Choose any two readings in the text that we will cover this semester (two that are assigned on the syllabus). Imagine that the two philosophers (authors of the readings) meet and have a philosophical conversation. Write a dramatic dialogue in which you describe their conversation. Your dialogue must communicate to me that you understand at least three of the basic concepts from each of the two textual readings, which means at least six ideas, (not facts about the philosophers that you learn from the text or in class). Your dialogue should have the philosophers discuss ideas—not facts. Do not use direct quotes—explain the ideas in your own words (which become their words in the dialogue). Be sure to explain the ideas; don’t just mention the ideas. Do not use lecture notes or online sources for ideas for this paper.
Be creative—describe the setting in which the philosophers meet and have their conversation. Make the conversation itself creative. You may have the philosophers discuss any issue (they can be at a ball game discussing the ball game), but you must incorporate philosophical ideas from the readings into the discussion. One creative student wrote a dialogue in the form of a “Dating Game” script. Another had the philosophers discussing a wedding and complemented the dialogue with a wedding invitation. Another student had one philosopher flying an airplane with the other philosopher as the air traffic controller who tries to convince the pilot that he must rely on reasoning rather than sense experience. You will be graded on your creativity as well as your ability to communicate the philosophers’ ideas. You may not use Internet language (Internet signs, symbols or abbreviations) in your paper.
Proofread your work. You are graded on your ability to communicate ideas effectively, which means you need to write in a scholarly manner, avoiding careless errors.
This dialogue paper should be three full pages in length, not 2 ½ pages or even 2 ¾ pages. It should be double spaced and in 12-point type. Using larger type is unacceptable.
The purpose of the paper is to communicate that you understand the philosophers’ ideas and show me that you can be creative about communicating the ideas. Your dialogue should explain the philosophers’ ideas that come from the textual readings, not simply mention the ideas. Make sure your name is on your paper.
Write your dialogue in script format. Use the speaker’s name followed by a colon and then followed by the words she/he says. You do not need to put the speaker’s words in quotation marks because you are using script format. Each time a speaker changes list the speaker’s name followed by a colon.
Readings:
The Apology :Plato
The Consolation of Philosophy: Boethius
The Spirit of Indian Philosophy: Radhakrishnan
Woman and the history of Philosophy: Tuana
The actual function of philosophy in latin america: Zea
On the value of philosophy: Russell
African philosophy: the point in question: Serequeberhan
On truth and lie in an extra-moral society: Nietzsche
The quest for rational certainty: Descartes
on vision seeking: Lame Deer
The meaning of Satori: Suzuki
The intellectual worl and the visible world: Plato
The denial of free will: Skinner