Welcome Back
Welcome back. Today, we’re going to split into two groups. Those of you who were here on the last class will work with Idil exploring some questions on the reading (Richard Shusterman’s piece on philosophy as textual and more than textual practice).
Meanwhile, for those of you who are here for the first time, we’ll be talking through the class and how we’ll work.
Then we’ll come back together. Idil’s group will share some thoughts from the reading. And then together, we’ll talk about writing as a philosophical practice, and explore some approaches to writing and philosophy.
Discussion Group with Idil
Here are some questions you might like to talk about. You may also have some questions of your own.
- What is the connection between living philosophy and writing philosophy?
- Why is introspection important for Shusterman’s argument?
- What are the dangers of introspection, and how can writing help offset these dangers?
- What does it mean to understand writing as self-care and/or self transformation.
Orientation
For more on this, see the earlier post from the last class!
Feedback
We’ll get the breakout group from last time to talk through Shusterman’s paper. Then we’ll have a short break!
Practices of writing
We’ll start with a five minute writing exercise, focussing on introspection.
- How does my body feel today?
- How do I feel emotionally?
- What am I thinking about, or preoccupied about?
- What, just now, do I want most?
We’ll then go into breakout groups to explore the following questions.
- Do you have a regular practice of writing (journalling, writing stories or poems, writing a diary or a blog)?
- If you do have a regular writing practice, does it help with self-care and/or self-transformation?
- If you don’t, would it help? Why, or why not?
- What can writing teach us about ourselves? How can it teach us this?
We’ll come back and discuss this in the main group.
Homework
The homework for next time is Foucault’s essay Technologies of the Self. You have until the day before next week’s class to read it. Try to read it in short sections, reading a section a day. It is about 25 pages long, so you could read 5 pages a day for five days, for example. Make notes as you read.
On Canvas, I want you to share your reflections on the reading. Answer these questions:
- What story in the text, or what section, did you find most meorable?
- What section was most challenging?
- What idea most excited you?
- What did you not like, or disagree with, or find difficult?