Class 1 - Introduction, Knowledge, and Plato in Context

2025-02-03
9 min read

Notes from Class 1

Welcome to First Year Seminar Course II. This time round, we’re going to be exploring questions about knowledge. We’re going to be reading texts from across a range of traditions, and sharing our own perspectives. Remember that seminar courses are about bringing our own knowledge into relationship with the texts we are studying: it’s a process of mutual exploration. Our topics are, more or less:

  • Theories of knowledge (reading Plato and Zhuangzi)
  • Knowledge and science (reading Carlo Rovelli and Robin Wall Kimmerer and others)
  • Embodied knowing (reading Siri Hustvedt)

We are at university, presumably, because we care about knowledge. We want to know stuff. But what does it mean to know stuff? How can we be sure that what we know is right? How can we

Overview

This is an introductory session. We’re going to start by running through some information about the course. Then we’re going to do some introductions, a quite writing exercise, and get to know the text we are working on.

How this class will work:

But before we talk about this, let’s talk about how the course will work. These notes may be useful to refer back to.

Canvas

I’m trying to keep Canvas simple. So there are a few things you need to pay attention to.

  • The discussion board will be used for participation tasks. I’ll talk about those below.
  • Readings will be on the files tab.
  • There is a syllabus provided on Canvas in handy reference format under the “syllabus” tab. But the content here may differ from the in-class content. So please don’t rely on this.
  • Assignments will be uploaded to Canvas and graded through the Canvas SpeedGrader.
  • Please don’t message me through Canvas. I don’t always get these messages. Use email instead.
  • Please turn on Canvas notifications so that you receive announcements when I send them.

Course support website

This website (https://courses.willbuckingham.com) is a set of ongoing class notes, which will be useful for your reference — and will also be handy if you miss a session. I will not be duplicating this content on Canvas, so keep your eye on this website.

Grading

Here’s some information on grading, and how this will affect how the class works.

Attendance: 10%

Remember that Parami requires 90% attendance.

For the sake of attendance, I’ll also be asking you to turn on your cameras at the beginning of every class. This is so we can see each other’s faces, and check in with each other. Being able to see each other fosters community, and community is vital for learning. If you do not have your camera on for the roll-call, I will mark you absent. Once you have been marked present, you may need to turn it off to save battery from time to time. But camera use is mandatory where possible.

If you are late, you will be marked late!

If you can’t attend, let me know in advance, unless it’s an emergency. This is not just about the work, but also a welfare issue. We want to know that you are safe and well — and if there are any problems, we want to be able to help you.

If you do have to miss a session, there is a simple procedure for make-up tasks, which you can access from the “Posts” tab on the courses website (this site).

Participation: 10%

It is hard to grade participation. My simple approach is to set tasks most weeks on the discussion board. These will be linked to the readings, and marked as 1 (for completed) or 0 (for not completed). You must complete these the day before the class (not on the morning of your class). You cannot complete them later: if you do, I will simply mark you with a zero.

Also, to help deepen our engagement with each other, I want you to set up your Zoom as follows:

  1. Use your Parami registered name first, then in brackets your preferred name and any pronouns you prefer.
  2. Use a photo of you, so we can see your face.

This is compulsory. If you don’t do this, you will lose 2% of your overall mark.

Why is this? It’s really important we have a real, live sense of each other, despite internet problems. Seeing each other’s faces, remembering that we are real people with real names, is a way of keeping our communication grounded. It gives us a stronger sense of community. These are difficult times in Myanmar, but we need to have a sense of each other as real human beings, with real names. We may not always be able to use our cameras, but we can always do this, as a minimum.

If there are specific, legitimate reasons you can’t do this (for example, religious reasons), you must email me to let me know: will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm.

Assignments: 25% + 30%

There are two written assignments. We’ll talk more about those later:

  • The mid-term is worth 25%.
  • The final assignment is worth 30%.

Presentations: 15%

Presentations are stressful, particularly when the internet is so bad. So your presentations for this course will be poster presentations. You will need to visually present an argument, idea, or body of research. You will not be required to verbally present anything.

Quizzes: 10%

There will be two quizzes at 5% each. These will be done in groups, but graded individually.

Office Hours

I do not have fixed office hours, as they are hard to timetable, so fixed schedules never work for everyone. But I’m always available to talk to you about anything. To book office hours, email me on will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm!

Keeping in touch

Either email or Workplace is fine. Please (again) don’t message me on Canvas.

Breaks

Our sessions are 1 hour and 40 minutes. This is long! And sitting still isn’t good for us all. So I am going to have dance breaks halfway through. For each class, I’ll select some music, and you can either have a good dance (with your camera off or on, it’s up to you), or get up and move around, or if you don’t like the music, you can just do something else, like a few minutes of yoga!

Let’s keep moving and keep happy!

Writing exercise

To get started, we’re going to do two writing exercises.

  1. First, for five minutes, write “I know…” and then keep writing. When you get to the end of the thought, start a new sentence with “I know…” and keep writing.
  2. Now, for five minutes, write, “I don’t know…” and then keep writing. When you get to the end of the thought, start a new sentence with “I don’t know…” and keep writing.

We’ll bracket and share extracts.

Our first text:

Our first text is Plato’s Theaetetus. It is one of the greatest philosophical works about the nature of knowledge from the western tradition. This is, however, quite a difficult text, so we’re going to be easing ourself into it.

We’ll look at some background first of all. We’ll begin by watching this video about Plato.

An introduction to Plato"

As you watch, I want you to share any questions you have on the Q&A tool on Zoom! I want everybody to ask at least one question.

Who was Plato?

There are a few things we should know about Plato. He was born in Athens either in 428/427 or in 424/423 BCE, and he died in 348 BCE. He was a student of Socrates — a stonemason and philosopher who neither read nor wrote. You can find out more about Socrates by watching the 8-bit philosophy video in the links below.

Socrates used a method of asking questions as a way of trying to get at truth. In Athens, lots of people claimed to be wise. So Socrates subjected them to questions to see what their wisdom consisted of. What became apparent in this process was that the things that many of these so-called “wise” people were less secure in their knowledge than they first seemed.

Socrates talked about philosophy as the “love of wisdom.” But he pointed out that this wasn’t the same as actually being wise. Those who love wisdom are between wisdom and ignorance. They are perhaps — or at best — on the way to wisdom. But they are not yet wise.

Unlike Socrates, his student Plato did write — a lot! And what he wrote about, most of all, was Socrates — or an idealised version of Socrates. When Plato wrote philospohy, he didn’t write essays, or say what he thought. Instead, he showed the process of Socrates cross-examining people, as they tried to find out what was true and what wasn’t.

Tip

The Theaetetus, which you will be reading, is a dialogue. Think of it like a play! And in this dialogue, the main topic is knowledge. What is knowledge? What does it mean to say we know things?

Playing with Plato (if we have time!)

It’s good to get a sense of Plato’s work as a kind of drama. So I’m going to ask for five volunteers to play the parts of.

  1. Euclides
  2. Terpsion
  3. Socrates
  4. Theodorus
  5. Theaetetus

We’ll read up to the end of 145b5 (the bottom of page 4). But what I want you to do is read this as if it is a play. So, I want you to put a lot of emotion into it!

Questions

  1. Where is the dialogue taking place?
  2. Who are these five people?
  3. What is happening in the story?
  4. What is remarkable about Theaetetus, according to the dialogue?

Homework

For homework, I want you to read at least the first five pages of READING 1. Then go to Canvas and respond to the following prompts:

  • What interested you about this reading?
  • What did you find difficult or puzzling?
  • Summarise the main points in this reading (bullet points are fine).