President Andrew Jiles introduces himself:
Age 30 with a major in Anthropology and a Religion minor,
Andrew has leadership experience from his time with the Anthropology
club. He helped build the club from the ground up and hopes to do the
same with the Philosophy Society before he graduates.
Today’s topic directly influences how we will function as
our own Society:
(In the previous meeting it was suggested that each member bring in a quote, however only Andrew, Brian, Richard, and Dr. Manlowe shared. Let’s try to increase participation.)
After Lao Tzu wrote his texts he had a conversation with a
prince. The prince questions society. Lao Tzu responds with a list
including honor your parents, love your children, assume responsibility of
problems, and act with virtue without first requiring it of others. In
short this list states what the individual should do to enforce a more cohesive
society.
According to the quote from John Stuart Mill the responsibility of the individual sparks a good society. Brian’s quote from Gardner deals with plumbing and philosophy. Gardner claims that the smallest most humble job is often the most important.
Each person plays a vital role in the function of the
society.
Not one of us is free until all of us are free. This
quote goes hand in hand with Brian’s by demonstrating
the coexistence required in an ideal society. No one
person is above another, on the other hand each person
is interdependent on the rest.
This quote comes from the book entitled Pragmatism,
Pluralism, and Post-Modernism. The quote questions
what we can use pragmatically to increase the
happiness of the society. Rortney (I am not sure I am
spelling this correctly) feels a more valuable kind of
philosophy would be a social philosophy. Dr. Lane
later digresses to basically state that even though he
teaches this philosopher in American Philosophy he
despises him. Heidi also relates this quote to the
theory of Darwinism in that we are never a part of the
environment because we are always coping with the
environment. We are in a constant state of flux. (I
think I’ve lost something here in the translation.)
In order to become an official
member of the philosophy society you must show up to at least two meetings.
If this attendance requirement has not been met then that qualifies you as not
active. In short your vote doesn’t count. Also no dues will be required
to join the philosophy society.
There is an Undergraduate
Philosophy Conference to be held at the University of North Florida on March
5-6 of 2004. This Conference is also open to Physics and
Science majors. The speakers will be Professor Michael Ruse and Professor Marcia Eden. Professor Ruse teaches the Philosophy of Biology at Florida State University. His presentation will be on the topics of Creationism and Evolution. Professor Eden instructs at the University of Minnesota. Her presentation is entitled “Good Fictions, Good Stories.” The deadline for submissions is January 10, 2004. They are especially interested in related topics. All of the information is posted on the bulletin board outside of Dr. Lane’s office. Keep this in mind for a good starting point for grad school. West Georgia also holds a competition of presented
papers. It is a full night of undergraduate
research.
The new listserv has been established and now we need
to set up a few guidelines. We ask that there be no
dialogue between people through the listserv. Also if
we can keep the anecdotes to a minimum and absolutely
no quizzes or chain letters.
We are not going to be allowed free web space through
the college until we are established as an official
club.
Both the Constitution and the Information on the
Conference in Jacksonville should be on the listserv.
We ask that everyone review the Constitution and offer
any comments they may have so we can iron out the
details before next semester.
At the last meeting we
discussed whether or not we would like to meet and hold open discussions with other
clubs. Andrew asked that if we were to engage
in a forum of open discussion with another club if we could keep it a place of understanding and not antagonism. He suggested a meeting between the Philosophy and Anthropology Clubs where we might
discuss the Theory of Cultural Relativism.
Our suggested topic for the next meeting is the Just
War Theory or rather what is it that makes a Just War?
Brian has asked us when a war is ethically or morally
correct. This meeting will take place at 5:00 on
October 8, 2004 in room 211 of Humanities. Feel free
to bring a quote, a friend, or some snacks.
Thanks so much everyone. See you soon
Nicole Walker