Socrate’s Apology to Meno assignment : 1-At the end of the Meno (around 100b) Socrates says that if Meno can convince Anytus of the things they have concluded in the dialogue he will provide a benefit to the Athenians. Given the background of the Apology what do you think Socrates means by this. What is the overall topic of the Meno? and how is it relevant to the Athenians or to us for that matter?

Socrate’s Apology to Meno 2

2-In the Phaedo Socrates is preparing for his death and consoling his friends that death is not a bad thing. There are echoes of the end of the Apology here. Much of the dialogue deals with arguments for the survival of the soul after death. We have already seen in the Meno the famous argument for the pre-existence of the soul to explain the puzzle of learning (cf Meno 81e ff); Aristotle in his Posterior Analytics (76a ff) will provide another solution to this puzzle that doesn’t require the preexistence of the soul. My question here regards Plato’s general conception of the body in the the Phaedo. He famously states that the proper aim of philosophy is the practice of dying and death (64a).

Moreover, he goes on to claim that only the philosopher (lover of wisdom) can have genuine virtues; non-philosophers overcome fear by greater fears and overcome desires by stronger desires (69a-c); virtues require knowledge and only the philosopher has real knowledge so only the philosopher can actually be virtuous. What is Plato’s underlying attitude towards the body in this dialogue as you see it? What essentially is the human being for Plato as you can gather from this dialogue? is he correct in this? why or why not? (address any or all of the above in your posting and end your posting with a question of your own).

Descartes and Gandhi Questions

3-How does Descartes find certainty in the Meditations?

4-As a background for Gandhi it would be helpful if you watch the Academy

Award winning film entitled Gandhi from 1982. This will give you a sense of his history, development and context as well as some of most powerful events of his career.

In what sense can Gandhi’s life be considered a success? Returning to the Socratic credo “a good man is not harmed in life or death” and “better to suffer injustice than to do injustice” (cf. Discussion above on the Apology and Gorgias), is Gandhi’s life proof of these claims? How are Gandhi’s ethical/ political views grounded in his religious/ metaphysical/ philosophical views? (in your discussion respond to any or all of the above and end your posting with a question of your own).

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.