturing on what he's most familiar with. I don't want the guy to lose his job or anything... I'm sure he's struggling paying off his loans from his useless degree

 

[Katatonik]

Most intro classes go that way. Each year different profs teach that class and each prof teaches it differently. If he is a theology phd, then he does that. If it were someone with a existentialism phd, then you'd do Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, et al.
Of course he is biased, but it is also the case that the history of Western philosophy has very little to do with disproving God.

You know very well that all of those proofs were shady. Most other people do too, they just didn't raise their hand like you.

 

[Off Topic]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...hNh99jF-w&sig2=-FV5Y1m4nwVrBKsdeut2PQ&cad=rja

Christopher Hitchens is my hero. Trouble is, he's down in hell right now drinking up all the good scotch.

In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or, as it might be phrased in Latin form, "no child's behind left.

I love his sense of humor. If you have heard a lot of his voice, (he's all over youtube) you can hear him while reading his books, he spoke just like he wrote.

Perhaps you should pick this book up and bring it to class.

 

[Vince Clortho]

It is an Intro to Philosophy class, so I wouldn't expect much. You have to understand that once you get past the first Greek philosophers, the bulk of philosophy prior to the 20th century was all about religion. That's just what consumed people the most at the time. It is important to note that without studying Descartes, you may never know why the statement "i think, therefore I am" begs the question.

Be patient, absorb and participate. Realize that philosophy can be just as interesting whether you agree with the premises of the argument or not - after all, it's the art of argument you are learning, not the content.

 

[Clovery]

This class ended months ago, but even in an Intro class I would expect the professor to present the material in an unbiased fashion. I still run into him around campus pretty often. I make it a point to stop and converse with him, just to make him a little uncomfortable.

I'm just glad it's over with - it had nothing to do with my major, and I'm in my last semester. I got a note in my student mailbox "we're now requiring all nursing students to take philosophy 101 - surprise! Go sign up if you want to graduate."

It is an Intro to Philosophy class, so I wouldn't expect much. You have to understand that once you get past the first Greek philosophers, the bulk of philosophy prior to the 20th century was all about religion. That's just what consumed people the most at the time. It is important to note that without studying Descartes, you may never know why the statement "i think, therefore I am" begs the question.

Be patient, absorb and participate. Realize that philosophy can be just as interesting whether you agree with the premises of the argument or not - after all, it's the art of argument you are learning, not the content.