Informal essay 400-500 words
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weekoneroundupdirections.docxWeek One: Weekly Russell Round Up/Commentary
After completing this week’s assigned chapters of Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy as well as the other required readings for this week, first, summarize what you learned from reading Russell this week. Then, your main goal in this assignment beyond the summary is to tie together any theories, themes, concepts, important ideas, arguments, important observations, etc. you discover in Russell’s work and the particular philosophical views and the general content covered in the other readings. For example, in Week One, you will be summarizing Chapters I-IV in The Problems of Philosophy, and then you will look for how what he says there links up with, adds to, or even conflicts with the philosophical views and ideas of Plato and Descartes. There will be plenty of material that will invite comparison and analysis. Please take a moment to review the complete Russell Round Up Guidelines (attachment add) before completing this assignment.
This brief, informal essay should be in the 400-500-word range. You may submit your “Russell Round Up” Please pay careful attention to grammar, spelling, word use, and writing style; this means you need to proofread your work before submitting it.
REQUIRED READING LINKS
Chapters 1-4
Use chapter 1-4 notes which summarizes each chapter or use the link to review the chapters.
Russell,
The Problems of Philosophy : Chapters I-IV [ Russell, Bertrand.The Problems of Philosophy, pp. 5-24]. The entire work can be found online here: Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy.
Study Guide [supplemental reading]: SparkNotes on Russell's Problems of Philosophy:
THE OTHER READING:Use these readings to look for how what Russell, The Problems of Philosophy says there links up with, adds to, or even conflicts with the philosophical views and ideas of Plato and Descartes.
· Plato, Republic, Book IV, §437b-441e; Books VI-VII, §509d-521a [Excerpts can be found here:
Plato, Dialogues, vol. 3 : Bk. IV, pp. 272-278; Bk. VII, pp. 351-360; and also here:
Plato: Complete Works , Ed. John M. Cooper, Bk.IV, pp. 1099/1068-1104/1073; Bk. VII, pp. 1161/1130-1169/1138. [Please note that the three items below are for further study but not required reading.]
. For further study and comparison, read this concise and annotated contemporary translation of the
Allegory of the Cave from Book VII of the Republic .
. For further study, read this brief
analysis of the Allegory of the Cave retrieved from http://personal.tcu.edu/jrharris/sample.pdf.
. For a further analysis of Socrates's explanation of the divided line at the very end of Book VI, read this article by John Malcolm "
The Line and the Cave ," 1962.
· Descartes,
Meditations on First Philosophy : Preface; Meditations I-II, pp. 1-12 [ [You can find an in-depth analysis of Descartes's philosophy and more of his work here: The Online Library of Liberty ].
For general research on any philosophical topic, theme, or major philosopher, here are two excellent online sources:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://www.iep.utm.edu/
